Robert’s last day before the 30,000 campers at Eastnor has a more expansive set of scapes. Large washes of colour bathe the listener during Big Chill I but it’s the darker undertows of the second main piece (imaginatively titled Big Chill II) that create the shivers thanks in part to fleeting smears of notes darting back and forth and longer, lower trumpet-like eruptions. Whether these tones and unexpected timbres were deliberate or as a result of what Robert calls “pilot error” is open to speculation. Either way they’re very welcome and are probably nearer to the kind of widescreen work performed in New York at the Society for Ethical Culture in June.
Performer at the event, DJ/Producer Chris Last remarked “I especially enjoyed listening to Robert Fripp, much more so that I even thought I would. His set was an avalanche of colour. Just when I thought it was starting to get the slightest bit too "new age ambient,"he would throw in some dissonant chords that were just perfect, adding some darker colours. It was really just fantastic.” He's not wrong. Of the two days available, this one sounds like the keeper to these ears but you'll make your own mind up about that.
