“This is terrifying stuff for me, right on the edge of what is possible,” Robert Fripp once said of FraKctured. “Semi-quavers at 138 bpm, all picked, mostly continuous, written and delineated, awkward time signature, with a rhythm section hurtling along with a linked but separate agenda.” On this occasion, Alex Mundy has put the isolating spotlight on Fripp, Belew, and Gunn, demonstrating how much of a nerve-wracking tightrope walk this piece truly is.
Dating from a writing rehearsal at Belew’s house in February 1997, Fripp permitted himself to revisit some of the ideas explored in the moto perpetuo section of 1973’s Fracture, arguing, “The musical identity, ‘tradition’ or ‘way of doing things’ is given – King Crimson! – and this is one way, within that tradition, of keeping the creative process moving. The externals may sometimes seem familiar, recognisable, and even appear to be the same, but the inside is fresh.”
This isolated mix also reveals some flowing embellishments from Gunn and a vestigial trace of soundscaping that would ultimately be lost in the final mix as it appeared on The ConstruKction Of Light.
28 April 2025
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