King Crimson: Classic Or Dud

"Easy Money" has this (on the live versions, not the studio version, alas) great (for prog rock, mind you) bit of lyric:

"So I argued with the judge, But the bastard wouldn't budge, 'cause they caught me licking fudge, and they never told me once, you were a minor..."

Mark- Apparently Red is KC's favourite album ever. He also loved the raincoats, having written some brief notes for the reissue of their excellent debut. Even though nirvana sucked he had good taste (though I think that he only said that to piss off the metal fans that bought his music).

Agnes Moorehead, obviously. :)

Ladies of the Road and Formetera Ladies are the clunkers I refered to above btw. Though I think Sinfields worst lyrics are on Still.

Truly unfathomable, I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes. However, it explains much. There's a site where I help write reviews for prog rock albums, and we once received a snippy letter for dissing the Wake of Poseidon album (or at least, not being fanboy-ish enough towards it), and the person, opening up by claiming we had "less wit and culture than an ant" (yep) used much of the material found in the Wake of Poseidon chapter as their defense of the album and its depth. Maybe it was even The Keeper of the onyx-embolden'd-husking-jewelled-warthogs website himself! :)

Cue your golf swing.

Wow... Mind = blown.

Very cool! thx ned

"that's some really wild stuff"

In The Lounge of the Crimson King

More on Belew's fourth-rate David Byrne impersonation - "I repeat myself under stress, I repeat myself under stress." Geddit? Hilarious, eh? Anybody who finds that remotely amusing in any way should be avoided.

Dave Q really killed it on this thread, huh? I like lots of KC but I hardly ever find myself playing them. When I do, it's either Larks' Tongues or Beat.

I think Belew's a pretty terrible lyricist but that was kinda the point, right? The lyrics weren't supposed to stand out. It was all about the music at that point.

Met this guy tonight who said he'd done tarot card readings with Adrian Belew, back in '83 or so

the story just got weirder from there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILSVAUjd5QI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Fripp speaks

excellent...wish it was longer

2009 Crimson, with Porcupine Tree drummer as second drummer, was awesome live.

so, who is buying the 13 CD, 1 DVD, 1 Blu-Ray of Larks' Tongue In Aspic?

http://www.dgmlive.com/news.htm?entry=3916

Just registered for DJM live site just so I could hear a sparse guide track for "Islands" the song. Boz sounds like he's singing into a cheap condenser mike, but otherwise it's quite lovely.

'Islands' is the worst album ever made by anybody.
― dave q, Friday, February 15, 2002 7:00 PM (10 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

NO.

its kind of weird to imagine that King Crimson only played a fixed amount of concerts when they were active. it feels like they're able to just create more and more live bootleg material at will, even if it was phyiscally impossible for them to have played that many dates.

So many of them are pretty dodgy quality though, aren't they?

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/lk/l/w/dd360157ea8e506661983ea7336800bc/4330188.gif

classic:

'released in three separate editions to satisfy the merely curious and the expectant collector'

so, who is buying the 13 CD, 1 DVD, 1 Blu-Ray of /Larks' Tongue In Aspic/?

http://www.dgmlive.com/news.htm?entry=3916

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWaz8xfFjuE

Guess Fripperlips is done for good?

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/king-crimson-robert-fripp-quits-music-business/

Hope he enjoys retirement!

He's been retired for a while, I believe. Couple of years? Also, for what it's worth, he was semi-retired for pretty much the second half of the '70s, too.

Yeah, this is not new news.

Wait, hold up:

A multi-disc deluxe edition of the 1973 Crimson classic ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic’ is set for release in October and will include 13 CD’s, a DVD and a Blu-Ray disc.

13 CDs!?!?!

Disc details at the bottom of this page: http://www.dgmlive.com/news.htm

So basically a bunch of live discs previously sold through the site. That's cool though. Band in the Muir era was neat.

Wasn't aware Kanye had sampled "Schizoid Man," which Fripp seems pissed he didn't get paid for. Wonder if he ever paid any royalties for quoting "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" in "Moonchild?"

I figured Fripp was done, but this is the first time I ever heard him say it (I know he said he wasn't going to tour anymore some 4-5 years ago), maybe I'm just not paying attention

This is like a bizarro world David Attenborough special

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UteQDN7iI_k

(BTW, Rieflin makes an appearance in that roving guitar circle, if you keep an eye out.)

Rieflin was the linchpin of so much stuff. I guess he was in a Seattle band called the Blackouts along with Roland and Paul Barker.
Roland barker played a few times with a weird little noise improv band I was in (not in front of audiences but sessions at the other guitarists house.) this guy Dennis Rea was playing with us and I believe he brought Roland. This was around 1993 or 94

I guess having learned his lesson that he doesn't need to tour to get cred, Fripp apparently gave his blessing to an ... "Exposure" tour?

https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/476592685_10165097464571562_4396945248977391700_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s1080x2048_tt6&_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=aZm6YWGYsVoQ7kNvgHsIp4F&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&_nc_gid=AUG7VBybakVG-1oUQU4A5uA&oh=00_AYArSFB-utSpmgazDCysIcOgJ71PU7JA6tnMJ5KpQ54EDA&oe=67AAD500

I mean, Terre Roche! That's pretty badass. And the fact that that second gig is at Daryl's House ...

yeah I think this is pretty cool, been following this via the Mastelotto's FB accounts for a few months. would be nice if they could do more dates but I'm not sure what the appetite for it would be from the general public.

I am WAY more interested in seeing this than the Beat tour fwiw

cuz Exposure rules

Beat tour ruuuuuuuuuuuled.

yeah man the Beat show was a dream come true. I love Exposure more than many things but this is really a cover band thing where Beat felt like a legit Crimson projekct

well having the singer and main songwriter on board is a huge part of that, this Exposure thing will probably be good but that's Fripp's record

I mean, Terre Roche! That's pretty badass. And the fact that that second gig is at Daryl's House ...

Nice. Terre showed up as Linda Thompson's guest when Teddy organized the Proxy Music show at City Winery in NYC. It was great to see she was still around and she (and Linda) got onstage at the end.

Bill Bruford just posted this on social media:

Jamie Muir died today 17.02.2025 in Cornwall, UK, with his brother George by his side. From Bill:

Jamie was the drummer/percussionist with whom I worked on the King Crimson album ‘Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (1973). He had a volcanic effect on me, professionally and personally, in the brief time we were together many years ago – an effect which I still remember half a century later. I’m sorry we lost touch, but his departure from our working relationship was so sudden and unexpected, I sort of assumed he didn’t want anything more to do with me and my colleagues in King Crimson!

He was a lovely, artistic man, childlike in his gentleness. There was probably a dark side underneath. It could be be glimpsed as he climbed the PA stacks in a wolf’s fur jacket, blood (from a capsule) pouring from his mouth, on a rainy Thursday night in Preston, Lancs., to hurl chains across the stage at his drumkit. One of these Robert Fripp will tell you, only narrowly missed him.

His conversations with Jon Anderson at my 1973 wedding party, in Jon’s words, ‘changed my life’. Jamie also changed mine.

I consider it a privilege to have known, and benefitted from the company of, a man of such quiet power, even briefly. He struck me as one of those about whom one might truthfully say he was a beautiful human being. He will be much missed. Goodbye, Jamie.

RIP (honestly I didn't know he was still alive). I've always loved how Bruford, known for his technique and precision, holds Muir in such high esteem. Maybe they should have brought in more anti-technique wild cards rather than piling on prog drummers in increasing numbers.

:-(

This alb is beautiful: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dart_Drug_(album)

man i wish that lineup could've held for even one more KC LP. Muir rules so hard

Maybe they should have brought in more anti-technique wild cards

This is to me what makes the Lark's Tongue era so great, the tightly wound Fripp-ness vs the wild Muir-ness and that friction is so incredible

My fave Muir playing is on Incus Music Improvisation Company lp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Music_Improvisation_Company_1968%E2%80%931971

I think it's not a coincidence that the improv in the very brief Muir era of KC is top notch. Iirc the live shows from that massive "Larks" boxed set were full of surprises.

I really don't think there was room for someone like that in the 80s band but it might've been cool to see what the 90's/00's band could've done with like, I dunno, a weirdo DJ in their midst

Or three DJs, each set up behind a drummer

...and none of them can hear what the other two are doing

Pere Ubu never really abandoned the whole "disrupting/commenting/contradicting synth player" element even when they were rocking a more mainstream-avant sound in the late 80s

What KC really needed in the 80s was an onstage mime artist

Though even Ubu mixed the synth low or out on single mixes. Every listener has their own line where "thrillingly spontaneous disruption" becomes "random extraneous sonic garbage".
I think the 1995-2003 Crimson was better when they were four rather than six pieces, maybe because the digital tools allowed for so much more sound from each player that a sextet was always getting in each other's way.

By the end Bill was getting pretty wacky and unconventional on his set. That's where you get stuff like "Industry."

Fripp recently had a heart attack. This week's Robert and Toyah video tells the whole story but he seems to be recovering fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m63V3KbyUY

Jakko saying a final KC album may be on its way?

https://www.stereogum.com/2314598/king-crimson-recording-first-new-album-since-2003/news/

tbh I'm not convinced, reminds me of how Ralf Hutter has been saying for nearly two decades that another Kraftwerk album was being worked on, that said the latest incarnation actually did play some new songs live

They've certainly got an album's worth of material. It's a shame Rieflin isn't around to contribute.

Beat live album coming in September, too.

now an album of new material by Beat, that would be really cool

normally I'd say no chance but the whole project was a remarkable success and Belew seems like the sort of dude who is writing songs constantly so who knows. I'm thinkin something with a monochrome green cover and a minimal design like the 80s KC albums...c'mon, so many people would flip their shit over that

a monochrome green cover and a minimal design like the 80s KC albums...c'mon, so many people would flip their shit over that

https://qc-ckb.s3.amazonaws.com/ilx/beatonthebrat.jpg

haha that would be brilliant but these guys already used an ugly AI generated elephant for everything and I don't think that will go away

also don't think Beat will wind up doing any new material, but who knows.

Word from management:

Addressing the idea of some form of studio recording by the last incarnation of King Crimson, Bill Rieflin posed the excellent question “why make a studio album? There are excellent live recordings of all the songs out there already.”

One possible answer would be an album the very sound of which no-one has ever heard before. A sound driven by the three drummers. And those drummers have now recorded studio versions of their parts – separately, so that there is perfect separation.

So there is the seed of a new recording. Whether it is an album, whether it sees the light of day, whether it is something else is unknown. As is the outcome of any creative process.

So yes, recordings have taken place. Getting excited about the possibility of a new album, as has apparently been happening, is somewhat premature. Carts before horses.

They should release an album that's just drums, then one that is just guitars, then one that is just bass/Stick and then pull a "Zaireeka."

Three Drum/House of Crimsun

the very sound of which no-one has ever heard before. A sound driven by the three drummers

Ok lol

Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five BladesDrummers

I really want the next iteration to be one drummer, one bas and five Chapman sticks.

People tend to forget about the ProjeKCts, which was all manner of combos. I saw one with Belew on drums the whole set! I know there are a few recordings out there of the tour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69mHMg9JKaQ