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Thread: My thoughts on Robert Fripp

  1. #76
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    Quote Originally Posted by jamesmanzi View Post
    Ha! After two days of reading reactions to this controversial video, I finally watched it.

    And my takeaway?

    People really hate when an intelligent person speaks to them in an authoritative tone, regardless of what they're saying.
    For me, the video brings the self awareness that I am primarily a consumer of music. I'm not a pupil of Fripp (And I mean no offense to those, like the Crafties, who are). In my world, I'm only interested in the Crimson way of doing things to a certain extent. I would like to see KC live, but probably won't. They play past my bedtime.
    Last edited by señormoment; 12-03-2016 at 05:30 AM.

  2. #77
    In the first half of the 1970's Fripp was one of my guitar heroes. He was creative, an innovator, and totally different from the rest. He could also be "admirably restraint" - he did what the music needed from him, and let his co-musicians be in the front while he was sitting on his chair. On Lizard he probably plays more keyboards than guitar, and is also almost absent on large parts of the Lizard suite. When the rest of the guitar heroes were competing in doing long and fast guitar solos, he did his famous one note anti-solo on Starless instead. But from the beginning he could also show that he was technically superior to most of them.

    Then he decided to become a robot.

    From Discipline and on (or just before) he became very "disciplined". No more jazzy playing or loose improvisations, except for in short passages or in his soundscapes. In the Belew version of King Crimson it was Belew who was the creative innovator. Fripp just continued on the same track, both in his playing and his compositions. Some suggest that the sameness in his compositions are caused by his "new standard tuning". Maybe so, but cello tuning doesn't force that in other works. The unusual part of that tuning is the minor third on top. To me that sounds a bit limiting in what you can do. When I say "his compositions" I mean of course the instrumentals, where you can hear his obvious trademarks. The songs sound more to me like The Adrian Belew Group, feat. Robert Fripp. He can be "admirably restraint" on those pieces too.

  3. #78
    Quote Originally Posted by trondis23 View Post

    Then he decided to become a robot.

    From Discipline and on (or just before) he became very "disciplined". No more jazzy playing or loose improvisations, except for in short passages or in his soundscapes. In the Belew version of King Crimson it was Belew who was the creative innovator.
    100% agreement.

    Was it you who did the interview for Tarkus Magazine with Tim Hodgkinson about the 'Stop Mortal' performances in Norway in 2008? I remember him calling Fripp's soundscape productions "pissy", which I always thought were a nice description of their musical relevance.

    To me. Fripp's most "recent" work of notable interest was actually the Leagues of Gentlemen album. 26 years ago.

    Damn, I'm old.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  4. #79
    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    100% agreement.


    To me. Fripp's most "recent" work of notable interest was actually the Leagues of Gentlemen album. 26 years ago.

    Damn, I'm old.
    Older than you think. I was over 36 years ago not 26. I saw the band at an infamous club in Quebec around 1980. Fripp stopped the music mid-song to lecture an audience member about taking pictures, go figure.

  5. #80


    It's a good record, though. I love Sara Lee's input on this.

    AND THEN I SUDDENLY GET TO THINKING ABOUT:


    Why the heck, one might ask.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  6. #81
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    100% agreement.

    Was it you who did the interview for Tarkus Magazine with Tim Hodgkinson about the 'Stop Mortal' performances in Norway in 2008? I remember him calling Fripp's soundscape productions "pissy", which I always thought were a nice description of their musical relevance.
    .
    It wasn't me who wrote that interview, no. But it was me who invited him to Norway and arranged the concert. Stop Mortal is a great piece of music, and I am sorry it was never recorded properly and released on CD.

    I can imagine Hodgkinson describing Fripps soundscapes as "pissy" . I don't think that any from the Henry Cow camp had much respect for him. Fripp and Frith were arguing against each other in the music press. Cutler was a bit upset that he had called his tape loop setup "Frippertronics", as if he had invented the thing.

    Personally I like some of the "Frippertronics" stuff, especially Evening Star and the way he uses it on Exposure. And it was King Crimson, especially through albums like Lizard and Islands, that was leading me in the direction of Henry Cow.

  7. #82
    Bob Fripp can play so many amazing styles on guitar that in fact to this day...many people are unaware of it. I've heard in the past..where people said: "Well..he's okay...he noodles in Jazz...he's not a real Jazz player". That's moronic. Robert Fripp has a technique like Pat Martino. Robert Fripp could play like Barney Kessel or Johnny Smith effortlessly if he had to learn their arrangements. He just steers clear of pursuing any particular style of guitar playing and wants to remain in his own world. Which!....he always did ..either King Crimson or Exposure. Or even with The Roches . He chooses to make noise and that alone creates part of his distinctive recognizable identity.

    For example: On Indoor Games he could be riffing like Mel Collins but instead chooses to sound off a bizarre noodling Schizoid guitar with a beautiful acoustic guitar strumming away during the chorus. He colors the song with guitar characters. Odd blending/combinations of techniques to prove a point. This gives the song a zany bizarre affect which is evident to the listener. Fripp is all about composition. I personally feel that his abilities are misinterpreted. I believe if he wanted to play Progressive Jazz that he could seal the bookends of it quicker than some Jazz guitarists. I remember Greg Lake making reference to this long ago....that what you see him play is not all or close to being what he can play. More or less, Greg Lake has expressed that in a few magazines during the 70's. I do believe it is very possible ....that he masks his talent to be who he is in the compositions and playing styles.. additionally sound effects and steers clear of being anything else. He has fine skill and great understanding of the science of music.

  8. #83
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    ^Great post.

  9. #84
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    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post
    ^Great post.
    Seconded !

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    ^^+3

  11. #86
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    All the examples you use in the above post are from before he becomes the robot trondis23 suggested.

  12. #87
    This is an unreleased Fripp piece from the 80's, "Fracture Variation", performed by Fabio Mittino.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQIhi8_7Pbo

    He also plays "Recuerdos de la Alhambra", a piece that RF used to practice,
    which had been considered for inclusion in Exposure.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_MCH9IqLWg

    This is about setting standards.
    Last edited by unclemeat; 12-06-2016 at 05:18 AM.

  13. #88
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FrippWire View Post
    I'm not a musician so I can't speak to what Fripp is up to on a technical, musical or structural level but I can say he is my second favorite guitarist right after Frank Zappa. I like him because he has a sound and style that's different from the rest of the pack and unique to him; he comes through when he plays. It's not a bunch of cliché crap. When Fripp plays, you know it's him.
    Great post....agreed.

  14. #89
    My favorite guitarist
    Amazing signature - both in his musical choices and his tone and sound
    Its partly todo with him being more european then blues inspired
    Oh and its a shame he stopped playing acoustic

  15. #90
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    ^ More Bartok than Howlin Wolf

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  17. #92
    One of the best songs from an absolutely phenomenal album. I bought it for Fripp and stayed for the Noo Yawk Hahmunee.
    Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.

  18. #93
    That one Fripp solo-ette that comes in a half-step below the vocal melody in that spot leaving a minor second dissonance for a moment = utter magnificence

  19. #94
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    Quote Originally Posted by Udi Koomran View Post
    My favorite guitarist
    Amazing signature - both in his musical choices and his tone and sound
    Its partly todo with him being more european then blues inspired
    Oh and its a shame he stopped playing acoustic
    He does pull the acoustic out in very rare instances- his latest “love letter” to Toyah from the road is a pleasant little improvisation on acoustic.

  20. #95
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    Thanks to Fripp, I became a big fan of The Roches. Another awesome Fripp solo appears in the track "Losing True".

  21. #96
    I was fortunate to see him play solo standing on the counter of Rough Trade shop in 1985

    https://www.dgmlive.com/albums/rough...records-london

  22. #97
    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    I saw Fripp at my university in 1981 - he lectured and played some guitar. I saw him a few years earlier (on acid) with the League of Gentlemen.
    What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)

  23. #98
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    Frippertronics. Madame Wong's Chinese Restaurant, Los Angeles, 1979. Could only seat maybe 100 people? and over a thousand showed up. I was able to get in because I was on the guest list. Great show! When the show ended Fripp stood near the exit, thanking and shaking hands with ever person that attended. Something I'll always remember.
    Day dawns dark...it now numbers infinity.

  24. #99
    Quote Originally Posted by mozo-pg View Post
    I saw Fripp at my university in 1981 - he lectured and played some guitar. I saw him a few years earlier (on acid) with the League of Gentlemen.
    Does acid warp time?
    LoG only toured during 1980.
    Manchester in May 1980 for this college student too.

  25. #100
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    Quote Originally Posted by AncientChord View Post
    Frippertronics. Madame Wong's Chinese Restaurant, Los Angeles, 1979. Could only seat maybe 100 people? and over a thousand showed up. I was able to get in because I was on the guest list. Great show! When the show ended Fripp stood near the exit, thanking and shaking hands with ever person that attended. Something I'll always remember.
    I saw him too in 79 here http://www.danbbs.dk/~m-bohn/fripp/index.htm (my photos) . Something must have happened to him since he later got that awkward relation to an audience.

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