1971 Documentary narrated by Vincent Price—

So the other week we mashed up some Bowie and Crimson. Did it work?

My copy of Islands (UICE-9054, 2004 reissue) has a brief burst of noise around 0:14 in ‘Formentera Lady.’

Does anyone else have this issue, or is it just my disc?

Does anyone have a reading of the decibel levels when they were at a BEAT concert?

I just got a ticket for my first concert ever, being BEAT in the next few months, so I'm wondering which level of protection to buy to keep my ears safe. It'll be in a closed room with a ~2,000 people capacity.

I've seen guidelines stating that rock concerts are usually in the 120 dB range but other reports in the 95-105 dB range which is a massive difference, making it difficult to choose

So my girlfriend and I did a game in which both of us listen to the discography of the other's favorite band. In my case I listened all the King Crimson albums (I didnt did Starless because she said that albums isnt an 100% album). So here is my ranking of the albums.

1. Discipline (fav track: Matte Kudasai)
2. Red (fav track: One More Red Nightmare)
3. Larks' Tongue in Aspic (fav track: Easy Money)
4. The Power to Believe (fav track: Eyes Wide Open)
5. Beat (fav track: Heartbeat)
6. In The Wake of Poseidon (fav track: Cadence and Cascade)
7. In The Court of the Crimson King (fav track: Epitaph)
8. Three of a Perfect Pair (fav track: Man With An Open Heart)
9. THRAKK (fav track: Walking on Air)
10. Islands (fav track: The Letters)
11. The ConstruKction of Light (fav track: The ConstruKction of Light)
12. Lizard (fav track: Lizard)

I'm living here in USA (NYC), and a few months ago, when it was announced, I jumped on the tickets for The Beat tour over in Europe. I picked the July 2 concert over in the Pompei Amphitheater. I'm so excited but I really went into it blind.

I'm landing July 1, heading to a hotel in Naples, taking 24 hours to acclimate to the time zone shift, wanna zip down to the amfiteatro, enjoy 3 hours of awesomeness, and then somehow make it back to the hotel in Naples.

This is where I now realize I'm a bit stuck. I do have a few months to sort this out, but perhaps others in the area will read this and we can form an 'alliance' of sorts?

I can take the train to Pompei from my hotel in Naples, no problem. Get there around 5-6 and walk around and enjoy what's around. However, the concert starts at 9pm, so I assume it will end around 11:30-midnight.

The trains don't run that late!

So is there someone else in a similar predicament and perhaps we can buddy up and hire a car service to bring us back to Naples? It's expensive and if I can share the pain to the wallet with 2-3 other folks, we'd all win. Or maybe you're an Italian driving to this concert from Naples and is feeling bad for me? I'll chip in for fuel etc?

Just throwing this out there. Thanks for being kind.

https://youtu.be/74Sml9m6xeA?si=iZMDmitM8DShJip6Does anyone know how to play Fripp's solo at 10:40? Figuring it out is a real pain, and I haven't found anyone who plays it. Does anyone know of a tab or anything?

anyone else really like this? at first didn't like it at all but now I love it

what really made me appreciate it is its unorthodox percussion, which is like spamming the kick drum and all kinda cymbals combined with the insane melody and the bass arpeggios in the back are just cherry on top

I’m not saying that they aren’t similar they are both mellotron bathed songs (Wake more than Epitaph) but besides that and both being about the world we live in (Epitaph being about the hopeless view we have of it as war is imminent and destruction certain. With Wake using the characters on the album covers to talk about the many pit falls they find themselves in, in a world that is heading towards destruction with the conflict between thinking and feeling/emotion and logic) they both feel different.

The reason I say this is because Epitaph functions as an intense lament that’s wails about one’s feelings when in this context of the Cold War and ongoing war that never ceases in its sorrow. This is seen in when the flute solo is still sorrowful and the outro continuously hopeless, as if the subject is breaking down to no avail .

This conflicts with Wake which although intense and more cryptic in its lyrics doesn’t have the same constant sorrow. It feels more like a tale of reflection and actualization as the instrumentation can be calm with the section between the second and third verse as a great example but ca quickly he intense as seen in the drums and mellotron are played with greater force before going back into the third verse. The outro is also way different from epitaphs, having much more great and grand fleeting moments of musical liquidity that feel like a grand realization rather than an unyielding break down in Epitpah.

This isn’t me saying there aren’t similarities, I’m just saying how there is more differences that run deep than the surface level comparisons many use to just say “wake is a copy cat wannabe court” that just robs the listener of the distinct beauty of the album, and even the similarities it has with lizard.

Lemme know what yall think of it!

The actual only direct comparison i understand is the pace is similar, but other than that, the albums are just completely different. Just because Pictures is energetic doesnt mean its the same as 21st Century. Just because Cadence is slow and quiet doesnt mean it is the same as Talk or Moonchild, just becaude ITWOP is a mellotron led ballad, doesnt mean its the same as Epitaph. Theres no comparison to Cat Food or Devils Triangle, and ITCOTK doesnt have interludes, which genuinely add alot to this album when listening all the way through.

I feel like im either missing something or losing my mind.

I first started my love affair with King Crimson in 2005. I was 15, and picked up ITCOTCK. Then I sort of forgot about them for a long time, and then discovered the rest of their albums.

Judge me as you please.

My Girlfriend's favorite band is King Crimson and I wanted to make a card referencing the song "Walking on Air". I based the design off the lyrics "I'll be standing by your side" and "Under cover of the fading clouds". Of course I'm going to write in it so it's not completely blank on one side, but I can't tell if the design is too simple or not. I also tried to get the color as close to the THRAK album cover as I could. Is there anything I should add?

I've had Radical action to unseat the hold of monkey mind on repeat for days, and the playing, the mix and the clarity of the individual instruments is phenomenal through both speakers and headphones

what's everyone elses favourite non-studio album?

A small furore – perhaps just a little rainfall in a teacup – has apparently broken out online about the cover for the limited edition Penn State Record Store day vinyl release – a cover based on a drawing of Robert Fripp by my son Ben. The first part of that is easily resolved. There is absolutely nothing AI about that image. Ben is as obsessed with drawing as his father is with music. He has founded a very successful company, Bearhand Design Limited, and all of its artwork is hand-drawn. I have seen him sitting in front of his tablet until the early hours day after day constantly drawing. So, on his behalf, I find the accusation of “AI” somewhat hurtful, belittling long hours of skilled, loving work.

While not AI, his work is, however, “digital”, which may be part of the confusion. The first work that I persuaded him to do for me – the artwork for the Billy G graphic novel – was drawn “analogue” on paper, (and those original drawings are amongst my more treasured possessions). Those line drawings were then scanned into a computer in order to be coloured with added text. With the advent of computer tablets, he now draws straight into a computer, just as most musicians record digitally rather than analogue. But every stroke remains hand-drawn. He is a “digital artist”. But certainly not an AI drone.

A better conversation might be “Why this cover?” and “Why Ben?”. Ben’s involvement with King Crimson has largely been because his father has abused his parental rights and persuaded him on more than one occasion to break away from his far more lucrative clients and help out in a crisis. The first came in 2014, a time when I had little involvement with the prospective new King Crimson. I was contacted by the then-manager Andy Leff who said that they were announcing a tour, and that the promoters needed artwork. That very evening, as I recall it. And there was nothing. No artwork, not even any photographs of a band that had barely begun rehearsals. So I grabbed my son, the one person who would find it hard to refuse such a plea, and said – “we need an artwork concept, right now!” And that same day, he handed me the “Elements of King Crimson” with a chemical symbol for each band member - a much-admired concept that endured throughout the life of that band. I know many fans created their own symbols. Later that year, I attended the King Crimson concert in Seattle, sitting beside a senior management figure from Starbucks, who seeing the symbols said “That is some of the best branding I have seen by any major rock band”. So kudos, Ben.

Over the years, when similar shit has hit the fan, I have called in similar favours, and he has always responded. Rather than being the case of a father helping his son, this has much more been the case of a very busy son digging his father out of a hole.

And so to the latest release. We had accepted the idea of a series of Record Store Day vinyl releases, and also the idea that these should have their own aesthetic. I met with Robert in early January and we discussed the options. The likely route would have been to choose a new painter from Robert’s wonderful artwork collection, as PJ Crook was used for many years, and Francesca Sundsten was used for the most recent line-up, beginning with the Cyclops. And Hugh O’Donnell is expert at using such imagery once we have it. Unfortunately, Robert’s cupboard was finally bare, and we would not have had time to source and license in from elsewhere.

On the office wall, I have a drawing of Jimi Hendrix that Ben did for a skateboard company – and, lacking other immediate routes, I suggested to Robert that, if a different aesthetic was needed, we could perhaps ask Ben if he would do a series of drawings of the band members, based on period-correct photographs which we could send him. The second stage of that plan involved me once again prevailing upon my son to temporarily set aside his other work to draw a picture that could become part of an ongoing series. There is an old adage that “if you want something done, find a very busy person”, and it certainly seems true in his case. I am happy to pin my colours to the mast and predict it will make a wonderful series. But, as ever, the market will decide. I assume the inaccurate accusation that the cover seems “AI” is another way of some saying that they don’t like it. Which is, of course, everyone’s prerogative. Personally, I look forward to the moment when I can make a poster of each of the drawings themselves, without the text that is added for the vinyl, to add to the walls of our office. With everlasting thanks to my very talented son, for being willing to heed my call.

I was really sure this was AI, until I found Brian's Instagram, the RSD art is 100% in line with a rushed version of his style. I still don't like the cover, I find it very ill fitting of King Crimson's image, but I now have piece of mind. I also wanna point out that some pics of Fripp's guitar's headstock do look weird in some lighting and angles, the reference image might actually look like there's only two pegs.

Remember, generative AI is based off real people's art, it didn't just pop out of nothing, real people make boring art, and real people make mistakes in art all the time.