1) Masque 1; 2) Masque 2; 3) Masque 3; 4) Masque
4; 5) Masque 5; 6) Masque 6; 7) Masque 7; 8) Masque 8; 9) Masque 9; 10) Masque
10; 11) Masque 11; 12) Masque 12; 13) Masque 13.
General verdict: Good album. Let Crimsonologists figure out the rest.
All right, onwards to ProjeKct Three. Since
itʼs three, it made sense to have
only three players... well, ProjeKct
Two also had three players, but I guess thereʼs a bare minimum beyond which a
ProjeKct ceases to be a ProjeKct and becomes «Fripp and annoying sidekick».
Anyway, this here ProjeKct Three consists of Fripp, Gunn, and Pat Mastelotto
replacing Adrian Belew. Given that in the previous ProjeKct Belew was playing
drums as well, one might think that there wouldnʼt be that much difference, but
there definitely is — Mastelotto is, after all, a professional drummer, and,
unsurprisingly, ProjeKct Three is far more percussion-heavy and percussion-dependent
than its immediate predecessor. And I do prefer the sound of real drums to that
of V-drums, so thank you very much for bringing back this weird human element.
The five live shows by ProjeKct Three all took
place in March 1999 somewhere in Texas; full versions, as usual, have been
available from DGMLive since 2014, but casual fans will probably find
contentment with Masque, collecting
about sixty minutesʼ worth of performances from all the five shows. Sonically,
this particular ProjeKct stands somewhere in between One and Two: it sort of
preserves the astral-groove vibe of Two, but returns to darker and heavier
territory, with consistently aggressive bass playing and plenty of thick,
distorted, dirty lead playing from the Frippmeister, though he seems just as
happy playing any possible or impossible sort of weird psychedelic tone that he
sees fit on any occasion.
Everything is perfectly listenable because, as
with the other ProjeKcts, groove always takes precedence over experimentation —
rule of thumb is that you can do just about anything as long as it does not
take you off the beaten path. Describing the music is another matter, though:
each track is somewhat special and
predictable at the same time. ʽMasque 1ʼ, for instance, begins like a slightly
grungified jazz-fusion track from the mid-Seventies, then lays on the
percussion and bass so thick that it switches over to the «industrial» realm,
going from gently stroking your ass to kicking it real hard in a matter of
seconds. Itʼs cool, except that about half, if not more, of the other ʽMasquesʼ
behave in more or less the same way, veering between the fusionesque and the
industrial-esque. Formally, the grooves are all different in terms of chords,
tonalities, and tempos, but on the whole, it just feels like one very, very,
very long experience.
I was a little amused about ʽMasque 2ʼ, though —
for all I know, it seems to borrow its groove, with a few small modifications,
from the poppy Belew track ʽMan With An Open Heartʼ (just listen to that
bassline); no idea if that was intentional or not, but I like to think of this
particular improv as an exercise in creative deconstruction, and it does stand
out from the rest because of the relaxed, simple pop groove, contrasting with all
that other math-rock stuff. Other than that, well... just another day in the
life of the ProjeKcts.
I got my copy of 4CD's box of The ProjeKcts you are reviewing in June 2000 after King Crimson gig in Roma Theatre in Warsaw, Poland. It was too difficult music for 20 years old me in 2000, now I can listen to it endlesslesly finding all the intricate interplay between the musicians. I can absolutely recommend Heaven and Earth box set if only for the BluRay with around 10 hours of King Crimson improvising during their 2000 tour. Sounds like ProjeKcts exactly. To watch them create on spot and play this incredible music is an absolutely remarkable experience.
ReplyDeleteI know the ProjeKcts were essentially for King Crimson purposes and that there is no King Crimson without Fripp, but it would have been interesting/fun if they had done one of these without Fripp ... say with Levin, Bruford, Gunn and Belew.
ReplyDeleteThe Crimson ProjeKct
Deletehttps://www.insideoutmusic.com/artist.aspx?IdArtist=720
I once did a King Crimson project myself - that is without Fripp, Levin, Bruford, Belew and Pistol - only I've never recrded that (was a-capella project). So, to answer your question, yes, such projects are possible.
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