ProjeKct Four: West Coast Live

PROJEKCT FOUR: WEST COAST LIVE (1999)

1) Ghost (Part 1) 1–4; 2) Deception Of The Thrush; 3) Hindu Fizz; 4) ProjeKction; 5) Ghost (Part 2) 1–4.

General verdict: Good to have Levin back, but at this point the ProjeKcts have turned into a fairly predictable musical workshop.

ProjeKct Four, as befits the number, returns us to a quartet format: Fripp, Levin, Gunn, and Mastelotto. «West Coast» is self-explanatory; the album was compiled out of a couple of San Francisco shows from November 1998. The biggest difference from 2-3, as you can see, is the return of Levin, so you can expect the album to feature a lot of flashy bass playing, and it does. Gunn is restricted to touch guitar, Mastelotto plays electronic drums, and if there is any specific theme or mood to the album, it would probably be spooky / creepy — the bulk of it is occupied by the lengthy improvised suite ʽGhostʼ, a fairly suitable title.

With so many different ProjeKcts behind us already, there is really no single thing that would make this one particularly special. In places, it might be the heaviest-sounding of them all, just because of Levinʼs deep rumble, but I cannot seem to pick up anything that was not already present in some form on the previous albums. Still, it is a pleasure to see all those elements shape themselves in an arguably cohesive whole on the ʽGhostʼ suite, where Gunn, Levin, and Fripp seem to compete for whoever first produces a perfect impersonation of a disembodied spirit roaming out there in the aether. Ultimately, itʼs probably a tie between Gunn and Fripp in the fourth movement of the first part, where they conjure up some fairly mind-blowing howling in a friendly duet; but Levin holds his own with gruff, but melodic fusion-style parts in the relatively quiet and downkey third movement.

Curiously, there is another version of ʽDeception Of The Thrushʼ here, fairly similar to the one played by ProjeKct Two, but with a much more prominent bass presence (of course). ʽHindu Fizzʼ, as you would expect, introduces a slightly Eastern feel, though, to be honest, Frippʼs soloing here rather brings on associations with Near Eastern than Indian music. ʽProjeKctionʼ seems to be a fan favorite; it is arguably the most accessible of these tracks, with a fairly straight rock beat, a grungy attitude, and lots of old school psychedelic soloing that places it in the same category as the brutal rockers from 1973–74 and 1995–96 periods.

I do have to say that the addition of five more movements of ʽGhost (Part 2)ʼ seems rather superfluous to me — the second part just goes over the same territory, albeit much quicker, as if symbolizing that sooner or later, even mega-talented musicians get stuck in a rut if they let a good idea simmer and sizzle for much too long. Because, honestly, while all of the ProjeKcts sound great in general, sitting through the entire boxset from start to finish eventually makes it a chore. After all, this is just a kitchen of ideas, and as cool as it is to watch a great chef in action, thereʼs only so much time you can spare for slicing onions and chopping liver before amazement turns to routine boredom. So perhaps it is high time to return to the main course itself.