September 2004 Archives

So my copy of the Crimson Chronicle arrived today. To recap, this is a 208-page softback book detailing the band King Crimson from its inception as Discipline to the recording of Three of a Perfect Pair.

So how to do you review a book made up of pictures? Hmmm...well there are lots and lots of pictures and they are of the band and band members so that's a good thing right? Anyway, some of these pics we've seen before in the Frame by Frame booklet or on the KCCC releases that cover this period. But there are an awful lot of new photos that I haven't seen, which is good.

Like you get to see more of the band during its initial rehearsal phase and if you are an equipment junkie, you get to see all their luvverly guitar equipment. The book follows the band chronologically and so you see them perform as Discipline, record the album and then play as King Crimson. OK - some of the shots are repetitive, because it's just four guys playing in a rock and roll band night after night, but if you are a fan-boy this will tickle your fancy no end.

The book is divided into sections and there are some captions with the photos but most often the images are presented as is with a separate caption list at the back of the book. This is a niggle because you have to keep turning to the back of the book to see where the photos were taken, but this is just a niggle on my part because I don't want to crease up my nice new book.

There are clever quotes at the beginning of each section and each band member even gets their own separate chapter. For the completist or those of you who didn't see the band during the 80s (like me) then this is a great purchase. If you don't get much from photo books like this then this ain't gonna float your boat either.

I was going to scan some of the pics but this seems like a defeatist action when I can send you to:

http://www.tonylevin.com/crimchron.htm

Because I was an early buyer Tony Levin even signed my copy, which means when I finally do hit the breadline, I'll recoup some of my losses on eBay. I jest, of course! Now what would be really nice is if someone would put together a similar photobook of the 1969-74, a bit like the YPG scrapbook but without all the words. That would make a lovely companion piece to this.

Anyway, I'll catch up with you all in 2024, by which time Tony Levin will have compiled volume two of this particular tome.

This arrived recently in the post and I have given it a spin. For those of you who aren't in the know (or have their heads stuck up their bottoms) this DVD brings together the two concerts from 1980s-era Crim that were originally featured on both "The Noise" and "Three of a Perfect Pair - Live in Japan" VHS releases.

Rather bizarrely, the two concerts are presented in reverse chronological order (just like EWO) so you access the 1984 concert in Japan before the 1982 concert in Frejus. Whatever. So anyway, I selected the 1984 concert and adjusted the sound mix to 5.1 sound and settled back to see what was new/different.

Lordy, lordy, lordy. It seems that ol' DGM have done it again. No 5.1 sound on this concert. In fact, the audio mix to me sounds like it is a MONO recording rather than a two-channel stereo one. Maybe, I need to get my ears syringed - though I will check this out with a pair of headphones later in the day.

The concert itself is a direct lift from the "Three of a Perfect Pair" VHS and I was a bit disappointed. When you buy a DVD of a product you previously own on a different format, you expect the DVD to supersede it. Well in this case, DGM decided to use the crappy version of that concert with all the naff 1980s digital video effects - so you get lots of pixellation and colour bleaches. Whoo-hoo! Where's my deely-boppers and my Rubik's cube? The laserdisc version I own of the same concert, cuts down on these digital effects and has the concert in the "correct order" (whereas it starts with No Warning and goes into Larks' III, rather than starting with that fucked up version of TOAPP). So I was a bit pissed with this. It seems I shall be going back to the superior, complete (where's Discipline, guys?), nice-looking, great-sounding, laserdisc copy.

Luckily, the 1982 live in Frejus performance fares better. OK - the video quality isn't that much better than my VHS copy but the boys at DGM have done a great job with the 5.1 sound mix, so you get a nice ripple from the audience in the background and the boys haven't sounded so good. So a big thumbs up there!

For extras, you get to see the promotional video for Sleepless. Big deal, we let you see that ages ago for nothing! And where's the video for Heartbeat? Too ashamed to put it on the disc, eh?

You also get a run-through of Tony Levin's on-the-road photos from the period with an audio performance of "Elephant Talk" in the background, which is er, nice. A discography from the period is also included, showing all the goodies you can buy from DGM. It's a shame that they didn't include a proper discog from the time with the single and 12-inch releases too, but I guess I am just being a King Crimson detail-whore.

So what do I think? For the uninitiated, this is not a bad DVD, but technically it is inferior to both Deja VROOOM (still one of the BEST rock music DVDs on the market) and the Eyes Wide Open package. There's no WOW factor in this release. It's all rather meat-and-potatoes, so there you go. This is a shame because there's usually always something on these DVDs releases that makes you go "Hey - no-one else has done that before" whether it be the "21st Century Schizoid Band Karaoke" on Deja VROOOM or the random improvs on the second disc of Eyes Wide Open. There's none of that cleverness here and that is a shame.

The fact that DGM crapped out on the 5.1 sound and didn't see fit to hunt down the superior concert footage that can be found on the Japanese laserdisc is a really minus point. It's makes the disc redundant for me, but I am a big, fat KC fanboy - so others might not necessarily see this as a problem. The Frejus footage is excellent and has always been a superior concert anyway, so no problem there.

Also, I hate the sleeve too. What a depressing, miserable piece of artwork from PJ Crook. Should have stuck to the primary colours guys...

Phew...that was a tiring week. And now I have reverse jetlag and now I feel awake when I should feel tired (instead of feeling tired when I should be awake). Aha!

Managed to get my booty through the green customs channel. That's one in the eye for the little guy, right? And so I am now the proud owner of a second-hand Fender Stratacoustic which I bought for a bargain price of $129 (which is about £70). The same guitar I saw in a shop in the UK for £270 - you go and do the math. My other purchase was for an FX pedal...the Boss RC-20XL which is a looping device that can hold up to 16 minutes of musical soup. This isn't currently available in the UK and was again bought for a bargain price thanks to the generous exchange rate. I haven't quite got to grips with it yet but it should be a fun toy to play with.

While I was away even more CDs have been flying off the shelves at CDBABY with "Sows' Ears" being a particular favourite. While it isn't enough for me to buy a Bentley (you can't even drive, you fool) it is heartening to know that complete strangers are giving my music a home and a chance. Hurrah! If only I could perform this stuff live...that particular bugbear keeps nagging me at the back of my mind. Live...live...live...if only I could.

Anyway, my very first independant review of "Sows' Ears & Silk Purses" goes like this.

Brian of Oregon says:

"At 4+ hours for $10, this thing is the ultimate bargain for enthusiasts of tasteful, intelligent electric guitar playing. It's all over the map stylistically, of varying but never terrible recording quality, and all quite pleasantly listenable with moments of brilliance."

This truly makes it all worthwhile. And, of course, you can grab your copy by paying a visit to...

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/darrenlock3

Each copy of this has been lovingly rubbed against my codlings before they were sealed into the box.

Shameless self-promoting son-of-a-bitch, ain't I?