You Are Allowed to Enjoy This...

So how do you review a soundscapes album? Hmmm...it's a bit like putting the various shades of the colour blue in order of preference. Why? Well for those who aren't familiar with the "soundscape" genre, these are records that are abstract and of the variety "ambient". The technique is easy. The player, using various devices, plays a note or chord and this chord goes into a gizmo that makes it repeat at various intervals. Subsequent sounds can be added or subtracted or solo'd over this wash of sound. So basically, it's a bit like repeating yourself over and over again until patterns emerge.

Anyway, Robert Fripp has been doing this for years, firstly with his Frippertronics albums, which used two tape recorders to do the work of overlaying the various guitar swashes. The soundscapes albums which began to appear in the mid-1990s, use electronic methods to create the same effect. Anyway, this album is the latest in a long-line of "soundscape" albums and it is the first release in a number of years and eagerly awaited by fans of Fripp and this kind of music. The live performances are taken from 1983, 1995, 2000 and 2005 and a number of different locations, including Canada - so it spans time and space.

What's it like? Well, it is a record of two halves. The three performances taken from Fripp's recent "Words and Music" tour are very good and "Affirmation: New York" is so powerful that while I was listening on headphones, I could actually feel my heartbeat increase and my chest tighten. "On My Mother's Birthday" is spoilt for me by Fripp's fascination with the discordant and "Easter Sunday" is also ruined by his application of overdubbed acoustic guitars over, what is, a very competent and essential Frippertronics piece. I don't particularly like this and the acoustic guitar sit out of place with the great electric guitar solo which features so prominently.

Normally, I either love or hate Fripp's soundscapes albums. For example, I love "Blessing of Tears" and "Gates of Paradise", but I'm not a fan of his experimental and often ugly "1999 - Live in Argentina" and "Radiophonics" albums, whereas this one, I'm kind of in the middle with it, stuck on the fence. It's not bad, but I am not sure about the acoustic guitar or the electro-Fripp voice speaking the words of "Love Cannot Bear", which are high in the mix, distracting and sound like a castrated Dalek. Adding the voice to the soundscapes is a brave move, but I am not sure if it adds or detracts from the music. I guess it all depends whether or not you like castrated Daleks.

Mind you, the album serves its purpose well when listening to it in a hot, soapy bath...and that's got to be a good thing, no?