Fripp, Robert

Artist: Fayman + Fripp
P: 2000
The use of tape-loop sequences are somewhat less evident than on Fripp's earlier recordings, buried as they are in heavy keyboard washes. Titles like "Pillars of Hercules" and the title track, however, beautifully capture the mood of the piece.

The overall mood of this CD fits nicely with the Projekt catalog, and it is not hard to see why Fayman & Fripp went with Projekt instead of Fripp's regular outlets. No, this isn't No Pussyfooting II or Evening Star II, but it is an intense, layered CD that belongs in your collection if you like your ambient with a little touch of darkness.

Artist: Robert Fripp & Brian Eno
P: 2007
LTD 2 CD Edition
2CD Limited Edition offering different playing options. Music plays in segued (disc 1) or individual track form (disc2). The music - a collection of odds-and-ends - was originally released as The Cotswold Gnomes, a download-only collection released via Fripp's Discipline Global Music Live site. The only difference between the 2-CD set and The Cotswold Gnomes is this limited edition CD package comes with a second disc, which reprises the music in its entirety as a flowing piece, rather than a collection of single tracks, which is found on disc one.  Cross Crisis In Lust Storm is a sonic boom over the ambient landscape, with a powerful punch being delivered in Sneering Loop, Tripoli 2020, The Idea Of Decline and Hopeful Timean.
The music ultimately rises above the various controversies and shows - at least here - that the vault which contains unreleased material is full of gold. A majority of the material sounds as if it were recorded around the same time as 2004's "Equatorial Stars" while other pieces are most reminiscent of Eno's 1997 solo disc "The Drop". A big twist in the entire CD is the closing track "Cross Crisis In Lust Storm" which is dominated by harsh metallic drum beats and Fripp's buzzsaw industrial-like guitar leads.
Like their previous collaborations, Fripp and Eno's "Beyond Even" contains music that is way ahead of its time and continues to show the magic these two giants can bring when placed in the same room together.

Artist: Robert Fripp & Brian Eno
P: 2008
This is a work of sheer beauty. The title track is magnificant pastoral of a simple piano progression and Fripp's soaring guitar and is worth the price of admission. The 'second side' is the abstract 'Index of Metals' 20-odd minutes of layered guitar and synth loops under some of the most beautiful axe-work Mr. Fripp has unleashed. The soon-to-be-dubbed "Frippertronics" technique is shown here in all of it's glory, tape saturation and decay...missing in the digital technique adds texture and timbre.

Artist: Robert Fripp & Brian Eno
P: 2014
The subject of many poor quality bootlegs, this concert - one of only a handful undertaken by Fripp & Eno - is routinely described as legendary .
Hearing the tapes in fully restored audio quality, it's easy to understand why it attracts such reverence now and perhaps, why the shows attracted such hostility then. No Roxy Music hits, No King Crimson riffs, just a duo sitting in near darkness with a reel to reel tape recorder, improvising over the pre-recorded loops with a filmed background projection. Replace the reel to reel machine with a couple of laptops/iPads/sequencers and the core of much current live performance from electronica to hip-hop was there some thirty years in advance. At the time, audiences responded to such a glimpse of the future with booing, walkouts and general confusion.
Thanks to the discovery and restoration of the original backing tapes, it was possible - with much painstaking restoration work by Alex Mundy at DGM - to isolate, de-noise and match the live elements from the performance tapes to the studio loops to produce the final recording.
* CDs 1 & 2 feature the complete concert with full audio restoration synched with the original studio backing loops as used in the performance.
* CD3 features the backing loops without overdubs.
* CD3 also features the reversed loop for Wind on Water as used on the Evening Star album.
* CD3 also features Later On, edited from No Pussyfooting & originally the B-side of Eno's first solo single Seven Deadly Finns .

Artist: Robert Fripp & Brian Eno
P: 1973 / 2008
While music of this nature is now considered commonplace, back in 1973, it was quite a different story. When "No Pussyfooting" was initially released, critical reactions were quite mixed. Some didn't know what to think about an albums worth of sustained guitar lines looped through two tapes machines while others found the sounds embedded in the record grooves to be groundbreaking. Over time, the public slowly caught on to the innovative ideas heard in this album and it's now considered to be a timeless classic.
The original album contained two long tracks (one per side of the original LP). The opening track "The Heavenly Music Corporation" was recorded in August 1972 and consists soley of Robert Fripp's guitar being played through two Revox tape machines. The tape machines are manipulated by Brian Eno to create looped phrases and a massive wall of sound. The overall effect is beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Fripp would later perform similar music to this on his own coining the term "Frippertronics" to this guitar/loop technique.
The other track "Swastika Girls" was recorded one year later is more 'composed' in its over all structure. In addition to Robert Fripp's sustained lead guitar and frentic rhythmic guitar loops, Eno adds a busy synthesizer sequence to the music which repeats throughout the entire piece giving it somewhat of a base-structure.
After its initial release on CD in the early '90s, "No Pussyfooting" fell out-of-print and became a sought-after collectors item. Now in 2008, the album is available once again in its most definitive version - a remastered 2-CD edition that includes the complete original album plus the entire album played in reverse and a half-speed version of the opening track "The Heavenly Music Corporation". The reversed and half-speed versions of these tracks give the music a new dimension and offers a completely new listening perspective. While listening to the reversed version of the album, it's almost unnoticeable that the music is actually being played backwards. In fact, it almost sounds like alternate takes played forwards. As for the half-speed nearly 42-minute version of "The Heavenly Music Corporation", the music becomes a deep ambient drone and doesn't sound too different from today's artists who uses low drones as the basis for their music (think of the long-form drone works of Steve Roach or Robert Rich).
All in all, it's great to have this classic album available again. It has definitely been worth the wait. The music is as wonderful now as it was then and shows just how ahead their time Fripp and Eno were and still are. Without any hesitation, this newly remastered 2-disc edition of "No Pussyfooting" is HIGHLY recommended.

Artist: Robert Fripp & Brian Eno
P: 2004
Here's a wonderful new selection of seven mid-size (5-9 minute) tracks of very atmospheric guitar-synthesizer, sampled synth, who-knows-what-studio-wizardry. Fripp proves to be still a very formidable guitarist, playing meltingly beautiful solos over Eno's very advanced and gorgeous electronic backings. Two tracks have notably catchy backbeats, but the others are mostly airy-ambient cloud-musics of beautiful depth and range.

Artist: Robert Fripp
P: 1994
Robert Fripp's "1999" CD from 1994 was released during a time when the legendary guitarist was making a major comeback. King Crimson had returned after a decade-long absence and Fripp re-emerged with his first solo performances in almost as long. 1994 also marked the birth of Fripp's 'soundscaping' technique which was and still is an extension of his 'Frippertronic' experiments of the 1970's and '80's.
Instead of using two tape machines as had been the norm with 'Frippertronics', Soundscapes utilized digital technology and guitar-synthesizers to create and loop the endless mass of sound created by Fripp from his guitar. The idea was not a new one but the sound definitely was.
Unlike the later Soundscape albums which consist mostly of layered calm atmospheric sounds, "1999" mostly consists of giant crescendo-like pieces that begin from pure silence and slowly develop into harsh and sometimes abrasive frightening walls of sound. The opening two pieces (1999 and 2000) follow this manner and are quite unsettling and chilling. "2001" is a more calmer piece but still has the same principle as the first two tracks. "Interlude" is an edited piece from a longer performance and is quite experimental with its sounds which ping-pong between the speakers. Finally, to close the album, "2002" points the direction in which Fripp would eventually take his Soundscapes as it consists of beautiful ambient layered sounds.
"1999" has become somewhat difficult to find in recent years but if your a fan of King Crimson, Robert Fripp and Soundscapes, this CD is definitely a must. This was the beginning of a new Fripp trademark which continues to this day and displays him at his most experimental and most unpredictable.

Artist: Various Artists
P: 1996
This comes out of the house of Fripp, Eno, Budd, Laraaji and some more. With some new remixes.