45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If I could only own one KC recording, this is it!, April 23, 2000
This review is from: Projekcts (Audio CD)
"The Projekcts" is the result of the "fractalization" of the double trio that consituted the most recent version of King Crimson (on 1994's THRAK). The group was divided into four seperate sub-groups (either a trio or quartet), with each of these Projekcts being represented in this box set with their own individual CD. The result is almost 4 hours of the most entertaining, original, and challenging music the group has ever produced.
Projekct One opens the set with "Live at the Jazz Cafe." Of all four Projekcts, this line-up of Robert Fripp, Tony Levin, Trey Gunn and Bill Bruford offer up the closest thing to a traditional Crimson sound here. Bruford dominates the arragements, and his presence underpins a jazzy, "SaBB/Red" feel.
Of all the sub-groups, Projekct Two toured most extensively. The interplay of Fripp's soundscapes and Gunn's touch guitar of "Live Groove" demand much of Adrian Belew's relative inexperience on V-drums. For the most part, Adrian delivers. A strong effort, despite the ridiculous "camera banter" at the disc's end.
All questions regarding the contemporary relevance of a 30 year old prog-rock band are laid to rest by the time Projekct Three's "Masque" receives its first play. Pat Mastelotto's electronic rythyms sound more akin to Mick Harris' Scorn than to anything previously heard from the band that gave the world "Moonchild." Gunn and Fripp slip seemlessly through one improv after another- at times it is impossible to tell precisely who is making what sound, and exactly how the two are able to anticipate each others' intentions so accurately. Absolutely breath-taking.
Projekct Four's "West Coast Live" picks up where "Masque" leaves off. The Gunn/Fripp/Mastelotto trio is rounded off to a quartet with the edition of Tony Levin on bass. Levin adds a deep-ended, almost funky feel to Mastelotto's ferocious electronics, and Gunn and Fripp respond yet again with some of their best playing on record to date. Perfect.
You will not be disappointed should you choose to purchase this remarkable set of recordings. Do NOT make the mistake of buying the single CD Projekcts sampler. You will only want to go out and buy the whole box set afterwards, anyway. The considerable bulk of "The Projekcts" box set is offset by its more-than-reasonable price. Learn from the mistakes of those who adopted a "wait & see" attitude about purchasing "The Great Deceiver," and who consequentially missed out entirely on that great set of live performances!
Hearing "The Projekcts" about 15 years after I had first written off King Crimson as "Art Rock Dinosaurs," I am reminded of just how much of a narrow-minded, snot-nosed, know-nothing punk I had to be in order to make such a grevious mis-calculation. In their 50's, King Crimson is making music that is more refreshingly original and uncompromising than any of that Indie/Alternative garbage those Corporate Music Types would have you believe is "innovative."
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning, restless, challenging & invigorating., December 18, 1999
This review is from: Projekcts (Audio CD)
The reviews below cover it pretty well--this is wild, daring instrumental music that really pushes the envelope. It's my favorite music of 1999. The four discs cover a wide range of sounds:
Projekct 1 is largely defined by its rhythm section--Bill Bruford's acoustic drums and Tony Levin's aggressive bass--and is a heavy, dense, churning affair. Projekct 2 is spacier and flightier--Adrian Belew's electronic drums are loose and thin, and Fripp and Gunn fly around to create an airier sound. Projekct 3 may be the best indication of Crimson yet to come, as it is the current lineup minus only Belew. It's a tight, muscular sound largely driven by Pat Mastelotto's hyperspeed electronic drums. More familiar with Bruford's sound, I was skeptical of this approach before hearing the disc, but it works great and is very powerful. For me, Projekct 4 is where it really all comes together--it's the Projekct 3 lineup plus Tony Levin, and he adds a great deal of 'oomph' to the low end, resulting in some incredibly intense music.
If you have a taste for the 90s King Crimson, or just want some extremely progressive and forward-thinking music, then I'd consider this essential listening.
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
challenging but worth it, October 29, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Projekcts (Audio CD)
Now that King Crimson has fractalize to borrow from their promotional material fans get a chance to hear the various incarnations of the latest double trio configuration. On The ProjeKcts 4 disk set each disk is dedicated to a ProjeKct. Each projeKct has Robert Fripp at the helm with the only minor disappointment being Adrian Belew playing e-drums (an instrument he is very adept at) rather than in a guitarists role. Beyond that you can hear variations on the full band in three and four piece lineups that vary per disk. Musically this is almost all improvisation but it is often not the ferocious style of Thrakattack or earlier live perfomances. There is more space and spacy sounds on each of the ProjeKcts. Every performance is excellent with good recording and spatial depth, this is important as the fractalized KC goes in a more electronic direction than some fans may be used to. Use of programmed ryhthms are frequent. Intensity is there, this couldn't be a KC project without it, but this is very focused improvising that doen't focus on skill. It's there but the idea here is the music and groove- yes groove but don't let that frighten you, it's not techno, or if there's a new obsucre genre then someone mention it so I can check out more music like this. It is very clear that the fractalized bands have purpose behind their improvisations and that is what makes The ProjeKcts Album worth buying. We are getting a glimpse at 21st Century Crimson and it something to look forward to. NOTE, the one disk version is a sampler of sorts and as such very incomplete in terms of flow of content. I heard the single CD and did not enjoy it as much the material was out of context as is to be expected on a compilation.
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