Radiophonics: 1995 Soundscapes 1 Live in Argentina [Live]

Robert Fripp | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 28, 1996)
• Original Release Date: May 28, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Discipline Us
• ASIN: B000005ONQ
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,559 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Radiophonic I

2. Radiophonic II

3. Buenos Aires Suite: I Atmosphere

4. Buenos Aires Suite: II Elegy (For Mothers and Children)

5. Buenos Aires Suite: III Streets

6. Buenos Aires Suite: IV Sky

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mea Culpa, June 3, 2003

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Radiophonics: 1995 Soundscapes 1 Live in Argentina (Audio CD)

A looooong while back I wrote a two-star review for this batch of white noise, complaining how difficult a listen it was. Well, mea culpa - it's still a difficult listen, but with a different perspective I'm giving almost four stars now (rounded off because we're still limited to mere integers). How come? I rated it before for the wrong reasons. One of Fripp's most common sayings is "expectation is a prison," and I slagged Radiophonics largely because I'd wanted it to be something different. It takes some adjustment for anyone to accept the sound of Soundscapes on its own terms; Robert loops and repeats layers of hazy tones and synth noises, gradually building more and more layers of ether as the older ones fade away (it's almost a shock to hear the recognizable sound of a guitar when "Sky" kicks in near the end). It's atmosphere without melody. It sounds aimless and unstructured, even for ambient music. At times it is harsh and almost physically irritating. And incidentally, it's all improvised live with no overdubs. I wonder what his audiences in Argentina must have thought of this stuff.

Part of my initial problem came not only because these tracks aren't easily accessible or recognizably musical, but also because they don't serve as easy-to-ignore background music or aural wallpaper like most other ambient work. It's not anything that sticks in your head, or that you can hum along to - and even if you tried, the result would sound vastly different from the Soundscape itself. It's like listening to three different Brian Eno albums all at once, where they don't seem to match up. And it does occasionally dive headfirst into unlistenable chaos, as on "Streets" and the last few minutes of "Radiophonic II." During those sections Robert stirs the hazy clouds into a full-fledged tornado, whipping past each other and crazily panning between the left and right channels in a cacophonous frenzy. It's like being sucked into some bizarre vortex where your brain is bombarded with too much information to handle. But thankfully that's only a small fraction of the disc.

Though Radiophonics is an extraordinary listening experience (not to mention different from anything else I've heard, even in the ambient realm), it's still humbled by the sheer perfection of its successor A Blessing of Tears. If you're still curious about how this kind of music has been described on this page - Michael Lopez's review below is particularly eloquent - then you'll be well served by ABoT or November Suite (if you can still find it). This disc isn't the best introduction, but those already familiar with Robert's 'Scapes will discover a whole new world of sound; occasonally jarring, sometimes difficult, but inexplicably fascinating all the same.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let's call it post -post-ambient, June 30, 2002

By 

G. C. Todd "GCT" (Memphis) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Radiophonics: 1995 Soundscapes 1 Live in Argentina (Audio CD)

5 stars for fearlessness on RF's part, but it's really impossible to rate. He is a very strange bird indeed; but that's a good thing. This is really an electronic sound collage produced live. Not an easy "listen", but can be enjoyed passively while reading, etc. The early ambient works explored by Eno and Fripp (and to a degree, Bowie) were initially greeted with extreme hostility. Some of the reviews here could be verbatim mid-70's reaction to the aforementioned works. Later these influential works spawned the latter day ambient, which, of course, devolved into "new age" music. Anyone who is interested in the original ambient works and enjoys the experimental works of any of the above artists will enjoy the Soundscapes of Robert Fripp.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Engaging ambient, April 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Radiophonics: 1995 Soundscapes 1 Live in Argentina (Audio CD)

This CD is really in two parts - there are the two "Radiophonics" Soundscapes, and then the "Buenos Aires Suite" the latter is simpler and more expressive, but frankly fails to really grab me. The former however, are two of the most interesting recorded Soundscapes to date, with Fripp in an exploratory mode.

People who liked "Blessing of Tears" may be a bit disappointed in this recording - it's not as intensely emotional, nor it is burdened with the eschatological program that Soundscapes often are ("That Which Passes," "Gates of Paradise").

Still some of the best Space Music around.