Septober Energy [Original recording remastered, Import]

Centipede | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 3, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: Bgo - Beat Goes on
• ASIN: B00003GPKE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #328,804 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Septober Energy, Pt. 1

2. Septober Energy, Pt. 2

Disc: 2

1. Septober Energy, Pt. 3

2. Septober Energy, Pt. 4

Editorial Reviews

Legendary Collaboration Between Soft Machine, Henry Cow and King Crimson Members, all under the Watchful Gaze of Keith Tippett.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Modern Jazz Meets Neo-Classicism, May 27, 2000

By 

JOHN SPOKUS (BALTIMORE, MARYLAND United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Septober Energy (Audio CD)

Produced by Robert Fripp, and written by Keith Tippet, who played piano on several Crimson albums and featuring members of Soft Machine, Henry Cow, and ELO; this one can be a tough listen unless your really into noisey modern composition. Some great moments, good solos (except the guitar, why didn't Fripp, or Frith for that matter play ?). A little like Phillip Glass in places. Overall sound is closer to HC and SM than KC'S Lizard and Islands eras which some have compared it to. As you've probably noticed there is more than one pressing of this available. The one I've listened to is a two disc version that sounds like it was recorded off a vinyl album,as you can hear some surface noise in the background. I understand that the shorter version may have come from a better source.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed, But At Least He Tried, March 3, 2001

By 

Mark Carlin (Oxford, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Septober Energy (Audio CD)

Centipede were a kind of early '70s free jazz/prog rock Band Aid. The then wunderkind pianist Keith Tippett assembled as broad a church of musicians as any you could find outside of "Escalator Over The Hill" - rock is represented by members of Soft Machine, King Crimson, Blossom Toes and Patto; Brit fusion pioneers Nucleus are here almost in their entirety; a vast gallimaufry of musicians at the then cutting edge of Brit jazz, including the crucial South African contingent; old mates from his hometown of Bristol; and even a scratch string section of students at the Royal College of Music. Inevitably, with 55 musicians in the band (plus 2 apologies for absence in the sleevenotes!) Tippett did bite off more than he could chew. The music is a not entirely successful mix of R&B, Sun Ra and Penderecki, and rather than working as a unified piece of music, "Septober Energy" tends towards a series of interesting bits not particularly linked very well. The highlight is the long finale "Part 4," a kind of avant-"Hey Jude" where Elton Dean's saxello wails over the orchestral swell before everyone goes into a free-form scrum. The glaring omission, of course, is producer Robert Fripp, who was supposed to play guitar on the sessions but was somewhat overwhelmed by the difficulties in recording which the huge line-up presented (saxophonist Larry Stabbins later recalled that everyone had to queue up outside the studio before they could go in and do their bit). When playing live, soundchecks were known to take up to eight hours. Blossom Toes man Brian Godding was therefore left with the unenviable job of sole guitarist and doesn't quite fill all the gaps. Another problem is that three drummers are at least one too many - Robert Wyatt and John Marshall would have been enough in themselves, but Tony Fennell (who doesn't seem to have been heard of before or since) simply clutters the rhythm up. Worth investigating, though - there are some glorious episodes of music within, and the free-form riffing in the second section of "Part 3" may be of interest to fans of Radiohead's "National Anthem" who wish to join some dots.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Centipede - a band amongst, July 3, 2010

By 

Zane Trow - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Septober Energy (Audio CD)

I had the great fortune to see the live rendition of this work, an outstanding sonic and visual experience burned into memory. Simply, "the" collection of "the musicians" working in the avant of rock and of jazz, at the time, in the UK. Held together with compositional flare and monumentally good piano playing and singing. Nothing touches this work yet, nothing has emerged from the UK since that has even attempted to to walk the same ground.