Fripp announces King Crimson to return

this is exactly right. by all accounts, RF has been at odds with the industry since the moment he set foot in it--regardless of anyone's opinions of his beliefs, Robert is an extremely principled and dogmatic guy whose calling happened to place him in an industry known for being capricious and, frankly, unethical. it seems like he was first overwhelmed by these things sometime c. 1974 and it's been a constant back and forth for him since. the recent troubles with universal (selling rights they didn't own to the KC catalogue) are just the craziest and most recent installment of this business.

but don't take my word for it. for those who don't want to go look at pictures of Bill Rieflin nuzzling RF's pet rabbit:

tl;dr: RF had a musical/philosophical idea that presented itself to him as KC, for which there's historical precedent (this is how both 80s and 90s crimso came about). his ability to act on this, though, was bogged down by the intensity of his business disputes, and he was occupied by other projects. however, all of these things seem to be resolving, plus Toyah loves him, and it's financially viable, so let's go!

I am incredibly excited.

 

This should make people realize that what he says is never final. In '74, the expression used was something along the lines of King Crimson have "ceased to exist." They of course, reappeared in 1981. Then, there was a breakup in 1998 (or thereabouts). Another one occurred in 2004 with a few glimpses since then, including Fripp's informal retirement. The man remained musically active through most the time. So, this should teach us all never to totally count them or him out.

 

Newsflash (via someone on Progressive Ears who had his address and asked him: Wetton is NOT in the band.

 

http://www.dgmlive.com/news.htm?entry=4335

"The 8th incarnation of King Crimson will be Gavin Harrison, Bill Rieflin, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Mel Collins, Jakko Jakszyk and Robert Fripp."

 

Cool. Nice to see that Collins is aboard. Hopefully that means they will play some of the early-mid 70s material.

 

so this is the idea in question. I'm interested in seeing how they'll use a vocalist as support rather than front-and-center.

 

damn!... I was hoping the 3rd drummer would be Ringo...

 

Awesome! Can't say I saw that one coming...

 

DGM servers must be overloaded now. Can't access the site from here.

 

http://www.dgmlive.com/diaries.htm?entry=24091

I thought I'd never see the day.

 

3 drummers and it looks like T Lev could be interesting !!!

I'll go with triple duo nice

 

Bill Rieflin, good choice. He's a very nice guy and a great drummer.

 

The diary entry is from September 6th. I assume there is a delay in the entry making it online if we're only hearing about this today.

 

He did an excellent job on The Repercussions of Angelic Behavior with Fripp/Gunn. Better than some of the Projekcts. Still, it's going to be crowded in the back. Pat Mastelloto (just seen him w/ Stickmen over the summer) adds a lot of electronica, and Gavin Harrison is one of top rock drummers in the world at the moment.

 

Rieflin was the best part of "classic" Ministry. His album Birth Of A Giant (with Fripp and Gunn) was better than all the ProjeKcts in my opinion.

Not sure if it matters, but Rieflin also plays guitar and bass.

 

Excuse my excitement, but I checked Fripp's diary entry from the day before and he was already dropping hints:

10.04

Bredonborough.

A sleepless night. When significant decisions are taken, and likely-repercussions reach back and wave – well, I have had sleepless nights of this kind before.


And later:

Into the Cellar for an important call to T Lev. According to Tony, the call made his day, week and year.

 

And was part of Fripp's Crafty Guitar orchestra this year.

 

I hope they (he) will spare us any undue nostalgia. However, if they'd like to give Larks' I a spin...

I hope they (he) let(s) the other shoe drop and go strictly instrumental. I guess Levin and Jakszyk can sing some, but either is a full step behind Belew vocally, and three steps lyrically.

I do like the idea of a significant lineup change, but hope it means significantly fresh composition.

Wonder what Ade's thinking about all this...

 

Isn't Birth of a Giant somewhat hard to come by?

 

Mel Collins. Shall we get the free jazz skronk of Earthbound or the velvet smoothness of A Scarcity of Miracles? I'm dying to hear it.

 

Earlier this year when Adrian was planning to tour with Nine Inch Nails, I recall reading a quote where he told Fripp that this would be a good time to reform KC without him. Perhaps Belew leaving NIN changed this, or perhaps not.

 

I'm very excited. I was getting tired of Belew myself. The new changes meant new styles and singers. I'm totally cool with Jakko taking over on vocals. I wonder what John Wetton was doing there when several of them met not too long ago?

 

Good guess!

 

I sort of got off the King Crimson train after Thrak, but I have to say...this is pretty interesting news. Definitely glad to hear that they are rebooting and I will be keeping an eye on this one! Though I think it's too bad Belew isn't involved.

 

If this isn't the album cover art, they're missing a golden opportunity.

The stuff of nightmares...