GOD SAVE THE QUEEN / UNDER HEAVY MANNERS

I bought a copy of this album shortly after its release and for the first time in my young life as a record buyer I returned it straight after listening to the record shop to exchange it for another title. I was sixteen, into all things King Crimson (70s), Gabriel, Genesis, Yes etc. and just didn't get what I just heard. About ten years later, having enjoyed Crimsons 80s re-incarnation and expanding my listening habits with ambient and experimental music I found another copy, gave it a second try and lo and behold, now the whole frippertronics thing made sense. Side One consists purely of single guitar note loops, fading in and out of each other. There are no other 'gimmicks' to distract the listener and all the tracks were, to my knowledge recorded live. It is a mystical, almost religious listening experience, which could be compared to Paul Horn's superb recordings in the Taj Mahal. Side Two shows the other 'face' of frippertronics, recorded with the help of 'The League of Gentlemen' and a quite manic David Byrne on 'Under heavy Manners', who stutters all sorts of words ending in '-isms' on top of a carpet of a monoton guitars and drum rhythm. After a sudden halt and more melodic Byrne one-line solo the band continue on their own with the same repetitive motif. At first listening you will hardly notice the changes, but slowly the loops take over again and the rhythm section fades in what sounds like electronic waves crashing on an neon beach. This is hardly easy listening or prog for that matter, but it's still an essential purchase for Fripp/Crimson fans, as it predates and is wholly influential on both the Soundscape series and KC's Discipline/Beat/TOAPP releases. Unfortunately I believe that vinyl copies are hard to find and there is no CD re-release, apart from a chopped-up version on the 'Let the power fall' album. This title is far superior though.