4th BPB Poll results

 

The fourth BPB poll was one I was looking forward to running for a long time...reader's favourite King Crimson album.  KC is a band that means so very much to me, as anyone who knows me closely can attest.  Even though I (grumble grumble stupidbloodycarin2003grrhate) never got to see the band live in concert, I've probably listened to more King Crimson than any other band (if you add in all the concert recordings I've been lucky enough to acquire over the years).

Usually with polls I have some preconceived notions how they'll go.  Much the same is true here...I had a feeling the top albums would be Red and In the Court, and I was not at all mistaken.  Until the final day, the two were tied for total votes...and they nearly ended up tied too.

There were some surprises though.

I expected Discipline to end up polling higher.  4th isn't a disappointment, but I figured for sure it'd have come in above Larks.  The other huge surprise for me was how low The Power to Believe came in.  I know a lot of people who find that album to be a modern KC classic, so to finish with only 3 votes out of over 200 cast was a complete shock to me.

In any event...213 votes total, which I believe is tops for a poll on this site to date.

And a new poll to follow this weekend...be ready!


Red  50 (23%)
In the Court of the Crimson King  49 (23%)
Larks Tongues in Aspic  29 (13%)
Discipline  24 (11%)
Lizard  17 (7%)
Islands  12 (5%)
Starless and Bible Black  12 (5%)
Three of a Perfect Pair  5 (2%)
THRaK  5 (2%)
In the Wake of Poseidon  3 (1%)
The Power to Believe  3 (1%)
The ConstruKCtion of Light  2 (0%)
Beat  2 (0%)



Votes : 213
Closed 2 October 2010 11:59 PM
Poll Length: 14 days

King Crimson 40th reissues: In the Wake of Poseidon/Islands bonus tracks

As a follow up to THIS POST, here are the details for the bonus tracks on the forthcoming King Crimson reissues for In the Wake of Poseidon and Islands.


(On a side note, Islands happens to be one of my 2 King Crimson albums ever, so I am very stoked for it!)

In The Wake of Poseidon:

CD
11. Groon
12. Peace: An End - Alternate mix
13. Cadence & Cascade (Greg Lake guide vocal version)

DVD
1. Cat Food (single version)
2. Groon (single b-side)
3. Cadence & Cascade (unedited master)
4. Cadence & Cascade (Greg Lake guide vocal version)
5. Cadence & Cascade (instrumental take from Wessex Studios)
6. Groon - Take 1
7. Groon - Take 5
8. Groon - Take 15
9. The Devil's Triangle (rehearsal version from Wessex Studios)
10. Peace: An End (alternative mix)

Islands :

CD
7. Islands (studio run through with oboe prominent)
8. Formentera Lady (original recording sessions - take 2)
9. Sailor's Tale (original recording sessions - alternate mix/edit)
10. A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls (previously unreleased)
11. The Letters (rehearsal/outtake)
12. Ladies of the Road (Robert Fripp & David Singleton remix)

DVD
Islands: Alternative album:

1. Formentera Lady - Original recording sessions - take 2
2. Sailor's Tale - Original recording sessions - alternate mix/edit
3. The Letters - Rehearsal/outtake
4. Ladies of the Road - Rough mix
5. A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls - Previously unreleased
6. Islands - Studio run through with oboe prominent

1-3 & 5 mxed by Steven Wilson from the original session reels.

Routes to Islands:

1. Pictures of a City - Early rehearsal by Islands lineup
2. Sailor's Tale - Early rehearsal by Islands lineup
3. Islands (fragment) - Robert Fripp reference cassette - mellotron on vibes setting
4. Formentera Lady - Rough mix from album recording sessions
5. Sailor's Tale - Rough mix from album recording sessions
6. Drop In - Early rehearsal by Islands lineup
7. The Letters - Live at Plymouth, mastered by David Singleton
8. Sailor's Tale - Live at the Zoom Club, mastered by David Singleton

Islands: Additional tracks: Assorted Ladies:

1. Ladies of the Road - Robert Fripp & David Singleton remix
2. Ladies of the Road - Original recording sessions - take 5
3. Formentera Lady - Original recording sessions - take 1
4. Formentera Lady - Original recording sessions - take 3
5. Formentera Lady - Original recording sessions - take 4

2 - 5 mixed by Steven Wilson from the original session reels.

King Crimson: Islands and Poseidon reissue details

Scheduled for release on October 1st

In the Wake of Poseidon notes:

Featuring new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes (by Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp), Sid Smith sleeve notes and extra tracks (including Greg Lake's guide vocal rendition of Cadence And Cascade), this is a definitive edition of a classic album.

This edition presents a near complete new stereo mix by Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp. As tape for one track, The Devil's Triangle, could not be located, the original stereo is included to maintain the original running order.

The CD also includes a new mix of Groon (Cat Food's b-side) a newly mixed alternate take of Peace: An Ending and the first CD appearance of Greg Lake's guide vocal take of the beautiful ballad Cadence and Cascade.

The DVD-A features a 5.1 mix by Steven Wilson, with Devil's Triangle up-mixed to 5.1 by Simon Heyworth, hi-res stereo versions of the 30th anniversary stereo master, the 2010 album mixes and ten hi-res bonus tracks including the original single a & b side Cat Food/Groon, the bonus tracks from the CD and a number of other session takes, rehearsals and mixes.


Islands notes:

Featuring new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes (by Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp), Sid Smith sleeve notes and copious extra tracks and alternate versions, this is a definitive edition of a frequently beautiful and sometimes unfairly overlooked part of King Crimson's always intriguing back catalogue.

The CD/DVD-A package assembled as the fifth in the series of 40th anniversary releases provides that much bigger picture. The CD presents a complete stereo remix by Steven Wilson & Robert Fripp alongside a group of additional tracks representing a near complete alternate album of studio takes, run-throughs and mixes.

The DVD-A presents a complete 5.1 surround sound mix by Steven Wilson, a hi-res stereo version of the 2010 mix, a hi-res stereo version of the original album mix taken from the 30th anniversary master source and almost 90 minutes of additional material, the vast majority of it previously unreleased, including many studio takes mixed from the original recording sessions specifically for this release. The material covers everything from early rehearsals of Pictures of a City (one of the final new songs performed by the 1969 lineup) to the previously unheard A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls (showcasing early ideas & elements that would appear in fully realised form on later KC albums), a fragment of Fripp playing the tune of Islands on a mellotron, a blistering live Sailor's Tale from the Zoom Club & much more, making this an essential release for King Crimson fans

More details:
http://dgmlive.com/news.htm?entry=3073

Pre-order:
http://www.burningshed.com/store/kingcrimson/
https://www.dgmlive.com/shop/

The last NEARfest 2010 post: the haul...

Obligatory swag:
NF t-shirt
NF program
NF pint glass

Not so obligatory swag:
Frogg Cafe t-shirt (came with the CD below)

CDs:
Frogg Cafe - Bateless Edge
The Enid - Journey's End
The Enid - Arise and Shine
King Crimson - Lizard 40th Anniversary Edition
Cabezas De Cera - CDC Live USA CD/DVD
Strawbs - Dancing to the Devil's Beat
Strawbs - The Broken-Hearted Bride
Strawbs - Live at NEARfest 2004
Deluge Grander - The Form of the Good
RPWL: The Gentle Art of Music
Birds and Buildings - Bantam to Behemoth
Renaissance - In the Land of the Rising Sun: Live in Japan 2001
The Tangent - Going off on One 2CD/DVD Limited Edition
IQ: Stage: Dark Matter Live in America and Germany 2005 DVD
The Enid: Something Wicked This Way Comes: Live at Claret Hall Farm and Stonehenge 1984 DVD

King Crimson 5.1 mixes due soon

(Thanks to Luis T. on PMS for bringing this to my attention)

As posted to Steven Wilson's webpage on 17 March:

"King Crimson's label DGM have announced that they will start to release Steven's 5.1 surround sound mixes of the King Crimson back catalogue in June, with "Lizard" and "Red", followed by a special 40th anniversary edition of "In the Court of the Crimson King" in October. Where appropriate new stereo mixes and out-takes / alternates have also been mixed, although we don't know yet if DGM will approve these for release as part of the new editions."

Steven did the surround mixes for the albums at his studios over the past not sure I remember how many months. Robert Fripp has had a good bit to say about this project in his diaries on DGM Live.

Certainly something interesting to look forward to.

Some thoughts on boxed sets...

A few days ago I posted a review of the new Ayreon boxed set, Timeline. It got me to thinking about boxed sets in general. A bunch of progressive rock bands have released (in some cases, several) boxed sets, with varying degrees of success.

What do I mean by success?

That can be measured in so many ways. Certainly commercial sales is one way, but come on…this is prog. More importantly are artistic degrees of success and content. A label can repackage an artist’s catalogue, but if the artist him (or her) self is involved, the results are often superior. Related to that would be the contents of the set…is it a simple collection of previously released material, or is it filled up with interesting stuff that we may never have heard before?

The following is a smattering of boxed sets that I’ve found to offer very good value for one reason or another.


King Crimson – Epitaph, The Great Deceiver. Sure, they released one of the better career retrospective boxed sets in Frame by Frame. But save for the fourth disc of live material and a few curious edits (re-recording vocals and bass on "Cadence and Cascade" and "Bolero" respectively, among others), FxF doesn’t offer a huge amount to the hardcore Crimhead. Better to look at Epitaph, a 4-CD set of material from the first incarnation of the band (including some awesome BBC session stuff), or The Great Deceiver, 4 discs of concert material from 1973-1974. Both are well nigh essential…the first really allowed people to re-evaluate the first band and what they were capable of, while the second showed the 1973-1974 band for what they were…perhaps the first progressive metal band, and one who could jam as well. Awesome stuff all the way around.

Genesis – Archive 1968-1975. Full Lamb Lies Down concert? Check. Another disc of live material from the Selling England period, along with some hard to find B-sides? Sure, why not? An entire disc of material from the Genesis to Revelations era? Well…interesting, to be certain. It’s a shame the band didn’t visit this idea for the second boxed set (1976-1992)…if they had, I’d recommend both. Add in some excellent liner notes and recollections from all parties involved, and I am more than willing to overlook the re-recorded bits (yes, it was hard to mic Gabriel when he was in the Slipperman costume, but…). Now, all we need to find is a previously unknown high quality professionally filmed Lamb show and release it on DVD…that sound you hear is the sound of 500,000 devoted Genesis fans combusting spontaneously in thought…

Magma – Trilogie au Triannon. It’s tempting to say you need no more Magma than this. This is the essence…the first trilogy from Christian Vander and his Kobaian band mates. MDK, Wurdah Itah, Theusz Hamtaakh…Orff-ian, minimalistic, orchestral, intense. You get lyrics! You can sing along! It sounds like I making fun of this, but…I’m not. Magma is one of my favourite bands ever, and this boxed set is one of the best ways to discover what this underrated band has to offer. Not many groups can claim to have created a whole genre of music…Magma did just that. Essential. Essential in extremis.

Frank Zappa – The MOFO Project/Object. Zappa’s had a bunch of things that could be considered a boxed set. Lather is one, one might consider the YCDTOSA series as one, especially if you have the road case to put the volumes in. But that one was released in 6 individual releases, while Lather is more a repackaging than anything else. MOFO is…more. Yes, you have the original Freak Out! Album, but it’s a mix no one has heard in almost ever. Plus loads of studio sessions, outtakes, interviews…it gives the listener a great look into Zappa in 1966, the Mothers of Invention at their early onset, and it smokes to boot. I am not too keen on the packaging (the plastic seems to stick a little bit), but it’s an impressive looking thing, to be sure. And the music matches it.

Echolyn – A Little Nonsense. Yes, I wish the debut release were in print by itself. Same with …and every blossom, or When the Sweet Turns Sour. But we get all of them here, along with some remakes of older songs, some outtakes, and so on. 3 discs, a bugger of a package (yes, it looks all nice, but the discs can be a beast to get out carefully), and a nice booklet that offers up some historical background to the music in hand. If you’ve got everything else the band released and are missing these, get the box. It’s less expensive by far than trying to dredge up an original pressing of the debut, which at one point was selling for $200 or more.

Renaissance – Da Capo. A bit slight at only 2 CDs, this set is, however, what the old Sire released Tales of 1001 Nights dreamed it could be. More inclusive by far, it covers the old Keith Relf era of the band up through unreleased material from the Time Line/Camera Camera era band. The booklet is informative, there’s some great photos of the band from throughout the life of the group, and over all, it’s the best package a Renaissance fan has right now. It serves as a great intro to the band for those unfamiliar with their glorious classically influenced progressive rock. And really…you can never have too much Annie Haslam.

Emerson Lake and Palmer – Where do I go here? I don’t have the most recently released boxed set, so I am limited to looking at The Return of the Manticore and the 3 Bootleg Boxes. The original 4 CD boxed set really only offered up one disc of interest to hardcore fans…the first, with some reworkings of songs from each band member’s past (i.e., a Crimson cover, a Nice cover, an Arthur Brown cover), as well as a reworking of Pictures at an Exhibition. There’s a few previously unreleased live tracks tossed in to spice things up, but overall, this is pretty much a career retrospective and not much more. The bootleg boxes are illuminating, and occasionally offer up some great sounding live recordings (the pair from 1992 and 1993 specifically), but in the end they are for absolute die hard fans only, the ones who can handle listening to a recording that is muffled or imperfect in order to hear the band taking risks.

I have a hard time with Yes. All I really have is the old YesYears set. I do not have In a Word, nor do I have The Word is Live. So I can’t recommend either of those. And YesYears…out of print, out of date (only covers up to Union), and some curious selections in tracks. Not a lot of unreleased goodies either…and very unessential now that Rhino has repackaged and re-released all the original studio albums with a plethora of bonus tracks and stuff.


I'll probably revisit this subject in a few days as well, once I've had a chance to mull over a few other boxed sets and artists...watch this space!

21st Century Schizoid Quintet

End of May 2008 gnosis2000 top 20

Been a while since I posted this, but...here's the current top 20 rated albums from the gnosis2000 rating site (covering prog/art rock/fusion/jazz/et cetera):

1) Banco del Mutuo Soccorso Darwin! Ita
2) King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King Eng
3) King Crimson Larks Tongues In Aspic Eng
4) Genesis Selling England By The Pound Eng
5) Premiata Forneria Marconi Per Un Amico Ita
6) Änglagård Hybris Swe
7) Banco del Mutuo Soccorso Io Sono Nato Libero Ita
8) Hatfield and The North Rotter's Club Eng
9) Genesis Foxtrot Eng
10) National Health Of Queues And Cures Eng

11) Yes Close to the Edge Eng
12) Hatfield and The North Hatfield and The North Eng
13) Coltrane, John The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings (box) USA
14) Van der Graaf Generator Pawn Hearts Eng
15) Gentle Giant In A Glass House Eng
16) Premiata Forneria Marconi Storia Di Un Minuto Ita
17) Banco del Mutuo Soccorso Banco del Mutuo Soccorso Ita
18) Jethro Tull Thick as a Brick Eng
19) Davis, Miles Kind of Blue USA
20) Magma Hhai/Live Fra

When I last posted (February 2008), the following were the top 10:

1) King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King Eng 1969
2) Banco del Mutuo Soccorso Darwin! Ita 1972
3) King Crimson Larks Tongues In Aspic Eng 1973
4) Änglagård Hybris Swe 1992
5) Genesis Selling England By The Pound Eng 1973
6) Hatfield and The North Rotter's Club Eng 1975
7) Premiata Forneria Marconi Per Un Amico Ita 1972
8) Banco del Mutuo Soccorso Io Sono Nato Libero Ita 1973
9) Genesis Foxtrot Eng 1972
10) National Health Of Queues And Cures Eng 1978

So, outside of a reshuffling of titles, the top ten remains consistent.

Ozrics and King Crimson news-y bits

Ozric Tentacles:

Upcoming gigs 2008:

24th May – The Sugar Complex, Kent, UK
6th June – Wakarusa Festival, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
7th June – Wakarusa Festival, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
14th June – Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO, USA
12th July – Ilosaarirock, Joensuu, Finland
12th July – Moon Festival, Wiltshire, UK

Ozrics Live at Sunrise Celebration DVD will be released on the 26th May - for a sneak preview - http://www.snappermusic.com/ms/ozrictentacles



King Crimson:

Fresh from the recent rehearsals in Nashville, Gavin and Pat give it some boom, bash and bish. Based upon B’Boom, which in turn was based upon an exercise written by Gavin in his 1998 book, Rhythmic Illusions, the new Crim rhythm section gives an early indication of how formidable they might well be.

(official download behind the link!)

King Crimson returns to active duty

Posted by Sid Smith at DGM Live!:

Get along to your nearest travel agent quick as you like - King Crimson have confirmed the following dates marking their return to active service later this year.

Wednesday 6th August, Park West, Chicago
Thursday 7th August, Park West, Chicago
Friday 8th August Park West, Chicago
Monday 11th August, Keswick Theater, Philadelphia
Tuesday 12th August, Keswick Theater, Philadelphia
Thursday 14th August, Nokia Theater, New York
Friday 15th August, Nokia Theater, New York
Saturday 16th August, Nokia Theater, New York

We don't have details about tickets etc yet but check with the venues directly.

See you there?

Pat Mastelotto reveals new Crim kit

Pat Mastelotto is currently working in his Texas studio on the next TUNER project with Markus Reuter. I did ask Pat to give Markus a slap on the back but as the Big M was busy laying down some guitar at the time Pat thought better of it. In the meantime, Pat sent over some pics of the other project that is occupying his time - building the next Crim Kit, which gets an exclusive unveiling here on DGMLive.

(thanks to Kevin Cosentino for alerting me to this.)

Gnosis Top 10 February 2008

According to the gnosis2000 website, these are the top 10 highest rated progressive music albums of all time, as of this date:

1) King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King Eng 1969
2) Banco del Mutuo Soccorso Darwin! Ita 1972
3) King Crimson Larks Tongues In Aspic Eng 1973
4) Änglagård Hybris Swe 1992
5) Genesis Selling England By The Pound Eng 1973
6) Hatfield and The North Rotter's Club Eng 1975
7) Premiata Forneria Marconi Per Un Amico Ita 1972
8) Banco del Mutuo Soccorso Io Sono Nato Libero Ita 1973
9) Genesis Foxtrot Eng 1972
10) National Health Of Queues And Cures Eng 1978

For the record...I have copies of all these releases save for the two Hatfield albums, and consider each release essential for any listener of prog, be they new to the genre or long time aficionados. Of these bands, I have seen one live (Änglagård), and will be seeing a second this year (Banco del Mutuo Soccorso). I have skipped out on seeing two (PFM and Hatfield), and the less said about seeing King Crimson, the better. That leaves out Genesis, and...that'd be a story for another time, I guess...