Retrospective: Spaced Out

Whilst in Paris I found myself taken aback at the range of music on offer in the shops, well, in one very large shop dealing with books, DVDs and CDs in Les Halles. They actually had a substantial selection of material from Soft Machine and King Crimson and solo efforts by various alumni (to give just one, telling, example of the delights on offer.) I was sorely tempted to buy far too much but manfully restricted myself to couple of Robert Fripp related CDs - one his most recent recording with his occasional partner in crime Brian Eno, The Equatorial Stars; the other a very tasty set of Soundscapes, or, in this case Churchscapes, At The End Of Time. (The Churchscapes bit arises from the fact the pieces are all taken from tours playing churches in England and Estonia.)

As is so often the case with this area of Fripp's work, it would be easy to dismiss the material as synthesisery noodling, good only for background. The way to prevent oneself reaching such a facile conclusion is to actually, actively, listen to what is on offer. Once you're drawn in it's not so easy to get out. But who would really want to leave?

The nearest equivalent in the Fripp canon to At The End Of Time, by the way, is A Blessing Of Tears, in itself a powerful recommendation. And the sleeve notes are wonderful. This is Fripp on playing in Estonia: What changed in Estonia? These spring to mind: The venues: sacred not secular. The audiences: willing to listen; able to listen. The culture: civilised, on human scale. As always, punchy and pithy in a prolix sort of manner. A bit like the music itself.