For the past year, King Crimson mastermind Robert Fripp has been a very busy man. During the pandemic he’s probably had the most notoriety for his video series with his wife Toyah Wilcox. They’ve been putting out goofy / fun cover songs…this has been great, but he’s also been serving up another regular series that has been flying under the radar. This series is called Music For Quiet Moments.
Music For Quiet Moments focuses on solo “Soundscape” live recordings that Fripp has performed and perfected since 1994.
“Soundscapes” are an extension of his concept of “Frippertronics” from the 1970s. Frippertronics used actual reel-to-real tapes to create looping textures for him to solo over. Soundscapes instead uses digital technology and has a much more modern / sleek sheen.
Here’s a really cool example of Frippertronics from 1979:
Here’s a very awesome example of Soundscapes from 2000 that Robert performed before a King Crimson show:
As a fun aside, I saw King Crimson on that tour as well. When I entered the venue early, as I’m wont to do, I went to the bar and ordered a beer. I heard ambient guitar enveloping the club and thought it might be Fripp. I looked at the stage and sure enough, there he was playing….and nobody was really noticing he was there!! I ran up to the stage right by his feet and watched him with about 2-3 other fanatics. It was mindblowing.
Anyways…Music For Quiet Moments released a song in this vein every Friday for the past year. It started exactly 52 weeks ago this week, and the final installment was posted today.
I eagerly awaited each installment, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do next week. I compiled them all into a running Spotify playlist, so you can hear the entire 8.5 hour collection of peaceful soundscapes.
King Crimson did a similar year-long series when they celebrated their 50th anniversary a couple of years ago…a rare recording every week for 50 weeks. I collected those into a large playlist as well if people are interested in diving into 7 hours of the mighty King Crimson as well.