King Crimson - 1999 "The ProjeKcts" [4 CD Box]

The ProjeKcts is a 1999 box set of four live albums recorded between 1997 and 1999 by four side projects of the band King Crimson, known as ProjeKcts. From 1997 to 1999, King Crimson "fraKctalised" (forked) into four successive side projects, dubbed ProjeKct One, Two, Three and Four. The box set consists of a live album from each of them.

The ProjeKcts are a succession of spin-off projects associated with the band King Crimson.

The ProjeKcts were most active from 1997 to 1999, but have performed intermittently since. These earlier ProjeKcts, up to ProjeKct Six in 2006, were devoted to instrumental and heavily improvised music. All of them included King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, who described their purpose as being "research and development" for King Crimson. Two later spin-off projects were of a different nature, but both involving former King Crimson members.

The ProjeKcts were/are devised as 'research units' to find possible futures for the fuller Crimson line-up. This box comprises the four live discs and kicks off with Jazz Café (KC have an amazing ability to play the most unlikely places). Head banging improv of the first track (all of which have numerate titles eg. 4 i ii) sees Fripp in inspired frenzy mode. The fifth though recalls a tranquility similar to the better tuneful soundscapes and the First Day period with David Sylvian. ProjeKct 2's mania has Adrian Belew trying out drums whilst Fripp and Gunn handle fretwork. The final here is a warts and all account of the battle between band and photographer (Fripp hates being photographed on stage - unless invited). Band wins thus making a 3-4 minute piece eleven! West Coast is also invigorating; if you liked Fripp and Mastelotto's Sabre Dance from DGM's overview Sometimes God Hides, chances are you'll love this as it expands upon the zonked out dance and trippy Frippy grooves and scapes respectively. Aided by Gunn and Tony Levin, this is almost the line-up that now makes up the actual KC.

At the Albert Hall in 1995, prog-rock perennials King Crimson radiated a kind of smug ignorance, a confidence in the indisputable relevance of their new material that might have crumbled had they a keener ear on the experimental sounds of the underground. But Dorset guitar guru Robert Fripp smelt the rot and addressed the problem. Crimson fragmented into smaller, more manageable R&D units known as "projekcts", touring small clubs incognito, and improvising their way towards the next level.

The hefty Projekcts 4-CD box set has been edited down from hundreds of hours of tapes to showcase the best of Crimson's four current subdivisions. Projekct One is pretty much what you'd expect, Fripp and Trey Gunn's guitars carving corrosive noise or icy ambience around bassist Tony Levin and drummer Bill Bruford, while Projekct Two sees Fripp and Gunn struggling to forge something solid around Adrian Belew's rather flimsy drums.

But on the third and fourth CDs two different fractals succeed in creating something shocking, revolutionary and utterly contemporary. Pat Mastelotto triggers rhythm samples and drum programmes of such power and velocity that Fripp, Gunn and Levin have to raise their game, tossing echoes of the finest moments of their back catalogue into a harsh dystopian soundscape. This earth-shattering music sounds like it should have emerged from beneath the hoods of young, shaven-headed techno types, rather than from the gnarly fingers of men entering their fifties. Against the odds, Fripp has re-invented his band once more, in a way that shames all other 1970s survivors. Posters for the current Yes reunion tour, for example, boast the desperate headline No Boundaries. What can the poor fools possibly mean? King Crimson, on the other hand, would be worthy of the hyperbole.

This is almost too massive to review. When an established band breaks new ground and produces a work of such experimental energy, of sheer genius, it is difficult to describe the importance that such a work can provide to its fans and the public. I can conceive of the effort it cost these musicians, and the abilities which enabled them to give substance to a creation of the Mind. Yet the interpretation of all this can only be admired by us as a creation of inspired muses. This isn't for everyone, but I recommend "The ProjeKcts" for would-be musicians and lovers of music.

FraKctalisation (1997–1999)

ProjeKct One (1997)

(Robert Fripp - Guitar, Trey Gunn - Warr Guitar, Tony Levin - Bass, Bill Bruford - Drums)

ProjeKct One began as a suggestion by Bruford to Robert Fripp that they do some improvisational shows together. Fripp suggested adding Gunn, while Bruford suggested adding Tony Levin — four of the six members of King Crimson were now involved.

Fripp then developed the idea of "fraKctals": multiple different subsets of the band working separately as a way of developing new material for King Crimson, the band having been at something of a compositional impasse.

ProjeKct One performed four consecutive shows at the Jazz Cafe from 1 through 4 December 1997. All four concerts have been made available for download through DGMLive.

Track listing:

Disc 1: (1997 concerts) ProjeKct One - Live At The Jazz Café

1. "4 i 1" 6:11
2. "4 ii 1" 3:29
3. "1 ii 2" 4:27
4. "4 ii 4" 7:58
5. "2 ii 3" 4:27
6. "3 i 2" 8:14
7. "3 ii 2" 6:32
8. "2 ii 4" 4:27
9. "4 i 3" 4:32

Total length: 50:17

Personnel:

- Robert Fripp / guitar
- Bill Bruford / drums, percussion
- Trey Gunn / touch guitar
- Tony Levin / basses, Stick, synth


ProjeKct Two (1997–1998)

(Fripp, Gunn, Adrian Belew - V-Drums)

While ProjeKct One was the first of the sub-groups planned, ProjeKct Two actually convened and recorded first. It featured Fripp, Gunn and Adrian Belew on drums rather than guitar (his usual instrument with King Crimson). This configuration was unplanned, but when the group gathered at Belew's home studio to record, he had recently taken possession of the V-drums and Fripp was keen to experiment with their use. The group enjoyed the results enough that it was decided to keep this configuration for the whole course of the project.

They released the studio album Space Groove in 1998. Additionally, they performed thirty-five concerts between February and July 1998. As of 2 May 2011, twenty-six of these shows have been made available for download through DGMLive.

Track listing:

Disc 2: (1998 concerts) ProjeKct Two - Live Groove

01. "Sus-tayn-Z" 8:05
02. "Heavy ConstruKction" 5:11
03. "The Deception Of The Thrush" 7:33
04. "X-chayn-jiZ" 6:01
05. "Light ConstruKction" 5:17
06. "Vector Shift to Planet Detroit" 3:41
07. "Contrary ConstruKction" 4:55
08. "Live Groove" 10:50
09. "Vector Shift to Planet Belewbeloid" 1:24
10. "21st Century Schizoid Man" 11:52

Total length: 1:04:49

Personnel:

- Robert Fripp / guitar
- Adrian Belew / V-drums
- Trey Gunn / touch guitar, talker


ProjeKct Three (1999, 2003)

(Fripp, Gunn, Pat Mastelotto - drums).

ProjeKct Three (P3) performed five shows from 21 March through 25 March 1999 in Texas. In May 2014 all five shows were made available for download from DGMLive.

On 3 March 2003, P3 performed instead of King Crimson at the Birchmere in the Washington, DC, area, as Adrian Belew was taken ill that night. Following their impromptu performance, the three band members interacted with the audience in the form of a question and answer session. This is the only other full concert appearance of P3 other than the tour of Texas in March 1999. The performance is available on CD (ProjeKct Three – Live in Alexandria, VA, 2003 ), however, the Q&A session on the CD is incomplete. The complete Q&A is available separately as a download at the DGMLive web site.

Track listing:

Disc 3: (1999 concerts) ProjeKct Three - Masque

01. "Masque 1" 5:40
02. "Masque 2" 3:13
03. "Masque 3" 6:17
04. "Masque 4" 3:10
05. "Masque 5" 3:19
06. "Masque 6" 0:45
07. "Masque 7" 3:21
08. "Masque 8" 4:26
09. "Masque 9" 2:40
10. "Masque 10" 6:11
11. "Masque 11" 6:24
12. "Masque 12" 3:51
13. "Masque 13" 5:08

Total length: 54:25

Personnel:

- Robert Fripp / guitar
- Trey Gunn / touch guitar, talker
- Pat Mastelotto / electronic traps and buttons


ProjeKct Four (1998)

(Fripp, Gunn, Levin, Mastelotto)

ProjeKct Four performed a seven-show tour of the United States from 23 October – 2 November 1998. These shows consisted of improvised material, as well as expanded upon material developed by earlier ProjeKcts.

All seven of these shows have been made available for download through DGMLive

Track listing:

Disc 4: (1998 concerts) ProjeKct Four - West Coast Live

01. "Ghost (Part 1)" 9:14
02. "Ghost (Part 1)" 4:07
03. "Ghost (Part 1)" 5:55
04. "Ghost (Part 1)" 5:06
05. "Deception of the Thrush" 7:12
06. "Hindu Fizz" 4:46
07. "ProjeKction" 5:29
08. "Ghost (Part 2)" 1:39
09. "Ghost (Part 2)" 2:43
10. "Ghost (Part 2)" 3:53
11. "Ghost (Part 2)" 1:48
12. "Ghost (Part 2)" 4:57

Total length: 56:49

Personnel:

- Robert Fripp / guitar
- Trey Gunn / touch guitar, talker
- Tony Levin / basses, Stick
- Pat Mastelotto / electronic traps and buttons