Frippertronics

I have indirectly mentioned Robert Fripp on this blog before, in the context of the ever-excellent King Crimson (see here). However, I have never really posted on the man himself, which is a mistake I seek to correct with this post.


Fripp founded King Crimson in the late 1960s, and their debut In the Court of the Crimson King is arguably the best of the first generation of prog records. It's best known for "21st Century Schizoid Man", with its almost Sabbath-y riffing, but there's a lot more to it than that.

Fripp went on to restructure King Crimson many more times, my favorite being the longest lived lineup of Fripp on guitar, Adrian Belew on guitar and vocals, Tony Levin on Chapman Stick, and Bill Bruford on drums. That is the lineup you see in the video in the aforementioned previous post.

However, Fripp has done a lot more than that. He founded a guitar school, invented a tuning, and started a label, among other things. He was also an early rock experimenter with tape loops and developed a system he called Frippertronics. Very ambient, textural stuff that I enjoy a great deal. Appended to this post is a Frippertronics performance from a 1993 show at Allentown's Red Door Cafe (which I wasn't even aware hosted music, and I grew up half an hour from there. Go figure.) Enjoy.

Robert Fripp - Frippertronics (live 9/2/93)