Re: Frippery vs. Bitchery

[andre <andre@monmouth.com>]

>Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 13:06:40
>To: "Stephen P. Goodman" <sgoodman@earthlight.net>
>From: andre <andre@monmouth.com>
>Subject: Re: Frippery vs. Bitchery
>
>At 06:44 AM 1/31/98 -0800, you wrote:
>>You know, at no point in this strangely looping discussion has anyone 
>talked
>>about the idea that - wonder of wonders! - perhaps RF LIKES what he's 
>doing
>>right now...!
>
>
>wheeeew!! RELAX - no-one ever questioned whether RF likes wht hes doing, 
>of
course he does... altho, in the new 'nightwatch' notes - he seems unable to
decide which is more torture, playing crim music, or waiting for it to be
played... re-read my note (BELOW) - at the risk of sounding pompous, i
thought i was quite respectful, and accepting of whatever he has to offer,
just a comment.
>
>>
>>I believe we've all been there, hm?  But if you're looking for blazingly
>>fast technique guitar, 
>
>WOW!!! what a jump!!%%@?? !! No - just something that we all don't do 
>while
warming up our gear, reading a manual or something. There's a lot of leeway
there. He's a nut, that's all. and i love him, but lets not play hero 
worship. 
>
>go listen to one of the fellows from the G3 tour.
>
>who are all excellent, diverse players, despite silly generalizations
>
>>
>>Who ever said it was supposed to be exciting ALL the time anyway?  
>
>no-one did. but fripp's music usually is, to me. And i love all the 
>ambient
stuff - evening star, index, the exposure CD, League stuff, all of it. I
just think that - though i enjoy the CDs of the last couple years
(soundscapes) greatly, on stage - it's just a boring waste. I'm sorry to
piss you off, really. i want this to be a loving list.
>
>Not to mention- we all missed 90% of his show because we dared to SHOW UP
ON TIME and not an hour or more earlier, when the gates were opened at G3..
I only wish i had seen one of the shows where Mike Keneally jammed along 
w/ RF..
>
>>into this whiningly annoying bit.  It smacks a bit of the Satriani-heads 
>who
>>were also disappointed in Soundscape works.  Oh brother, whatta buncha
>>consumers THEY are. :)
>
>what's a "satriani-head"?? someone who can appreciate his very diverse
music, and also love ambience and sparse use of notes?? because that's what
i am. You're doing the exact thing you claim to despise... It's all music.
Actually have you heard - "woodstock Jam" on Satch's Time machine CD, or
anything from the "Joe Satriani" CD of last year??? I regularly play that
for satch-haters - the first is an OUT jam with doug wimbush and simon
phillips, the 2nd a very bluesy record with nathan east, etc. 100% of the
time, guitarists cannot identify it - because they have put the guy in a 
box
as a "shredder" and only a shredder.
>
>
>for reference - below is my post....as well as pete's. to be honest - i
don't even know if your ire was directed at me - but i had to go to bat for
JS. Ironically, you seem to forget that he's a huge Crimson/Fripp fan, duh,
that's why he got him on the tour... Fripp himself has said that he made
more per show on G3 than a week of KC shows... so the "satch-heads" may 
have
helped us ALL by financing some frippery...
>
>again - i am a fripp freak. i love basically all guitar music, i try to
keep an open mind, even about stuff i'm not supposed to like...
>
>>>>..whatever... i agree - it's some of fripp's most..... non exciting 
>stuff.
>>>>but , yes, i respect the fact - that was what he was going for.. but on
>>the
>>>>2 soundsscape CDs i have , plus the G3 show, it never seemed to take 
>off,
>>>>beyond simplistic, basic synth patches thru cool stereo FX. not as
>>>>adventurous as he usually is, by far!
>>>>
>>>>andre'
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>This is a good point.  Fripp does rely too much on synth patches.  Now 
>that
>>>can sometimes work very effectively such as on A Blessing of Tears, but
>>more
>>>often than not it just gets cloying.  I would like to see him use the
>>>natural sound of the guitar more - essentially i would like him to sound
>>>like a guitarist, rather than a keyboard player.
>>>
>>>Pete
>>
>