ROBERT FRIPP & ANDY SUMMERS: BEWITCHED

Bewitched is the second and final collaboration between Fripp and Summers, and finds the duo branching out into other styles not covered on their first outing. Their first record, I Advanced Masked, consisted of a lot of short unaccompanied guitar instrumentals that were heavily influenced by classical and folk music from Asia and Africa. The overall tone of that album was very somber and austere. Bewitched, on the other hand, features a full backing band on many of the cuts, and is often more light-hearted than Masked.

Side one of Bewitched opens with Parade, which is an upbeat Police influenced 80's techno instrumental that would have been a great opening theme for an 80's sports show. This is followed by What Kind of Man Reads Playboy, an overly long disco beat driven instrumental that features many pointless and silly solos and goes on for what seems like forever. Side one closes with Begin the Day, which sounds like a world beat cross between Santana and The Police and features great solos from both guitarists. This song is one of the better highlights on this otherwise inconsistent album.

Side two opens with Train. This is an excellent futuristic techno-lounge number that sounds a bit like Eno or Kraftwerk crossed with an early 60s exotic synth record. This is followed by the title track, Bewitched, which is a nice instrumental with a short repeating melody that recalls Eno's work on Another Green World. The following song Tribe, features classic King Crimson style tense chord progressions and buildups, but sounds more detailed and miniature than a Crimson song because it is played by the two guitarists, instead of a full band. The album closes with four very nice ambient instrumentals, each becoming a little more vague than the one before.

This is not one of Fripp's best records, but it still has some nice music, especially if you like artists like Bo Hanson, Phil Manzenera or Eno who sometimes create music that is a missing link between instrumental progressive rock and 60s synth-lounge exotica.