PROJEKCT TWO: SPACE GROOVE

The first nineteen minutes of CD 1, Space Groove, is a power-trio jam titled "Space Groove II;" the other twenty minutes (or so) is also three-piece jamming, this time divided over two tracks. These songs, "Space Groove III" and "Space Groove I," are more electronic and appear less rehearsed. Whereas the drumming on Part II seems to have been played live, there are parts of Part I which seem a bit quantized, perhaps after the fact. At a minimum, the time-based instrument effects are in sync with the drums, which implies at least an electron metronome. Part II changes tone about halfway through as guitarist Robert Fripp commences with the shredding. After two minutes of that, the experimental feel returns.

The second CD, Vector Patrol, is made up of two seven-track suites - - I can see why this stuff is sometimes called math rock. The ends of some tracks flow smoothly into their successors, while others seem to be distinct "songs." Like the second half of the first CD, Vector Patrol has a processed, or what strikes me as an "electronic" sound. Even more of the rhythmic parts on Vector Patrol seem programmed (they may be more akin to "triggered loops" than to preprogrammed sequencer or drum- machine patterns), perhaps after the fact. Vector Patrol is more varied than Space Groove, but whereas some of this variety is interesting, much of it is not.

Ordinarily I separate three aspects of an album to discuss: the performances, the production, and the composition. The performance and production on Space Groove / Vector Patrol are good, but the line separating them is intentionally blurred. As Fripp himself had done prior to this, the performances are (apparently) post-processed, sliced, reordered, spliced, re-processed, and so on, to create the final work. In some cases (i.e., "Space Groove II"), this editing is either minimal or noninvasive, such that the final product doesn't sound as though it's been processed. In other cases, like "Escape from Sagittarius A" from Vector Patrol, overt edits are a part of the performance itself.

Between the improvisation which provides the raw material, and the post-performance processing of that material, there is very little traditional composition evident on Space Groove / Vector Patrol. This "studio composition" may be a good approach or not, but it yields a final musical product whose compositional qualities can nonetheless be evaluated, and in the case of Space Groove / Vector Patrol, the composition is lacking. I say this with full respect for the fact that Fripp and company did not sit down in advance with a blank piece of staff paper and begin placing notes and rests.

Two stars: a decent album, and one that will likely appeal mainly to fans of 1990s King Crimson.

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