PROJEKCT TWO: SPACE GROOVE

something in space groove genere ;) The first CD is very good. Groovy and spacy. Improvising Crim at its best. Second falls omewhat short on ideas, but still is very enjoable. If you like the ProjeKcts era of KC then this disc is defenitly for you. If you're the one that thinks KC ended on Red or Three of A Perfect Pair you won't find enything interesting or superior to preavious works by double trio. For me this is a solid colection of improvs and i'm very happy I own it.

King Crimson's Projekcts were a series of 'fractals' of the double trio line up which made 'Thrak'. Confusingly, Projekct 2 was the first into action - according to the sleeve notes the whole thing happened more or less spontaneously when Fripp, Belew and Gunn started jamming in Belew's studio. The resulting improvs over the next 3 days were then released as this double CD set. One major point in favour of this album is that Fripp is the sole lead guitarist, and it is refreshing to hear him leading from the front for once. Gunn's WARR guitar has a huge range of notes, enabling him to function as either bass or second guitar as rquired, and the V drums can trigger bass lines and samples, so at times it sounds like a lot more than 3 musicians. CD1 features 2 lengthy, jazz inflected improvs and one much shorter piece. These tracks are pleasant but a little self indulgent - Belew had only just taken dlivery of the V drums and at times it really shows. The shorter pieces on CD 2 are often excellent, with a much sharper focus. Belew is no Bill Bruford, but acquits himself well on drums most of the time and there is often a sense that he was enjoying thrashing about. This is definitely non essential, but if you're a Fripp fan add on at least one extra star for the chance to hear the man doing what he does best.

ProjeKct Two's "Space Groove" is 90 minutes of improvs from three members of King Crimson. Here Adrian Belew uses a V-Drum kit which gives a very groovy rhythm section, and Trey Gunn's guitar playing gives the spacey touch. The first part of the album has two long tracks while the second part consists of more diverse small pieces.

"Space Groove" starts with "Space Groove II" (according to the sleeve it was the first track laid down so why the II?) - 19+ minutes of odd but very enjoyable jamming. Parts III and I are less interesting, and probably too much repetitive after listening to Part II.

"Vector Patrol" starts with the joyful "Happy Hour On Planet Zarg". After two fillers, the music becomes really spacey with "Sector Shift"/"Laura In Space"/"Sector Drift"/"Sector Patrol" - one of the best moments on the album. After two new uninteresting tracks, the beautiful "Deserts Of Arcadia" (two parts) brings the music to another dimension - some kind of intergalactic journey into unexplored dimensions... A new filler again introduces "Escape From Sagittarius A", the longest track of the second disc and another fine moment.

Rating: 70/100 ("Space Groove") + 73/100 ("Vector Patrol")

This album couldn't be named better. It is spacy and it is groovy. This is one of the CDs that were produced when King Crimson splitted the double trios to experiment with Fractals as Fripp named them. The lineup of ProjecKt Two is composed of Fripp (guitars), Trey Gunn (warr guitar) and Adrian Belew (V-drums). This lineup is really interesting for a lot of different reasons. First, since Belew plays the drums and not the guitar, Fripp is the only guitar player. It gives him the spotlight and we haven't heard lead guitar from him since Red. Second, the V-Drums is a really cool electronic drum kit which produces a lot of different groovy sounds. Third, the warr guitar is an instrument with a lot of potential and being in a trio, it can really shine.

This double album is entirely composed of improvs. The downside is that it's a double CD. Some of the stuff on it is really interesting but 90 minutes of improvs can be repetitive at times. About half of the album is really cool though. Space Groove II is the perfect ambient song if you're planning a Space Party. Seriously, this improv is really cool and groovy. The V-Drums and the Warr guitar especially shine on this track. There are some really great guitar parts by Fripp too. I was surprised by Belew's drum playing. He should get behind his kit more often (though I like his guitar playing too). The other two improvs are basically the same thing and the whole thing gets kinda boring by the time you reach Space Groove 1 (which is ironically the last song).

The second CD brings some new elements and is for the most part enjoyable. The only problem is that, just like the first CD, it gets repetitive after some time. I think they should have put more effort into this one and write at least two or three songs. This album seems a little bit self-indulgent in my opinion. It's interesting and very cool in some parts but it's definitely not something you will want to listen to again and again (and again). I rate this 3 stars because there is some really good stuff but the other half of it is useless.

-Bern

In the 90s Fripp decided to divide Crimson into sub-groups. He says, on the sleeve: "The practical difficulties of King Crimson working together are immense, expectation from audiences - of repertoire, and what the legendary and august Crimson is, or might be (...) Our current and alternative approach - for smaller units within the Double Trio to work together (...) has already loosened up the band's view of itself and our sense of possible futures."tit made the band become even worse. They didn't have to be in the same level of KC's past, so they just filled two CDs with less than average improvisations. Fripp has improvised much better in his life. Not recommended.

"ProjeKct Two - Space Goove" quite simply, marvelous! The music is edited improvisation. This collection is some of the best avant-garde jazz-rock around. The whole theme here has to do with impressions of outer space; however, that's as far as a description can go, this CD set defies description. Listening to this music brings back memories of how exciting it was to explore for the first time the ground breaking work of the great Sun Ra and his Arkestra. Fripp, Gunn, and Belews "ProjeKct Two - Space Goove" is definitely far ahead of it's time. There is nothing in the KC studio album list to compare this to. A real treat, highly recommended.

Belew's role, as he admits in interviews, is to serve as a palette for Fripp and Gunn to really explore their limits; yet AB is a very creative drummer and effects technician in his own right. There is no need to make comparisons between Belews work on the V-drums and the great KC percussionists; the point here is that listeners have an opportunity to listen to the dynamics grow and evolve with a new drumming perspective added to the works.

I don't think, that this album should be named as King Crimson album. OK, all musicains were the members of King Crimson of that time, but - is it enough?Fripp has myriads of solo or side projects, the same with Beliew and Gunn. Even more - there are many places, where Gunn and Fripp are playing together ( outside of KC). So - ?

The music is KC-related,it's for sure. It's nice to hear plenty of Fripp's guitar, Gunn's stick sounds still at the beginning of his long Warr/Bass stick history. Weak point is Beliew, but he isn't drummer at all. OK , electronic V-drum sound has some new and interesting nuances, but drumming technique is very primitive.

Most interesting is the first CD, three compositions on it can be named as musical compositions. At the start they sound attractive, but after too long repetetive loops become a little boring. In fact, I think they could be used for some strong compositions after serious producer's job.

Second CD contains more short compositions, which sound more like blueprints with some grains of musical/audio ideas. Some sounds and melodic moves are interesting, many - just repetetive, but all Cd in total could not be named as real music CD. There you feel,that these improvs are more like technical training/demonstration with just SOME ideas for future musical compositions.

All-together, this double album would be interesting mainly for KC-maniacs, as demonstration of technical/musical ideas for group's future works. Album isn't bad, but has quite specific listener for it's music. For those, who aren't in KC-music, can sound very strange, just as raw material.

I think album's musical material could be used for serious producer's work, and after some re- recordings could be mixed to quite strong ( but for sure - shorter, just one CD) regular album.

A strict reading of the Prog Archives rating system would leave this album with a perfectly respectable two stars: for collectors and KING CRIMSON fans only. But in truth the music here was a departure at the time for the post-'Thrak' double trio, opening horizons beyond the vaulted ceilings of the Crimson Court.

The late-'90s sextet had been reconfigured into smaller, more manageable combinations, aiming to kick-start the band-at-large through a series of open improvisations. This particular line-up featured the single trio of Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn, and Adrian Belew, for the moment relinquishing his guitar to step behind the new virtual (i.e. digital) drum set.

Keep in mind the music here was never intended as anything more than research and development for the dormant King Crimson. The boys had just unwrapped a shiny new, state-of-the-art toy, and simply wanted to play with it. Their initial jam session, recorded immediately after first plugging in the untested V-Drums, is included here in all its unplanned spontaneity, and the rest of the album followed within a matter of hours.

Trey Gunn's initial verdict, as recorded in his dairy that day: "There is some absolutely hilarious music here." And he's right, this was a more playful sound than could be expected from the sometimes over-earnest Crimson Kings, like something George and Jane Jetson might enjoy while sipping cyber-martinis in a zero-gravity moon lounge. Belew's drumming isn't propelled with the same whirling dervish intensity later to be heard from Pat Mastelotto in ProjeKcts Three and Four (Adrian seems overly fond of that 'breaking glass' drum patch). But his steady yet unconventional rhythms, with the kick drum often programmed to trigger a sequential bass line, firmly anchor the flights of electronic fancy from the twin guitars of Fripp and Gunn.

It really didn't need to be a 2-disc album: the combined running time of just over ninety minutes could have fit on a single CD with only minor editing (hours of equally valid jamming were already left on the cutting room floor). And there are, as you might expect from an entirely improvised album, more than a few moments of seemingly aimless noodling.

But a trio of this caliber can drift all day and still be worth hearing. And the payoff from the R&D would arrive a few years later, in the exhilarating techno-grooves galvanizing the Heavy ConstruKction tour at the tail end of the Millennium.

I just don`t understand why this CD is within king crimson collection while projeckt 4 not.... there are a lot of fracktal groups, I don`t know why THIS ONE and projeckt X made it to the kc list.

now talking about this CD...... I don`t like it....

this is pure improvisation, maybe it`d be nice to listen to it live, while having a drink.

but it is not enjoyable for sitting speccialy to listen to this,,, it is too weird, too electronic and random...

If you are into EXPERIMENTAL prog,,, listen to it

if you like KC from the 70`s you`ll probably don`t like it

if you like KC from the 80`s you`ll probably don`t like it because it is different

2 stars

This album was the first release by the "projeKcts" a smaller grouping taken from the "double trio" King Crimson lineup. This lineup was Robert Fripp on guitar, Trey Gunn on touch guitar and guitar synth, and Adrian Belew on v-drums, basically a set of synth pads set up in drum kit style. The songs are all inprovised jams, built around the v-drums, which, in most cases, had bass tones programmed into the kick drum, and a few other synth patches set to trigger from from the pads, as well as traditional drum sounds.

The music is nothing like King Crimson. Mostly, because of the synth patched used by Fripp and Gunn (mostly piano, horns and other keyboard sounds), the album has sort of an acid jazz feel to it. Belew's drumming is simplistic, but because os the synth patches stays somewhat interesting. Fripp and Gunn tend to not break out into wild soloing, but remain laid back and tasteful.

What remains is a fair album of instrumental background music. This is a fine recording to play at a gathering (party, barbecue, whatever). The music will not overwhelm, but might cause guests to occasionally perk up and ask what they are listening to.

Space Groove isn't completely considered as a King Crimson album by most, but think it definitely is. It features the three most important members of the band jamming on funky jazz-fusion inspired grooves that occasionally show some signs of psychedelic influence. I'm usually a fan of anything jazz-fusion or funk related, and this is no exception. I personally think these improvisation jams are incredible and display impeccable musicianship. This album works well as intelligent music to focus on solely, but also works well for background music, which is just fine. This is a definite oddity in the King Crimson discography, and I have to say that I recommend it to anyone who happens to be a fan of instrumental jams of the intelligent and slightly experimental sort.

File this one under the try it before you buy it category.

It seemed so promising, too. Looking at the song titles in the store it had such promise. What you get are what appear to be various jams getting titles that are more interesting than the music. Fripp's concept with the Projekcts was to do "fractals" of the then six member King Crimson. This one consisting of Fripp, Belew, and Gunn. That it didn't go beyond one album rather speaks for itself. But that's rather typical of the Projekcts anyway. I think to date only two or three have made it to the studio album level, most being just a few live performances.

In the end nothing particularly memorable here or anything draws me back to the album.

ProjeKct Two Space Groove is the best King Crimson album because nobody knows it exists.

I was first introduced to this album by someone who was not really a fan of progressive rock at all. They were big into 80s and 90s alt rock dinosaurs like Dinosaur Jr., Butthole Surfers, and The Flaming Lips. But for whatever reason they had this album as part of their collection and held it in high regard.

So being something of an obsessive King Crimson fan and wanting to impress this other person I began listening to this album. This was nearly a decade ago now, and I'm still not sure what to think.

It does stand out as being one of the most unique albums in the King Crimson discography. Its really hard to find anything else in their catalog that even sounds kind of like this.

Basically this consists of three musicians with some new toys to play with. Trey Gunn with his recently acquired Warr Guitar, Adrain Belew and his V Drums (which had just arrived prior to recording), and Mr. Fribble with his ever expanding collection of effects units and pedals to run his guitar through. The latest and most advanced in late-90s musical instrument technology.

So the three Crimsos gather together and hit record, and these are they results.

Being an album that consists almost entirely of improv (with some vague compositional ideas scattered throughout) it can't really be judged on the same merits as a traditional written and composed album. It is spontaneous music-making by a group of musicians who are basically professionals at it. Probably the most intriguing thing about the music is it is sometimes hard to tell exactly who is playing what. Was that sound I just heard a V-Drum sample, a Frippertronic, or a Warr Guitar worked through some pedals? These sort of things can only be dissected on repeated listens, and even then there's always something new to discover.

The improvisations were always the most interesting part of a King Crimson show anyway, this album is one of the few occasions where the audience gets to experience a candid improv session in a private setting, without the pressures of a live audience and pesky flash photography.

This is what progressive rock is all about. Put on some big headphones, pick out a particular instrument, and listen to all the amazing things going on, the various intricacies and quirks of the musicianship. You know you're a prog! It's time to listen like one.

Noodling.

One of the first "ProjeKcts" to be released, this album sees Adrian Belew take over the drum stool, while Fripp mostly provides space noises, but also some solos, and Trey Gunn provides both bass and other touch-guitar (Warr guitar). The music is largely improvised, and can get fairly good in places. However, it is overly long - it goes on and on, and doesn't really ever seem to get anywhere. While I encourage (most) bands to stretch out and jam more, this album is all jam, and there are few memorable tracks here. Also, while I really like Adrian Belew's singing and guitar playing, his drumming is merely OK - definitely not in the same category as any other Crimson drummer. So, you won't be listening to the drumming. It has been almost 20 years since I picked this up, and I have only been able to listen to this the whole way through a handful of times. I listened to is again the whole way through for this review, but that will be the last time - life is just too short. So, not bad, but not at all special. I give this 5.2 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to high 2 PA stars. Only for true fans.

First of all, Adrian Belew is a pretty good drummer.

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.

The first of the ProjeKcts to record in the studio was ProjeKct Two, consisting of Fripp on guitar, Trey Gunn on touch guitar and guitar synth, and Belew on electronic percussion. Their sole album, Space Groove, was released in 1998.

Space Groove is a goddamn monster of an album. A 90-minute double album, disc one (subtitled Space Groove) consists solely of the three-part title track. Starting off, curiously, with the 19-minute "Space Groove II", it's a fitting title. There's a decent groove, and it's quite spacey. In a way, it reminds me a lot of vaporwave aesthetics. It's glossy and airy and bears some similarities to Japanese jazz from the '80s. It absolutely drags on for longer than it needs to, but it's not as punishing as I expected an improv-heavy instrumental cut would be. This probably could have been trimmed down to a pretty solid seven-to-ten minute song. "Space Groove III" follows and is a weird, atonal piece that centers guitar synth. It's mercifully short.

Disc one ends with the 17-minute "Space Groove I". Its opening mood is darker and more dissonant, but it still fits well into the overall atmosphere. This song absolutely feels its length, and it's a much less fun listen than Part II, which opened the album. A lot of this movement reminds me of a worse, longer, more aimless, and less satisfying rendition of "The Sheltering Sky".

Disc two, subtitled Vector Patrol, has more manageable song lengths. It's got 14 songs across 51 minutes. That's a lot of music, but there's not going to be such egregious bloat.

"Happy Hour on Planet Zarg" has a peppier beat but comparable sound palette to the last song on Space Groove. The percussion is sort of interesting, but the guitars come off as purposeless. "Is There Life on Zarg?" follows. It's got some nice, warm bass soloing, but this short piece also lacks focus.

This sort of music is very hard for me to write about. It's all instrumental, the structures are loose, the overall sound is similar song-to-song, and I just don't find it that engaging. That's not to say there isn't good music here. "Sector Patrol" is a nice change of pace when it starts, but its quality is reliant on context. On its own, I doubt it'd grab my attention. The playing is all skillful, but it's just not particularly engaging or intentional.

The two-part, 13-minute "Deserts of Arcadia" is a mind-numbing experience that reminds me of "Space Groove". It has some flashes of good ideas, but nothing to maintain its integrity across its runtime. 

After a brief interlude, another long cut follows: the eleven-minute "Escape from Sagittarius A". It starts off fairly heavy (or, the guitars do, at least; the percussion doesn't pack enough weight), and it almost reminds me of moments on Starless and Bible Black. It soon returns to this record's usual ambiance, and it keeps ping-ponging between distorted and airy noodling.

"Return to Station B" marks the end of Vector Patrol, and it's probably my favorite song here (not just because it ends the album). It's got a steady pulse, and this song feels like it might have had a bit of thought put into it regarding structure and drama.

Space Groove is an unfun slog. It's the convergence of several recurring threads in King Crimson's music, and they're all my least favorite ones. It's a wandering, self-indulgent musical masturbation session. None of the music here in isolation is bad, but when taken as a whole, this double album is exhausting and unsatisfying.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/04/15/deep-dive-king-crimson/