David & I flew in via Washington yesterday for discussions & debate relating to BTV.
Backtracking:
Saturday. London to Manchester with Toyah.
Sunday. Manchester (Heaven & Earth) to Chez Parents Willcox near Pershore in the afternoon. In the evening, also in Pershore, dinner with Ian the Verdant Horticulturalist. Then back to Ian's to watch "The League of Gentlemen". Not a video of either group, but the latest episode in this new-generation of English comedy. Toyah has been laughing since Friday night whenever she recalls the exploding flatulent dog.
Monday. Walking around Chiswick High Street with the Horse. Then to Heathrow to meet with David. We waited in different sections to meet each other for over an hour before we connected. But the flight was fine. Walking onboard I caught a glimpse of the new United first class seats: stunning. A stewardess told me these are the next generation after the BA recliners. Not that I anticipate sleeping on them for quite a while, but they are fabulare to behold.
Vermont weather is bracing with snow settled on sidewalks. KC's first gig in the US in 1969 was at Godard College, Montpelier. I have loved Vermont ever since.
Now, to the saga of "The Death Pain Horror Suffering Misery Doom & Despair Song", aka "I Had A Dream". This is one of 5 songs on the new Crimson album and is, essentially, a short acoustic Ade ballad leading into "Larks' IV". The melody is strong & beautifully sung by A. Baldy Belew. Musically, it functions as an intermezzo ("light relief between the acts of a tragedy"). The song returns as a coda to "Larks' IV" but in a very different context.
Adrian's original intention was to match & balance the "good" & "bad" aspects of the C20th. But Ade, given the purely musical materials & surroundings, wasn't able to find lyrics reflecting the "good" and upbeat side of things. So "I Had A Dream" is a list & litany of C20th. terrors. This is the doomiest song I've ever heard, and it brings me down every time I hear it, even given the melody & Adrian's singing. Hence "The DPHSMD&D" mentioned in diary comments during the Crim recording process.
Virgin felt there was likely to be an adverse reaction to the lyrics, for various reasons, and that Adrian/Crim would open itself to critical slaughter. So, recommended that the song be removed from the album. This upset Adrian considerably and ruined his day. What to do? My take, caught in the middle as is usual with any Crimson-related issues (a position I increasingly resist), is that this is Adrian's call.
15.45
David & I are at the airport after a very informative morning & lunch with 3 representatives of a group with which I feel a close empathy. We are now both in computer & telephonic frenzies while waiting to fly to California via Chicago.
15.57
Toyah is en route to Canterbury, and my Sister reports that she increased the merchandising take for the Trey Gunn Band last night in San Francisco.
18.25 Chicago time.
But what time is this? The computer clock suggests 01.26, which implies I am asleep. I agree. Sleep-typing continues.
"The ConstruKction Of Light": my current sense is that the album is flawed but with several gems. In a perfect world, every track works & the album has integrity: a consistent & developed vision. There are few albums (of any artist) where I'm interested in more than 2-3 tracks. Playing unrecorded music live allows the audience the space to report back on whether an idea is worth pursuing. But very few musicians of my professional acquaintance have been sharp enough to take a hint.
At this point in Crimson's process I don't believe we would have generated new repertoire unless we had set ourselves the challenge of writing an album. So where there are limitations & weaknesses in the recorded outcome (or report on our process), from my subjective critical perspective, I recognize they are mostly inevitable even where unacceptable. In performance most of the new music will develop and take on a sense of knowing-of-itself (cf "Absent Lovers" as a vindication of "Beat" & "TOAPP").
On a related topic: (according to Richard Chadwick) the Sunday Times chose The ProjeKcts Box as its album of the week, and comments favourably on Crim's reinvention of itself. Hooray! "The ConstruKction Of Light" is the other side of Crim's shadow identity, the Jekyll to ProjeKct X's Hyde.
"Music is the architecture of silence."
