Pony Canyon has chosen to release ProjeKcts One & Two separately in Japan during January 1999. DGM will be releasing a box of "The King Crimson ProjeKcts - Nos. 1, 2 & 4" in the Spring.
Anyone slightly bemused by the sliding release dates reported in the Diary, please take a moment's reflection and consider what it's like here in World Central, balancing and negotiating various demands and contrasting interests.
I could post nothing until the day after a release, but if a Diary waits it's not really a Diary.
In this morning's post are two CDs burned by Pat Mastelotto from the P4 live soundboard DATs. Excitements! Pat is visiting in December to help the P4 mixing, and Chris Murphy arrives this weekend. More news on that, soon.
A separate topic: Cameron Devlin recently posted to the DGM Guestbook and aked whether he might use DGM soundstreams on his Definitive King Crimson Website. Comments:
1. The Definitive King Crimson website is not a King Crimson site, definitive or otherwise.
2. The site's name is a misnomer and, therefore, at best misleading; perhaps, dishonest. To establish a site using someone else's name implies a connection / relationship with the person / persona which, in this case, is non-existent.
3. The site is a Cameron Devlin website. It should bear Cameron's name, or a name of Cameron's invention. Cameron established a King Crimson site without my permission or, as far as I know, the permission of anyone else connected to Crim.
4. Cameron does not have permission to use any audio or visual materials in which I have an interest.
5. The name "King Crimson", as well as being an identity in the world of music, is an established trading name in the world of business. Cameron does not have permission to use it.
6. May I request Cameron disestablish the site? If he wishes to refer to the group within his "Progressive" website, this falls within the bounds of legitimate public commentary and criticism. If King Crimson were present within that category, I would be happy to consider the use of soundquotes, to the degree that DGM has authority acting on behalf of the artists. (I do not have authority, for example, in respect of any of the Virgin EG Records catalogue).
14.49
It's The Afternoon Shift! I return mildly fortified by a tired bagel and Super Tasty Soup. This Super Tasty Soup is the savage concoction which, my wife tells me, smells like sewage. The odour of ordure, reportedly, then seeps from my every pore. As an Ardour Softener, I only feed upon this nourishing broth when Toyah is away for several days.
David & I are re-mixing the only P1 track which isn't yet convincing us.
16.56
Triumph of mixing! And Chris has put his head around the door to say hello. David is running home to where little Christopher the Toad is suffering from an ear infection and needs to be taken to a doctor.
21.14
It's that time again. We have transformed the weakest piece on the album into one of the strongest, and probably the one which most easily invites the audient into its embrace.
Recently returned from touring, considering Paul the Near-Surface Seismaticist's letters, and pondering encounters of this past tour, I have been reflecting on the Player / Audient interface. Performance is utterly impersonal, yet intimate (which is perhaps why we feel so close to a performer whose musicking has moved us).
A Grand And Global Suggestion:
If I were not repeatedly approached on a personal level, where the context is more properly impersonal, the quality of my life would improve to an unimaginable degree (not literally: I am able to imagine what it might be like). Conceivably, those at the receiving end of the spiky Fripp's tart commentary might also benefit.
If I feel violated, I am prepared to accept it is because (on some level) I am being violated. If I sense a presence impinging on mine, I am prepared to accept this as real. If I sense my life leaving me, I am prepared to accept that this is not accidental. With photography and recording, the act is non-consensual, therefore illegitimate and, in the final resort, indefensible (however much one might appeal to a convention of thoughtless and irresponsible behaviour).
Since my return to The Front Line with David Sylvian & King Crimson (following seven years mainly in Guitar Craft) the pleasure I take in what I do has been significantly undermined. An ongoing demand for attention, plus careless & ill-mannered approaches, offstage; photography and bootlegging while onstage; taken together, these brought me to a point earlier this year when I considered withdrawing from public performance altogether. The point of decision followed Soundscapes at The Bottom Line in New York and the Iron Horse in Northampton. A flash at each of those performances killed the shows for me. And - may we agree? - there is no secret about unphotography at Fripp / KC performances. Desires, demands, which manifest in various ways impinge upon me every day of my working (player's) life, and spoil it.
After the spoiler at The Bottom Line, I considered the choice of continuing as a player or moving elsewhere. It seems harsh, even unfair, that I be forced to change my life because of actions unintentionally deliberate, carelessly intentional, and / or ignorant of intent and deliberation while nevertheless both. I considered the choice and came to this decision:
I am no longer prepared to absorb the desires of others.
The decision was taken. Once a decision is taken, we follow where it leads and accept the consequences which follow. If the decision is true, and in accordance with Right Conduct, the repercussions will move us towards the necessary in our lives. If the decision is ill-founded, the repercussions may be overwhelming. Either way, trouble. But the first way, we get the trouble we need.
If an audient considers they have the right to exert a demand over me because they see themselves as a "consumer" in the marketplace of music, with mercantilist rights and privileges, I encourage them to give their patronage to another.
Perhaps audients kind and generous enough to take an interest in my work, and to support it, will find my position exagerrated. Regrettably, it is not.
To quote Clement Crisp, reviewing the biography of a leading ballerina, (paraphrase): "One combines the qualities of St. Theresa and Attila the Hun to protect a gift like this". And Fripp doesn't have that gift.
To quote Miles Davis, in response to a personal friend of mine (a leading journalist) who had interviewed Miles before, and now requested another (Miles was in down time):
(Gruff whisper) "Please let me be". And Fripp doesn't have Miles' genius.
But I do value the opportunity to interract with audients, and audiences: it is a privilege. Hence, open talking / discussion after Soundscape performances. And I recognise and accept the desire for autographs, but at an appropriate time & place. Hence, I arrange in-stores where possible.
So, please allow me my space.
23.03
Toyah has just arrived in Agadir. This morning she was up in Richard Branson's balloon, visiting his new hotel (impressive) and the markets of Marakesh.
23.52
The assembly of ProjeKct One is underway, with pleasant surprises.
"Right action moves from principle."
