Robert Fripp: Radiophonics: 1995 Soundscapes Volume 1 – Live in Argentina (1996)

Instrumental music that seems to pick up where David Bowie’s German electronic paintings left off.

Kronomyth 17: Station to stationary.

Soundscapes, as the name implies, are self-contained worlds of sound constructed from what used to be called “Frippertronics.” You don’t hear that word much anymore, as Frippology has dispensed with the old nomenclature (which smacked of commercial branding). Now, as the liner notes explain (and expose and expound and elaborate on), the guitarist is interested in music as an auditory experience. How do we hear music? How does the audience’s reaction to music admit the artist back into his own creation? Why would anyone care? (You may not.) While it’s wonderful when an artist of Robert Fripp’s measured genius arrives at a new place musically, I can’t help but wonder if he isn’t simply retracing some of Tangerine Dream’s old footsteps from twenty years past. The eerie, internal worlds of Radiophonic I and II or Atmosphere, the smooth electronic vista of Sky, each has a precedent in works like TD’s Phaedra or David Bowie’s Heroes (which featured Fripp). There are differences to be sure, subtle perhaps to the uninitiated, more apparent to the student of sound. It’s the latter who will gain the most from the Soundscapes series. If you really get into music (and I mean get “into” it), Radiophonics is tantamount to giving the old bean a constitutional. This is not ambient music; it was designed to be listened to intently. The word “ambient” is bandied about a bit too freely for my tastes anyway. Unless you’re performing muzak for elevators or shopping malls, you’re probably not making ambient music (Brian Eno’s early experiments aside). Radiophonics is intense music, more so than early Frippertronics albums like Let The Power Fall. Is it required listening in the Fripp oeuvre? Probably not, although even casual Fripp fans would do well to dip into the Soundscapes series at least once. Me, I’ll probably save Radiophonics for early icy mornings or late nights when dark thoughts won’t disperse.

The Songs

A1. Radiophonic I
A2. Radiophonic II
Buenos Aires Suite
A3. Atmosphere
A4. Elegy (for Mothers and Children)
A5. Streets
A6. Sky

All music written by Robert Fripp.

The Players

Robert Fripp (guitarist) with John Sinks (FOH sound, sound technician). Produced by Robert Fripp & David Singleton; digital editing and mastering engineering (SADiE) by David Singleton.

The Pictures

Cover picture by John Miller. Sleeve design and artwork by Bill Smith Studio. DGM logo by Steve Ball.

The Plastic

Released on compact disc on May 28, 1996 worldwide (Discipline Global Music, DGM 9505).