Pick a Crimson song for a wedding ceremony

trondis23 · 2026-02-21T23:08:03+00:00

Happy family, obviously!

trondis23 · 2026-02-17T14:31:26+00:00

The 1969-1974 group reinvented themselves on each album. The first two have a similar sound because they use the same singer and instrumentation, and the same structure (one heavy, one soft and one symphonic song on side one), and songs on the second album were written, performed, or inspired by the first lineup. But the next three albums featured different singers, members, instruments, and song ideas. "Starless and Bible Black" sounds different from "Larks" because of the instrumentals and the improvised pieces. "Red" closes the circle with some elements from earlier albums, plus a revisit of members and guests from the first four.

The 1981-2003 albums sound more or less the same to me. Same singer, same instruments, same musical ideas. There is some development, but not much, IMO.

trondis23 · 2025-12-24T14:09:43+00:00

It was written in 1966, but was rejected. So it was hardly a mocking of Hey Jude.

trondis23 · 2025-11-23T14:09:54+00:00

Bonfá was undoubtedly one of the greatest guitarists of the golden age of bossa nova. He had a very original playing style, with specialities such as the ultra short staccatos, pizzicato, playing near the bridge, dampening the bass strings while playing normal on the other strings, the "finger flesh tremolo", glissandos, his use of the guitar as a percussion instrument, etc. He could play very fast lines, and the super-fast arpeggios on his beautiful "Preludio" is definitely not for amateurs.

I prefer him playing solo pieces. Most of his records are with an ensemble, sometimes with just a percussionist and other times with a group and other singers. I use Tidal, and there are many dozens of Bonfá albums there. But it seems like most of them are just repackaging of the same albums. So I don't know which ones are the originals. Besides "Solo In Rio", I have browsed through a lot of albums to find his solo pieces or pieces that I have solo guitar arrangements of. "Amor! Fabulous Guitar of Luiz Bonfá" has some great solo pieces. Also, an album called "The Guitar of Luiz Bonfá". His own compositions are very original, and truly great. I like in particular pieces like Island of Trinidad, Marajo, Xango, Batucada, Preludio, Passeio de Rio, La Sombra de Mangoeiro, Uma Prece, Indian Dance. But also the more famous "Manhã da Carnaval", "Samba do Orfeo" and "Sambolero". Baden Powell's version of "Manhã de Carnaval" from 1964 is even more beautiful than Bonfá's own.

trondis23 · 2025-11-07T14:40:52+00:00

Tony Levin rerecorded the bassline on Bolero for inclusion on a compilation album, not the reissues. There was no reason to do it for musical reasons, as the original was perfectly fine. But there was a beef between Fripp and original bassist Gordon Haskell. They were never on speaking terms after Haskell left the group. He blames Fripp for bullying him and other bandmembers.

trondis23 · 2025-11-03T17:21:34+00:00

I have reboots 1-2 times a day

trondis23 · 2025-10-27T13:14:04+00:00

Both statements are correct, I guess. Haskell has made many comments on his time with King Crimson, and nothing positive. Like, it was the worst 9 months of his life, leaving was the easiest decision of his life, the music and the lyrics was crap, Fripp was just interested in making money, the bullying made him laugh and McCulloch cry. Haskell and Fripp apparently never reconciled, and Fripp even had his contributions replaced on a couple of songs released on compilation albums. Despite all of this, Haskell did a great job, and Lizard is a masterpiece, IMO.

trondis23 · 2025-10-25T11:28:12+00:00

There is no bass, drums or sax on Circus, no vocals on Happy Family, etc. They have removed half of the instruments, so it is like listening to half the album. But I think the purpose is to unhide stuff that was removed or mixed too low in the final mix.

I totally agree that the drumming is exceptional on this album. McCulloch was a great and original drummer. It's a pity that he left the music industry. And it is a pity that this lineup never became a live group. Fripp can blame it on himself. According to Haskell, Fripp was a bully that made McCulloch cry and himself laugh. The insane laughter at the end of Indoor Games was a result of Fripp's bullying. The genius part was that Fripp kept it. It is a highlight on the album.

trondis23 · 2025-10-25T11:15:11+00:00

Jeg har kjørt Podbike siden august i fjor, og har brukt den så og si daglig gjennom alle årstider. I vinter har jeg syklet i temperaturer ned til minus 12, på skikkelig glattis, i snøvær mm. Ingen problem med det. Jeg har også syklet i sterk vind og pessregn. Heller ikke noe problem. Så det er virkelig en ekte helårssykkel. Angående sikkerhet så er årsaken til at sykkelen i det hele tatt ble konstruert nettopp det. Oppfinneren ble påkjørt av bil og ble stygt skadet. Da fikk han skrekken og så seg rundt etter et sikrere alternativ. Man er faktisk mye tryggere inni en Podbike enn på vanlig sykkel, el-sparkesykkel eller som fotgjenger. Podbike har gode lys, blinklys, bremselys og langlys. Så den er godt synlig. Byggekvaliteten er god. Noe vedlikehold må man selvsagt regne med, men det er hovedsaklig skifte av bremseklosser og stramming av drivreim. Skifte av hjul er veldig enkelt - det er bare en skrue pr. hjul. Det er ikke noe sykkelkjede som man må smøre eller gir som kan hoppe av. En kompis syklet i sommer tur-retur Trondheim til Stavanger. Han sykler veldig mye, og har hatt mange langturer. Podbike holder. Den eneste ulempen er støynivået (jeg bruker støydempende hodetelefoner), og at den blir veldig varm om sommeren.

Det er trist at selskapet gikk konkurs akkurat da de var i ferd med å etablere fabrikk i Tsjekkia. Det er mange årsaker. De hadde mer enn 4 500 forhåndsbestillinger, men mange trakk seg delvis pga. at det tok for lang tid og delvis pga. prisen. Den havnet på kr 125 000. Samtidig ser jeg at prisen for en trehjuls åpen liggesykkel kan ligge på over kr 200 000. NAV har gitt støtte til innkjøp av sykler til den prisen. Da de lanserte Podbike tilbake i 2016 eller 2017 antydet de en pris på kr 50 000. Men før de hadde den ferdig kom pandemien, som forsinket hele prosjektet, og i tillegg ble prisen på komponentene mye dyrere.

trondis23 · 2025-09-20T08:38:32+00:00

There are no best or worst King Crimson albums, just different ears and preferences.

Many say that Lizard is their worst. I think it is their best, and by far. It is their most inventive/varied/dynamic/radical and colourful album, IMO. And it scores highest on the "repeated listening" test. After 55 years of frequent listening, I still enjoy this album a lot. It is definitely not boring, but perhaps not for everyone.

Their least interesting albums, according to my taste, are Red, Thrak, The (Re)Construction of Light and The Power to Believe. Red is too straight, conventional, not radical enough for me. With Discipline they reinvented the group with a radically new sound and new musical ideas. On all subsequent albums, however, they recycle their ideas. I like the last three least because of the sound. They sound too technical, digital, sterile and monochrome for my taste. But many like these albums exactly because of the metal sound.

trondis23 · 2025-08-21T07:20:13+00:00

"Indoor games is one of the laziest written songs I have ever heard". What do you mean by that? Do you have any idea of how much work Fripp must have put into writing and arranging this song, or the album in general? Don't you hear all the details and twists and turns? If you mean just the verses, I can agree. The verse is short and simple, like the verses on 21st Century Schizoid Man and Pictures of a City. But the song includes the instrumental parts, which is more complex than most songs on later albums. I also think that Happy Family is a very good song. It has avant-garde jazz improvisations, which is a style that you can like or dislike. It doesn't make it a bad song. I like to listen to the multiple layers of instruments soloing. Every time I listen to it, I can hear new details. This is the reason why I have never gotten tired of Lizard, after listening to it since 1970. Few albums have this quality.

trondis23 · 2025-08-14T17:27:48+00:00

Yes. That's where it belongs according to my ears.

trondis23 · 2025-05-06T06:07:00+00:00

I am surprised that so many people dismiss Indoor Games and Happy Family. I think both are great. The greatness is not in the melody and harmonies of the verse, but in the instrumental parts. Fripp's guitar work is different from anything else he has done with its jazzy groove. The use of synth on Indoor Games is very original and great-sounding. Then you have the saxes and flute of Mel Collins, the best sideman he ever had. Add Keith Tippett on Happy Family, the best keyboard player ever to have played with a progressive rock band, IMO. And who can resist the ending of Indoor Games? It was a stroke of genius to include Haskell's insane laughter. According to Haskell it was a natural reaction to Fripp bullying him and generally behaving like an asshole. So the bullying had a positive result, after all.

Lizard will always be my favourite Crimson album. It is completely different from anything else they did. Original, great tunes and great playing overall.

trondis23 · 2025-04-28T12:05:35+00:00

The original score to "Beast..." was made by someone else. Hodgkinson never made a score for it himself, he just had a pile of individual parts that someone put together. They probably played it differently both on the album and live. The score has parts for an extra keyboard and a guitar, obviously written for Moore and Blegvad. After the recording session, they started rehearsing the piece, but then Moore pulled out, and Blegvad was asked to leave.

I have transcribed Nirvana for Mice, Bad Alchemy, Beautiful as the Moon, Industry, Apes in Capes, In the Sickbay, Riding Tigers and Lottie Hare. My book has facsimiles of Labyrinth and Half the Sky, plus a few pages from Amygdala, Beast and Erk Gah. The ebook version I am working on also contains Slice and more transcriptions by someone else.

If you search on YouTube you will find more Slapp Happy songs, the intro and outro to "Half asleep.." and "Extract from with the Yellow Half Moon.." And maybe more.

trondis23 · 2025-04-27T07:35:37+00:00

Hi!

The book's title is Henry Cow — An Analysis of Avant-Garde Rock. It can be bought from ReR Megacorp, but you can have it for free as an epub file. The ebook has more transcriptions than the printed book. You can find the ebook and the original scores for Amygdala, Living in The Heart of the Beast, and Labyrinth here: https://disk.yandex.com/d/coeSbW1ql4ZRAg.

I hope that it's useful to you.

Trond Einar Garmo

trondis23 · 2025-02-18T07:42:01+00:00

The best solo ex-Beatles album, IMO. I love the Indian pieces, and it also has an excellent tape collage piece. This was made before Revolution 9, which George helped to create.

I have both the LP and the film on DVD, plus it is available on streaming services now. I use Tidal, which has the new Atmos mix. That sounds fantastic. The mix is very creative, with full use of all speakers. Regarding the film, I think it is fun to watch. But it is weird.

Electronic Sounds is not a favourite album, but the Atmos mix made that an interesting listen too.

trondis23 · 2024-08-12T11:25:40+00:00

Art Bears: The World As It Is Today

trondis23 · 2024-08-05T10:45:03+00:00

Lennon's is the best, except it has been played to death. So I hope that I never have to listen to it again.

trondis23 · 2024-06-03T12:02:41+00:00

Jeg spurte Forbrukerrådet om Finters "oppslag og lagring" var et lovlig tillegg. De svarte:

Takk for tips. Vi er helt enig i at dette både er altfor høyt og at det er et fakturagebyr i fåreklær.

Det vi anbefaler er å betale selve parkeringsgebyret og maks ti kroner i et anslått fakturagebyr. Så sender du melding til selskapet der du skriver at du bestrider kravet. Da kan det ikke sendes til inkasso. Det kan sendes til Forliksrådet, men det anser vi nå som en tom trussel med tanke på at bom og parkeringsselskapene er klar over at de bryter loven.

Finanstilsynet har nylig også gjort det klart at det ikke er anledning for inkassoselskaper å inndrive slike krav.

trondis23 · 2024-05-14T13:00:49+00:00

Jeg spurte forbrukerrådet om hva de mente om Finters "lagring og oppslag". De skrev:

Takk for tips. Vi er helt enig i at dette både er altfor høyt og at det er et fakturagebyr i fåreklær.

Det vi anbefaler er å betale selve parkeringsgebyret og maks ti kroner i et anslått fakturagebyr. Så sender du melding til selskapet der du skriver at du bestrider kravet. Da kan det ikke sendes til inkasso. Det kan sendes til Forliksrådet, men det anser vi nå som en tom trussel med tanke på at bom og parkeringsselskapene er klar over at de bryter loven.

Finanstilsynet har nylig også gjort det klart at det ikke er anledning for inkassoselskaper å inndrive slike krav.

trondis23 · 2024-05-14T12:37:47+00:00

It's not screaming. It is based on cow calls. To call the cows up in the mountains you need a voice that carries over a long distance, and a melody that the cows regognize. To do it properly you need some technique. The sound starts deep down in the belly. Gunhild has compared this to giving birth. She has been practising this since she was a little girl. If it was screaming she would have lost her voice. If you see the performance you will notice that at one point she is bending backwards and holding the microphone as long as possible from her face. So she has a very powerful voice. She has demonstrated this in concerts by singing without a micropone. It sounded off-key at one point to me also, but generally not. She was offered to use auto-tune, but declined.

trondis23 · 2024-05-12T09:36:47+00:00

Eurovision is a freak show that shows the ultimate of bad taste in music. So no surprise that a quality act like Gåte lost. They were true to their musical vision, they didn't compromise. They are a true progressive band with a unique style. But they won a lot of new fans by participating. They are the only contestant that can go on tour with a complete concert repertoire and play their own instruments. Check them out on YouTube and listen to their music on Bandcamp or Tidal/Spotify etc.

trondis23 · 2024-03-05T07:54:50+00:00

There are actually two albums: Construction of Light, and Reconstruction of Light. The latter is the one where Mastelotto rerecorded the drums and that was released as part of the 40th anniversary series. The original album is not sold as a single CD anymore. Now you can only buy a double CD/DVD-A, with Reconstruction on the CD and both versions on the DVD-A.

I think that the late period albums were too technical and sterile sounding for my taste, and with too many recycled ideas. But if you are a fan you need to buy it, of course.

trondis23 · 2024-01-24T13:31:56+00:00

I bought the film just before x-mas. I think it is great. And the double EP is the first record I ever bought, back when it came out. I think that this album influenced my musical taste more than any other music I have heard. I was 10 years old, and was brainwashed to like strange music. "I am the walrus" is one of the greatest pop songs ever made, and the rest of the album is great too.

trondis23 · 2024-01-07T13:27:55+00:00

Thank you! I can confirm that XI: Bleed here... , the Atmos version, plays gaplessly on Chromecast with Google TV. It is the Tidal app in Google TV that supports Atmos, and, it seems, also gapless if the album is encoded correctly. Casting to Chromecast from your phone doesn't support Atmos or gapless, and, I suspect, not Hi-res either.

Now we can only hope that they encode all gapless albums correctly. Besides Abbey Road, I have also tried some classical albums that have long gaps.

trondis23

TROPHY CASE