I've long been of the opinion that "alternative" rock stopped being "alternative" the moment it was packaged up and marketed as "alternative". It then became another branch of mainstream music, fed to the masses on the radio and given a section of the record store floor, just like "rock", "rap", R&B", and "country". The music really didn't take that many chances, but deviated from the top 40 a little and gave people who wanted to seem like seekers and intellectuals a way of feigning such without the toil of intellectual seeking. "Oh, THAT stuff's dumb. I'm alternative!"
I've found that if you want a real alternative to the mainstream, you have to go outside of the mainstream to find it. That means avoiding the major radio stations, and tuning in to college stations. It means taking a chance on something at the record store because you like the cover or because you've read something about the band. It also means hanging out with like-minded people, and listening to their records. The last method is how I got turned on to King Crimson.
King Crimson will is a band you never heard on "alternative" stations, because they have always been too much so, which is what led me to my conclusions about the "genre" that has been created. If they have a genre, it would be "progressive rock" but they are about the only band in that genre to continue progressing their sound past the early eighties. But then, as guitarist Robert Fripp has said, KC isn't so much a band as "a way of doing things".
Since it's inception in 1969, King Crimson has gone through six completely different incarnations, with Fripp as the only common thread. The band stay together until Fripp feels that the musical statement that it made is done, and he dissolves it. The hiatus period has lasted as long as 11 years. Then, when he is in the mood to play music that only a King Crimson can play, he assembles a new King Crimson to play it, and the cycle goes on. The various former mambers have gone on to perform in bands such as ELP, Bad Company, Foriegner, and UK, among others. Some have solo careers. The diverse personnel contributed to a diversity in sound over the years. In fact if you took an early album, "Islands", the mid-seventies "Red" and 1982's "Beat" and played them all to someone who didn't know them, that person would very possibly never suspect that it was ALL King Crimson.
It's actually a surprise that KC isn't on any lists banning electric trading of unofficial stuff. Few bands have so vociferously protected their rights as artists, and they aren't always very concerned with niceties. Anyone caught smoking during a concert will be shown the door, and if Fripp sees a flash go off, he stops playing immediately and announces that he will not continue until the camera is surrendered. He has stated, however, that he realizes that most tapers are not looking to profit off of him, but instead do it for the love of the music. Seeing that, he has made a LOT of professional recordings of live shows available, and even makes boxed sets of more recent tours in their entirety. Since reputable Bit Torrent sites don't allow torrents of officially available music, I guess Fripp doesn't feel threatened by them.
What I share this week is a stunning soundboard recording of the most recent lineup performing at the State Central Concert Hall in Moscow on June 12, 2003. Soundboards of this band are few and far between, which makes me wonder if this one might not be available officially by now. Ah well, it was fair game when I got it, anyway!
This song is called "The ConstruKction of Light" and features Fripp and Adrian Belew on guitars, Pat Mastelotto on drums, and Trey Gunn on Warr guitar. Adrian sings. This is the sixth King Crimson.
I've read that there is a seventh King Crimson in the works, with Trey Gunn doing his own thing while Crim veteran Tony Levin returns to the fold. I hope it's true.
Next week: During their 21 year career, this act known for their breakdowns did a song that almost everyone in America has heard.
