4 Arts Page 6 Wednesday, May 6, 1981 The Michigan Daily RECORDS Fripp's fragments of brilliance Robert Fripp -'The League of Gen- artists. Almost without exception, his somnolent. A rhythm generator would ploring all sorts of new styles, fr tlemen' (Polydor)-It's too bad that best work has always had someone have shown more kick and spontaneity upbeat herky-jerky dance riff of Robert Fripp's solo work rarely mat- else's name on it (like David Bowie. than these two players. If Fripp didn't taparaparshinokh" to the over ches his instrumental abilities, for his Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel). usually record with luminaries like circuitry of "Minor Man." Esp guitar work is on a level all its own. His In some ways, this record is no dif- Busta Jones and Phil Collins, then this in the latter style, Fripp has she own albums generally echo ideas that ferent. Not to point fingers, but the bassist and drummer might not seem that he has finally surpassed the he has explored previously with other rhythm section here is barely above so awful. But given that context, they that he did with Crimson. At the are unforgivable. The fact that League time that he has extrapolated 4 om the "Hep- loaded ecially own us e work e same those A PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN ISRAEL Six months / One year Up to Age 32 WORK IN YOUR FIELD! $200 Cost includes: " Placement * Housing and stipend * Hebrew study * Medical insurance " Tours and seminars contact: Sherut La'am/AZYF 515 Park Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 A (212) 751-6070 ext. 247 of Gentlemen is composed exclusively of instrumental dance tunes (with a few found vocals and tape loop pieces thrown in for good measure) also doesn't help the album avoid becoming a mishmash of intriguing riffs that never quite salvage their plodding rhythms and predictable chord progressions. THE BOTTOM LINE is that you could see this as just another miscon- ceived product by Mister Fripp ... ex- cept for one crucial difference. On League of Gentlemen, Fripp finally steps out and plays some of the god- damn hottest guitar he has played sin- ce the halycon days of King Crimson. Gone are the trite reiterations of Crim- son riffs that peppered Exposure and even further removed are the almost embarrassingly familiar guitar tape loops of God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners. Fripp spreads out on this album, ex- unimaginable chord changes and im- possible soloes to a point beyond any description, he has also learned to im- press us with understatement rather than simply bowl us over with bombast. THIS NEW understatement thank- fully allows room for the one other real talent on this record, namely keyboard player Barry Andrews. And Andrews wastes no time with that space; he has much more fun with his keyboards on this record than anything he has recor- ded since the early days of XTC. He seems to bounce across the keys, sen- ding out short jabs and monstrous swells of sound to counterbalance Fripp's stinging guitar work. Still, this is not what you could calr a fully realized album. Rather, League of Gentlemen is composed of bits and pieces, though it can't be denied that some of those bits and pieces are of ex- ceptiopal quality. -Mark Diehton 4 4 Wl10#T' SF"ef! 0Textbooks discounted! 4 " All The Supplies You NEED " All The "M"Imprinted Clothing and Gifts You WANT There's a LotIn a Name When the Name Is .. .