The Complete Recordings 1981 – 1984

the two original albums – ‘i advance masked’ and ‘bewitched’ – recorded by andy summers and robert fripp, and a new mini-album assembled from previously unreleased / recently discovered recordings, all in dts-hd ma surround and 24/96 hi-res stereo.

plus additional treasures / mixes and an audio documentary taken from fripp’s sessions/ tapes, packaged in a 10-panel book-sized digisleeve with new sleevenotes by sid smith and notes on the recordings by king crimson producer, david singleton.

whilst ‘i advance masked’ showcased the skill and differing guitar techniques of the two players with heavy influence of fripp’s multi-rhythmic playing evident, their second 1984 album ‘bewitched’ was a more melodic affair with the inclusion of additional personnel including bassist chris childs and sara lee, and as fripp put it, “the album is a lot more andrew than it is me”. almost 40 years later – during plans to reissue the original albums and searching for the original tapes – summers came across four new tapes in a los angeles vault.

not only was most of the original material on those tapes, but a treasure trove of previously unreleased material, early versions, alternative versions of tracks were unearthed. from that, eleven unreleased tracks were arranged/edited and newly mixed and, along with an alternative take of “maquillage” and an early slower version of “parade”, a third mini album titled ‘mother hold the candle steady’ was created. more previously unreleased tracks such as balinese and brainstorm and delights such as an early mix of new marimba were also discovered by david singleton in the process of collating and mixing this collection.

in addition, this package includes an audio documentary titled ‘can we record tony?’ which is from a series of cassettes fripp kept containing their original exploratory improvisations.

contents

– 4-disc set of all the summers/fripp material on 3cd/1blu-ray.
– cds include the original albums ‘i advance masked’ & ‘bewitched’ with additional tracks and a 3rd album ‘mother hold the candle steady’ compiled from previously unreleased / unheard newly mixed material and assembled by david singleton plus an alternative take of “maquillage” and an early slower version of “parade”
– blu-ray includes:

• both original albums and the new 3rd album – newly mixed by david singleton in 5.1 dts-hd ma surround & 24/96 hi-res stereo
• both original albums – the original stereo mixes, newly mastered in 24/96 hi-res stereo
• a ‘fly on the wall’ audio documentary – ‘can we record tony?’ – taken from robert fripp’s own archive cassettes of the 2 guitarists’ original improvisations and conversations, also in 24/96 hi-res

– presented in a 10-panel book-sized digi-sleeve with 16-page booklet including photos & sleeve-notes from new interviews with andy summers and robert fripp by king crimson biographer sid smith
– plus a fascinating ‘tale of the tapes’ page by david singleton on how / where the previously unreleased material was recently discovered / sourced