ROBERT FRIPP & THE LEAGUE OF CRAFTY GUITARISTS Live!

(Editions)

Fripp has been busy since closeting King Crimson away in the Royal Mothballs; the master of the precise arpeggio has found time to record with David Sylvian, Marry Toyah and present a series of guitar classes. This last course of action may strike some of you as a bit academic but since he’s also come up with a new batch of tunes and needed an acoustic guitar ensemble to play ’em, I’d say he’s just smart. The music itself is pretty varied: some Reich-like pieces, some stuff that’s more ECMish, and one extended Frippertronic tonic for these who need their fix of electro-Fripp. No rock ’n’ roll to speak of but it still sounds good to me. M.D.

THE STRAHGLERS Dreamtime (Epic)