Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: David Cross And Robert Fripp
Label: Noisy Records
Release: 2015
Length: 55:42
Rating: 4/5
Guitar legend Robert Fripp and top-notch violinist/keyboardist David Cross, an old King Crimson buddy from the ‘primeval’ era when almost all music was still made with heart, have joined forces again after a long time and recorded a joint project, »Starless Starlight«. It’s an intriguing instrumental album made up entirely of ambient-experimental music, taking the listener on an unusual, emotional journey across a starless sky.
The music on »Starless Starlight« is derived from a short melody that is the basic building block of the King Crimson classic »Starless« (from the album »Red«, 1974), one that fans of the prog-rock titans know extremely well. Fripp and Cross created this evergreen melody back in 1974, shortly before David parted ways with King Crimson. A few years later, during a live show in St. Louis, Fripp came up with two improvisations based on that same »Starless« melody, titled »Starlight I« and »Starlight II«.
Every track on this album is based around the core »Starless« motif, while some of them are also built around various sonic segments from »Starlight I« and »Starlight II«. All of Robert’s soundscapes are constructed around »Starlight« variations, while David added his violin passages somewhat later.
The music on »Starless Starlight« offers indescribably beautiful, mostly melancholic variations, put together from Fripp’s trademark sound sequencing, a.k.a. soundscapes, and Cross’s tender violin passages. The tracks need to be listened to with soul and heart, not just with the brain, so definitely not in the typical rational way. That means this is a project that, like most of Fripp’s projects, is meant only for a narrow circle of listeners, the music gourmets who can take a bit more time with their listening and surrender to a pure ambient flow, which, via the »Starless« and »Starlight« sound fragments performed by two masters of sonic innovation, can quickly sweep them into a pleasant state of ambient rapture.
»Starless Starlight« will appeal to anyone who swears by Fripp’s various soundscape-based ambient projects and values his past collaborations with Brian Eno, with Cross’s violin adding a completely new dimension to the subtle waves of sound. Maybe Fripp and Cross will even team up again successfully in the future. Cross is reportedly one of the few former King Crimson members who never had any real spats with the guitar oddball, even though some of his violin and piano contributions on the live album »USA« (1975) were replaced in the studio with Eddie Jobson’s playing. Most King Crimson followers wouldn’t mind at all, especially now that the old guitar chieftain has been struck by nostalgia for the early, ‘romantic’ era of his band, which includes the work created between 1973 and 1974, when Cross was in the group.
Lineup
David Cross – violin
Robert Fripp – soundscapes
Production
David Cross and Tony Lowe
Track List
1. Starless Starlight Loops (11:35)
2. In the Shadow (5:36)
3. Shine and Fall (6:43)
4. Starless Theme (5:16)
5. One By One, the Stars Were Going Out (6:50)
6. Fear of Starlight (3:50)
7. Starlight Trio (11:59)
8. Sure of the Dark (3:53)
