| Daryl Hall can sing! I mean it's no great revelation that | | | | remaining.So in this re-issue you get the original release, |
| he can, it's just stunning to actually hear it. He is blessed | | | | a later 1983 remix and then a few of the unreleased |
| with a voice so strong and acrobatic, it's a wonder he's | | | | Daryl Hall tracks. I have no idea how these two artists |
| not more lauded.Perhaps it's the instant recognition that | | | | came to work together on this album but I'm glad they |
| his tone brings. It only takes a note or two and most | | | | did. On paper the pairing seems so unlikely as to be |
| radio-aware folks can peg a Hall & Oates tune cold. | | | | absurd. It's just hard to imagine the precise and |
| Recognizability and ubiquity tend to dull our perception | | | | hypnotic guitar figures of Robert Fripp being caressed |
| of the genuine quality of a given thing. It's as if we're | | | | by the soulful and rich voice of Daryl Hall. The fact is |
| using the sense organs and mental processing of | | | | though, it works.On the song "North Star" we hear the |
| countless other individuals to engage with our | | | | true nature of that Daryl Hall voice and it simply is a |
| experience of life.Take for example Mount Rushmore. | | | | flooring experience. The tone is rich and sweet while |
| Its been photographed and sculpted and drawn and | | | | still remaining raspy. The phrasing of the lyrics and the |
| put on stamps and printed on license plate and | | | | occasional use of sustained falsetto sent me running |
| emblazoned u-haul vans and used as a location for | | | | to the ipod to dial up Hall &Oates "She's Gone" and |
| movies.Close your eyes for a second and think, " | | | | "Sara Smile" and realize that he's always been that |
| Mount Rushmore ". Please, go ahead and do it. I'll bet a | | | | good. In that voice I was hearing something not actually |
| fairly solid image came to your mind's eye. Some | | | | related to the lyrics. There was an intensity, depth and |
| vaguely tannish and grey rocks sculpted in the likeness | | | | presence I'd never allowed through before. I heard the |
| of a group of presidents. Maybe a chain of | | | | voice of a seeker. I heard the voice of loss. I heard the |
| associations sprang forward in the wake of your initial | | | | voice of tender resignation to the wounding ways of |
| image. Some of these might relate to actual facts | | | | life. Sometimes we are privileged to experience a |
| connected with the site. You may know the name of | | | | blissful moment and Daryl Hall brings many on this |
| the artist. You may have been there with your family. | | | | album.The music bears the stamp of Robert Fripp's |
| Someone in your family might have been born, died, | | | | quests and inquiries into the nature of guitar sound. |
| gotten married, won the lottery, given you a present, | | | | Using a tapeloop system dubbed "Frippertronics" he |
| played "Smoke on the Water" on accordion, stolen | | | | creates complex webs of notes that repeat a |
| something from you, lost their mind, etc. right after your | | | | shimmering metallic mantra and shift upwards and |
| visit and when you see a picture of Mount Rushmore | | | | down. All of the instruments on this album are played |
| your mind shuffles through these events. Along with | | | | with virtuoso cleanliness that never is a means unto |
| these associations are the endless images you've | | | | itself. The technical aspects of the playing are |
| seen of the site.These images and conceptions, while | | | | harnessed and brought to bear on the overall groove |
| intrinsic to our knowledge of Mount Rushmore have no | | | | of each piece. At times this lends a surprising funk |
| real relationship to the actual thing. They are in fact a | | | | quality to some of the music which if not present could |
| cloudy barrier or filter we have placed between | | | | come across as stiff and herky-jerky.There is an |
| ourselves and an object. Occasionally, particularly | | | | inscrutable element to Robert Fripp and his music. You |
| when our focused perception is otherwise occupied, | | | | get a sense of ambiguity about his motives. Is he trying |
| we have a powerful and direct experience of | | | | to tell us a musical tale with a new language or is he |
| something. Perhaps we're sick or tired or just in a very | | | | simply following the call of an internal and unknowable |
| calm and receptive state. Whatever the set of | | | | muse to satisfy his agenda. This ambiguity provides a |
| circumstances are, for some reason the familiar | | | | palpable tension in his music and this tension is so |
| suddenly reveals its true nature and stuns us. We look | | | | interesting we are compelled to keep listening. It's like |
| at the faces of Mount Rushmore and they just simply | | | | listening to someone ask themselves questions and |
| are. Their nature confronts us and we see them for | | | | hearing the various answers they come up with. None |
| the first time. The message might be beautiful, it might | | | | of which the questioner seems to attach more |
| be horrific but we're getting a hit of the true essence | | | | meaning or fondness for than any of the others. I |
| of something and it's not being mediated by either a | | | | often feel that Robert Fripp isn't a person who wants |
| pre-existing image bank or our associations. This is | | | | to be trusted. He likes to keep us on our toes. It's like |
| how Daryl Hall's voice hit me while listening to the | | | | he's a mountain guide who's not sure we're worthy of |
| recently re-issued Robert Fripp album "Exposure".The | | | | making it to the summit. While this can be frustrating it's |
| album was originally released in 1979 and was radically | | | | perhaps better for us in the long run. We're not |
| alter between the recording of it and the eventual | | | | provided with any easy answers in his music so we |
| release. Central to this alteration were the objections | | | | have to actually listen. In this listening we are rewarded. |
| of Daryl Hall's manager Tommy Mottola and the | | | | The rewards vary and can range from hearing Daryl |
| people overseeing Debbie Harry's career in "Blondie". | | | | Hall's magnificent voice for the first time to |
| The tracks were deemed to experimental, the | | | | understanding the power of repetition and |
| association with Fripp viewed as commercial suicide | | | | juxtaposition.No matter what, we come away from |
| and as per usual in the music business, the "business" | | | | "Exposure" enriched and expanded and if that isn't |
| won out. Big chunks of it were re-recorded and used | | | | worthwhile, I don't know what live music reviews, cd |
| the voice talents of Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf | | | | reviews, music news & features are! |
| Generator) with only two of Hall's contributions | | | | |