David Sylvian and Robert Fripp - The First Day (live bootleg)

A bootleg from an unknown source, allegedly recorded in March 1992 in Tokyo. Sound quality is mostly good, with the unfortunate exception of Sylvian's vocals, which are muddied. The only additional player is Trey Gunn on stick - no drummer.

The attraction here is a lot of new material not performed on any legit albums. Some of these (Redemption - Soundscape, Urban Landscape) are abstract ambient improvisations. "Protopunk" is a Crimsonish guitar improvisation by Fripp. New songs include a brief piano ballad "Under Ingrid's Wheels", the little bubbly "Subterranean Burn" and the spaced-out "House In Which We Live".

The familiar Sylvian and Fripp songs are played in shorter versions to give their show space for some new material and improvisation. One good decision was to play a beautifully floaty extended arrangement of "The First Day".

December 10, 2003

6 out of 10

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