Michael Giles

Following the meltdown of the original King Crimson lineup, Ian McDonald and Michael Giles brought brother Peter Giles back, which helps to account, in some ways, for the resemblance of this album to the 1968 Giles, Giles & Fripp recordings - though the songs here tend to go on at some length, combining prog rock's traits of length and multiple sections with some of the lighter feel of the GG&F days. The 20-minute "Birdman" tends toward self-indulgence, while "Tomorrow's People - The Children of Today" loses focus halfway and spends the next four minutes being a blithering - if pretty - musical idiot. The main attraction is really the performances turned in by McDonald and the Giles brothers - they all sound fabulous, even when waffling musically, while Michael Giles has a unique drum tone that never has been duplicated (Giles himself abandoned the sound for his later career in Jackson Heights and as a session drummer)…

Following the meltdown of the original King Crimson lineup, Ian McDonald and Michael Giles brought brother Peter Giles back, which helps to account, in some ways, for the resemblance of this album to the 1968 Giles, Giles & Fripp recordings - though the songs here tend to go on at some length, combining prog rock's traits of length and multiple sections with some of the lighter feel of the GG&F days. The 20-minute "Birdman" tends toward self-indulgence, while "Tomorrow's People - The Children of Today" loses focus halfway and spends the next four minutes being a blithering - if pretty - musical idiot. The main attraction is really the performances turned in by McDonald and the Giles brothers - they all sound fabulous, even when waffling musically, while Michael Giles has a unique drum tone that never has been duplicated (Giles himself abandoned the sound for his later career in Jackson Heights and as a session drummer)…

When, in 1931, Messiaen applied for his post as organist at La Trinité, he wrote to the curate to reassure him that he knew that ‘one must not disturb the piety of the faithful with wildly anarchic chords’. It is not known whether that curate was at La Trinité 20 years later, but it is hard to think of a more appropriate characterisation of the effect of Livre d’orgue than ‘wildly anarchic’, while Alexander Goehr has recalled how Messiaen’s organ-playing during the mid-1950s sounded like electronics. Michael Bonaventure’s playing may not have that effect, but he does get Messiaen’s music to lift off the page, even in the most rigorous pages of the Livre d’orgue. The organ of St Giles, Edinburgh, generally has the power and range of colour needed, with the fierce chords at the opening of ‘Les mains de l’abîme’ fizzing with tension. Slightly more power from the pedals would be welcome, notably in the dazzling central section of the fifth of the Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité. Generally, though, this is a delight for the ears.

Brisbane-born vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Cam Giles couldn’t recall a time when music wasn’t front and centre in his life. In Cam’s musical world, anything is possible. After working with INXS in its heyday, Cam feels a special connection to their music. With that, his love of jazz and the strong traditions in jazz to reinterpret tunes, Cam’s tribute to Michael Hutchence and the music of one of the greatest bands to come out of Australia, has been a labour of love. “A couple of years ago I was playing at summer jazz festivals and doing all the classic stuff and thought, let’s mix this up a little. I used to muck around with singing Need You Tonight and it just fitted, so I did that, and a couple of others and we decided to do a few more and it fell together like that.”

Sublime musical expression does not necessarily proceed from serene spirits whose philosophical loftiness leaves them unmoved by the push and shove of the marketplace. Prefaces to printed editions of music in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries seldom reveal much of the personality behind the writer's effusive urge to prostrate himself before the dedicatee and his invocations to the muses to make worthy his humble efforts. Robert Jones, Tobias Hume and John Dowland were exceptions in this regard and often used their printed prefaces as a platform for polemics, self-defence and bile. In so doing they illumine the contemporary pressures of public opinion and changing fashions, as well as highly individual — not to say curmudgeonly — natures.

Alongside Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Genesis, King Crimson has been one of the most emblematic British progressive rock bands of all time. Always creatively led by Robert Fripp, the group has gone through numerous member changes and sound mutations. After several years of hard work, Music Brokers is proud to present The Many Faces Of King Crimson, an album where we will find hard to find works and lesser known projects from most of the members that at some point were part of the band.

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music
Almost unarguably the first, most quintessential prog-rock album ever, Court virtually came out of nowhere, and almost single-handedly defined "prog-rock" at its infancy.

With new Eco friendly rechargeable batteries in his torch, and dry cleaned fedora upon his head, it's that time of year when good old Mr Stormy gives up his newly discovered treasures. A fourth year of treats unearthed from the murky, cavernous DGM archives. These have previously only been offered as MP3s, but now, for your delight and fetishization, they can be suffered in full FLAC quality. Take your time to enjoy yet another marvellous collection of newly polished gems!