The Soundscapes of Jeffrey Fayman & Robert Fripp. A stunning album of looped Frippertronics and electronics, in the vein of the classic Fripp & Eno No Pussyfooting collaboration; released in conjunction with Jeffrey Fayman's Tranceportation imprint.
Recorded live from a past life, A Temple In The Clouds evokes a voyage on an ancient mariner vessel bound for what might be the Earth's End. Strange mists rise as we slowly drift upon sparkling seas where sacred primordial ritual meets modern amplified sound. Awash in the hypnotic looping structures of Robert Fripp's guitar soundscapes, Jeffrey Fayman adds an opulent cinematic brilliance to the proceedings, creating an intense and dramatic vision of a future rich in the heritage of Fripp's past. Recorded live from a past life.
Nine years in the making, A Temple In The Clouds is a unique collaboration between one of rock's most important and influential guitarists and a contemporary cinematic composer. Fripp's contribution of two hours worth of treated guitar work (his trademark “Frippertronics”) formed the basis for Fayman's layering of interwoven electronic soundscapes. Focusing on the subtleties and slight shifts in overtones and harmonics, Fayman and Fripp have created a dynamic musical kaleidoscope, ever changing and intrinsically radiant in each sonic fractal.
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Artist Background
Jeffrey Fayman's background is in film music, having scored and licensed music for over 1500 diverse trailers including the current campaigns for “The Hollow Man,” “The Perfect Storm,” & “The Patriot.” His company, "Immediate Music" is one of the premier music production companies for motion picture advertising in Los Angeles.
Studying percussion and world music in college, Jeffrey eventually abandoned academic studies to pursue life as a drummer in various progressive bands (he recorded an album, Empire, with ex-Yes founding guitarist Peter Banks) before taking up the synthesizers in the early eighties. As he explains, "I soon realized I could use computer software and synthesizers to musically express complex pieces I was hearing inside and correct my poor keyboard technique." Robert Fripp is the leader of the legendary art rock band King Crimson. Thoughout the seventies and eighties, he toured the world with his ever-changing ensemble. His collaborations with Brian Eno in the early seventies could arguably be referred to as the beginning of "ambient music." 1973's No Pussyfooting and 1975's Evening Star defined a new realm of music, bringing a strategic looping structure - "Frippertronics" - to the world. While continuing with King Crimson, Fripp has released a series of albums in a similar vein -- called "Soundscapes" -- on his own Discipline Global Mobile label.
In the early nineties, a band Jeffrey founded and produced sent their demo tape to Robert, who said "I should play on that." Fripp flew out to Los Angeles and performed on four tracks. Although Jeffrey eventually left the project behind, a resulting "gift" from Robert was a master tape containing two hours of Frippertronic Soundscapes recorded in Jeffrey's studio which, (paraphrasing Fripp's words), "you might utilize in whatever context you feel would be appropriate."
Jeffrey details the story from there: "I had Robert's tape sitting around for nearly eight or nine years and then I developed the idea of employing these Frippertronics as a method of creating atmospheric textures for lucid dreaming. Robert's Soundscapes always seemed to help restore and heal my energy and concentration, so simply as personal experimentation, I layered several of them together and created complex interweaving atmospheres. I would then just sit in my studio and listen to them cycle for long periods of time.
"Focusing on the subtleties, I began hearing slight shifts in overtones and harmonics; my ear would follow one section of a loop for a while, and then become inadvertently drawn to another element which seemed to then be quite obvious, though I never seemed to have heard that part before... I soon realized they were causing some powerful effects upon my psyche.
"In listening to them, I began having very visual impressions and I started re-structuring and shaping the Soundscapes by editing and eventually adding my own instrumentation. My biggest problem in mixing them was to keep my concentration solid and to remember to move the mixing faders when needed, and to not be so pulled in, that I just sat there blankly staring at the speakers.
"What you hear on the CD A Temple in the Clouds is the result of much sonic and psychic experimentation, generous offerings and encouragement by Mr. Fripp, travels to healing temples in Greece, lucid dreaming, and defining those visions by utilizing Soundscapes."
A review from CMJ New Music Monthly (Oct 2000):
Before the term "ambient" was co-opted for dance music, its meaning was literal. The genre yielded swirling clouds of beatless sound that seeped into the air --- available for attentive listening, but functional as background. Usually, it was build from loops of guitar and keyboards, with slow, microtonal changes to create transition in melody, harmony and texture, and a soloist to color improvisations. And usually, it was played by keyboardist/producer Brian Eno, who invented the style, and King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, who developed a means of looping six-string emissions between two tape recorders that he dubbed Frippertronics. This transporting or transparent CD is a return to that period, minus Eno. Good for zoning-out. Or zoning-in on the shimmering waves of distortion, the roiling guitar melodies and the tinkling metal that rings like twisting wind chimes in the half-hour title track. One reason for this album's deliciously antiquated approach is that it's been nine years in the making. In '91, Fripp left film-music maker Jeffrey Fayman two hours of looped guitar for use by Fayman's band --- which then broke up. Seven years later Fayman revisited the tapes, combined some of Fripp's loops and spending hours under their mesmeric effect. Then he added his own syntheseizers and percussion, producing an album that lives up to the spiritual evocations of its title. - Ted Drozdowksi
A review from Expose Magazine (Mar 2001):
Never thought I'd ever see a Robert Fripp album on the Projekt label, but here it is, a collaboration with Jeffrey Fayman in the ambient/electronic style. Inspired by a journey to the Anapraxis temple off the Mediterranean coast, A Temple In The Clouds has a very grandiose sound full of floating synths, guitars and environmental sounds. It has four tracks, although two of them are very short, while the other two clock in at 15 and 31 minutes apiece. The first of the long tracks, "The Pillars of Hercules," is a swelling and receding piece backed up by the sounds of the ocean. Like most of the music here, it is a rich, textural tapestry with a bright, symphonic sound. The short predecessor "The Sky Below" is similar, but without the effects, and with a background of wind chime-like sounds. The album's lengthy centerpiece and title track is a bit darker, but still following the same formula with big symphonic keyboard sounds and lots of dark atmospherics. Fripp's guitar here is definitely to the point where it doesn't resemble the instrument as we know it, and it's this blurring of who is doing what that really makes the piece work, especially the droning voice sounds and the general blending of the strange and ethereal sounds. The finale, "The Stars Below," is a much gentler piece, certainly more so in volume. It is a fitting fade out to a very fine album, certainly one a bit different than the usual ambient affair. -Mike McLatchey
Let's face facts -- the ambient genre and its numerous subdivisions have been done to death by now. What distinguishes a good new release from the pack is its overall sound and instrumental blend, especially as this genre is more about finding the mind than the feet. This mesmerizing collaboration between synthesist Jeffrey Fayman and experimental guitar guru Robert Fripp succeeds in breaking away from the pack. It utilizes both the guitarist's looped "Frippertronics" and recalls the lush "space music" sound pioneered in the late '80s by the Hearts of Space label. Rather than focus on linear flow, the four compositions on Temple emphasize atmosphere and texture. The album features two extended suites (the 15-minute "The Pillars of Hercules" and 31-minute title track), each followed by a shorter composition that acts as a tranquilizing coda. Indeed, the title track is very active for the ambient genre, as it summons up a surreal swirl of angelic sounds, contrasted by deep drones that hum through the mix. Fripp aficionados may be able to discern the ethereal, crystalline guitar sounds from the synths, but for most listeners, it will be a fun challenge to distinguish between the two. Fayman & Fripp's original sounds are what ultimately validate their efforts. The duo focuses on crafting some gorgeous sonic tapestries, particularly the heavenly final track "The Stars Below," one of the most uplifting ambient works of recent memory. This Temple is worth visiting to chill out or sleep; its cinematic music is effective and trippy when one inhabits that twilight state between consciousness and dreams. - Bryan Reesman
A review from NAPRA (Jan/Feb 2001):
These four long tracks are almost dangerously hypnotic. I defy any listener to hang onto stress while listening to the looping patterns of groundbreaking King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp merged with the musical coloration of veteran film composer Jeffrey Fayman. The "Frippertronic" structures feature subtly complex harmonic interweavings; Fayman layered several of these loop patterns together and inserted his own instrumentation. He worked on this project at a time when he was suffering from stress insomnia, almost nine years after receiving Fripp's basic tapes, and states in his CD notes that the work was a highly therapeutic experience for him. His biggest problem in the studio was that the sounds would put him into a trance so he forgot what he was planning to do. You'll know exactly what he means when you hear this CD. -NF
Longtime cinema composer Jeffrey Fayman layered sheets of ambient electronics over two raw hours of Robert Fripp's keening, digitized guitar loops for this mesmerizing disc. Almost a decade in the making, their effort may lack the edge and grit of Fripp and Eno collaborations, but it has a devastatingly sumptuous beauty.
- Dean Suzuki