NEW ALBUMS
THE GRID/FRIPP
Pan-generational pop polymaths come together in electric dreams
Leviathan PANEGYRIC
7/10
Seventies art-rock, ’80s synthpop and ’90s ambient techno converge in this debut full-length collaboration between veteran prog titan Robert Fripp and evergreen electro duo The Grid, aka Dave Ball and Richard Norris. Over expansive collages of analogue squelch, transistor hum and gently seasick undulation, Fripp uses his guitar as sonic paintbrush, laying down Frippertronic textures that morph from languid throb to icy gleam to discordant avant-classical scrape. The strongest pieces “After The Rain”, “Milkwood” and “Loom” feel like mini-movies, full of emotional shading and wordless drama. Leviathan sounds deeper and richer with repeat listens, though lesser tracks like “Zhora” and “Sympatico” surrender too easily to tastefully bland ambitronic mellowness.