Let the Power Fall
is an album of
Fripp
ertronics, which to the uninitiated can sound like electrical hum. In reality it's a technique developed with
Brian Eno
, which allows the guitarist to play against a tape loop of sustained notes. With
ertronics as his mantra,
Robert Fripp
creates impressive
instrumental
structures by building layers of sound atop one another. This sort of
ambient
music is conducive to a specific frame of mind, but like
Eno
's
Discreet Music
it rewards the careful listener.
can be seen as a refinement of the music explored on earlier
Fripp & Eno
collaborations, though with
out of the equation the songs take a decidedly more mathematical bent. The record begins with
"1984,"
picking up where
Under Heavy Manners/God Save the Queen
left off. The song titles are better seen as successive numbers in a catalog than specific dates, as they're all of a piece. You could make a case that
"1987,"
and
"1988"
are the most impressive constructs, but it's foolish to put much meaning behind that. While
employs the same soothing waves of sound that
used on
Evening Star
, there's only so much that can be made from
ertronics (think
Yosemite Sam
and his coconuts), and the end result feels a little cold and remote when compared with
's warm
textures.
may be the ideal album of
ertronics, yet it's a technique that, while fascinating at times, has its own limitations. ~ Dave Connolly