Fayman & Fripp – A temple in the clouds

1 review for Fayman & Fripp – A temple in the clouds

1. 

   Mike McLatchey / Expose – 2022-11-22

   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.

   2001. Mike McLatchey / Expose