*** Ten Seconds

TEN SECONDS

(Discipline Global Mobile)

HHH . The smartest contemporary progressive rock I've heard since King Crimson re-formed again. No surprise it's on the DGM label, which specializes in issuing live Crimson and aesthetically related works. Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp lights some of the brightest blazes here, guesting -- as does Ministry's William Rieflin -- with this guitar/voice duo. The lyrics are impressionistic and alienated (as is the singing, thanks to judicious use of effects), the guitars fat and dangerous, the beats a mix of Ministry post-industrialism and Crimson-like staccato punctuation. Synths contribute to the outer-space textures without soiling the edgy character of the soundscapes. An exercise in realizing modernist possibilities at a time when most other prog-rockers are recycling Yes riffs. (Digital Global Mobile has catalogues available c/o Possible Productions, Mark Perry, 351 Magnolia Avenue, Long Beach, California 90802.)

-- Ted Drozdowski