King Crimson - Larks’ Tongues In Aspic - 50th Ann. Edition

King Crimson’s classic 1973 album Larks’ Tongues in Aspic is to be reissued for its 50th anniversary on a 2LP vinyl version, with LP 1 being Steven Wilson’s 2023 stereo mix and the second record featuring David Singleton’s four ‘Elemental’ mixes.

Wilson’s process involves going back to the multi-track tapes and building a new stereo mix, while David Singleton’s ‘Elemental' mixes applies this same approach to four of the album’s core tracks, creating extended mixes of ‘Larks’ 1’, ‘Talking Drum’, ‘Easy Money’ and ‘Larks’ 2’.

When, in July 1972, Melody Maker revealed that Bill Bruford & John Wetton were joining King Crimson – from Yes & Family respectively, it was front page news. Also joining were Jamie Muir – a key figure in London’s jazz scene & David Cross – from the band Waves.

Robert Fripp’s claims about the band’s ‘magic’ were to be put to the test that autumn when, following a three night stint at the Zoom Club, Frankfurt & TV appearance on Bremen’s Beat Club, the band undertook an extensive UK tour, which ran from the end of October through to mid-December.

With the exception of the encore “21st Century Schizoid Man”, the material was all new, with a heavier emphasis on improvisation than had ever been utilised by any major UK rock group on a headlining tour.

The developing material for Larks’ Tongues in Aspic was premiered to a succession of audiences who, for the most part, had bought tickets expecting to hear something else entirely (encore notwithstanding) but who responded to the challenging set with enthusiasm.

Larks’ Tongues in Aspic became one of the most acclaimed of King Crimson’s albums as well as establishing its reputation as a key album from one of rock music’s most significant years.

After a handful of further UK concerts, Jamie Muir left the band with the remaining quartet working with ever greater success until Summer 1974 when Fripp placed the band on indefinite hiatus.

Almost half a century after its release, Steven Wilson undertook the job of mixing the album for Dolby Atmos and, in the process, prepared new stereo & 5.1 mixes.

Tracklist:
LP 1: 2023 Mixes by Steven Wilson
Side A
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One
Book of Saturday
Exiles
Side B
Easy Money
The Talking Drum
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two
LP 2: 2023 Elemental Mixes by David Singleton
Side C
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One
Easy Money
Side D
The Talking Drum
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two