Former MINISTRY Drummer teams Up With R.E.M., KING CRIMSON Members In SLOW MUSIC

April 30, 2006

Greg Prato of Billboard.com is reporting that former MINISTRY/current-R.E.M. drummer Bill Rieflin has teamed up with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and KING CRIMSON guitarist Robert Fripp is a new project called SLOW MUSIC. The completely improvised band also features keyboardist Hector Zazu, bassist Fred Chalenor and drummer Matt Chamberlain.

"It's based on the idea of space, rather than filling space," Rieflin told Billboard.com. "In an improvised context, instead of saying, 'Hey, play this,' I'm saying, 'If you don't know what to do, play nothing.' With six guys on stage, there's going to be at least one person to try and keep the ball rolling. Whereas so-called ambient or textural music ideas tend to live in a programmed context, I wanted to put it in a performing and playing context with musicians. In a way, it's a challenge for the musicians to learn how to work with space."

With shows coming up in May, SLOW MUSIC has also assembled a debut recording, "Live at the Croc", taped last October at Seattle's Crocodile Cafe. "Right now, this is just a limited edition kind of a deal," Rieflin said. "There will be an expanded version for sale commercially — it'll come out somehow, somewhere. I've been talking to a few people about it."

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