Watch Tony Levin Pair Slap Bass with Delay on King Crimson’s “Sleepless”

King Crimson has shared another gem from the archives with this performance of “Sleepless” from Kani Hoken Hall in Tokyo in 1984.

Appearing on Three of a Perfect Pair, “Sleepless” began with a Tony Levin riff and became one of the defining tracks from the band’s 1980s lineup. The bass part sounds impossibly busy but the magic comes from Levin combining a slap groove with delay pedal. The repeats turn his eighth note thumps and pops into a relentless stream of sixteenth notes.

I recently watched Ian Martin Allison break down the effects and tone behind the part, which made this clip even more fun to revisit. Watching Levin lock it in live on his iconic yellow Music Man StingRay is something else.

Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Bill Bruford, and Levin are firing on all cylinders here. This is prime King Crimson.