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Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree

Delphi91

Interesting article/interview with Steven Wilson. Particularly interesting are his comments in relation to Porcupine Tree about half way down:

http://rollingstoneindia.com/home-flashbox/backstage-with-steven-wilson/

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rednik

Steven joins Darren Reddick on One man and his prog on Planet Rock at midnight tonight.

bnt

Quite chuffed that I'm getting to see the band in Edinburgh in a fortnight. It'll be the same band as on the album. For the rest of the world, there will be some changes. Guthrie is making way for Dave Kilminster (veteran of Roger Waters' band and many sessions):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmE9ATrlckI

and Marco will be replaced by Craig Blundell (Pendragon, Frost), who's also a Roland V-Drums ambassador, so expect him to have a hybrid kit. Here he is mucking around at home:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cM3rocbCpk

Vudgie

I'm loving the new album, so much going on as usual.

It will take some time to digest but the theme behind the album almost makes the songs sound even more special.

bnt

There's a great interview with SW at Digital Trends, which has info I haven't seen elsewhere. I didn't know, for example, that SW sends his studio masters out for pressing as-is ("flat transfer"), instead of the customary mastering by a specialist such as Bob Ludwig.

I think he's absolutely spot-on about the difference between "progressive" and "prog", something I've pointed out before:

(P)rogressive too often gets abbreviated to “prog,” which is a word I really loathe because it’s meaningless, and it just becomes a tag for a particular generic form of music. I still do like the word “progressive,” particularly when it’s used in its proper context — trying to evolve, trying to combine different forms of music to create something unique. Those are all the things I’d like to think I’m doing with my music in the true spirit of the word “progressive,” yes.

sydthebeat

for such a heavy themed album, the songs are ethereal and somewhat beautiful.. even the industrial "home invasion".
"perfect life" is an instant classic... much like "drag ropes" from storm corrosion and "drive home" from raven

will be hard beat for my album of the year already

GLaDOS

Yeah I've been listening to it fairly non stop, I knew he'd produce the goods.

I think Ancestral is up there with the best songs Steve has written. Somewhat like Holy Drinker or Arriving Somewhere.

Anesthetize

Definitely my favourite album of 2015 so far. It's as good as anything he recorded with Porcupine Tree.

Mushy

Sound in Manchester where I was sitting (up near the top) was dire, Marco may as well have had practice pads for drums. So that really took away from it. The performance was also too perfect to be fun. Was the first time it hit me how perfect Porcupine Tree were. TRTRTS songs are incredible live though, the performance is utterly flawless and enjoyable. He also asked people to stand after the first song....nobody did, so venue choice is certainly suspect. Hate to sound negative on it but that's how it was.

bnt

Saw the band live in Edinburgh on Monday: I have some of the same criticisms as Mushy - though it could have been my ears distorting, since I thought they were just too loud for the venue. Which was a problem of its own: I was front row on the side balcony, yet could only see half the stage.

High points:
- Routine, Index, Watchmaker were stonking.
- Guthrie had a bit of an Alex Lifeson vibe going - great solos, but his clean textural playing was even more impressive, including many parts that I had mentally credited to Steven.
- and as for the man himself: his voice was the best I have ever heard it. More weight, live, than on record.

GLaDOS

Surprised to hear there was issues with the sound. Saw him in Glasgow for the Raven tour and thought the sound was perfect.

Mushy

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Surprised to hear there was issues with the sound. Saw him in Glasgow for the Raven tour and thought the sound was perfect.

If was with a guy who did music up to masters level, will be doing a PhD, lives and breathes music. For us, it was just the drums that were awful.

Passenger

Been listening to this Hand. Cannot. Erase. for the past couple days so I wrote something of a short review to give a more detailed sense of my thoughts on the album.

The Raven… was imho one of the finest releases in the past couple years and arguably Steven Wilson’s finest release to date. A love-letter to 70’s Prog with all the virtuosity and impeccably crafted compositions that had an accessibility to it that it could be considered somewhat of a gateway album to Prog for anybody wondering what the genre is all about before immersing themselves in more established Prog institutions such as King Crimson or Pink Floyd. The influence of both permeating throughout Wilson’s solo output.

Hand. Cannot. Erase. Is a concept album inspired by the case of Joyce Carol Vincent, a woman who died alone in her London apartment, whom no one missed until her body was discovered three years later. A fairly heavy-duty jump-off point but musically it’s handled with such finesse and a love for the craft with Wilson’s pervasive guitar strumming, big Space-Rock keys and various other virtuosic flourishes from his band. The female vocals add a particularly haunting dimension to the songs. Adam Holzman’s atmospheric keys and Guthrie Govan’s guitar solo's are predictably brilliant. There’s even a Mark Knopfler-esque guitar solo right in the middle of Routine. A couple solo’s teeter on over-indulgence but hey, that’s Prog Rock and they’re smart enough musicians to make their contributions more than merely an obligatory expression of their technical chops and to make it something special to elevate the overall song composition.

I don’t know why but I was expecting something akin to The Raven… part 2 and while Hand. Cannot. Erase. certainly doesn’t disappoint I’m left wanting/expecting more from Wilson. More in the sense that I wanted a continuation of what he did so well on The Raven… Hand. Cannot. Erase. is just an all round more mellower affair with a particular ambience and mood to accommodate the overarching concept/theme.

The high points for me are Home Invasion and it’s segue into Regret #9. Both tracks perfect examples of Wilson’s all-encompassing Prog-literate chops, from the chugging guitar riffs to the Space-Rock keys, climaxing with an incredible Govan solo.

All in all, it’s another fine release from Steven Wilson. It's certainly not The Raven... part 2, it is its own thing altogether. I'm sure witnessing some of these tracks performed live in the flesh with these musicians is an experience.

bnt

I played it again today, first time since the concert. Given the news headlines this week - the plane crash - Routine was, shall we say, resonant.

Mushy

Anyone heading over to the RAH shows in September? Would love to do the 2 but no hope for that!

rednik

Mushy wrote: »

Anyone heading over to the RAH shows in September? Would love to do the 2 but no hope for that!

David Gilmour on the Friday and Steven Wilson on the Monday, what a weekend.:)

RayCon

RAH shows look spectacular .... but I'll be hitting King Crimson in Edinburgh that month so funds just can't be stretched that far.

Not to worry, Manchester was unreal (unlike Mushy's experience) - the sound where we were was spot on.

Still can't believe the Bridgewater venue didn't do draft beers

:eek:

Mushy

RayCon wrote: »

RAH shows look spectacular .... but I'll be hitting King Crimson in Edinburgh that month so funds just can't be stretched that far.

Not to worry, Manchester was unreal (unlike Mushy's experience) - the sound where we were was spot on.

Still can't believe the Bridgewater venue didn't do draft beers :eek:

I've a rugby world cup to attend that week and maybe a wedding in Romania, Steven Wilson has to be bumped down.

Still want to see him again despite the problems we had. Least they weren't performance related.

blackwave

Just wish he would come to Ireland for a gig, he is the one Artist I really want to see.

Delphi91

Really loving "Hand Cannot Erase" - playing it non-stop at the moment. I find it much more accessible than The Raven. Maybe it's just me, but it's not as heavy as the Raven and I find the melodies cacthier - some might argue that it's more "poppy".

There are echoes of PT, Blackfield and SW's older stuff in it.....

Brilliant album

Somnus

Still need to give the album a few more good listens, but I really like it so far.

I'm glad it went a different direction from Raven as it gives it more personality and sounds really fresh.

Have to say though, I'm a bit disappointed that they replaced Ninets vocals in Ancestral with Stevens. They sounded so good in the first teaser clip!

bnt

Anyone else getting up at 4am Sunday for the live streamed show from LA? I might just, since even though I saw the band back in March, they have a new drummer and guitarist. (Marco and Guthrie are Aristocrats for the summer.)

RayCon

Was at the Royal Albert Hall last night for the first show of Wilson's 2 night stint.

Absolutely spectacular ... easily one of the greatest gigs I've ever seen ...

Drag Ropes with Mikael Åkerfeldt was unreal - the highpoint on a night of Everest sized peaks.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/steven-wilson/2015/royal-albert-hall-london-england-3bf4dcb4.html

Mushy

RayCon wrote: »

Was at the Royal Albert Hall last night for the first show of Wilson's 2 night stint.

Absolutely spectacular ... easily one of the greatest gigs I've ever seen ...

Drag Ropes with Mikael Åkerfeldt was unreal - the highpoint on a night of Everest sized peaks.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/steven-wilson/2015/royal-albert-hall-london-england-3bf4dcb4.html

I saw the setlist and my jaw dropped last night. Seriously jealous! How Was Your Life Today...looking forward to seeing what surprises are tonight, although know Dark Matter will be played, and Shesmovedon!

Anesthetize

RayCon wrote: »

Was at the Royal Albert Hall last night for the first show of Wilson's 2 night stint.

Absolutely spectacular ... easily one of the greatest gigs I've ever seen ...

Drag Ropes with Mikael Åkerfeldt was unreal - the highpoint on a night of Everest sized peaks.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/steven-wilson/2015/royal-albert-hall-london-england-3bf4dcb4.html

Colour me jealous! The setlist looks seriously good, it must have been some gig.

RayCon

The shocking thing was there were empty seats in all sections of the hall ... we had a spare ticket that we couldn't shift - no demand outside for it !! Went to waste ... shameful.

Having said that I don't want to paint a picture of a half empty RAH .. far from it .. just surprised to see gaps dotted around the place when it had been advertised as Sold Out.

Setlist from last night looks equally brilliant (Guthrie and Gavin as guests at various points)

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/steven-wilson/2015/royal-albert-hall-london-england-73f4da81.html

GLaDOS

I don't think I've ever been more jealous of people in my life.

Somnus

I was at the first night. Was meant to be in the circle but got upgrades to a box on the night.

Absolutely fantastic gig. Having Ninet for Routine was great, all though not a huge surprise as I'd expect something like that for Royal Albert Hall. Did not expect Mikael for Drag Ropes, that was unreal!! Such a great surprise. The performance and set was great across the board though.

The set from last night looks so good. Having Gavin appear is class. Wish I had been at both nights! Would have killed to hear Shesmovedon, one of my favourites.
Surprised there was so much Porcupine Tree played. I haven't looked at previous sets, but on his last solo tour when I saw him there was basically none.

GLaDOS

Somnus wrote: »

I was at the first night. Was meant to be in the circle but got upgrades to a box on the night.

Absolutely fantastic gig. Having Ninet for Routine was great, all though not a huge surprise as I'd expect something like that for Royal Albert Hall. Did not expect Mikael for Drag Ropes, that was unreal!! Such a great surprise. The performance and set was great across the board though.

The set from last night looks so good. Having Gavin appear is class. Wish I had been at both nights! Would have killed to hear Shesmovedon, one of my favourites.
Surprised there was so much Porcupine Tree played. I haven't looked at previous sets, but on his last solo tour when I saw him there was basically none.

Only PT we heard in Edinburgh was Radioactive Toy, which he justified in saying PT was pretty much him solo at that point anyway

Somnus

ScienceNerd wrote:

Only PT we heard in Edinburgh was Radioactive Toy, which he justified in saying PT was pretty much him solo at that point anyway .

Yup. I'm thinking that in the time since then, he's basically said PT are on an indefinite hiatus and probably feels like he can play some songs without everyone going on about whether there will be another PT album.

That and he's shown his solo stuff consistently stands up on its own after 4 solo albums

bnt

Steven has released a video for Routine, with animation by Jess Cope (who also made Drive Home).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh5mWzKlhQY