Porcupine Tree

[djerdap]

The title song of this new SW record is absolutely beautiful. The rest of it is mostly a boring, derivative, overlong mess that relies on excessive instrumentation instead of concise songwriting.

 

[phanan]

I haven't even bothered to listen yet, suspicious of the very things you just listed.

We need a new PT album badly.

 

[Axver]

New SW is at least an improvement on Grace For Drowning.

I'm starting to wonder if we're ever going to see more PT. Suspiciously quiet on that front for bloody ages.

 

[djerdap]

It doesn't look good. Just from the interviews, it seems that SW isn't that interested in the band anymore. I really hope I'm wrong and a 2014 release happens.

 

[Axver]

I'm quietly hoping he's keeping all his more straightforward songs - be they more pop/rock like SD/LS era or metal - for a new PT album. However... I'm not optimistic. He seems to be very much into indulgent, wanky prog at the moment, and he doesn't seem to be participating in the many and varied projects that he used to. His focus has been quite single-minded on the solo album. Oh well. I suppose if his golden touch has to fade, I'd rather it fade through albums that don't tarnish PT's awesome discography.

 

[LemonMelon]

Not gonna lie, I dig this album. Not as much as Grace for Drowning, which had the phenomenal Deform to Form a Star, but it's a fantastic pastiche of cheesy first wave progressive rock.

 

[djerdap]

I don't get the appeal for Deform to Form a Star. A decent enough song, but as good as anything he did of that kind of songwriting in Porcupine Tree? Nah.

The Raven That Refused to Sing is probably his best solo song in my book. A gem in a pile of shit. The one where he didn't let his band members to do a contest between themselves of playing 10,000 notes in 10 seconds. Although there's even an eye-roll moment in there when Theo Travis' flute comes in with the usual wank but then it suddenly stops and never comes back again. Favourite moment of the album right there.

 

[Axver]

If you ask me, his best solo song - by far - remains "Harmony Korine".

In other news, the new Blackfield song is actually better than I expected after how much of a letdown Blackfield III was:

Blackfield - Pills (new song) - YouTube

 

[RavenBlue]

I have tried several times to get into his solo work, and apart from Insurgentes, I just haven't been able to get into them. I haven't heard anything from the most recent album, so I'll have to properly sit down and give it a listen.. but yea, I'm missing some new PT material as well. I really want to see these guys live next time around. I'm still kicking myself for missing Gavin Harrison giving a free clinic last fall. Hopefully at the very least, he'll come back round.

 

[Joey788]

Looks like Steven Wilson is playing some Porcupine Tree during his solo tour. Def. one for now.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/steven-wilson/2013/o2-abc-glasgow-scotland-1bdb0174.html

 

[Axver]

Huh, that's interesting, especially since the first show of the tour had an encore of two solo songs.

Looking through SW's stats on last.fm, I see the only other time he's done PT songs on his tours for the recent solo albums is when he did Trains and either Lazarus or Even Less as a second encore in South American countries, and I'm guessing that's because PT's never toured there. I'm kind of surprised he's never incorporated more of the really early songs from when PT was a solo project into his solo setlists. Some tracks from On the Sunday of Life and Up the Downstair would work quite well. I'd be more interested in seeing his solo show if it came to Australia if songs like Radioactive Toy and Burning Sky are in the set.

(I'd go to every show if Fadeaway were in the set but I believe he can't sing it any more. Last time they did it live, on the In Absentia tour, Wes sang most of it.)

 

[RavenBlue]

I realize it's highly unlikely, but I would love to hear And The Swallows Dance Above The Sun live at some point, I just adore that track.

 

[Joey788]

On Thursday night, I saw the last Blackfield concert with Steven Wilson as he is officially leaving the band. It was a pretty great show, especially once I moved away from the drunk assholes in the crowd.

Most of the material played was from the first two albums so that was good. Plus, the pianist of Dream Theater joined them for Cloudy Now, which was the last song. Awesome show (with the exemption of Go To Hell)

 

[Joey788]

Here comes solo album number 4 from Steven Wilson.

Hand. Cannot. Erase. now available to pre-order – StevenWilsonHQ.com

I watched the two videos on the making-of for the album. Sounds like he intends to move away from the jazz elements of the last two records, thankfully. Hopefully it'll be an improvement over the last two releases and closer to Insurgentes. He says in the first video that it'll include more variety from his various interests in terms of instrumentation and style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlHxl5Q3pIA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49HxZ8yVpqk

 

[LemonMelon]

Someone make a Steven Wilson thread already. I'm sick of thinking PT got back together.

 

[Axver]

Rumour is that PT might get back together after SW's next solo tour. I fucking hope so, because I don't care at all about this dull solo material (or. the. stupid. album. titles.). I'd love it if the new album recaptured some of the spirit that made Insurgentes interesting, but my hopes aren't high.

 

[djerdap]

Where did you hear that about them getting back together, Ax?

 

[Axver]

I honestly can't recall. Charlotte saw it as well though. We think it was via a hardcore fan on Facebook, the sort of person who follows every hint of news. So it's not particularly firm info, but it might be something.

 

[phanan]

We can only hope.

 

[Joey788]

Anyone else listen to the new SW yet?

I just finished it and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. It's his best solo work since Insurgentes, miles ahead of Grace for Drowning or Raven. The only song that brings to mind those records is "Ancestral," which sounds like a Raven outtake.

Besides that though, this album is focused on melodies, with great guitar work and vocals and a few surprises. The addition of a female vocalist for a couple of songs gives this record a different feel than any of his past work. The lyrical material doesn't get too heavy-handed in its storytelling, only occasionally.

It has a lot going on for some tracks, but doesn't have the cluttered, overdone feel of the last two. It feels like a grower and I hope it is. I'm glad I got tickets to see him play this live this year.

Highlights: 3 Years Older, Hand Cannot Erase, Routine, Home Invasion, Happy Returns

 

[Axver]

So, Porcupine Tree have been releasing a bunch of stuff on Bandcamp lately: https://porcupinetreeofficial.bandcamp.com/

It's all old live recordings, radio sessions, etc. Some of it is quite interesting, such as the acoustic set they reconvened to record in 2012 (two years after the most recent public PT activity) but ultimately did not include on the Octane Twisted live album as intended.

Anyway, I'm just sitting here listening to these recordings and some of the band's other stuff, and... fuck I miss this band. I really miss this band. I miss when a band meant this much to me. That seems silly to say, because some recent artists have inspired such great excitement in me - I even apologised to Death and the Maiden the first time I saw them live for babbling like a teenager after their set. But no band sat more at the centre of my life than PT for a good few years. Two bands more than any others have defined my life, U2 and PT, not just for their music but for the huge changes that occurred entirely because I became a fan of them. I doubt that will ever happen again, no matter how enthusiastic I become about a band.

Anyway. Porcupine Tree were fucking amazing. It was a thrill to be there in the 2000s as they dropped one excellent album after another, and played scorching live shows.

 

[mikal]

So, Porcupine Tree have been releasing a bunch of stuff on Bandcamp lately: https://porcupinetreeofficial.bandcamp.com/

It's all old live recordings, radio sessions, etc. Some of it is quite interesting, such as the acoustic set they reconvened to record in 2012 (two years after the most recent public PT activity) but ultimately did not include on the Octane Twisted live album as intended.

Anyway, I'm just sitting here listening to these recordings and some of the band's other stuff, and... fuck I miss this band. I really miss this band. I miss when a band meant this much to me. That seems silly to say, because some recent artists have inspired such great excitement in me - I even apologised to Death and the Maiden the first time I saw them live for babbling like a teenager after their set. But no band sat more at the centre of my life than PT for a good few years. Two bands more than any others have defined my life, U2 and PT, not just for their music but for the huge changes that occurred entirely because I became a fan of them. I doubt that will ever happen again, no matter how enthusiastic I become about a band.

Anyway. Porcupine Tree were fucking amazing. It was a thrill to be there in the 2000s as they dropped one excellent album after another, and played scorching live shows.

That's awesome man, I'll have to check that out. It's been a while since I've listened to these guys.

 

[Axver]

Bumping this thread because I'm having another evening like the previous post. I've been listening to these new live releases and the rest of the band's discography heaps lately. I probably haven't listened to Porcupine Tree this much since about 2010 or 2011.

I'd definitely forgotten how good a live record Coma Divine is—for whatever reason, at the moment its recording of The Moon Touches Your Shoulder is really hitting me. The delay-laden guitar at the start is gorgeous. The new live release Coma Coda is welcome; it has out-takes from the shows recorded for Coma Divine. For one thing, it includes the unreleased Cryogenics as a medley with Dark Matter. Cryogenics is pretty bog-standard for psychedelic early Porcupine Tree, but if you like that general sound then you're going to enjoy it a fair bit. And, the only time PT ever attempted to play Every Home Is Wired live was at the shows for Coma Divine. Neither of those performances got onto the original release but one of them is on Coma Coda, and since it's one of my all-time PT favourites I'm really stoked to have this. I can kinda see why they didn't stick with it live, but I wish they had.

I do wish I could have seen them live more. I can't really complain, because everything about the band's two Australian tours was great, but of course there were a lot of songs they didn't play live down here that I dearly wish I could have heard. A whole bunch of early songs fell out of their live set only just before they came down here. Ah well. These days I'd just love more live recordings from the Stupid Dream/Lightbulb Sun/Recordings era. I'm under no illusions the band will get back together, and I'm not 100% sure I'd want them to.

Makes me feel old to realise that if I had a kid and I put on some PT records, it would be like when my dad put on Queen. Oh well, I'm 33, I guess I'm allowed to treat one or two bands nostalgically now.

 

[djerdap]

To bump this thread... Steven Wilson has mentioned in two recent interviews that "He's sure Porcupine Tree will make another record".

He states it in this podcast with Guy Pratt and Gary Kemp (53 minutes in):


That being said, there is a weird rumour out there it might not feature Colin Edwin. He didn't mention Colin here, and somebody sleuthed online to find a new company registered called "Porcupine 3" that only has Barbieri, Wilson, and Harrison signed as active directors.

I guess we'll see. My one regret is not seeing them live in 2010 (I got into the band in late 2009), as I obviously didn't expect Wilson would put the band on ice for more than a decade.

I do hope something will come out of this, since my appreciation for the band only grew with time.

 

[Joey788]

Here we go! New Porcupine Tree album, Closure/Continuation, out on June 24! First single, “Harridan,” out now and sounds light years better than Wilson’s last solo record. Loving that bass riff! I never had the chance to see the band live so glad to to hear they’re touring next year too!

 

[phanan]

Sounds fantastic.

Quite the welcome return for me. I had long ago become disillusioned with Wilson's solo career, so I'm happy.

Maybe this announcement brings us another Axver cameo.

 

[LemonMelon]

Please PLEASE tour.

 

[djerdap]

Please PLEASE tour.

European tour in November 2022, Americas/Canada tour to be announced in the beginning of next year.

Excited about this! It's a shame Colin Edwin isn't part of the line-up, but I guess at this point one should simply be happy for the opportunity to see them live.

 

[djerdap]

So what does everybody (meaning four or five of you ) think of the new record?

I still need a few more listens to fully shape my opinion. I love parts of it, and I think songs like Of the New Day and Herd Culling show the three of them in top form, the two sides of the "distilled Porcupine Tree" as they tend to call it nowadays.

I'm a bit indifferent to a couple of others, especially those clearly influenced by 70s wanky prog in the vein of The Raven That Refused to Sing - even though Wilson is not surrounded by over-the-top musicians as he was in his solo outfit. Chimera's Wreck was written right around that time (they started making the record in 2012-13) and you could see traces of it in that song. But even with those sensibilities, both Harrison and Barbieri make the most of it and prove that Wilson's songwriting works the best in their company.

Walk the Plank is a great little electronic number with a lot of Barbieri atmospherics that shows what the band could do in the future - if they choose to continue. Dignity is another song where the Wilson/Barbieri collaboration comes into the forefront.

In any case - these tracks should be fun to experience live, and I am very excited for the tour.

 

[phanan]

I think it's a solid album, even if not up there with some of their past records. Besides Harridan, my initial favorites were also Of The New Day and Herd Culling. I also thought Rats Return was cool.

I need to spend more time with it and see if it warrants continuous listening, but so far, so good. Barbieri really shines throughout.

Between this and a new Pure Reason Revolution album, this year is a throwback to the early days...