Steven Wilson S/D (Porcupine Tree, No-Man, Blackfield, the mixing desk, etc.)

Listening to his most recent solo album "Hand.Cannot.Erase.," it sounds like a really strong fusion of late '70s Rush and early '70s Genesis, pretty cool.

I never got beyond Stars Dive, which had a bunch of Radio 1 airplay in the early 90s. Is there anything more like that? Not really a fan of a the squiggley proggier stuff.

Hmm. This new one doesn't seem terribly squiggly. Corny, sure, but not too squiggly:

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

Frightened Inmate #21 day ago
Catchiest song in history that's in 9/4

That song really sounds like Manic Street Preachers to me! Not a comparison I'd expect, but it definitely does!

Yeah, tbh I've only dipped into Wilson's daunting oeuvre, but it's really all over the place!

probably my favorite musician these days.

Remix/remaster of Yes' "Fragile" is wonderful. Haven't jumped in to listening to his own recordings but this guy has a wonderful approach to the classic stuff. Not for everyone I would imagine but hits all the marks when remixing and remastering as far as I'm concerned.

sorry for the 2x "wonderful".

Would love to hear him tackle Japan's discography. Steve Nye's mixes are beautiful but as far as remasters go would probably be lovely.

acid hose, since you like the fragile remaster, you should give the raven who refused to sing a shot. for me it's the best evocation of early '70s prog since motorpsycho's death defying unicorn

I will check it out for sure!

agreed on that point. actually it has a lbit more of a Drama vibe to me; but yes. one of my favorite albums.

the new Blackfield album (V) is a surprise; the best since the first one, maybe even better than that. It's a full Wilson collaboration despite his earlier claims to be taking a backseat; not sure what spurred the deeper involvement but it's the better for it since the last several albums were spotty at best and awful at worst.

that's good news, still think that first album is pretty great as far as moody pop goes

yeah I like the first one a lot. the second one, not so much; 3 &4, not really at all. this one is fairly different from all of them. I think Parsons may have had a fair amount of influence in shaping the sound.

new album has leaked, despite his stance that it's highly influenced by the same things that influence me (talk talk, 80's peter gabriel/kate bush, art rock) it still sounds just like another Steven Wilson album, maybe slightly more poppy. It's very good. That's all.

I really liked the last LP and EP but this isn't doing anything for me yet

Listening to the Raven
Pretty impressed, had no idea anyone still made capital P prog like this,but also it doesn't completely feel like a retro throwback, there are modern elements

nothing epic like "the watchmaker" on this but intriguing first listen nonetheless

new album is #1 on the UK charts, congrats man

It was number 1 mid-week, but finished at 3 in the final count today, which is pretty amazing nonetheless!

"ask me nicely" starts out borderline progstep

I’ve been trying to get into this guy’s stuff after years of listening to (and generally being mightily impressed by) his remix work. But my attention tends to drift when I put Wilson’s own material on.

However, Schoolyard Ghosts is really hitting the spot. Other than one tune that has a big blaring crunch, this is a really rich, engaging listen. Bowness’s vocals are terrific, Wilson’s piano-based arrangements are great, and there are lots of good tunes and melodies here (not always prog’s greatest strength). 5.1 mix is terrific as well.

Good entry point.

Two prog quiz videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2InJpqo_bw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veOMUKQwjiY

This could be interesting:

Every time I make a new album, it’s hugely important for me that it holds a unique place in my catalogue and won’t simply be more of the same. Moving into the third decade of the 21st century and my second decade as a touring solo artist, it felt like time to apply the same philosophy to the live experience. I want to challenge myself to create something that confronts my own notions (and hopefully the audience’s too) of how to present my music in a concert situation. This has become The Future Bites – a series of special events at larger venues, something on a grander and more immersive scale.

Bunch of arena dates announced for Sep 2020, hopefully more to come.

Don't particularly care for his own music but, man, if this guy isn't my favorite living go-to "classic album remixer". He works magic.

A new No-Man album is also on the way:

https://www.loudersound.com/news/no-man-return-with-two-track-love-you-to-bits

I've been lucky enough to hear said No-Man album -- an enjoyable experiment, it's the two of them basically going "We had that moment with dance music in a way at the start of the nineties, what does an attempt to reexplore those aesthetics sound like?" (Aesthetics, though, not full sound -- it's like they're experimenting with remix ideas on core tracks.)

Anyone bothered to check out the trailers for this new thing?

He's *still* wagging his finger at social erosion/social media zeitgeist, zzzzzzzzz OK Computer was 23 years ago mate, if you wanna make a straight-up glitch pop album just grow a pair and put it out without dressing it up in this done-to-death art/media snark, whoever thought of it deserves a punch in the cock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_H0NO-Cyew

I mean he *does* take a shot at himself here but c'mon if you're looking for something that's innovative and original you're looking at the wrong guy, like he's always been somehow worse than Trent Reznor when it comes to this stuff

that said I actually think this tune is pretty good? a 50 year old man suddenly jumping to EDM makes me think of Todd Rundgren but he pulls it off waaay better than Todd ever did

yeah the song is good. concept is kind of played out and he touched on this a bit with the last one (to the bone; at least live).

btw if you're wondering how Steven Wilson's older fanbase is taking this song, here's the answer: not well

friendly reminder that SW kind of BEGAN with electronica - and *huge challop* Up The Downstair, where this element is at its most prominent, might still be his best overall album

predictably this is sounding like one of the best things he's ever written to me :D

I dig that album a lot but c'mon now

He gots the money now finally, he can do the kinda music that the 50 yr old prog blokes are sniffy about, they'll still buy the super deluxe box set and the live blu-ray all the time bitching and moaning on forums.

He's been making electronic music with No Man, Bass Communion and whatever the hell else since the early nineties, sure.

oof what is the bridge of this song doing though lol

I'm not even that huge of a fan, I liked the last record well enough and he seems like a nice enough dude, but it's very bad sixth-form art, all of it and it's preachy and obvious and disingenuous all at the same time.

Thankfully for the sake of SW's dignity as a 50 year old man this is more Italo or 80s synth pop than what "pumping EDM" had brought to mind. I like those chords.

I'm a 50-year-old prog bloke and I defend my right to be sniffy about his recent direction. Sure, he can do as much electronica and 80s pop stuff as he likes as long as he also does the grandiose prog stuff I love him for. The first four solo albums were fantastic but he's been coasting since Hand Cannot Erase.

Deluxe edition of PT's In Absentia album now out:

https://kscopemusic.com/artists/porcupinetree/

Enjoyable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbtvzJdKYTc

New album is mediocre, standout track 12 Things I Forgot excepted. Hopefully he's got the '80s prog pop thing out of his system now after two albums and can go back to doing what he does best, i.e. neo-prog.

Yeah, I feel like he’s too talented to make an outright bad album, but this is just... blah. It’s not quite as awful I feared based on “Personal Shopper”, but easily his most disappointing solo record and I hope this is the end of the road for his art pop thing. The hectoring lyrics don’t really help me love the best parts either. Feel like I might add “Eminent Sleaze” and “Follower” to “12 Things” for some comp of this era someday and forget the rest. Not worth an additional year wait.

https://www.superdeluxeedition.com/interview/sde-talks-to-the-man-who-spent-10k-on-the-steven-wilson-ultra-deluxe-tfb-box/

At least he's giving the money to charity, still kind of a dick move though.

Making something so rare and expensive?

I'm not a fan of the general conceit, SW's preachy criticism of consumer culture that results in the production of an irresistible geegaw for hare-brained collector types with the strong urge of sole ownership.

I mean, yeah, the layers of irony are piling up with this one, when he spends part of one song railing against consumers wasting money on luxury items, one of which is specifically named as "box sets", as he ships out multiple deluxe versions of a mediocre album.

have you guys seen the insane video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmd-MNCt6u8

wow that's magnificent

I know I've gotten cynical in my old age because my first thought was "jesus, I wonder what this cost"

But I love the video and the song. Looking forward to this album.

yeah the videos for everything have been awesome and they do not look cheap.

I know he gets some flack for doing a lot of expensive super deluxe edition stuff (even while writing tracks aimed directly at that exact corner of consumer culture) but I truly think everything he makes goes right back into his work so I'm okay with it. I mean his records just sound expensive somehow

throwin' that Jethro Tull remaster money around

I had the super deluxe editions of all his solo albums through To the Bone but sold them off recently (except for HCE) mainly because I never really listened to those bonus tracks and I don't have a surround system. The books were very nice though. Raven has a short story for every song (which I never read, and now I guess I never will)

The Album Years podcast with Wilson and Bowness is a lot of fun. Only heard of it when the videos started uploading on youtube

I love the guy’s remixes and enjoyed the podcast but the few PT and solo things I listened to didn’t move me. Gave a listen to his new one “The Overview” yesterday and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. The prog influences are worn proudly here: Crimson, Yes, Floyd, Kate Bush, Tull, Vangelis, German Kosmische… a real blast while listening on good headphones.

yeah it's a great record but I think all his solo albums are great. Hard to tell now where this would land in a ranking.

Probably my most played album of this year so far. Absolutely love those guitar and synth solos in the title track. So great!

The Overview is solid and it seems to be getting a lot of love from SW fans but The Harmony Codex goes up and up in my estimation. I think the pop/prog balance it strikes was tailor-made for me

But do love to see Andy Partridge's name in the credits of The Overview

Yes! and those Partridge verses are very much him - I even hear him in the way Wilson delivers them. I should listen to The Harmony Codex again.

Great album The Harmony Codex!