Reviews of Prog Rock, Classical Music, Art Rock and Jazz
**** Eclectic remixes of Steven Wilson's first solo album from 2009 Steven Wilson has recently issued two remix albums based on The Harmony Codex, his seventh solo album - Harmonic Distortion and Harmonic Divergence. It's fifteen years since the release of Nsrgnts Rmxs, a remixed version of Steven Wilson’s first solo album Insurgentes (2008). The …
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'Inclination', the first track on Steven Wilson's seventh solo album, The Harmony Codex was released in a limited edition 12 inch single, remixed by Ewan Pearson, on 19 January 2024. Pearson describes himself on his website as a 'Producer, Mixer and Remixer.' Pearson previously remixed Wilson's upbeat pop song 'Permanating' (from 2017's To the Bone) in …
Continue reading "Off the Beaten track #9 – Inclination by Steven Wilson (Ewan Pearson Remix)"
Record Store Day exclusive remix album completes the Harmony Codex trilogy **** Steven Wilson's Harmony Codex trilogy is complete. The original album was released in September 2023. The Deluxe Edition of The Harmony Codex included a remix album, Harmonic Distortion. The new remix album, Harmonic Divergence was released on 20 April 2024 as a limited-edition …
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More a re-imagining than a remix **** Harmonic Distortion is the second disc on the Deluxe Edition of Steven Wilson's seventh solo studio album The Harmony Codex (full review here) and is a separate, full-length album in its own right. The Title of the Album Harmony is the name of one of the two central …
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Wilson's most eclectic album to date is 'cinema for the ears' ***** Steven Wilson has often said he would like to write a film score. He even wrote a screenplay with the film maker Mike Bennion, and they tried for a while to get the film made. When it became clear this probably wouldn't happen, …
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If Steven Wilson had written a song called December Skies in the early years of his band Porcupine Tree it would have been a dreamy, spacey extended jam with poetic, earnestly abstract lyrics. For later Porcupine Tree it would have been an angst-ridden, prog-metal song, probably featuring lyrics about disaffected teenagers or a serial killer. …
Continue reading "Off the Beaten Track Christmas Special: December Skies by Steven Wilson"
Wednesday 27 September 2023 EartH Hackney, London ***** The Harmony Codex in immersive surround sound and live performance Steven Wilson has often said that one of his lifetime ambitions is to write a film soundtrack - he even co-wrote a film script with the film-maker Mike Bennion which eventually became the basis of the Porcupine …
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Art-rock band no-man were founded in 1987 when Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness started writing music together. They briefly flirted with mainstream success in 1990 when their single release colours was Single Of The Week in Melody Maker and Sounds, leading to record label and publishing deals. Wilson went on to have much more success …
Continue reading "Off the Beaten Track # 2: Pigeon Drummer by no-man"
An updated e-book version of my book On Track ... Porcupine Tree, a detailed analysis of every track by Porcupine Tree, is now available.
Thursday 29 June 2023 Castlefield Bowl, Manchester **** You wait 12 years for a Train... then two come at once For 12 years between their gig at the Royal Albert Hall in London in October 2010 and their next London gig at Wembley Arena in November 2022 it appeared that Porcupine Tree would never play …
Continue reading "Porcupine Tree – Live Review (Manchester)"