I feel the same; better than the last one... for nowOriginally Posted by Klonk
I feel the same; better than the last one... for now
I bought the digital download while I was on vacation in Japan a few weeks ago. I only listened to a few of the tracks then. I've made an effort to listen to the album straight through several times since this past weekend. I agree with 3LockBox; yes, it's definitely better than the last one. But, like a number of other commentators, nothing has really grabbed me yet. It's such a variety of styles. It's nothing like my first listen to Hand. Cannot. Erase., which remains memorable to this day. I do like "Time Is Running Out" pretty well, but I almost like the Mikael Akerfeldt remix better! And having his wife do the spoken word narrations was a mistake in my opinion. Her voice is not memorable. I would have liked someone with a little more gravitas, maybe Shel Shapiro, who did some great spoken word narrations for New Trolls years back. Now, that's a voice!
Better than the last two imo.
But not as C/C
As a little diversion here are SW's Spotify plays ranked least to most from Jan '23.
I've been listening and comparing THC with TFB the last couple of days. I said earlier I like THC better than TFB (maybe even TTB) and I think that will stand. There's nothing on THC that's as immediately catchy as Self or as gorgeous as 12 Things I Forgot but I find THC more engaging. TFB gives me a claustrophobic feeling, whether it's the Fahrenheit 451 vibe or the overtly clinical production (or both). I find THC more spacious, more immersive, even if there isn't one song that sticks with me. THC is as far away from his first three solo albums as it can be. Someone here mentioned that if anyone other than Steven Wilson had releases this, it wouldn't get a lot of run here or maybe even elsewhere. I tend to agree.
Pretty much spot on.
I really like this album, more and more all the time!
I've streamed it a couple times now (try before you buy) and for me, there's just not enough rock there. Lots of beats, lots of pop instrumentation, and on the "Impossible Tightrope" some great dynamics. I can see why he's moving his solo work in this direction, away from what Porcupine Tree was and is. It's just not for me. Neither were the last couple of solo albums either. I am afraid my tastes are just a little too provincial to embrace the pop scene. Give me an angry guitar and a real band.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
I really like it too and am still enjoying playing it every couple of days. As I said before it's not up to the standard of his earlier works but it's in many ways a completely different animal and can't really be compared to HCE etc. As someone else said I am enjoying it for what it is rather than worrying about what it isn't. A bit more guitar would be good though!
When I listen to THC, I keep expecting some rock elements that don't come. I'm getting used to that.
The music often feels closer to the No-Man universe than to Porcupine Tree or his previous solo work, which is OK.
I'm a fan of Pure Reason Revolution's Amor Vincit Omnia which I think is a masterful meld of rock and electronica. I don't think Wilson reaches that level with THC but it isn't that deep of a dive into electronica either. Maybe Wilson should just break down and do the Erasure album he's always wanted to do.
in #348, squ1ggle shared the Wilson interview where he has Tsonev recreate the Actual Brutal Facts solo that Kollar did.
Here's Kollar, demonstrating the techniques that he used:
Plus he IDs the song that the solo was originally intended for: Beautiful Scarecrow.
It's funny that Wilson asked him for some duduk-influenced guitar, recorded his solo, and then took it off that track and used it for Actual Brutal Facts, then had Theo Travis actually play a duduk on Beautiful Scarecrow.
Last edited by Dave (in MA); 11-07-2023 at 11:32 PM.
Just found this gem from the HCE tour in London, Gavin Harrison guests for Lazarus.
and from the previous night with MA
New Jess Cope video for Beautiful Scarecrow
A gothic horror story set in a post-apocalyptic world where a deadly pandemic has led to the human race being divided, with the infected rounded up and forced to live in underground quarantine. The extraordinary film for Beautiful Scarecrow continues to play on the mind long after the credits have run, showing how a simple gesture of kindness can resonate with profound meaning for years afterwards.
SW did a BBC Music Life podcast a little while back where he spoke to Roland Orzabal, Lucy Rose and Andy Partridge. Some PEers might be interested.
https://tinyurl.com/4huh5p2v
"One should never magnify the harsh light of reality with the mirror of prose onto the delicate wings of fantasy's butterfly"
Thumpermonkey - How I Wrote The French Lieutenant's Woman
"I'm content to listen to what I like and keep my useless negative opinions about what I don't like to myself -- because no one is interested in hearing those anyway, and it contributes absolutely nothing to the conversation."
aith01
^^Awesome! Thanks.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
Beautiful Scarecrow is such a better song with the video.
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A gentleman is defined as someone who knows how to play the accordion, and doesn't.
I agree, its made me appreciate the song a lot more and understanding the concept behind it too, in fact nothing to do with THC story.
I ordered the regular 1CD, jewel case version because it's all I could find domestically. But I haven't opened the shrinkwrap yet, because I feel like there MUST be a 2CD digpak or something nicer than a vanilla jewel CD that will become easily available as soon as I open this one.
Also, I've had a lot of other stuff to listen to, with more on the way soon.
It's my favourite song on the album but I have zero interest to see the video. I don't like to mix other peoples images with those I personally get in my head when listening to music.
My progressive music site: https://pienemmatpurot.com/ Reviews in English: https://pienemmatpurot.com/in-english/
Wilson (or more likely one of his team) just posted on Twitter that he's doing another spatial audio "pitchblack" playback of The Harmony Codex in an immersive environment at the Curzon Bloomsbury in London on 2 December. The tweet mentions "artist Q&A", so I assume that he'll be there.
https://twitter.com/StevenWilsonHQ/s...69413010145481
I'm going to try to attend.
So no live set as happened in September I presume. The 4 tracks that were played that night (The Harmony Codex, King Ghost, Economies of Scale & Actual Brutal Facts) have been made available as a download to those who attended.
Manics remix of Economies of Scale. The vocals are obviously a different take from the original.
I attended one of the two spatial audio playback performances of The Harmony Codex at the Curzon Bloomsbury today. The theater is equipped with a gazillion speakers to provide Dolby Atmos playback. It was a fascinating 64 minutes, listening to the music swirl around me. His latest album has been a "grower" for me. I wasn't wholly impressed at its initial releases, but subsequent listens have changed my mind for the better.
Wilson spent around 40 minutes answering questions from a moderator and the audience. Topics were all over the place. One person asked about his touring plans. He reiterated what's been already mentioned in earlier interviews, that he's planning a tour (but no time soon) that will take advantage of spatial audio, so the appropriate venues are likely limited. Other questions touched on modern pop music and his answers referenced Taylor Swift (his kids are fans), Adele, and the state of pop music. He talked about the role of AI/ML in music, an interesting topic.
I enjoyed this event a lot. I used to visit this cinema (near Russell Square) in the mid-80s to watch French movies. But I hadn't been back to the Brunswick Centre in 35 years.
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