AAJ Review: Steven Wilson Remixes Close to the Edge, Benefit, Nonsuch

[jkelman]

My review of Steven Wilson remixes - Yes' Close to the Edge, Jethro Tull's Benefit, XTC's Nonsuch, today @AllAboutJazz.

hile 2013 has largely been occupied by a world tour in support of his recent The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) (Kscope, 2013), Steven Wilson has, as he said he would in his 2012 All About Jazz interview, certainly kept up with the run of stereo and surround sound remix projects that have turned into a significant sideline to his own musical career. Since becoming involved with King Crimson's 40th Anniversary Series, beginning with the release of Lizard(1970), In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) and Red(1975)—all issued by DGM Live in 2009—in addition to surround mixes of his own recordings as a solo artist and with Porcupine Tree, Wilson has built a reputation for renovating albums from other classic groups including Hawkwind, Caravan, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, as well as providing stereo and/or surround sound mixes for contemporary groups like Opeth, Anathema and KTU.

But if it appears that Wilson's tastes run strictly along progressive, space rock and psychedelic lines, a recent batch of remix/reissues, all released in the fall of 2013, demonstrate a broader purview. Yes, Wilson has provided a new stereo and surround sound mix for Yes' progressive rock epic Close to the Edge (Atlantic, 1972)—the first of a number of planned reissues from the group's glory days—but he's also been stepping back in the Jethro Tull catalog, in this case to Benefit, a time when Ian Anderson's group was making progressive music by dictionary definition to be sure, but not progressive rock as many people define it. The same might even be said of XTC, a British group that first entered the world during the emergence of New Wave but, by the time the early '80s had rolled around, was beyond definition other, perhaps, than a kind of music that could be called intelligent pop music. It certainly possessed elements of progression but, again, was not what most would call progressive rock. Nonsuch (Virgin, 1992) represented, however, the ongoing progression of remaining members Andy Partridge, Colin Edwards and Dave Gregory in their approach to songwriting and production, but the more cemented definition that progressive rock had, by that time, largely—and sadly—assumed most certainly did not apply.

Continue reading here...

[jkelman]

Just a note - I was made aware of a goof - I had Big Settlement (brain was thinking English Settlement and Big Express), but it was actually Mummer where XTC began using different drummers. All fixed now....!

If any other gaffs are found, please let me know...d'oh!!
John

[philsunset]

There is no Colin Edwards in XTC but there is a Colin Moulding. But a good review.

[Dave (in MA)]

"There are those who find Wilson's remixes sterile, who feel that his taking the original analog multi-tracks and digitizing them into his computer, and from there creating his new mixes, sucks the life out of the music."

I noticed that you didn't mention him by name. :-)

[jkelman]

There is no Colin Edwards in XTC but there is a Colin Moulding. But a good review.

Argh. Thanks. I was writing under duress Will fix now...
Thanks guys - I count on ya to keep me straight, because I am no longer being edited at the site....

[jkelman]

I noticed that you didn't mention him by name. :-)

There isn't only one of 'em, but I figured I'd address it, as tactfully as possible. I wasn't speaking directly to any one person, even though it might have seemed as such