OFF: Porcupine Tree is like this

[Keith A Henderson]

Rudy said...
>
> >Would somebody care to tell me what kind of music these guys are?
>
> They taste like chicken.   Actually, some say early Floyd, but I don't see
> it.  They are spacey, but more ambient than Floyd.   Just as an interesting
> sidebar, I saw their disc in the New Age section of a VA record store last
> week.   Maybe Ozrics on 'ludes might be the best I could say.  At $5 you
> wouldn't put much at risk by going and could really like them if that is the
> underlying issue.   What they do live versus what they do in the studio is
> little know because they don't tour much.  If I recall, they did a recent
> gig in the UK that really impressed somebody on the list.
>
> Rudy
>

Their (or his, I should say....Steve Wilson is the real creative force behind
this band, although they are now a 4-piece touring group) real strongpoints
lie in the atmospherics and dynamics, plus Wilson's Gilmour-esque guitar
soloing.  Imagine Gilmour playing Hillage material.  The songs (which can get
quite long at times) have a tendency of lulling you into a rhythmic ambient
slumber (like Spiral Realms or Nic Potter music), but then all of a sudden,
they hit you with a barrage of sound (a sonic attack??) and raucous fury.  I'll
be interesting to see how this plays out live.  I've heard they're fantastic
live, but I wonder if there's some trade-off, ie. some loss of the extremes,
say, countered by some more energy to the 'rock' parts & soloing.

It'll be fun....Keith H.

P.S.  For a formula, I'd say add 2 parts Pink Floyd to 1 part of System 7.3
(Water disc) or 'Rainbow Dome Music'.  Add a pinch of 'techno' (not too much).