RA-MEN ROPPAI
Between this, Grateful Dead's May 1977 box set, and the upcoming Pumpkins' Aeroplane set, this has been a rewarding year for me.Originally Posted by onthewall2983
Here's the 'Road To Red' Q & A for those that haven't seen it. I linked to the blu-ray.com forums because it's easier.
Matador de Froot Loops
I was aware Steven is a big fan of XTC, yet i didn't expect him to remaster their discography, im glad because they are a very underrated band that deserve better from the mainstream/critics...
oh and this photo made my day:
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This looks great. The color scheme matches perfectly with the song.Jess Cope is currently working on a new animated video for the song "Drive Home" from the current album, which will be released as the lead track on an EP in October. The film will also be part of the revamped live show that will be on the road from mid October. Here are some work in progress stills....
Matador de Froot Loops
My favorite from the album, hands down! looking forward to this one, i hope a video for "The Holy drinker" also gets made!
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Last edited by onthewall2983; 08-04-2013 at 07:59 PM.
Saul Williams fan.
What is the "Close to the Edge" bonus track on the CD? An alternative version, perhaps?
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The website says it's an early mix.
Saul Williams fan.
D'oh! Completely missed that.
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Update from his Facebook
Things have been quieter than usual over the last 2 months, just a few festival appearances, but things will soon be gearing up again. Firstly I've written some new material for the first time in over a year - still a long way to go before any new album will take shape (aiming to record next Summer I think), but in the meantime we may premiere something pretty long on the European tour starting in mid October. Lasse Hoile has been over filming new visual content for the show, and we did a few photos at the same time, see attached. Jess Cope is also working on a new animated film for Drive Home. There will be a video EP out in time for the tour, which will include this, as well as the earlier video Jess made for The Raven that Refused to Sing, and a couple of live songs filmed in Frankfurt in March this year (different to the ones we already put on YouTube).
Later this month the new Blackfield album "IV" is released - though I'm involved more as a guest rather than a collaborator this time, Aviv has written and produced a set of beautifully melancholic songs which have that recognisably warm and distinctive Blackfield sound. I sing lead vocals on a song called "Jupiter", which you may have already seen the fantastic sand-art video for.
Last but not least, several remixes of classic albums are being released in October (done over a very long period of time, so it's coincidence that they all seem to be coming out on top of each other!) Yes (official) "Close to the Edge", XTC "Nonsuch", Jethro Tull "Benefit", and King Crimson "Red" were all remixed from the master tapes into stereo and 5.1 (except Red which is a new stereo mix only). I notice these releases referred to as "remasters" quite a lot on the internet, but what I do is remix, which is a very different and much deeper process that involves actually going back to the multitrack session tapes and rebalancing the instruments and recreating the whole sound picture. In fact most of my mixes these days are released without any mastering at all, I prefer it that way. (-:
Last edited by onthewall2983; 08-07-2013 at 04:19 PM.
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Blu-ray/CD
CD/DVD
Last edited by onthewall2983; 08-27-2013 at 10:45 AM.
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Blackfield IV isn't very special apart from it being only 31 minutes, making it the shortest full album SW has been involved with. His involvement is fairly limited compared to the previous albums (apart from the two songs he sings lead on), but it does retain a little variety due to the guest vocalists involved. The surprising thing is that on those songs, the vocalists pretty much are the focus and neither SW or Aviv do much other than the occasional harmony.
Matador de Froot Loops
So, you like "Welcome to my DNA" better?
Sometimes i feel ashamed to say that's my favorite Blackfield release so far...
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I really just prefer several songs from the first two, and a few from DNA. I'm often disappointed at the lack of major mainstream interest in Steven's work, but that it extends to Blackfield too is downright surprising. It probably speaks to the state of the industry, but if they started in the 80's or 90's they would have been pretty big.
Matador de Froot Loops
Blackfield is a nice group, i don't find them "essential" as you said but they have that "Wilson seal", that makes it listenable and intriguing...
In a way i consider Blackfield an extension of "Lightbulb Sun" (oddly enough is also one of my favorite Porcupine Tree albums....)
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What I'm surprised about is that Aviv is the one still hanging on. He is huge in Israel and other parts of the world (and he has friends in pretty high places, Coldplay released a video wishing him a happy birthday and he's sung on stage with U2), and does make solo records but is still in this group that is highly dependent upon SW's free time more and more lately.
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Info on the Drive Home single.
Here are the full contents of the Drive Home video EP - it will be released on Kscope in both Blu-Ray/CD and DVD/CD combinations in October.
Blu-Ray / DVD (running time: 30m video + 11m audio only)
Drive Home (video)
The Raven that Refused to Sing (video)
The Holy Drinker (live in Frankfurt)
Insurgentes (live in Frankfurt)
The Birthday Party (audio only)
The Raven that Refused to Sing (orchestral mix - audio only)
CD (running time: 30m)
Drive Home (4.08 edit)
The Birthday Party
The Raven that Refused to Sing (orchestral mix)
The Holy Drinker (live in Frankfurt)
Insurgentes (live in Frankfurt)
Here are some pre-emptive answers to possible questions (I tried to think of everything!) :
The new Drive Home video is directed by Jess Cope who also did the beautiful and much acclaimed video to The Raven that Refused to Sing. The video will also be released on the internet.
The all new cover artwork is by Hajo Mueller, based on the characters from the video.
The Birthday Party is an additional (mainly instrumental) song from the sessions for The Raven that Refused to Sing.
All the songs on the Blu-Ray and DVD are mixed in both stereo and 5.1 sound, including the 2 audio only titles.
The audio on the Blu-Ray is full lossless 96/24 throughout.
There won't be any other DVD release from The Raven that Refused to Sing tour.
The CD duplicates most of the contents from the video disc for ease of home/in car listening.
The video for the Raven that Refused to Sing could not previously have been included on the Blu-Ray of the album because it was not ready in time.
There won't be a vinyl edition.
As with the album the audio is again flat transferred from the mixes, no mastering was done.
Despite being a double disc, I wanted it to be priced as an EP, so hopefully very reasonably - I'm waiting for the record company to confirm prices.
The video is for the full length album version of Drive Home, the edit only appears on the CD.
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Some revised info on the EP
Due to a lot of requests the 2 live songs from Frankfurt currently on the official YouTube channel, The Watchmaker and The Raven that Refused to Sing, are being added to the Drive Home release. The DVD/BD now runs for one hour, and the CD for 50 minutes. Hmm... I might have a hard time persuading the record company that this is still an EP (-;
The revised running order:
DVD/BD
Drive Home (video)
The Raven that Refused to Sing (video)
The Holy Drinker (live in Frankfurt)
Insurgentes (live in Frankfurt)
The Watchmaker (live in Frankfurt)
The Raven that Refused to Sing (live in Frankfurt)
The Birthday Party (audio only)
The Raven that Refused to Sing (orchestral mix - audio only)
CD
Drive Home (4.08 edit)
The Birthday Party
The Raven that Refused to Sing (orchestral mix)
The Holy Drinker (live in Frankfurt)
Insurgentes (live in Frankfurt)
The Watchmaker (live in Frankfurt)
The Raven that Refused to Sing (live in Frankfurt)
Throbbing Member
The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Short Stories) has won Progressive Rock Album of the Year for 2013 at the annual Prog Rock Magazine Awards. Congratulations to Mr. Wilson.
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Finally heard Blackfield IV a few days ago. Not bad. It definitely shows how little SW was involved. Not sure why Aviv decided on guest vocalists though. He seems more than capable of just singing the lead parts. Jupiter is all sorts of amazing.
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Aviv and Steven miming "Jupiter" for German TV, in what sadly is probably SW's sole "live" performance with Blackfield for the forseeable future.
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Last edited by onthewall2983; 09-12-2013 at 11:48 AM. Reason: corrected URL
she/her/hers
i want the blu-ray for the higher-resolution audio...but i hate blu-ray cases so much, and i love mini-LP-style CD/DVD cases...ARGH!
Matador de Froot Loops
Im having the same issue, in a way i don't want to buy DVD's anymore because im favoring the Blu-Ray in my collection but the packaging of the DVD is more convenient and i like it more too...!
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The Blu for me definitely, but I would have preferred to have it in the mini-LP style packaging (it could be for all we know, sometimes those pics are misleading).
she/her/hers
it's not just the pictures, the cd/dvd version actually states that it comes in mini-lp packaging, whereas the blu-ray makes no mention of the packaging.
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Matador de Froot Loops
^too early to cry, dammit...
Throbbing Member
Great video. I was never into his music before, but his solo songs are much better, IMO. Listening to Blackfield first was a bad choice.
So, which Steven Wilson (or Porcupine Tree) albums should I listen first? Can anyone here recommend me some?
Last edited by Lerxto; 09-20-2013 at 06:16 PM.
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