STEVEN WILSON - The Harmony Codex (Herbst 2023)

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Alphex
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von Alphex »

Hatte nach den Comments hier mordsverkopfte "hüftsteifer versucht lockeren Pop"-Sachen erwartet, aber das ist doch sehr gut hörbar. Der Spoken Word-Mittelteil müffelt zwar prätentiös, aber gut, Prog-Background halt.
"Wenn man in der Metalszene unterwegs ist, dann bekommt man quasi NIE politische Statements zu hören. Auch deswegen liebe ich diese Szene so. Politik ist dort nunmal kein Thema. Fast schon ein Tabuthema."
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von Maedhros »

Gerade zum ersten mal "Personal Shopper" angehört. Nachdem ich das letzte Album von SW ausgelassen habe, weils eher nichts für mich war, spricht mich das hier musikalisch schon wieder eher an. Von dem Lyrik-Konzept bin ich aber ehrlich gesagt nach dem einen Song schon genervt.
"I hate Illinois Nazis"
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von Thunderforce »

Gestern gab es auf Twitter eine sog. "Twitter Listening Party", initiiert von Tim Burgess (The Charlatans).
Das ist so eine Art Livereview, allerdings sind die Künstler dabei und kommentieren ihr Album eben live mit, während sie es hören und beantworten ggf. Fragen.
Gestern hat SW das für sein "Hand Cannot Erase" Album gemacht. Habe es gerade nachgelesen, und da Zeit ja im Moment im Überfluss da ist, habe ich es mal zusammenkopiert, da schon ein paar interessante Infos drin sind. Für "Insurgentes" (laut SW "Stll my favourite of all my albums apart from the next one of course") soll es das demnächst auch noch geben.

Here goes:


ZUM ALBUM ALLGEMEIN:
The album started off as something called ‘My Book Of Regrets’, based on a different concept, and some of the music and titles were carried over to the final album .
Hand. Cannot. Erase. is definitely one of the most popular albums I’ve made. It seems to resonate with a lot of different people with various musical tastes.
The album is inspired by the story of Joyce Carol Vincent, whose skeletal remains were found in her flat in North London in January 2006, undiscovered for over 2 years.
Her body was surrounded by wrapped Christmas gifts and the TV was still on. How is this possible?! There is a great film called Dreams of a Life about Joyce, and it was this which first made me aware of her story.
Joyce wasn’t old or unpopular, quite the reverse, so her fate tells us a lot about the modern world and how disconnected we have become from each other. In these days of enforced social distancing and self-isolation I guess it’s even more poignant.
It’s important to say that the album is not the story of Joyce, it only takes the circumstances of her death as a starting point to create a narrative about a completely fictional character.
Später wirft jemand ein, das Album sei super, aber zu lang, seine Antwort: Totally agree, I much prefer albums of 40-45 minutes, but don't practice what I preach.


FIRST REGRET:
The piano was made to sound broken and wobbly, like the music was a memory of something gone, rusted and decayed.


THREE YEARS OLDER:
This first song ‘Three Years Older’ sets up this character, with scenes from her childhood.
The music for this developed during sessions for my previous album The Raven That Refused to Sing. It has the more traditional prog rock aspect of that album. Maybe it's a bit old-fashioned in that respect, but it does open things up in epic style.
Most of the album was written for my current band at the time to play: Marco Minnemann (drums), @ggovan_official (guitar), @NickBeggs (bass), and Adam Holzman (keyboards).
Und als Antwort, dass jemand bei der Akustikgitarre an The Who denken muss: Haha, yes OK, the patch in my live pedal board for this part was called "Townshend" so guilty there!


HAND CANNOT ERASE:
‘Hand Cannot Erase’ is the most direct and simple rock song on the album; it's about being in a relationship and kidding yourself that it’s working when it clearly isn’t.
I’m not very musically literate but I *think* this is in 9, but with the drums changing from 4 to 3 time in relation to it. I’m sure a real musician could explain better exactly what’s going on. At this time even my simple songs are complicated!
@lassehoile also made a great video for this song that I originally used as live visuals before releasing it online as a music video. https://youtu.be/A64J8mo8oZE


PERFECT LIFE:
‘Perfect Life’ was the last thing written for the album and perhaps my favourite, it’s heartbreaking and emotionally powerful.
In true concept album style, this piano melody is a sort of pre-echo of a theme that will re-occur at the climax of the album.
The words were originally written as a short story with more lines. I hired a voice actress to read it but when she did I realised it would make the song too long, so I cut it back to the key lines.
It’s about how people that come into your life for only a very short period of time can sometimes have the most impact.
Maybe everyone has a childhood friend that is like the sister in this story, someone that changed the way you thought about life in a very brief time.
A Lebanese director @NassarYoussef made a beautiful video for the song. I asked him to watch Peter Weir’s haunting film Picnic at Hanging Rock to get an idea of the kind of atmosphere I wanted. https://youtu.be/gOU_zWdhAoE
Although the band I had at the time was capable of playing very “muso” and complicated music, I was definitely tiring a bit of that and beginning to gravitate towards simpler and more direct things like this.
It was the first thing released from the album, so it was definitely a sign not to expect the same kind of thing as the Raven album. My interest was also moving away from guitars and towards electronic sounds.
Sometimes I joke on stage that even if I’m famous for writing miserable songs, even I am stunned sometimes by how truly depressing and sad some of them are!
Und als Antwort, dass jemanden der Rhythmus an Rushs Xanadu erinnert: Not really, it's pure Pete Townshend, but that makes sense because Alex is a bit Pete fan.


ROUTINE:
‘Routine’ is about a woman who loses her whole family in a tragedy but then throws herself into her daily routine of cooking, washing, cleaning...etc as if nothing has changed, all as a way to cope.
The song moves through 3 of the stages of grief - denial, anger and then to a kind of acceptance.
This song wasn’t originally part of the concept, but I found a way to bring it in by giving my character an obsession with other women who had disappeared without trace.
This is also another one that had a stunning video made for it, this time an animation by @JessicaAmiCope- it took her months to make, using stop motion animation, and she really went through an emotional rollercoaster doing it. https://youtu.be/sh5mWzKlhQY
As the whole album was written from a female perspective, I wanted a female voice on this song. I was very lucky to have the incredible singer Israeli singer @ninettayeb_ agree to do it. The scream was
@ninettayeb_'s improvised moment, I hadn't asked her to do it. But it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when she did, a magical moment.


HOME INVASION:
‘Home Invasion’ is one of my funky dirty Fender Rhodes songs. There was one on the previous album too called ‘The Holy Drinker’. I always have early Roxy Music in my head when I do those kinds of things.


REGRET #9:
As you can tell from the title, this is another one originally from the ‘My Book of Regrets’ project. Some of the other leftover Regret songs later appeared on the 4 ½ mini album.


TRANSCIENCE:
‘Transience’ reminds me a little of an earlier @PorcupineTree song of mine called ‘Lips of Ashes’. Like that one, it’s pretty much a solo performance. The character has a “dream of a life”, a flashback to a moment with her parents as a child. I like the contrast between the delicate picked acoustic guitars and the ominous synth bass notes.
I probably took that idea from @pinkfloyd 's Goodbye Blue Sky from The Wall, as that album is so ingrained in my DNA even if I haven't heard it for maybe 20 years by now.
Und als Antwort auf die Frage, warum das Lied ursprünglich nicht Teil des Livesets war: Because it was essentially a solo performance on the album, so I never considered it for the band to perform - but then later on I went out and played the album complete so we had to learn it.
Und als Antwort auf die Bemerkung, dass sich jemand an Genesis erinnert fühlt: Never been a fan of this band, but amazing how many people mention they hear them in my music.


ANCESTRAL:
Perhaps of all the long pieces I’ve written over the years, ‘Ancestral’ is my favourite. It’s not like anything else I can think of, and it also has a structure which feels like it's forever building towards something.
It starts almost like a trip hop thing, but then builds and builds. Even when you think it can’t go any higher it does. It makes it very intense and exciting to play live.
This passage was inspired by the sort of dissonant chords that @jmcl_gtr used in his classic Mahavishnu Orchestra compositions like Birds of Fire and The Dance of Maya.
Robert Fripp once told me he had to stop listening to McLaughlin because he was worried he would be too influenced by him. I wish I had that discipline.
I think I show my influences too much, but then it’s hard not to these days. It's pretty much all been done hasn't it?
The whole section at the end of the song is not at a set tempo; it gets faster and faster so even when you think it’s settled at one tempo, it’s actually still getting imperceptibly faster.
It definitely gives it a sense of abandon and a kind of ecstatic rush.


HAPPY RETURNS:
‘Happy Returns’ is a relatively simple singer-songwriter styled song to end the story, written in the form of a letter.
I love that the final words on the album are in mid-sentence “I’ll finish this tomorrow…” Just like Joyce wrapping Christmas presents on the evening she died, things left unfinished.
@ggovan_official performed a guitar solo on the end of this, but I still liked my original demo solo, so I extended the end and used both.


ASCENDANT HERE ON…:
‘Ascendant Here On...’ is an almost anagram of Hand Cannot Erase. It's a reprise of the theme from Happy Returns arranged for piano and the boy choristers.
In my story, it’s not clear what happens to the main character. In the deluxe edition, there were various clues that she might have chosen to disappear, even a hint of a sci-fi conspiracy element.
I was very happy with Hand. Cannot. Erase. when it came out, and still am. It felt like a big step forward from the previous album, more contemporary and stylistically diverse, more “me”. The concept was really a gift.
Hope you enjoyed this listening party!
If you twist, you fail. Twisting equals tears.
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von Thunderforce »

Und in other news:

Das neue Album ist aufgrund der Pandemie in den Januar 2021 verlegt worden. Tourdaten stehen im Moment noch, aber das wird sich vermutlich auch noch ändern.
As with many of my albums, The Future Bites is not just about the music, it's a high concept project which involves design, artwork, video and a tour production, all on a grander scale than anything I've attempted before. However, due to the pandemic, there are unprecedented challenges, ranging from manufacturing issues (particularly in relation to the elaborate deluxe edition) and the uncertainty facing record stores as the coronavirus forces them to close their doors, to being unable to shoot most of the video material I planned. It's therefore with a very heavy heart that I reluctantly need to postpone the release of The Future Bites until such time everything can happen as intended. This will now be January next year, with new music and video starting to be issued again around October. In the meantime the pre-order page for the various editions of the album will remain online, although I plan to take the deluxe edition off the site some time before it completely sells out, in order to give fans simply not in a position to purchase at the moment a chance to get it nearer the time. Meanwhile, myself, management, agent and promoters are monitoring the situation regarding the live shows scheduled for this autumn. Should events change we will let everyone know as soon as we do.

I understand that this may be disappointing news, and to no one more that myself, believe me. I worked on the music and background of this project for the last two years and was thrilled to finally be able to launch it. The response to the Personal Shopper track released last month has been phenomenal, and I was looking forward to unveiling more over the next few months in the build up to the release of the album. But alas due to the current circumstances it was not to be.

I sincerely send everyone reading this a message of good health, and I hope that one day in the not too distant future we can once again focus on things like music, which even if it isn't strictly essential seems to somehow make life more worthwhile.
Von seiner Facebook-Seite
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von Porcupine »

Danke, sehr interessant und seh sympathisch. :)
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von playloud308 »

War zu erwarten, dass der das verschiebt.
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von playloud308 »

Steven Wilson erklärt auf Facebook, warum verschoben wird:


“As with many of my albums, The Future Bites is not just about the music, it's a high concept project which involves design, artwork, video and a tour production, all on a grander scale than anything I've attempted before. However, due to the pandemic, there are unprecedented challenges, ranging from manufacturing issues (particularly in relation to the elaborate deluxe edition) and the uncertainty facing record stores as the coronavirus forces them to close their doors, to being unable to shoot most of the video material I planned. It's therefore with a very heavy heart that I reluctantly need to postpone the release of The Future Bites until such time everything can happen as intended. This will now be January next year, with new music and video starting to be issued again around October. In the meantime the pre-order page for the various editions of the album will remain online, although I plan to take the deluxe edition off the site some time before it completely sells out, in order to give fans simply not in a position to purchase at the moment a chance to get it nearer the time. Meanwhile, myself, management, agent and promoters are monitoring the situation regarding the live shows scheduled for this autumn. Should events change we will let everyone know as soon as we do.

I understand that this may be disappointing news, and to no one more that myself, believe me. I worked on the music and background of this project for the last two years and was thrilled to finally be able to launch it. The response to the Personal Shopper track released last month has been phenomenal, and I was looking forward to unveiling more over the next few months in the build up to the release of the album. But alas due to the current circumstances it was not to be.

I sincerely send everyone reading this a message of good health, and I hope that one day in the not too distant future we can once again focus on things like music, which even if it isn't strictly essential seems to somehow make life more worthwhile.

SW x”
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Robbi
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

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Ähem .. Playloud?
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von Porcupine »

Hmpf. :hmpf:
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von playloud308 »

Steht es halt zweimal da. Wat soll’s :ka:

Könnt ihr euch jetzt daran aufgeilen. :D
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von Porcupine »

playloud308 hat geschrieben: 22.04.2020 21:48 Steht es halt zweimal da. Wat soll’s :ka:

Könnt ihr euch jetzt daran aufgeilen. :D
Ohne dich hätte ich das gar nicht bemerkt, da Ploppi das gepostet hat, während ich sein anderes Posting gelesen (und darauf geantwortet) habe. Also danke. :)
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von Thunderforce »

Porcupine hat geschrieben: 23.04.2020 06:37
playloud308 hat geschrieben: 22.04.2020 21:48 Steht es halt zweimal da. Wat soll’s :ka

Könnt ihr euch jetzt daran aufgeilen. :D
Ohne dich hätte ich das gar nicht bemerkt, da Ploppi das gepostet hat, während ich sein anderes Posting gelesen (und darauf geantwortet) habe. Also danke. :)
Ich hatte das schon vermutet, weil auf mein 2. Posting so gar nix von Dir kam. :D
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (12.06.2020)

Beitrag von playloud308 »

Thunderforce hat geschrieben: 23.04.2020 07:45
Porcupine hat geschrieben: 23.04.2020 06:37
playloud308 hat geschrieben: 22.04.2020 21:48 Steht es halt zweimal da. Wat soll’s :ka

Könnt ihr euch jetzt daran aufgeilen.
Ohne dich hätte ich das gar nicht bemerkt, da Ploppi das gepostet hat, während ich sein anderes Posting gelesen (und darauf geantwortet) habe. Also danke. :)
Ich hatte das schon vermutet, weil auf mein 2. Posting so gar nix von Dir kam. :D
Ich hatte gleichzeitig die erste Ankündigung auf Verschiebung des Albums bei WhatsApp einem Freund geschickt.
Sah Ploppis post und habe nicht genau gelesen, dachte ach der postet das selbe Statement.
Später am Abend habe ich dann das zweite Statement gepostet und nicht mehr weiter oben nachgelesen. :D
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Re: STEVEN WILSON - The Future Bites (29.01.2021)

Beitrag von Shadowrunner92 »

In den letzten Wochen konnten Fans Remix-Versionen von "Personal Shopper" einreichen, die SW dann gehört hat. Die 10 besten gibt es nun online zu hören, und man kann abstimmen, welche man am liebsten mag.
Außerdem hat er zwei weitere Versionen von anderen Bands anfertigen lassen, nämlich von Pure Reason Revolution und Shearwater.
Gibt's alles hier zu hören:
https://thefuturebites.com/remix/
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