Coma Divine: The Music of Porcupine Tree - Part X

The Incident – 2009

“When a car crash gets you off, you’ve lost your grip…“

You may find this hard to believe but it’s been 20 years since Steven Wilson began recording music under the Porcupine Tree name. What began as a homemade experiment in what is progressive has morphed into one of the biggest names in modern music. This band has survived the rise and fall of grunge as well as a change of thinking toward digital media. Porcupine Tree’s tenth album The Incident is a perfect way for the band to celebrate the sound they have been developing during my entire lifetime. Now instead of going into my usual thought process regarding music – I did that for this album already back in January – I thought I’d try to retrospectively encapsulate all the listening experiences I’ve had with The Incident.
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The Incident isn’t my favorite Porcupine Tree album. My opinions of this record have not changed since I last wrote about it, (see "Music of 2009 - Part IX"), but I’ve found that the way I listen to The Incident has changed drastically. This is an album I always listen to in the car during my long drives from Ashland up to Portland and back. Now I interpret this in a few different ways. Firstly, it’s a way to listen to the whole album without feeling that compensatory need to listen to something else. It grounds me and forces me to experience the album as Mr. Wilson intended it to be. Unfortunately, the sound quality of a burnt cd driving along I-5 isn't the best, which brings me to my second point. There have always been softer sounds barely audible on Porcupine Tree cds. And for me who focuses a lot on finding and enjoying these softer moments, it’s an essential part of the listening experience. For me, it’s impossible to live these moments when you have to damage your eardrums just to hear them. The Incident and road trips don’t mix well, (hell, one of the movements is about passing by a car crash. Needless to say its a little unnerving) This is the kind of album you need to listen to at home through quality speakers that can produce these subtle sounds without causing you irreversible injury. No exceptions. I have realized that the way I listen to this record is wrong. But that still doesn’t keep me from enjoying it on long drives at night, (you know, in a weird way, this album sorta feels right in this context, or maybe that’s just one big contradiction…)