Oceansize - Self Preserved while the Bodies Float Up

Artist: Oceansize

Album: Self Preserved while the Bodies Float Up

Release: 2010

“This is how the wars get started”

Let it be known – with this record, I have reached a personal milestone. Drum roll please… I now own an album with a pair of breasts on the cover. Now at the time when I purchased Oceansize’s latest opus, I had no idea of this fact. It was only when I had the album in my hand that it dawned on me as to what I was looking at – and only when I flipped through the flipbook-style inlay of the record featuring a rotating naked headless manikin. The image itself is a beautiful way to showcase what the Manchester, England five-piece is aiming to achieve with Self Preserved while the Bodies Float Up. I am reminded of the classic Joy Division cover of Unknown Pleasures and the music itself only adds to this idea. Oceansize takes a bit of a departure from the mellower sound they developed on their last record and replace it with a kind of Mastodon-meets-Joy Division-esk wall of sound with some Nirvana thrown in for good measure. There’s not a single moment on Self Preserved while the Bodies Float Up that lets you relax. It’s a powerful record that can swallow you whole if you let it and aims to leave its listener guessing what will be coming next. We have shifts that vary from Robert Fripp-esk soundscapes to mind crushing guitar riffs. Not even I could have predicted the inclusion of a female vocalist on A Penny’s Weight. The guitar work on Self Preserved while the Bodies Float Up deserves a special mention as well. Oceansize have managed to capture some of the most apocalyptic doomy riffs I have ever heard. Complemented with a the sounds of an orchestral style piano and vocalist Mike Vennart’s calm yet powerful style of singing make this album something special. One gets a sense of swimming through concrete when listening to Self Preserved while the Bodies Float Up. All its sharp cutting gravel will scratch you and the tar will stain you but when all is said and done, you were glad you took the dive. But with how bloated with sound this record is, I wouldn’t recommend starting with Oceansize’s latest. If you are new to the band, take their 2007 release Frames for a spin and ease yourself into their unique style of chaos. It’s the calmer complement to this unrelenting record. But really you can’t do wrong with this band. Oceansize is one of the rising stars of the progressive world and should not be ignored.

No-Man - Wild Opera

Artist: No-Man

Album: Wild Opera

Release: 1996

“Maybe there’s more to life then writing songs, maybe not”

If you know me at all, you know that I’m a die-hard Steven Wilson fanatic. What this means is I’m willing to buy anything he graces with his presence, I mean, anything he works on. This is how I discovered No-Man, Mr. Wilsons first foray into the music scene. Pre-dating Porcupine Tree, No-Man’s history goes all the way back to 1986, (just to give you some perspective on me, almost four years before I was born), when Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness – the left and right sides of the brain respectively – met up and started the project. Their second album, Flowermouth in 1994, is one of my favorite albums. It’s sweeping soundscapes and romantic lyrics can sweep the listener off their feet. Maybe this is why I find their next album, Wild Opera, so interesting. It fails to capture what Flowermouth did. The romantic poetry has been replaced with gritty, almost grunge-sounding lyrics reminiscent of a breakup letter. And 80’s sounding hip-hop beats alongside distorted guitars have taken over the soft, calming soundscapes. Normally, this would be a bad thing and I would dismiss the band for changing their sound to suit a labels wishes. But No-Man have seemingly done the impossible and created something so outlandish that it works. Everything about Wild Opera screams of two musicians so fed up with the industry that they made the ultimate satire record to voice their intentions to remain true to themselves. The lyrics, sound, even the cover’(s) manage to convey this idea. The original ’96 cover has a very 50’s propaganda-ish feel to it that give a false feeling of accessibility to the listener. The woman is pointing at something and chuckling. I relate this to the musicians laughing at the direction the music industry is taking. To a person browsing a record store, this would look like it fit in with the Blur albums a shelf over. This theme continues on the recent reissue, (the copy I acquired.) The people are gazing out over a very bloated-looking lake and a wall of stone. The lake is representative of how oversaturated and bloated musicians sound’s have become and the walls are the labels leering almost menacingly over them. It dosnt look like the family – Wilson & Bowness – want to go swimming here. As for the lyrics, I found myself laughing more than once while listening to the album. I mean, how could you not with lyrics like “Not even housewives hooked on heroin can understand the awful mess I’m in”. Tim’s lyrics reek of intentional irony. And finally the music itself. Wild Opera was created during a time when musicians were moving away from the idea of solos and the grunge movement happening at the time spearheaded this idea. On a funny side note, one of the songs is called “My revenge on Seattle”… think of that what you will. Wilson mocks this notion by combining two styles that are completely at end with each other, hip-hop and rock. But it’s because of this decision that Wild Opera sounds a unique as it does. This album really is the black sheep of No-Man’s discography. The definitive anti-rock album. I love it.

Eluvium - Similes

Artist: Eluvium

Album: Similes

Release: 2010

“Appended to the breeze, talking amongst the trees”

Portland is an interesting city. The majority of the time it’s raining yet the city’s inhabitants are some of the friendliest people you can ever meet. Normally those two things could never coexist. But Portlanders can often be seen smiling while they walk down Burnside or Hawthorne in the rain. This is my ideal listening experience for Eluviums new release Similes. I find it appropriate not only because Matthew Cooper, aka Eluvium, resides in the rose city, but because all of Eluviums music just seems to make more sense on a rainy day. His music manages to both capture the beauty of the city and subdue the listener into a rather submissive state. One feels at ease like you’re floating above the clouds, above the storms below. It’s as though the paintings of life around us are melting away before our eyes and what we are left with is the primal beauty of our natural world. One can't help but smile while experiencing this album. Musically, this is Eluviums most groundbreaking release yet. The soft piano keys create an atmosphere of relaxation and no sound ever overstays its welcome. The soundscapes captured here are an ever rotating door of audible clarity. As one sound exits, another enters to take its place. Like players on a stage, each instrument plays its part to perfection until the final curtain falls. But this is not the biggest thing about Similes. The most shocking part of this recording is the fact that it has lyrics! Until now, all five of his records have been entirely instrumental with the occasional sound clip. It’s natural for musicians to try and expand their sound in interesting ways. So adding lyrics into the mix was the next logical step for Eluvium. I view this decision in the same way I view Steven Wilson’s choices lyrically on Insurgentes. The lyrics are meant to complement the music, not the other way around. So the addition of lyrics helps the record by adding a whole new level of sound that could never exist on his previous releases. It’s not often I come across music that can take my breath away. But with Similes, Mr. Eluvium has created something magical. I can’t wait till the next rainy day!

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

Artist: Gorillaz

Album: Plastic Beach

Release: 2010

“Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach”

I loved Gorillaz. They were the first band I got “into”. Their self titled 2001 debut was the first album I ever bought. It was a brilliant idea. A real life cartoon band lead by a Satanist for a bassist, a possessed hip-hop historian as a drummer, a ten year old Chinese girl as a guitarist, and a blue haired pretty-boy with no eyes as lead singer. These oddballs were the center of my pre-teen life. Then they disappeared off the map, and I forgot about them. Then in 2005, the band returned with Demon Days and so did my interest. And now, five years later, Gorillaz give us their final (?) release Plastic Beach and I’m not sure about it. I used to be really into Hip-Hop and rap. Even though I’ve moved onto better things I still find both of their previous records to be a refreshing change of pace. But maybe it’s been too long… I can’t seem to wrap my head around this eccentric little record. This really isn’t a new Gorillaz record but rather a Gorillaz fronted collaboration album. There’s soooooooooo many people on this record that the actual band get lost in the mix. It doesn’t have the easy-listenable aesthetic the first album had and it doesn’t have the apocalyptic soundtrack feel to it that Demon Days had. I found that throughout all three of the bands releases, the tracks where singer 2-D croons into the mike are my favorites, but those are few and far between on Plastic Beach. I’m not saying that the guests tracks aren’t interesting – it’s actually quite the contrary. I think Mos Def’s contributions to this record are some of the most enjoyable hip-hop I’ve ever heard. Also, Snoop Dogg’s track is a beautiful hybrid of 70’s synth and old school rap. But the biggest surprise on Plastic Beach is inclusion of unknown gem by the name of Little Dragon. The vocalist provides a nice calming change to the rest of the albums over-produced, lets-hit-every-button-on-the-sound-board style of rap. I get the feeling this is a really deep album. I would love to get to the core of this record some day but the music is just so thick that the overall message doesn’t ring as loud as it should be. But overall, the impression Plastic Beach gives me is this – this is a pop record with pop sensibilities. While this is a concept album deserving of a full listen to understand and let the music sink in, that’s just not going to happen. It will be promoted like any other run-of-the-mill forgettable record and all the overexposure will ultimately hurt and taint the album as a whole. But what really bothers me is there’s a chance that the videos from this album have a possibility to be aired before or after MTV’s newest artist-of-the-moment. As a result I fear that Plastic Beach will be completely forgotten like all the other cannon fodder MTV airs. But I do have hope… Maybe one day Plastic Beach will speak to me the same way Gorillaz other releases do. But until then I’m content with what could be Gorillaz last release. Maybe I’m too old for cartoons…

(I have a feeling that I will feel completely different about this record in a year’s time. Setting alarm clock… NOW)

Project 2 is in the bag!... Finally + Whats next

Its funny what life can do to you in 4 months. I had originally intended to have this project done by April at the latest, but as somethings go, it just wasn't meant to be. I'll try harder to stick to a set schedule and post more frequently.
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It's been fun analyzing Porcupine Tree's music. There's just so much there. Throughout this whole experience I rediscovered a few albums that I hadn't listened to in years. It was like bumping into an old friend. Very satisfying.
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Some good news that came out of all this is I have a few other things I've written on music I've received. So I can mentally recharge my batteries while keeping to the schedule I mentioned above. Looking over them I must say there is quite a variety of genres there.
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Another project, (#4 for those of you keeping track), will be an ongoing thing with no definite end in sight. The sheer amount of content related to what I'm planning on doing only confirms that. I'll say this though, I guarantee you have never heard anything like what project 4 will sound like.
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And project 3, which is a list of my personal favorite albums of all time, will commence when I feel like starting that. I'll estimate this one will last about three months or so = AKA breathing room. More on that soon...
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Anyway, I hope you have been finding new horizons in new music. I know I have.

Best wishes,
- Sean

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…)

Coma Divine: The Music of Porcupine Tree - Part IX

Fear of a Blank Planet – 2007

“Stoned in the mall the kids play. And in this way they wish away each day “

How could it come to this? That is the question I ask myself when I’m listening to this apocalyptic opus. But strangely, a quote from a rather famous 80’s movie springs to mind as this album plays, “I weep for the future”. On Fear of a Blank Planet, Porcupine Tree has managed to capture the decay of our youth culture onto a single disc. Quite the feat if you ask me. Little did I know when I bought this record that Mr. Wilson was talking about me. I have an iPod, but I don’t let this fact hinder my search for rare CD’s. In a weird way, it took this album to wake me up to what I was becoming at that age, (17). iPod’s are just one of the myriad of topics Fear of a Blank Planet addresses. Prescription drugs, Xbox, the internet, and the seemingly abandonment of their parents are a big lyrical component to this album. This record is about the decay of our society at its very core and how the youth of the world are adapting to that decay. I get a sense that Steven and co. have a very cynical view of the world. They have expressed this anger and resentment in Fear of a Blank Planet. These feelings are expressed on the records cover. A blank slate of a face illuminated by the unnatural glow of technology. A lovely photo Lasse, good work! Right away you can tell this is going to hit you and hit you hard. It sweeps through you and wears you out. Yet after its gone you want it back. To a new listener, this album may overpower them Porcupine Tree have crammed nearly a whole societies existence onto this album. I don’t think I need to go on praising it. The music speaks for itself. The riffs captured here are MUCH heavier then Deadwing and the mood is even darker then In Absentia. And while some tracks tone down the music and introduce acoustics, (now a Porcupine Tree mainstay), the songs still carry that end-of-days vibe with them. One gets a sense that this is the album Porcupine Tree was born to create. It’s certainly played a major part in their current popularity. I think Fear of a Blank Planet will stand right up on that pedestal with In Absentia as the band’s signature albums. One thing’s for sure though - When the end of the world finally begins, I’ll have this album on repeat.