•
Rating:
I don't know how many more chances you'll have to see a review of mine on Porcupine Tree. They are a band that fascinates me, yet still hides many things from me: in short, there are some parts of their music that elude me. Beautiful and curious albums such as "The Sky Moves Sideways" or "Stupid Dream" have fleeting parts, typical of a rock that goes a bit beyond the norms; overall, works of undoubted charm but perhaps challenging for those seeking their first contact with the aforementioned band. Some find this sound a bit flat, not very engaging, and not as versatile as true progressive.
This 2008 gives us the opportunity to eliminate much of the impressions we had about Porcupine. An acoustic live featuring only two members of the band, voice and guitar. A brief album, with pieces adapted and reduced to create an unexpectedly intimate scene. This performance strips the tracks of all possible effects, of every strongly marked rhythm, of every distant shout, and of every fantasy that would usually arise from studio works.
Take the first track, right "The Sky Moves Sideways" (a great choice to start with): it's hard to think that, without keyboards, distant echo effects, and other psychedelic atmospheres, the track would stand. Yet it stands, and magnificently so. The guitar delicately marks the main theme, and the humble, natural voice does the rest.
Sometimes I feel like a fist
Sometimes I am the colour of air
Sometimes it's only afterwards
I find that I'm not there
The performance continues with other excellent pieces, including "Waiting" and the splendid "Normal" (from the EP "Nil Recurring"). The harder, more intense songs are softened, sweetened if you will: even in "Deadwing" we don't find such relaxed sensations. The tracks seem to take on a more heartfelt and sentimental form, accessible to the most impenetrable ears.
The dimension of Porcupine Tree, perhaps just for this once, takes on a totally different face. And believe me, it's a beautiful experience. Half an hour of abandonment, different from what a well-made album gives: rather, the abandonment of an album with beauty without frills. In the end, I visibly felt better, it is not fantasy.
I'm not a die-hard fan of this band, which, like everyone else, has had its ups and downs. I considered this live album as OUTSIDE their production, as an album in itself, since it's not classifiable in their previous discography. My rating is completely impartial, so I recommend not missing it. I repeat, my input on such a band can only happen if it's a sincere praise, which practically everyone can share.
But it's just another surprise that this year, like 2007, is giving us. Rating: 4.5
(The review is concise, but if I feel like saying only a few things and not others, I hope not to blame myself. Plus, I'm naturally concise. Get used to it)
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 Even Less (03:27)
A body is washed up on a Norfolk beach
He was a friend that I could not reach
He thought I was cold but I understand
But for the grace of god goes another man
And I may just waste away from doing nothing
But you're a martyr for even less
A choirboy is buried on the moors
Where we used to go dreaming when we were bored
So some kids are best left to fend for themselves
And others were born to stack shelves
And I may just waste away from doing nothing
But you're a martyr for even less
0096 2251 2110 8105
03 Stars Die (04:33)
The moon shook
And curled up like gentle fire
The ocean glazed
And melted wire
Voices buzzed
In spiral eyes
Stars dived
In blinding skies
Stars die
Blinding skies
Tree cracked
And mountain cried
Bridges broke
And window sighed
Cells grew up
And rivers burst
Sound obscured
And sense reversed
Stars die
Blinding skies
Idle mind
And severed soul
Silent nerves
And begging bowl
Shallow haze
To blast a way
Hyper sleep
To end the day
Stars die
Blinding skies
05 Normal (04:52)
Here is my car, my phone, and my TV
I've got it all, but you can see through me
But am I here? It's kind of hard to tell
I do a good impression of myself
But what's normal now anyhow?
Sullen and bored the kids stay
And in this way wish away each day
Stoned in the mall the kids play
And in this way wish away each day
Prescription drugs, they help me through the day
And that restraining order keeps me well at bay
And what's normal now, anyway?
Sullen and bored the kids stay
And in this way wish away each day
Stoned in the mall the kids play
And in this way wish away each day
Sullen and bored the kids stay
And in this way wish away each day
Stoned in the mall the kids play
And in this way wish away each day
Wish I was old and a little sentimental
Wish I was old and a little sentimental
Wish I was old and a little sentimental
Wish I was old and a little sentimental
(You gotta see the waves, not the wine bottle, but the waves now.)
06 Drown With Me (04:09)
Drown With Me
So you have been of use
And you have been abused
You know you look pale today
Your lipstick has gone astray
You sold out and lost your looks
You gave away all your books
(You should drown with me)
Your coil has been wound up tight
Unwind it with me tonight
(You should drown with me)
Tyre tracks Fresh on the ground
Where she will be found
Held under the water
Resting there in a stream
View from the cold water
Buried in green
Orange filter sky
Your drowning in family there
When will you come up for air
(You should drown with me)
Don't feel you let 'em down
Cos they have already drowned
(You should drown with me)
07 Lazarus (04:29)
As the cheerless towns pass my window
I can see a washed out moon through the fog
And then a voice inside my head
Breaks the analogue And says
"Follow me down to the valley below
You know
Moonlight is bleeding
From out of your soul"
I survived against the will
Of my twisted folk
But in the deafness of my world
The silence broke And said
"Follow me down to the valley below
You know
Moonlight is bleeding
From out of your soul"
"My David don't you worry
This cold world is not for you
So rest your head upon me
I have strength to carry you"
(Ghosts of the twenties rising Golden summers just holding you)
"Follow me down to the valley below
You know
Moonlight is bleeding
From out of your soul
Come to us Lazarus
It's time for you to go"
08 Trains (04:04)
Train set and match spied under the blind,
Shiny and contoured the railway winds,
And I've heard the sound from my cousin's bed,
The hiss of the train at the railway head,
Always the summers are slipping away,
A 60 ton angel falls to the earth,
A pile of old metal, a radiant blur,
Scars in the country, the summer and her,
Always the summers are slipping away,
Find me a way for making it stay,
When I hear the engine pass
I'm kissing you wide,
The hissing subsides
I'm in luck,
When the evening reaches here
You're tying me up,
I'm dying of love
It's OK,
When I hear the engine pass
I'm kissing you wide,
The hissing subsides
I'm in luck,
When the evening reaches here
You're tying me up,
I'm dying of love
It's OK,
Always the summers are slipping away,
Find me a way for making it stay,
Always the summers are slipping away,
Always the summers are slipping away...
Loading comments slowly
