Steven Wilson solo career thread - v. The Harmony Codex in 2023!

[KevShmev]

I've been on a PT and SW kick lately for some reason. It's quite nice to revisit his solo work after so long and see how it's aged. Insurgentes still has got an excellent atmosphere, and although I find it a little inconsistent towards the middle, it's probably his second best solo record. Grace for Drowning I was expecting to love less than I used to but no, it remains his best album for me - just banger after banger. H.C.E. I loved when it came out but didn't revisit it much afterwards, but damn what an album. I was listening to the Unreleased Electronic Music compilation today for the first time, and it's got some pretty interesting ideas - fans of IDM will dig it. I'll give The Raven a go later today.

As great as Hand Cannot Erase is, I find that I do not listen to the majority of it that much.  I still think Routine is one of the best songs SW has ever written, but as a whole I just do not return to that record nearly as much as many of his others.

Grace for Drowning is still just unreal from start to finish.  I adore the vibe of that record.

[nick_z]

I've been on a PT and SW kick lately for some reason. It's quite nice to revisit his solo work after so long and see how it's aged. Insurgentes still has got an excellent atmosphere, and although I find it a little inconsistent towards the middle, it's probably his second best solo record. Grace for Drowning I was expecting to love less than I used to but no, it remains his best album for me - just banger after banger. H.C.E. I loved when it came out but didn't revisit it much afterwards, but damn what an album. I was listening to the Unreleased Electronic Music compilation today for the first time, and it's got some pretty interesting ideas - fans of IDM will dig it. I'll give The Raven a go later today.

As great as Hand Cannot Erase is, I find that I do not listen to the majority of it that much.  I still think Routine is one of the best songs SW has ever written, but as a whole I just do not return to that record nearly as much as many of his others.

Grace for Drowning is still just unreal from start to finish.  I adore the vibe of that record.

I'm doing a bit of a revisit too...Insurgentes is very good, but it doesn't blow me away. I hadn't listened to Grace for Drowning in a while, and I found it to be even better than I remembered. Agreed on the vibe, quite special.

Will revisit Raven shortly.

In general, my favorite is probably Hand.Cannot.Erase. I do have a soft spot for To the Bone too. Always enjoyed it.   

[Kram]

I've been on a PT and SW kick lately for some reason. It's quite nice to revisit his solo work after so long and see how it's aged. Insurgentes still has got an excellent atmosphere, and although I find it a little inconsistent towards the middle, it's probably his second best solo record. Grace for Drowning I was expecting to love less than I used to but no, it remains his best album for me - just banger after banger. H.C.E. I loved when it came out but didn't revisit it much afterwards, but damn what an album. I was listening to the Unreleased Electronic Music compilation today for the first time, and it's got some pretty interesting ideas - fans of IDM will dig it. I'll give The Raven a go later today.

As great as Hand Cannot Erase is, I find that I do not listen to the majority of it that much.  I still think Routine is one of the best songs SW has ever written, but as a whole I just do not return to that record nearly as much as many of his others.

Grace for Drowning is still just unreal from start to finish.  I adore the vibe of that record.

I'm doing a bit of a revisit too...Insurgentes is very good, but it doesn't blow me away. I hadn't listened to Grace for Drowning in a while, and I found it to be even better than I remembered. Agreed on the vibe, quite special.

Will revisit Raven shortly.

In general, my favorite is probably Hand.Cannot.Erase. I do have a soft spot for To the Bone too. Always enjoyed it.

They're all great and special to me, except for The Future Bites.  Was a little worried SW was loosing me, but all faith has been restored with the latest PT album.  I'm really interested to see what he has in store for his next solo album.  I'm sure it will be nothing like either TFB or C/C. 

[Kwyjibo]

Bumpety bump

So apparently SW's book/biography is out for some time now. I didn't even know he was writing one. Has anyone here read it? Is it any good?

[SwedishGoose]

Bumpety bump

So apparently SW's book/biography is out for some time now. I didn't even know he was writing one. Has anyone here read it? Is it any good?

I have had SW read it for me on Audible.... very enjoyable experience

[romdrums]

I'm almost done with it.  It's been a pretty enjoyable read so far. If I had more time, I probably would have read it in a day or two.  It is a book that I feel I can also read a chapter or two at a time and be good.  Nothing really shocking in it, but if you like Steven, and I do, it's an enjoyable book.

[nobloodyname]

It's pretty good, the audiobook version at least. Just skip the short story thing at the end. It's rubbish

[Setlist Scotty]

How does it compare to Rich Wilson's book on PT? I remember Rich specifically saying that Steven was trying to prevent as many people as possible not contribute to Rich's book. Never understood why unless Steven had already been planning to do this book when he got wind of Rich doing his, but I don't know if that's truly the case.

[Kwyjibo]

Thanks for your feedback, I just bought the ebook. Now to find the time to read it. 

... Nothing really shocking in it, but if you like Steven, and I do, it's an enjoyable book.

I like him, but I also think he's a smartass and sometimes a douche. So let's see how that translates into his writing. 

[goo-goo]

Thanks for your feedback, I just bought the ebook. Now to find the time to read it. 

... Nothing really shocking in it, but if you like Steven, and I do, it's an enjoyable book.

I like him, but I also think he's a smartass and sometimes a douche. So let's see how that translates into his writing. 

It's actually not that bad. I think the "douche" comes just from being British (and he explains that several times about how dry British humor is).  I'm about to finish it reading and I highly recommend this book.

[DTA]

Just finished the audiobook of Limited Edition of One and I absolutely loved it. Probably the best musician autobiography I've heard in awhile (I enjoyed Bono's new one too when he wasn't going on about politics or Africa). He's very candid and I enjoy the Lists segments dotted throughout which was a unique aspect for a book like this. I think hearing it rather than just reading it also made it a much better experience since he narrated it himself and could impose his natural inflections into it.

Also the story at the end for his new album Harmony Codex sounds interesting and I'm curious how the music will be presented to explain it.

Very highly recommended.

[ReaperKK]

I love musician biographies and I've been interested in reading this. I didn't realize there was an audiobook option. I've never listened to an audiobook but I listen to a ton of podcasts so I think I'll try this book as my first intro into audiobooks.

[SoundscapeMN]

been into reading music biographies of late with Fates Warning and King's X.

I told my wife his new Autobiography is on my holiday gift list.

Although I was hoping, but I guess there isn't much about The Dear Hunter and Casey (they opened for PT back in 2010), but so be it.

[allewartenaufdaslicht_]

 

I have had SW read it for me on Audible.... very enjoyable experience

Thanks for the tip! Just downloaded it, gonna be rocking this bad boy during slower parts of my upcoming night shifts. I just read some forum posts about Steven promoting his upcoming mid 2023 album The Harmony Codex. Wilson claimed: "I think people who like Porcupine Tree are going to love the direction of this new album. It’s much more epic and uncompromising. It’s more complex and unpredictable to a degree." which is music in my ears. I enjoyed both To The Bone and The Future Bites, mainly because I took SW's advice and recognized them for what they were - tributes to the kind of 80s/90s pop music that Wilson grew up with and that formed him artistically. However, my personal favorites of his career are the full on progressive tour de force heavy weights The Raven That Refused To Sing with it's jazzy dark atmosphere and the tragic yet super progressive and multi-layered Hand. Cannot. Erase.. I think what I miss most in Stevens newer albums are session musicians such as Marco Minnemann, Adam Holzman, Nick Beggs and Theo Travis - people that play what Steven composes, but outrank him (and virtually almost everyone else) in their respective fields of expertise. I don't understand Stevens urge to take over most of the bass playing himself for example... it's cool and all but he just ain't a bass player. He is a composition, arrangement and theoretical genius with a very passable skill set on several instruments, but the session musicians he had working on his albums in the early 2010s were just better at executing his material. So what I ask myself is: Will Steven ever return to the MOA of recruiting the very finest musical craftsmen for his work and delegate the actual playing? Because that in my opinion is how he achieved his greatest milestones. I'd be glad to hear your opinions on this.

[The Paddies]

I totally agree. Have been saying the exact same thing to my friends. Confidence is great. But SW seems to believe a bit too much in his own so to say 'godlike status' many fans have given him. And yes, he is a great songwriter, sound professor and a good guitarist and vocalist (not a real pop singer though). His best work is often his best because better players have contributed. Don't forget about Ninet Tayeb and Guthrie Govan as well. Or the Porcupine Tree members. They all add so much flavour to his ideas.
I hope he'll atrract some great musicians (he's been having a lot of fun with Mike Vennart on Instagram, so maybe they have been in touch for the record?). Anyway I like the description he has given, but no more 'instant buys' from me.

[KevShmev]

While contributors have always been a big part of what makes his music great, I don't think he needs musicians better than him per se to make it great.  I think it is fair to say that Gavin Harrison has been the only member of Porcupine Tree that would be called technically proficient (relative to his peers) on his instrument of choice, yet Porcupine Tree was awesome when it was Wilson, Chris Maitland, Richard Barbieri and Colin Edwin.  Yes, the contributions of all have helped make PT what it was and is, but the awesomeness of Richard Barbieri, whom I would call Wilson's greatest contributor/band member ever, is proof that you don't need to be a players' player to excel when it comes to working with Wilson, as he is more of a textures and sounds guy than a player, but he always does such an awesome job. 

When it comes to guitar, Wilson is more than good enough to carry the load on any of his albums in that regard.  He might not be a technical wizard like Guthrie Govan, whose contributions to The Raven and HCE were definitely great, but his playing is fantastic.  I am not saying he is David Gilmour, but like Gilmour, Wilson is living proof that you can crush it on the guitar despite not playing as many notes as possible.

[Metro]

I think it is fair to say that Gavin Harrison has been the only member of Gavin Harrison

I agree, this is a fair assumption.

[Zydar]

[KevShmev]

Damn it. 

My points still stand, however.

[Kram]

I have had SW read it for me on Audible.... very enjoyable experience

Thanks for the tip! Just downloaded it, gonna be rocking this bad boy during slower parts of my upcoming night shifts. I just read some forum posts about Steven promoting his upcoming mid 2023 album The Harmony Codex. Wilson claimed: "I think people who like Porcupine Tree are going to love the direction of this new album. It’s much more epic and uncompromising. It’s more complex and unpredictable to a degree." which is music in my ears. I enjoyed both To The Bone and The Future Bites, mainly because I took SW's advice and recognized them for what they were - tributes to the kind of 80s/90s pop music that Wilson grew up with and that formed him artistically. However, my personal favorites of his career are the full on progressive tour de force heavy weights The Raven That Refused To Sing with it's jazzy dark atmosphere and the tragic yet super progressive and multi-layered Hand. Cannot. Erase.. I think what I miss most in Stevens newer albums are session musicians such as Marco Minnemann, Adam Holzman, Nick Beggs and Theo Travis - people that play what Steven composes, but outrank him (and virtually almost everyone else) in their respective fields of expertise. I don't understand Stevens urge to take over most of the bass playing himself for example... it's cool and all but he just ain't a bass player. He is a composition, arrangement and theoretical genius with a very passable skill set on several instruments, but the session musicians he had working on his albums in the early 2010s were just better at executing his material. So what I ask myself is: Will Steven ever return to the MOA of recruiting the very finest musical craftsmen for his work and delegate the actual playing? Because that in my opinion is how he achieved his greatest milestones. I'd be glad to hear your opinions on this.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[SoundscapeMN]

The Harmony Codex in 2023 will include Ninet again.

https://twitter.com/StevenWilsonHQ/status/1596628783033118720

"Myself and Ninet Tayeb recently recorded a new song together for my work in progress next album The Harmony Codex, to be released in 2023. In the meantime here’s a reminder of us in the studio in 2017 recording ‘Pariah’, with one of those incredible spine tingling Ninet moments!"

[SoundscapeMN]

more about it

https://www.innerviews.org/inner/porcupine-tree

What can listeners expect from your forthcoming 2023 solo album, The Harmony Codex?

It's going to maintain a lot of the musical vocabulary from The Future Bites, but it's going back into a more conceptual world, which is less about concise pop songs and more about experimentation. So, in the most simplistic terms, it might be somewhere between Hand. Cannot. Erase. and The Future Bites, but not like either of those records.

I'm really excited about it. I say that every time I have a new batch of songs, but there's really something unique about these songs. I have a feeling it could be a great record. I think the new album feels almost like the next step from The Future Bites, which was very streamlined and had a very strong pop sensibility. So, I asked myself “What am I going to do next, given that? Okay, I’m going to take those elements but place them withing something more ambitious.” Of course, everything informs everything else. So, I have tracks that have spiritual jazz elements, electronics, moments of progressive rock, voice manipulation, and modern DSP processing.

I’m so proud of The Future Bites, that I feel I want to do something different, because I can’t do anything better in that space. It’s perfect for what it is. I’ve only felt that way a few times in my career. When I made Hand. Cannot. Erase., I thought I couldn’t make a better conceptual, old-fashioned rock album. I don’t think I could better it now. I know how divisive The Future Bites was, given its allegiance to compact pop forms. But I always remind myself that the people who complain the loudest are in the minority. It’s usually the same 10-15 people. The actuality is The Future Bites was one of the most well-received albums of my entire career, broadly speaking.

I think people who like Porcupine Tree are going to love the direction of this new album. It’s much more epic and uncompromising. It’s more complex and unpredictable to a degree. After people experience the mercurial nature of this Porcupine Tree album, I think they’re going to look at the new solo album and think highly of it.

I wish I could have done The Future Bites tour, but COVID-19 got in the way. When the new album comes out, probably mid-2023, I’m going to be touring that record, as well as the new one. Some of the ideas I had for The Future Bites shows will be part of my next solo tour, as well. Between that and the Porcupine Tree album and tour, I think people have a lot to look forward to.

[ReaperKK]

Rick Beato interviews SW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03vThmG46A8

[KevShmev]

Rick Beato interviews SW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03vThmG46A8

OMG, I was just going to post this. Watched it this evening.  Fantastic, and well worth the hour and change.

[HOF]

Rick Beato interviews SW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03vThmG46A8

I don’t always love SW’s music, but he and Rick Beato are two people I could listen to talking about music for hours.

[Kram]

Rick Beato interviews SW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03vThmG46A8

Great interview thanks for posting.

[romdrums]

Fantastic interview.   

[SoundscapeMN]

For those who never saw it, Insurgentes is now up on his YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u9RL696xms

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CljVo5LDE8E/

The Insurgentes documentary / road-movie Lasse Hoile made in 2008-9 about the recording of my first solo album has now been remastered and can be viewed on my YouTube channel, link in bio. It’s a snapshot of where I was at that time in my life - having recently turned 40, this period was about taking some new creative paths, and both my solo career and work remixing classic albums began around this time. We had a lot of fun doing the film but it was not the happiest time for me in my personal life (which definitely comes across), plus not everyone got what we thought was surreal and funny. So I think it created an impression of me as a rather dour and over-serious individual that for some people is - understandably perhaps - still their overriding impression of me! Still I’m proud of what we did, and I believe it remains quite unique in the pantheon of music documentaries.

[KevShmev]

Rick Beato interviews SW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03vThmG46A8

I don’t always love SW’s music, but he and Rick Beato are two people I could listen to talking about music for hours.

For sure.  And that interview showed how good Beato is as he didn't try to talk too much or make the interview all about him.  He asked questions and then let Wilson take as much time as he needed to answer. 

[King Postwhore]

Listen to Steven talk about TikTok had me laughing and thinking,  "He's right."

Also I never knew about how playlist help artists without ever really making an album. It's how to make money. 

[KevShmev]

I have to admit that when he was talking about how young fans are more about songs now and don't really have artists they are active fans of, I did think, "Well, there is this young woman named Taylor Swift..." 

By and large, though, I think he is right, but there are always exceptions. 

Funny too as he made a point I did to a friend a while back, albeit in a slightly different way.  Mine was that 5.1 doesn't always work well because sometimes it's the way the instruments and vocals all sound together that create the magic, rather than there being too much separation between them and isolating one of them too much, similar to how you wouldn't like individual ingredients from certain meals on their own, but when mixed all together, it can make for a delicious meal.

[jammindude]

There was another recent interview where he AND the interviewer both mused for a few minutes over the fact that there were no modern “rock” bands.

Whether you like them or not, my mind kept screaming “FOO FIGHTERS DUMBASS!!!”

So ya, he doesn’t always think think these things through.

[KevShmev]

I suspect they mean in the sense of modern rock bands who have hit the scene in modern times.  Foo Fighters have been around since the mid 90s, so if still being around means you are modern, does that mean The Rolling Stones and The Who are modern?

[HOF]

I have to admit that when he was talking about how young fans are more about songs now and don't really have artists they are active fans of, I did think, "Well, there is this young woman named Taylor Swift..." 

By and large, though, I think he is right, but there are always exceptions. 

Funny too as he made a point I did to a friend a while back, albeit in a slightly different way.  Mine was that 5.1 doesn't always work well because sometimes it's the way the instruments and vocals all sound together that create the magic, rather than there being too much separation between them and isolating one of them too much, similar to how you wouldn't like individual ingredients from certain meals on their own, but when mixed all together, it can make for a delicious meal.

Yeah, my daughter is very much a fan of Taylor Swift and other artists. Not sure how accurate that characterization is of the broader population, but I’m sure lots of people stream songs frequently without becoming fans of the artist. That’s not too different than how people used to know songs from the radio even if they never purchased anything from that artist.

I also kept thinking how the buy in for 5.1/Atmos/7.whatever is just too much even for someone like me who is a passionate music listener. I’d have to totally redo a living space to accommodate something like that, and then how often would I sit in the middle of that ring of speakers to listen to something? I’m doing most of my listening on the go, while doing chores, or working at a desk. Half the time I’m listening to music off computer speakers I bought at Walmart years ago. These surround formats seem to he so niche that I can’t imagine them ever becoming the future of music. I think SW is right that there is more likely to be two extremes. People who just listen off their phones and people who go all in on high end stuff. Unfortunately that will probably squeeze people like me more towards the low-end audio as the high end just won’t ever be practical for me.

[Kram]

I have to admit that when he was talking about how young fans are more about songs now and don't really have artists they are active fans of, I did think, "Well, there is this young woman named Taylor Swift..." 

By and large, though, I think he is right, but there are always exceptions. 

Funny too as he made a point I did to a friend a while back, albeit in a slightly different way.  Mine was that 5.1 doesn't always work well because sometimes it's the way the instruments and vocals all sound together that create the magic, rather than there being too much separation between them and isolating one of them too much, similar to how you wouldn't like individual ingredients from certain meals on their own, but when mixed all together, it can make for a delicious meal.

Yeah, my daughter is very much a fan of Taylor Swift and other artists. Not sure how accurate that characterization is of the broader population, but I’m sure lots of people stream songs frequently without becoming fans of the artist. That’s not too different than how people used to know songs from the radio even if they never purchased anything from that artist.

I also kept thinking how the buy in for 5.1/Atmos/7.whatever is just too much even for someone like me who is a passionate music listener. I’d have to totally redo a living space to accommodate something like that, and then how often would I sit in the middle of that ring of speakers to listen to something? I’m doing most of my listening on the go, while doing chores, or working at a desk. Half the time I’m listening to music off computer speakers I bought at Walmart years ago. These surround formats seem to he so niche that I can’t imagine them ever becoming the future of music. I think SW is right that there is more likely to be two extremes. People who just listen off their phones and people who go all in on high end stuff. Unfortunately that will probably squeeze people like me more towards the low-end audio as the high end just won’t ever be practical for me.

100%.  I do most of my listening at my computer or in my car.  Would I love a kick ass Atmos system at home?  Of course, but like you said, even if I had one I'd probably rarely use it as I'm always working or on the go.