It's mind blowing for me to realise that it is almost exactly 20 years since Porcupine Tree made their first ever live appearance, at a small club called the Nag's Head in High Wycombe, UK on the 4th December 1993. To commemorate the anniversary here is a recording from the archives of the first song played at that first ever show, the Van Der Graaf Generator / Dead Can Dance sampling, David Gilmour meets The Orb fusion of Voyage 34 (years before he did actually collaborate with The Orb!), the birth of PT as a band and a performing entity.  It was recorded straight from the mixing desk so the balance is a bit strange, but actually considering how nervous we must have all been, it's not bad at all. 

Buy archive PT CD here

PORCUPINE TREE - Voyage 34 (Nags Head 4/12/1993)

SW and band “explore the space” on this lengthy encore version of Radioactive Toy taken from their sold out show at the Royal Albert Hall, London on the 20th October last year.  SW - vocals / guitar, Guthrie Govan - guitar, Adam Holzman - keyboards, Theo Travis - flute, Nick Beggs - fretless bass, Chad Wackerman - drums.

Radioactive Toy (Live at the Royal Albert Hall)

Order the Vinyl from the Kscope Store: http://bit.ly/1maNOEN
Pre-order the CD: http://bit.ly/1kpVXJA
Pre-order from iTunes: http://smarturl.it/SW_Cover_Version
More info on Steven Wilson: http://bit.ly/XhHnHA
More Steven Wilson videos: http://bit.ly/1654n3g

Cover Version, the album, collects all the material issued on the limited edition Cover Version singles series released between 2003-2010. The 12 tracks comprise six Steven Wilson originals and six covers and provide an essential insight into both Wilson's musical taste and his evolution as a solo artist.

In March 2003 Steven Wilson released Cover Version, a limited edition 2 track CD single. This was the first piece to be released under Wilson's own name (following an illustrious career as a member of Porcupine Tree and No-Man, and recording under various guises such as IEM and Bass Communion), and comprised completely solo performances, stripped back to acoustic guitar, piano and voice.

The single was made up of one cover version, along with one new, original composition. Replicating this format, over the next seven years, Wilson released a further five singles as part of the series.

Each of the CD singles were strictly limited. The final release (Cover Version VI) came in a special box housing all six CDs, with artwork designed by Carl Glover and a booklet of portraits of Steven by Hajo Mueller. Subsequently, an even more limited run of 7" singles were also pressed. Inevitably, as Wilson's popularity has grown - both through his work with Porcupine Tree and his hugely successful solo career - these long deleted releases have become much sought-after by collectors.

Cover Version, the album, re-packages this intriguing part of Wilson's career for a new generation of listeners.

Steven Wilson’s cover of ABBA’s 'The Day Before You Came' can be heard on the latest episode of the Kscope Podcast, listen below (for this and previous podcasts check out the podcast page):

Pressed on double heavyweight (180g) vinyl, the gatefold artwork has been 'remixed' from the box design by Carl Glover.

A CD and Digital release will be released on 30th June 2014

The album tracklist is as follows;

A
Thank You
The Day Before You Came
A Forest

B
The Guitar Lesson
Sign ‘o’ The Times
Lord Of The Reedy River

C
Moment I Lost
Please Come Home
Four Trees Down

D
The Unquiet Grave
Well You’re Wrong
An End to End

Order the Vinyl from the Kscope Store: http://bit.ly/1maNOEN
Pre-order the CD: http://bit.ly/1kpVXJA
Pre-order from iTunes: http://smarturl.it/SW_Cover_Version
More info on Steven Wilson: http://bit.ly/XhHnHA
More Steven Wilson videos: http://bit.ly/1654n3g

Kscope - Volume 6

The Day Before You Came

Kscope Store

Steven Wilson - The Day Before You Came (ABBA Cover from Cover Version)

4 1/2

Happiness III

Transience

Transience (Single Version)

Lazarus (2015 Recording)

Happy Returns (Edit)

Happiness III (Edit)

Space Oddity (Live)

To The Bone

The Same Asylum As Before

Song Of I (feat. Sophie Hunger)

Permanating

Refuge

Last Day Of June

Together, Forever Again

That Day By The Pier

The Last Day Of June

Permanating (Ewan Pearson Mix)

I found this on an old computer - it's a demo for either the In Absentia or Deadwing albums, something that never got used - I can't be totally sure because while it shares lyrical themes with the songs on In Absentia, one of the melodies seems to relate to another piece from Deadwing era.  I don't remember too much about it, other than I guess it wasn't good enough to get any further than this.  Rescued from the abyss, so I only have a compressed audio file of this one, sorry about that.

Godfearing (demo 2001-03?)

These 5 songs were originally included as part of a special 3 disc hardback book edition of Insurgentes released on my own label Headphone Dust a few months prior to KScope issuing the standard version. I had around 25 songs in total from the recording sessions, several of which were dropped because they didn't measure up (some of the other leftover pieces are now released on the Insurgentes film DVD), but I felt these 5 songs were as good as the album material, so it wasn't for lack of quality that I left them off, more to do with context and not wanting the album to be too long as a listening experience.  Instead they were included on a separate CD only available with the special edition (and later on vinyl releases).  The whole idea of the special edition was to experiment with doing something really special with the packaging that took advantage of the multi-media aspect of the project (film, photos, music), and to sell only online.  They were very expensive to make and could only be printed as a one-off edition, so I had to guess at how many to make - even then I became so convinced that I wasn't going to be able to sell them that I priced is such that I basically lost money with every copy sold.  Later on I found myself wondering if the small minority that still complained that they had been "ripped off" in only getting a CD, a CD EP, a DVD, and a ten by ten 128 page clothbound full colour book for their £34 were the same people that later sold their copy on eBay for 10 times what they paid for it.  Anyway, I digress....  Here for those that missed out on the special edition, are the bonus Insurgentes songs in full resolution WAVs, enjoy! Best, S

Collecting Space

An extended 6 minute version that was previously released as part of the "Blackfield" digital download single, but I think only in mp3 form (as usual this is full resolution WAV). Blackfield's third album is due for release in March, and there is now a facebook page dedicated to the band at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blackfield/103704446366593

Blackfield

BLACKFIELD (extended)

SW

Rolf Bruijn