Steven Wilson

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)

You can now stream "First Regret / 3 Years Older" taken from Steven Wilson​'s new album "Hand. Cannot. Erase."

"Hand. Cannot. Erase." will be released on 27th February in Germany, 2nd March for the UK & RoW and 3rd March for USA & Canada.

http://smarturl.it/HandCannotErase
http://smarturl.it/SW_HCE_DOWNLOAD

Hand Cannot Erase (Deluxe Edition)

First Regret / 3 Years Older

Buy Album

DEFORM TO FORM A STAR (live in London)

INDEX (live in London)

NO PART OF ME (live in London)

SECTARIAN (live in London)

Written in 2001 for a planned metal style collaboration with Mikael Åkerfeldt, this song has been revisited several times since, but I could never really make it fit the style of whatever I was doing at the time.  In the meantime the album with Mike finally happened, but in a completely different style to the album we planned 10 years ago (it's coming out in April).  So finally here is the orphan song Cut Ribbon - this is the latest version from the 2010/2011 Grace For Drowning sessions.  Gavin Harrison on drums (recorded in 2008), all other instruments SW.  

Cut Ribbon

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

Puncture Wound

Collecting Space

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


Insurgentes Mexico

The 78

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)

Here we all are
Born into a struggle
To come so far
But end up returning to dust

Oxfam panache tips his hat
(laces undone)
He has no truck with idle chat
(work to be done)
The songs he learned from scratched LP's
Stops in mid-flow to sip his tea

He strums the chords with less than grace
(songs we all know)
Each passing year etched on his face
(sun, rain or snow)
The words he sings are not his own
They speak of things he'll never know

http://www.stevenwilsonhq.com
http://www.facebook.com/stevenwilsonhq
http://www.twitter.com/stevenwilsonhq

Steven Wilson - Vocals, Mellotron, Keyboards, Guitars
Nick Beggs - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Guthrie Govan - Lead Guitar
Adam Holzman - Fender Rhodes, Hammond Organ, Piano, Minimoog
Marco Minnemann - Drums, Percussion
Theo Travis - Flutes, Saxophones, Clarinet
Jakko Jakszyk - Additional Vocals

Steven Wilson

rupak_shrestha