Posts Tagged ‘Chris Maitland’

The Friday Mixtape: 5/15/09

I said I wouldn’t do it. I was called out, however, and if there’s one thing I’m not, that’s a punk. All my neon green hair fell out a long time ago. —Dw.

Ben Lee – Catch My Disease from Awake Is the New Sleep (2005)
Bleu – Could Be Worse from Redhead (2003)
Calexico – Ballad of Cable Hogue from Hot Rail (2000)
Devo – Devo Has Feelings Too from Smooth Noodle Maps (1990)
Fischerspooner – Never Win from Odyssey (2005)
Jethro Tull – Wond’ring Aloud from Aqualung (1971)
Kino – Holding On from Picture (2005)
Otis Redding – My Girl from Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965)
Robert Vaughn & the Shadows – Love Came Falling from Love and War (1985)
RPWL featuring Ray Wilson – Roses from Live: Start the Fire (2005)
Sean Watkins – Summer’s Coming from Blinders On (2006)
Spoon – The Fitted Shirt from Girls Can Tell (2001)
Super Furry Animals – Lazer Beam from Love Kraft (2005)
Tammy Faye Bakker – The Ballad of Jim and Tammy from the 12-inch single (1987)
Terry Scott Taylor – Writer’s Block from John Wayne (1998)
Vanden Plas – Phoenix from Beyond Daylight (2002)

Vinyl Record Day: Porcupine Tree, “Lightbulb Sun”

LBulb artPorcupine Tree has been, for well on a decade now, a cult favorite trying to simply be a favorite, but there has been a problem in making that happen. That problem is the box lead member Steven Wilson refuses to be put in. The band started as a home studio project, a solo affair that leaned heavily on psychedelia, hence the trippy group name. The project would soon be fleshed out into a full group comprising Wilson, bassist Colin Edwin, drummer Chris Maitland (to be followed later on by Gavin Harrison), and former Japan synth player Richard Barbieri. With the expanded group ethic, Wilson found the proper tools to stretch out in progressive rock, pop, and even the current metal sound. That metal sound has, unfairly, caused some to blanch at the group’s Tool-like complexity and weight, which are mixed with Wilson’s harmonious, classic rock vocals.

And so it goes that radio programmers who need clear-cut lines of demarcation don’t know where to stick Porcupine Tree. For the most part it’s a cop-out, especially with their two most pop-centric releases, Stupid Dream (1999) and Lightbulb Sun (2000). While some songs do go off into eight-minutes-or-more fantasia, the majority on both releases are solid examples of pop songcraft, little marvels of production and eminently worthy of obsession. Amsterdam label Tonefloat knows very well about such obsession — they’ve been releasing Wilson’s music on high-quality vinyl for years, not just the recent Porcupine Tree album Fear of a Blank Planet (2007) but also his ambient forays as Bass Communion and his duo with vocalist Tim Bowness called No-Man. It’s a treat for fans of the band to finally have a vinyl version of Lightbulb Sun in their sweaty mitts. It couldn’t have come at a worse time, though.

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