The Essential Steven Wilson – Part I
This is the first part from a small series of articles on Steven Wilson's different musical personae. The idea of writing a succession of texts on a single artist may at first seem a little "idolatrious", but as soon as one realizes the amount of musical substance that stems from Wilson's long career, it becomes evident that every possible synopsis will always fall short. Steven Wilson is mostly known for his work as the frontman of Porcupine Tree, one of the most influential bands in the current progressive rock scene. But Porcupine Tree hasn't always been the reference point in Wilson-land. Actually, it was No-man that first gave him some notoriety...
The opening sequence of "Together we're stranger" is one of these pieces of music that make me shiver - there's such a hypnotic component, such a beautiful melancholy, the way soundscapes interweave and progress, from pure noise to concrete, almost casual sounds... No-man is perhaps the most unpredictable among Wilson's projects, and that has certainly something to do with the fact that there he shares the frontmanship with Tim Bowness, long time friend and collaborator. Their sound ranges from "art-pop" to trip-hop, frequently including minimalistic/ambient elements (the opening sequence of "Together we are stranger" is itself actually borrowed from drone-oriented Bass Communion, another of Wilson's projects). Even if I'm not particularly in love with Bowness's voice (which sometimes seems a bit too fragile, flimsy), I can't deny that No-man has proved to be one of the best companies for a rainy autumn afternoon. On the other hand, if you're definitely not into slow, melancholic ballads or sluggish cinematic trip-hop beats... maybe you won't enjoy it that much.
Most No-man fans I know (and that's... me) agree that their masterpiece is the 2003 album "Together we're stranger", an organic, minutely composed sound stream were clarinet and voice conduct a sorrowful dialog on human relationships as they go through their last stages. If such chunks of life could be translated to sound through some kind of obscure synesthetic process, I'm sure the sound that would come out of it wouldn't differ very much from the record. I've already mentioned the title track, an experimental piece that seems to have evolved from Bass Communion's "Drugged" (or was it the other way round? The dates seem to suggest the first, though), and "Things I want to tell you" remains in the same line, incorporating some minimalistic acoustic guitar elements instead of the hypnotic organ, but the same ethereal backdrop. Actually, this almost psychedelic setting remains throughout most of the album, like a cosmic background slowly decaying into absolute zero. "The Break-up for real" seems as assertive as it reads - a drier but no less harmonious track, that brings the album to an end, hanging from the top of an echoing piano suspensive cadenza.
Their latest album, "Schoolyard Ghosts" mixes a new "orchestral" component ("Truenorth"), with some heavier rock sounds ("Pigeon Drummer") and the usual "black&white photograph" ballads ("All sweet things", "Beautiful things you should know")... without being their masterpiece, it manages to be a pleasant record to listen to, highly emotional, sometimes violent, but still sober and consistent.
I'm perfectly aware that No-man themselves would be enough for a series of articles of their own - I'm neglecting classic albums like "Wild Opera" and "Returning Jesus", and I know die-hard fans won't forgive me for that. However, there's still much Wilson to talk about, and I don't want to get too lost in the way.
-
- No-man, circa 2003
-
- No-man live
10 Genre Defying Cover Songs
Covers have been a part of the music industry ever since the 1950's. More than just replays of one's songs, some covers take very different approaches towards the same lyrics and / or themes; be it the instruments that play the tune, the emphasis on parts of the lyrics ... Some covers even use different parts of the song as chorus, branding the song itself as a completely different thing. Here are some of them.
Cyndi Lauper / Russian Red - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Original song here.
The deeply emotional tune whispered by Lourdes Hernández sets a completely different mood around the original song, almost as if a plea, instead of a party shout.
ABBA / Steven Wilson - The Day Before You Came
Original song here.
Steven Wilson's version of this song was actually the reason why this article came to life. A most incredible lyric through the mind of a musical genius: it's hard to revamp a song so hard and still get it spot-on right like he did here.
Michael Jackson / Chris Cornell - Billie Jean
Original song here.
The widely popular MJ hit is struck with power in this overwhelming version from his never-released-but-broadly-downloaded Unplugged in Sweden 2006 bootleg.
50 Cent / Milow - Ayo Technology
Original song here.
Both very popular in the mainstream industry, but nevertheless it's quite interesting how the same song / lyrics can be made in two completely different themes.
Queen / Dream Theater - Tenement Funster / Flick of the Wrist / Lily of the Valley
Original song here.
A masterpiece medley, reinvented by Dream Theater with a progressive touch added. Both are mind-blowing.
Elton John / David Fonseca - Rocket Man
Original song here.
Portuguese showman David Fonseca switched the ballad to a full-blown energetic song about life abroad. Also, the video is very beautiful.
Radiohead / Stream Of Passion - Street Spirit
Original song here.
Another example of musical genre morphing - the classic eerie ballad turns into a symphonic metal anthem!
Gnarls Barkley / Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland - Crazy
Original song here.
The song responsible for sky-rocketing Gnarls' career in a beautiful live acoustic version by Nelly and Timbaland.
Leonard Cohen / Jeff Buckley - Hallellujah
Original song here.
Jeff Buckley's rendition of this classic became so well-known that many people never realized it was a cover song!
Failure / A Perfect Circle - The Nurse Who Loved Me
Original song here.
A very emotional song, supposedly about Failure's lead singer drug addiction issues. It also suffers of the cover-knowledge syndrome: not many fans of the cover song know that it actually is a cover song. Despite that, it's an amazingly fresh cover.
Labeling Music Is Wrong
It's not easy to avoid putting music in separate shelves. It's human nature - we all have different sensibility patterns and proneness to emotion clicks, and one may place medieval music in the enjoyable shelve and absolutely hate the likes of Dimmu Borgir, while the next person may find traditional chinese music boring and like math rock.
Labeling music into separate genres hinders your knowledge and eventually shrinks the part of your brain responsible for your likable playlist - to a point where you automatically set this or that band as bad in your mind, without even having actually listened to any of their repertoire. Inside you, progressive metal is too technical, the songs are too long and have endless solos, so if a new Dream Theater album comes out, you automatically tag it as I won't like this.
It's just wrong. And here's proof.
Most of you remember Hanson, that nineties teen pop band, famous for their hit single MMMBop. Don't pretend you don't, I bet you're singing it while reading right now. Teen idols are a very misunderstood kind amongst music lovers - pretty faces and hysterical female audiences don't usually meet the eclectic musician ear (well, there's always The Beatles, but let's put it aside for now). But things aren't always as lame as they may seem. Eclectic folks, here's a Radiohead cover by 1997 pre-adulthood stars, Hanson.