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SW~Harmony Codex
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Catcher10 View Drop Down
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Points: 17966 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Catcher10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2023 at 17:50
Originally posted by progaardvark progaardvark wrote:

It's strange because it isn't the style of music I gravitate to but of the three released so far, I like Rock Bottom better than the other two. I'm weird. Embarrassed
I'm kinda there too....I assume in the context of the whole album I will probably like this song more. I am really hoping when he tours this album that he gets Ninet to open his show and she can partake in this song on stage with him.
She was amazing on TTB tour, a huge stage presence. Even my spousal unit became a big Ninet fan, bought her shirt at the show and she never gets shirts.

I like milk.
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Wow! I'm a bit late to "Rock Bottom" like I usually am to new music. But this is not only a beautiful cut but one that reinvents the kind of early 2000s post-grunge butt rock-alt rock sound into something truly beautiful and profound. I've been desperately waiting for SWilson to work with the mighty Ninet Tayeb in a way that truly emphasized her abilities, artistry, and VOICE to their maximum potential and it is HERE. Or at least this is part of what her voice can be, over the next decade at least I hope that we will see more of this and MORE from her. But to turn around to Mr. Wilson and his upcoming solo record that I have the utmost expectations for recently, he has given Tayeb a stunning and gorgeous soundscape anchored by some of his most powerful personal vocalizations, which he crucially harmonizes with. The solo here - which I can only presume is him at some of his more restrained and Pink Floyd inspired, as in his aesthetically whiplash youth - is a fitting and wonderful send-off. I will hazard a guess that The Harmony Codex will continue this 21st Century prog brilliance into grand if not better ends... but we will obviously have to see and hear soon.

I just get ever more excited by his singles this year.


Edited by LearsFool - September 17 2023 at 00:28
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MikeEnRegalia View Drop Down
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^ That solo is not SW though - it’s Niko Tsonev. Beautiful!
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omphaloskepsis View Drop Down
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Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:

^ That solo is not SW though - it’s Niko Tsonev. Beautiful!

Did Wilson circle back to Niko?  If so, I'm intrigued. Wink  
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LearsFool View Drop Down
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Points: 8644 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LearsFool Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 14:06
Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:

^ That solo is not SW though - it’s Niko Tsonev. Beautiful!

Ah, my mistake. Tsonev was excellent!
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LearsFool View Drop Down
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Points: 8644 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LearsFool Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 20 2023 at 03:55
As to "What Life Brings": another fantastic cut, at first glance one of Swilson's better takes on the particular prog pop idiom he's had a lot of solo work done in during and since the literally half-assed To The Bone. It is a thing of elevated and restrained beauty, a song about love and subsequent loss that shows Wilson deftly simplifying his style rather than blowing it into his usual brobdingnagian scale (and often similarly gigantic excellence, mind you). This cut has an obvious companion piece with PT's "Harridan", which is itself (as I have said on this site already) a tis-better-to-have-loved-and-lost theme, if there done with some venom for the loved to match the jackknife metal-informed instrumentals. This also may just be the best music video associated with The Harmony Codex, dueling with the interplay of Steven and Ninet for "Rock Bottom", which shows not only the loved but the lover dancing together in the wake of a likely fatal car accident in the vein of the mighty Yves Tumor's instant classic "Kerosene" MV. Lust and potential drip from our couple as Mr. Wilson observes and directly addresses us proghead listeners/watchers with the tender thoughts of our star-crossed narrator.
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richardh View Drop Down
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Points: 29490 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 20 2023 at 07:01
I do like ''What Life Begins'' a lot but ''Rock Bottom'' made me think too much of Kate Bush/Peter Gabriel  ''Don't give up''. Wilson likes to have references to 80's stuff he is fond of, certainly don't blame him for that but he isn't reinventing the wheel here. Overall so far I'm enjoying the 4 tracks available and very nice variety of ideas and styles. Nothing else released this year will be anything like it I predict.
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Catcher10 View Drop Down
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Points: 17966 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Catcher10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 21 2023 at 11:56
After a few days of listening to these songs, I'm really intrigued by the album as a whole and how it will wrap them altogether in a cohesive listening experience. I think he has released a nice variety of songs to preview.

This is a long interview video, but I found it very entertaining. Rob Moore's two SW interviews are really good, this is the latest one

 
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richardh View Drop Down
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Points: 29490 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 21 2023 at 22:13
Yeah that seems to be permanently on my list but it's 2 hours and I get fed up with the number of adverts thrown at me so I'm not sure I'll bother to be honest. I did however watch the video to Impossible Tightrope and that is very nicely done.
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Catcher10 View Drop Down
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Points: 17966 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Catcher10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2023 at 10:29
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Yeah that seems to be permanently on my list but it's 2 hours and I get fed up with the number of adverts thrown at me so I'm not sure I'll bother to be honest. I did however watch the video to Impossible Tightrope and that is very nicely done.
Totally!!! I tend to watch these in 2-3 sessions, not because of the adverts. I mean normal TV has TONS of commercials.....A 60 minute program is really only about 21 minutes of the actual program Big smile
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The double orange vinyl version arrived today in the post. I won't be able to play just yet though - but I can't wait.
Oh, for the wings of any bird, other than a battery hen
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Catcher10 View Drop Down
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Points: 17966 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Catcher10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 28 2023 at 12:05
Originally posted by Gentle and Giant Gentle and Giant wrote:

The double orange vinyl version arrived today in the post. I won't be able to play just yet though - but I can't wait.
I ordered the same, mine left Los Angeles yesterday and is in transit.
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Deadwing View Drop Down
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First listen and it's his best solo effort since HCE indeed. Reminds me a lot of old PT as well with TFB flavour in it. I would say only HCE and GfD are better, although I've never been much a fan of either Insurgentes or Raven.

Edited by Deadwing - September 29 2023 at 03:46
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Have ordered the standard CD version. 

Looking forward to hearing it. Smile
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richardh View Drop Down
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I'm not sure what to make of it. It feels like Wilson's chill out album although Staircase is very good and maybe the only thing that points to Porcupine Tree. Nothing is bad on it (or annoying for that matter) but I'm not sure that's a great recommendation. 
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rushaholic View Drop Down
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playing through several times now.  agreed as stated above - best since HCE.  much better than future bites for certain.
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Points: 517 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cemego Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 30 2023 at 10:48
Well, after being through the Harmony Codex twice...  
(Disclaimer:  I think Hand Cannot Erase and To The Bone are my favorites.  So probably more of the pop leaning taste with Wilson)..
I DO like Harmony Codex better than Future Bites.  Probably all the manufactured hype for Future Bites ruined that for me.  The opening tracks (Inclination, What Life Brings, Economies of Scale, and Impossible Tightrope) are winners for me.  But the following opinion may get me lynched LOL.  I am not a fan on Ninet's voice.  She has this vocal frying thing going on that really grates on my nerves.  Makes me wanna sit here and clear my throat.  And also let's face it, a Steven Wilson album isn't a pick-me-up.  He's usually dark and melancholy.  This is no different.

In other news.  There's a lot of other new(er/ish) releases that are providing better musical returns.  The new Animal Collective album ("Isn't it now?") has a 21 minute long song in it that is amazing.  I liken it to their "Supper's Ready".  The forthcoming album from Trevor Rabin has some amazing early releases on it.  And I'm still enjoying Jah Wobble's "A Brief History of Now" album.  So there's plenty of good music coming out this season.  Wilson's is one of many.

Also still mourning the loss of Chris Arduser (62 yrs old) from Adrian Belew and Rob Fetter's, Bears band.  His solo stuff was really unique and charming.  Sad loss. Cry
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Prog-jester View Drop Down
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I loved TTB and respected TFB so THC is alright for me. "Impossible Tightrope" is kinda pointless and very fillery, "Time Is Running Out" leaves me cold, "Rock Bottom" is too cliche and over-the-top with drama, plus the spoken word sections in other tracks are a bit irritating. But otherwise it's a solid effort, even a top-3 one in my book:

7. Hand. Cannot. Erase.
6. Grace for Drowning
5. The Raven That Refused to Sing
4. The Future Bites
3. The Harmony Codex
2. Insurgentes
1. To the Bone
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Catcher10 View Drop Down
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My 2-LP set is arriving today.
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MikeEnRegalia View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Prog-jester Prog-jester wrote:

I loved TTB and respected TFB so THC is alright for me. "Impossible Tightrope" is kinda pointless and very fillery, "Time Is Running Out" leaves me cold, "Rock Bottom" is too cliche and over-the-top with drama, plus the spoken word sections in other tracks are a bit irritating. But otherwise it's a solid effort, even a top-3 one in my book:

7. Hand. Cannot. Erase.
6. Grace for Drowning
5. The Raven That Refused to Sing
4. The Future Bites
3. The Harmony Codex
2. Insurgentes
1. To the Bone

So TTB is the best, and HCE is the worst?
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