STAIRCASE INFINITIES

This is a very cool and laid back album (EP). It is out of print, but it is included in the recently published re-release of Up The Downstair. I think that it's very good, but not a masterpiece, because - apart from Cloud Zero and Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape - it is just too mellow and monotonous. A few occasional outbursts of more structured and focussed playing would have done wonders. The only uptempo track (Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape) is also the most repetitive one.

Cloud Zero: Very nice instrumental track, basically improvisations on top of sphaerical keyboards.

The Joke's On You: A Wish You Were Here like intro on the acoustic guitar ... nice mellow track, kind of depressive though.

Navigator: Very cool rhythmic intro - 4/4 with many anomalies, so it seems like a more complicated signature. On top of the rhythm, a Gilmour like guitar plays a melodic solo, backed by chords played on the organ. From the middle of the song, many more instruments are kicking in.

Rainy Taxi: Here a organ plays the introduction. Many effects like delay and even wah are used to expand the sound of the organ. This track sounds a lot like Chroma Key (Kevin Moore). After three minutes the acoustic guitar kicks in, and together with the new harmonic structure clarifies that it is a Porcupine Tree track.

Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape: This is a typical Procupine Tree track from their Floydian phase, building up slowly on top of a rhythm and a single chord. This really reminds of the Voyage 34 epics. After 3 1/2 minutes, a more decisive electric guitar kicks in and plays a Gilmoure like solo. For a while, the solo doesn't seem to go anywhere, then the tempo increases slightly and the song mutates into an outro (the kind of repetitive improvisation where you expect the volume to start fading). But instead the tempo keeps increasing for some more minutes. Then suddenly, the song comes to an halt (quickly decreasing tempo), and then fades out with some sound effects.