Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase (2014-2015)

2/26/15 6:15AM

#1 (for now) on rateyourmusic.com's 2015 rankings

I'm sure all the Viet Cong, Father John Misty, Panda Bear and Sleater-Kinney fanboys/fangirls will go ahead and downrate it now.
https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/2015


Podcast got pulled below, but the 1st 2 tracks are now streaming here:




2/11/15 9:37AM

1st 2 tracks "First Regret/3 Years Older" are streaming about 2 minutes in

2/4/15 2:10PM

New video for the 4th track "Perfect Life," another ballad. This album definitely seems a bit different and more conceptual, but it may not matter.



2/3/15 6:01AM

Sunday June 7th, 2015 Varsity Theater.

Well, not exactly Dejavu as by some miracle, despite the back-2-back Chicago shows and a show in Madison, Steven's band has been confirmed to play at The Varsity Theater on Sunday June 7th, 2015.

A SEATED SHOW I guess, which reminds me of The Dear Hunter concert with the string section from 2013.

I don't know of a conflict at this point, so I plan to purchase a ticket on Friday. Beyond the link below, tickets are available at Into the Void records in St.Paul, The Electric Fetus and Down in the Valley in Golden Valley.

https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/777153

No Marco Minneman and Guthrie Govan I guess per prior commitments for The Aristocrats tour in Europe, but so be it. Perhaps the promoters and the Agency Group? people have finally started to figure out this town has a Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson fanbase and is worth booking after the 8 year gap, between sold out 2005 PT show and Steven's last show here at The Fine Line in 2013.

Certainly an EVENT concert.

89.3, Citypages, Radio K, Star Tribune, Pioneer Press and even vita-mn I might be rather surprised to see anything extensive about it. Vita-mn maybe. Of course the 1st single/title track would be easily accepted in Radio K and 89.3's playlist, but it's way too unlikely that would ever happen because of the prog tag among other reasons.

Will this bring back my appreciation for The Varsity?..meh, I would love it to, but I doubt it. I will still likely do the Mesa Pizza thing though.


1/1515 3:19AM

The tour dates started coming out like 2 weeks ago, and of course the back-2-back Chicago shows were all-too-familiar with no show in Minneapolis. Of course on FB/Twitter and Steven's site it says more dates will be announced, but it seems pretty clear they chose to do a 2nd show in Chicago instead of coming back to Minnesota.

De-ja-vu.

I also noticed someone say that both Marco and Guthrie will not be on this tour, which I suppose for what it's worth, I would rather see them, but I'd trade no Marco & Guthrie and a show in Minnesota regardless.

On the other hand. I just noticed how Marillion are planning to come back to the US in 2016. Minnesota? unlikely, but I would anticipate traveling for them.





1/1/15 1:36PM

http://handcannoterase.com

wow, I need to spend some time, but my gawd, there's a boatload of into, images, and diary entries from this woman who found a tragic fate that this record is supposed to be about.

Teaser:


some stuff about it also included in the latest KScope Podcasr.

12/20/14 4:32PM

1st single/title track. The outro is quite nice.

edit:pulled;
despite my lack of interest in ever purchasing anything there, it is for sale here on iTunes .



edit: lyric video



SW site Preorder (Deluxe)

Burningshed Store with I count 5 different versions

Newbury Comics Preorder

12/04/14 5:01PM

More info about the concept/artwork/packaging, etc.


12/01/14 5:45PM

Cover art, tracklist and release dates. March 3rd in the US/Canada. I'm a little thrown off by another album cover that doesn't include the artist name nor the title even. But whatevz.

http://stevenwilsonhq.com/sw/hand-cannot-erase-artwork-and-tracklist-revealed/



We can now reveal the front cover artwork and track listing for the forthcoming Steven Wilson album 'Hand. Cannot. Erase.' due for release via Kscope on the following dates: February 27th - Germany, March 2nd - UK & Rest of World, March 3rd - US and Canada.




1. First Regret (2.01)
2. 3 Years Older (10.18)
3. Hand Cannot Erase (4.13)
4. Perfect Life (4.43)
5. Routine (8.58)
6. Home Invasion (6.24)
7. Regret #9 (5.00)
8. Transience (2.43)
9. Ancestral (13.30)
10. Happy Returns (6.00)
11. Ascendant Here On…(1.54)

11/20/14 5:39PM



Steven's Facebook

I’m happy to announce that my new album “Hand. Cannot. Erase.” is now finished and will be released on Kscope in February. More news and previews soon, including information on how to pre-order a very special deluxe edition. 

In the meantime the first tour dates in the UK and Europe are confirmed, see below. We are currently developing a show that I hope will raise the bar both musically and visually from previous tours, with a set list based around the new album, as well as casting the net further back into my songwriting past for a few surprises.

Hand. Cannot. Erase. almost sounds sort of like Meshuggah's Destroy. Erase. Improve ? lol.
I wonder what he refers to "as well as casting the net further into my songwriting past for a few surprises."..PT and Blackfield? If a tour does come the States, it seems like it'll be at the earliest, late Spring.

But as far as the album details, some bumps shall happen of course when all those details are shared,

Related Post 

not sure what the deal is with this site right now, but it probably will be a site for info on it:
http://handcannoterase.com/

Tour Dates:

Thu 12th Mar - UK, Cambridge, Corn Exchange
Fri 13th Mar - UK, Cardiff, St David’s Hall
Sat 14th Mar - UK, Manchester, Bridgewater Hall
Mon 16th Mar - UK, Edinburgh, Queens Hall
Tue 17th Mar - UK, London, Troxy
Wed 18th Mar - UK, Wolverhampton, Civic Hall

Fri 20th Mar - Germany, Cologne, E-Werk
Sat 21st Mar - Luxembourg, Rockhall
Sun 22nd Mar - Germany, Stuttgart, Theatrehaus
Tue 24th Mar - The Netherlands, Utrecht, TivoliVredeburg
Wed 25th Mar - France, Paris, Olympia
Thu 26th Mar - Belgium, Antwerp, Trix Club
Sat 28th Mar - Germany, Neu Isenburgy (Frankfurt), Hugenottenhalle
Sun 29th Mar - Switzerland, Pratteln, Konzerfabruk z7
Mon 30th Mar - Italy, Milan, Teatro Dal Verme
Tue 31st Mar - Italy, Rome, Teatro Sistina
Thu 2nd Apr - Germany, Munich, Kongresshalle
Sat 4th Apr - Austria, Vienna, Ottakringer Brauerei
Sun 5th Apr - Czech Republic, Prague, Hybernia Theatre
Tue 7th Apr - Poland, Krakow, ICE Congress Hall
Wed 8th Apr - Poland, Lodz, Klub Wytwornia
Thu 9th Apr - Germany, Berlin, Columbiahalle
Fri 10th Apr - Germany, Hamburg, CCH2
Sun 12th Apr - Denmark, Aarhus, Train
Mon 13th Apr - Denmark, Copenhagen, Amager Bio
Tue 14th Apr - Sweden, Malmo, Palladium
Thu 16th Apr - Sweden, Gothenburg, Konserthuset
Fri 17th Apr - Sweden, Stockholm, Debaser Medis
Sun 19th Apr - Finland, Helsinki, The Circus
Tue 21st Apr - Norway, Oslo, Sentrum Scene
Thu 23rd Apr - The Netherlands, Zwolle

Tuxedo - Tuxedo (2014-2015)

2/23/15 8:13PM
Whole thing is up on NPR's site to stream. Good record. "The Right Time" and "Watch the Dance" are probably my favorites thus far.

http://www.npr.org/2015/02/22/387517135/first-listen-tuxedo-tuxedo

12/02/14 7:06PM

As posted previously, this is the debut record from the collaboration between Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One.

Release date March 3rd

Preorder includes download of "Do It."
http://www.stonesthrow.com/store/album/tuxedo/tuxedo



1. Lost Lover
2. R U Ready
3. Watch the Dance
4. So Good
5. Two Wrongs
6. Tuxedo Groove
7. I Got U
8. The Right Time
9. Roll Along
10. Get U Home
11. Do It
12. Number One

Mercies - Blue Against Green (2014-2015)

2/21/15 11:45PM

Well the band/Random Records record label were nice enough to send me an advanced copy of this new album, which is being released on March 31st, 2015.

I received it this past week and of course I spent a fair amount of time taking it in.

At this point, I can say a few things about it.

-I enjoy every track
-The sound/style is very much a continuation from Three Thousand Days, their debut record from 2011; in the dreamy, somewhat stripped down, pop that features a ton of incredible vocal lines and vocal harmonies from Josh Rheault.
-The production is crystal clear and clean.
-It's very much a record that is acoustic in many ways.

Those points aside, the highlights are for me at this point:
"Every Echo" "Open Ocean" "Zalea" 'We Tried" 'Something to Lose" and "Atwater." At least 3 or 4 of these tracks have those wonderful, dreamy vocal phrases that I'm a sucker for. Although I guess I can say they come and go on almost every track.

I recall the comparison to The Dear Hunter comes up of course since Josh (and Sammy Dent as well) were touring members. But for whatever reason, I think of at least somewhat of the style/sound TDH did with the Yellow EP, this album and a lot of Mercies sound shares in common.

That almost retro approach to pop/power-pop with acoustic tinges and like I've said a bazillion times, just infectiously dreamy harmonies. I think part of it is Josh Rheault's kind of distinct style of vocals (he seems to sing many of the harmonies too when they are layered/multi-tracked), and some of that is purely just how well the vocal lines that were written. They just work, if you enjoy that kind of pop.

I recall saying this about Three Thousand Days, and the same holds true with this record, in that they are *that* good, so much so, the masses/trend-pop audience could totally go for them. But others as well,  that to expect it or even care a ton about if it happens is silly. But Mercies continue to be a case of a very talented and underground secret in the world of pop/rock music, that they potentially could finder a much wider audience.

Now myself, who finds often a disconnect when that happens, kind of would prefer it to not happen so much. But the obvious advantage is to see a band who deserve more success than they seem to receive, actually receive it, and continue to make music (and do more touring).

But if that doesn't happen and they continue to make records as good as this, I really don't have reason to be down about it.

Josh recently helped out Kimbra on tour, and given that, I wonder if she knows about Mercies and if so, if she's heard any of their music and what her take on this record could be. Maybe Mercies could tour with her at some point?

I should make some kind of video of course about this record in the coming days/weeks and also more details I suppose in the near future (mid-season countdown likely). But for now, I can just add that if you enjoyed their past work (also The Ballet EP from 2012), this shouldn't disappoint. Is it vastly different? no, but I don't think it has to be because the elements of Mercies sound people have enjoyed or enjoy, should also enjoy on Blue Against Green.

The below link/embed has the 1st track (single) "Zalea" for streaming, which is a track after you listen to it 2 or 3 times, may grow on you on how good it is.

http://www.baeblemusic.com/musicblog/2-18-2015/premiere-mercies-zalea.html







1 Every Echo            3:52
2 Open Ocean            3:38
3 Zalea                    3:58
4 Only at Night          3:42
5 Atwater                    3:05
6 Something to Lose  4:36
7 White Fir            3:04
8 Deeper Sleeper       2:59
9 We Tried            4:09
10 No Blue            3:28
11 Buffalo            3:28



12/29/14 3:59PM



Being released "Early 2015" on Random Records.

The 1st single is titled "Zalea"

http://merciesmusic.com/

2011's LP Three Thousand Days was an awesome debut record, and it sounds like they have not lost the vocal harmonies that made that record so good. Josh Rheault and company (ex TREOS and The Dear Hunter members) I'm very excited to finally get to hear from again. I wonder if the time Josh spent with Kimbra on the road in November influenced any part of this album (although he told me it was mostly done by then, but who knows?).

Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (2014-2015)

2/16/15 5:24PM

"No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross"


1/12/15 5:18PM

Being released on March 30th/31st. some stuff I just read this is supposed to be the ole "return to his roots" kind of record, which if it is like the pre-Michigan stuff, stripped down, almost purely acoustic singer/songwriter, I am not expecting a ton.

On the other hand, if much or any of this record resembles the epic (and electronic?) nature of The Age of Adz, I may be pleasantly happy to get into another on of his records. Even just the use of the chamber instrumentation of Michigan and Illinois I'd be game for.

But the trailer has me thinking this may be more of the folky/stripped Sufjan, but we'll see.

http://music.sufjan.com/album/carrie-lowell



1. Death with Dignity
2. Should Have Known Better
3. All Of Me Wants All Of You
4. Drawn to the Blood
5. Eugene
6. Fourth of July
7. The Only Thing
8. Carrie & Lowell video
9. John My Beloved
10. No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross
11. Blue Bucket of Gold

Three - Crazy Eyes (Single)

https://3band.bandcamp.com/track/crazy-eyes



Another new track, which this one was scheduled to be released last September I recall. I imagine the 3rd-of-every-month thing got to be a bit difficult to keep up last year, understandably. But it's great to see another new song, which hopefully will end up on an upcoming record from Three.

edit: This is an outstanding ballad. Maybe the best new song they've released in the last year.

Pat Metheny - And I Love Her (The Beatles)

It's Pat Metheny covering a classic Beatles number, nuff said.
Facebook Post


"And I Love Her" (John Lennon / Paul McCartney)

“The Beatles were huge for me. Without them, I don’t know if I even would have become a musician or a guitar player. When their hits started coming out, I was 8 and 9 years old and it had a tremendous impact on me. I saw the movie “A Hard Day’s Night” multiple times when it came out and I always loved that song. It is kind of impossible to imagine doing a record like this without including at least one Beatles song.”

Pat Metheny "What's It All About" | patmetheny.com/nonesuch.com

4 New Videos: Kevin Gilbert, Subt Masq, Hotel ot Laughing T, Vinyls

A batch of new videos I made yesterday.

Kevin Gilbert's THUD (Deluxe/3CD 2 LP)..I didn't get around to writing notes and talking much about the 3rd Disc, but perhaps that'll be for another video and writeup? (among some other things).



A Subterranean Masquerade overview and review of The Great Bazaar




Some new Vinyls: East of the Wall, Ramona Falls and Nicholas Krgovich




Hotel of the Laughing Tree's new album "New World Sundown"



I'm more happy with these videos over others for a few reasons. #1, they are SHORTER. And #2 they focus only on 1 artist for the most part (sans for the Vinyl video), or even 1 record. The YouTube game seems to be about TIME and who has time to watch 20 or 40 minutes videos?..and also who has time to write down 30 band names?..so,

Also putting that image in, in the last video was still a bit time consuming sadly, but the more I do it, the easier it likely will become...that and my drink of choice (water).

The posters? probably didn't do a lot, but I'll have to continue to experiment with those or my camera, or the location I'm filming perhaps.

Tangled Thoughts of Leaving - Yield to Despair (2014-2015)

New record coming out in April. Crowd Funding, etc.

The trailer, to be honest, resembles much of the style of their EP from last season, Downbeat, which honestly, I only found a few moments I enjoyed.

I definitely still enjoy their other records, so I naturally am still interested in checking this out. But stylistically, if it's like the Noisey/Droney/Doomy/Free-Jazz style of Downbeat, it may not be as much for me as even the previous EP Failed By Man and Machine and of course the excellent debut LP Deaden the Fields and their debut EP Tiny Fragments.

But I am still supporting these guys, I just am holding off on the Vinyl for now.

http://www.pozible.com/project/190778




Yield to Despair
Pre-order it now through Pozible.
Our second album is finally done - recorded, mixed and mastered!

It's called 'Yield to Despair', and it will be out in April. It has 5 tracks and is 70 minutes long. As you can tell from the title... it's a pretty dark and intense affair. Our heaviest yet - although, as with all TToL releases, it's not all that way!

We will release it on 2xLP (first run will be limited to 150 black and 150 'bone' coloured vinyl), CD and digital. The vinyl and CD both come in a beautiful gatefold case, with artwork by Teo Treloar.

To afford to press this ourselves and still pay for our upcoming tours (with 65daysofstatic in Australia in March, then our own tour to Europe in May), we need your help! We're going to run a pre-order style crowd funding campaign through Pozible. If you're keen, you can pre-order the album on your preferred format (all the prices include postage!) and there is also a bunch of cool rewards on offer:
A private show with less than 20 people at Studio Sleepwalker's Dread, where we write and record all our material. 
Signed drum-skins that were used in the recording of the album.
The last remaining CD copies of the 2009 split with our buddies sleepmakeswaves
A bonus ambient-noise EP that we are recording right now, especially for this pre-order!

Check out the Pozible page with all the pre-order options here: http://pozi.be/ttol

We also recorded a short video clip for this campaign, featuring audio from the tracks 'Yield to Despair' and 'The Albanian Sleepover - Part One'. You can check it out below (if it doesn't show up, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6lR-a0pwiw or check it out at the Pozible link above):



If you decide to chip in and pre-order, we send our most sincere thank you! It's thanks to you guys - the people who are still passionate enough to pay for music and go and see bands perform live - that we are able to do this at all.

Many thanks!
TToL.

Circe Link - Fearless (Pink Floyd Cover Video)

Very cool, trippy cover video from Circe and Christian Nesmith. Their cover videos are always well done and original looking and sounding. I love that 12-string guitar among other things about this.

Happy Body Slow Brain - Dream of Water (2010)

2/5/15 6:15AM

https://www.facebook.com/happybodyslowbrain

In the Reddit AMA from last Thursday 1/29/15 Casey Crescenzo mentioned Matt Fazzi, whose the lead singer/instrumentalist from this band helped The Dear Hunter on tour recently, and I had never heard/heard-of them. So I went ahead and checked them out and this is a pretty sweet record. Full of lush textures and intricate melodies at times.

In reading a bit about Matt's background, he was in Taking Back Sunday and also one of the main people behind the band Facing New York who I was into for a little while in the mid 2000's. So, I'm not totally surprised I enjoy this band and this debut album of theirs from 2010.

Also if I had to compare them to 1 band, it would be Minus the Bear. Maybe the Planet of Ice period (which is my favorite MtB album anyway). With the sweeping tones and  the melody + atmosphere.

I also noticed they may be putting out a new record soon, which my timing for getting into them seems pretty good.


Interesting also to notice of all people thanks, 1 being Gavin Castleton.

My favorites? "Up Late" and "What About Us?" are pretty fantastic. Also "Time." "The Flight," "The Bridge" and I'd say especially the 2nd half of the record. But I've only listened to this album twice and I'm still taking a lot of it in.

But as far as their present state, I think they may be one of those bands who are getting better with time. I kind of always felt that about Facing New York. They were good, or had nice moments, but it may have only been a matter of time before they created something totally amazing.

I guess we'll see, I'm streaming some of their Sleep EP from 2012 now on their bandcamp, really nice, textured, atmospheric stuff.

Nicholas Krgovich - On Sunset (2013-2014)

I kind of dove blindly into this album within the last 24 hours, but I'm enjoying a lot about this. The track below "Along the PCH on Oscar Night" I heard on Radio K yesterday while at work and it forced me to write it down and look more into this guy's music.

I suppose part of why I found this appealing is some of the vibe and song structures remind me of stuff like Apes and Androids, Emanuel and the Fear, or maybe closer to say NewVillager and some others (Antony and the Johnsons, TV on the Radio) with a lot of orchestral layering with pop melodies, lush vocal harmonies.

While the jury is still probably ultimately out for this guy and his music, I can at least say there seems to be a lot of thought put into this album and his music. It seems more about the Art rather than the entertainment approach. A lot of smooth, slick sounding basslines and rhythms.

edit: wow, the outro to "At Pershing Sq." is very moody and cool!





1. On Sunset 00:17
2. The Backlot 03:58
3. Along the PCH on Oscar Night 04:24
4. Cosmic Vision 04:44
5. Let's Take the Car Out 04:16
6. City of Night 03:23
7. Rock's Dream 04:11
8. You're Through 04:41
9. The Mansion 03:44
10. At Pershing Sq. 04:41
11. Moon's Soft Glow 05:08

Kevin Gilbert's "Miss Broadway" similarity to the Incubus song "Drive"

I just saw this posted on FB. I have never been all that into Incubus, but I'll admit that Incubus are a band I happen to mix with a lot of fans of, because a lot of their fans like the music I do (Kaddisfly namely).

But I never had heard this track "Drive" from them, but wow, the similarity is "uncanny" as it was posted on FB. It's not identical, but a lot closer than a lot of other songs that are so-called ripoffs even.

I wonder if the Incubus guys knew this song or any of Kevin's music. It would not be shocking, but still surprising to learn. Incubus are from California for what that's worth.

I may have to mention this on the Incubus Fans Forum just to see what some may think (even if they highly disagree).