New Steven Wilson album in the making: "Hand. Cannot. Erase." 3/2/15

Apparently he played on Lazarus and Sound of Muzak

 

maybe Gavin will play with Steve on the next leg of the tour - now that would be something

 

His commitment to King Crimson would make that difficult.

 

I suppose it would but is KC going out on tour anytime soon? I haven't seen any announcements, maybe I missed it?

 

I can't get this album out of my head.
Ears. Cannot. Erase.

 

Crimson just finished UK and Europe dates in Aug / Sept. Then to Canada in November, and Japan in December.

 

I see - next leg of the SW tour doesn't start until January - I suppose its possible but not likely.

 

I have just been skimming through a couple of the monthly music magazines here in the UK, namely Mojo and Uncut. Both have their lists of the top records of 2015. Hand Cannot Erase does not make either list (Top 50 and 75 respectively) and is not mentioned anywhere else. I know Prog is looked down upon but it appears to have been completely ignored. It's not my favourite album this year but it is pretty bloody good.

 

I 'liked' your post because I agree with you, but I don't like this. I just checked some other 'best of 2015' lists and it isn't mentioned on any. I thought I remembered earlier in the year seeing it ranked highly somewhere, but can't find it anywhere now.

 

Music publications tend to focus on trendy hipster crap. Prog gets ignored. One reason I don't read or give a s**t about music publications. I know what the good stuff is, I don't require the random opinion of modern music "journalists".

 

I recall when it came out the Guardian wrote a gushing review of the record. I thought things were changing but apparently not. It is a shame because, whilst its obviously Prog, there is a lot on this record that the wider music world would love if they got a chance to hear it.

 

That sucks that HCE isn't even getting a mention in the best of the year roundups. It's been my most played album this year by quite some margin, and it's certainly got to be well within the top 75 records of this year by anyone's standards. Bah.

 

Agreed. It's my favorite LP of the year along with the Noel Gallagher record. Slightly surprised...SW is the kind of 'prog' that it's still okay to like, I think, more Floyd/Radiohead than Dream Theater, y'know?

 

I have been disappointed by it (I admit I haven´t checked it too extensively). The Raven That Refused To Sing was a wonderful Progrock album that continued the tradition of the 70s without being too distinct this or that.
but for HCE, although I like all kinds of electronic music, I think it always clashes when incorporated in Steven Wilson´s work. electronic beats (or filtered drum effects) and such gave the album a ´let´s do something modern´ twist, same problem for me when he did that with Porcupice Tree, it sounded so dated ´90s TripHop fuses with Rock´ opposed to the total timelessness of TRTRTSing.
additionally, in retrospect after checking HCE, it seems like Raven was his King Crimson & 70s Yes & Genesis album, while HCE is his more slick Rush and 80s Prog one, and this ´working off the discography of my faves´ starts to smell fishy when done by one of the most gifted Rock artists of today.

 

I understand what you are saying and it's not hard to hear "quotes" from the essential prog rock artists of the '70's and beyond in any of Steven Wilson's work in whatever guise he's working in-- but I don't think it's "fishy" at all. They are examples of fairly obvious , intentional homages to his favorite artists. It's really no different than when metal artists quote licks or recycle riffs from Sabbath or Zeppelin, or when every rock band from the 50's thru the '80's quoted Chuck Berry. Yes, progrock is forward-looking, but that doesn't mean that every prog band must tear down everything that came before and start from scratch. Like it or not, prog --like all music--has developed it's own warehouse of musical cues and sounds and tropes and it's not unusual for prog artists to raid the archives for ideas. It would be a problem if they lacked any originality , or didn't put a personal stamp on their own work--but that is not the case with Wilson.

That said, I long ago gave up seeking validation from critics and so-called "experts" of the music I enjoy. Most of them have agendas, and all but a few of them follow the "herd." Like sportswriters, movie reviewers and political pundits,they read each other's work and no one wants to be left out when it comes to spotting and celebrating the next big trend. In my opinion, none of the "Best of 2015" lists include Hands. Cannot. Erase. because, well, none of the lists include Hands. Cannot. Erase. In other words, no one wants to pick a prog- rock album that got mostly glowing reviews because no one else did. Oh, critics will pick albums that no one has ever heard of; but Steven Wilson has been around the block. Most of them have heard of him. But most of their peers at the "cool-kids table" would look down on them if they picked an album by someone working the prog-rock field no matter how good--and accessible--it is. The cool-kids don't listen to that stuff.

 

Interesting we have the same two favorites for 2015.

 

Wilson has been openly honoring his influences his entire career. Whether that's frequent nods to Pink Floyd with Porcupine Tree or his more recent nods to Yes, King Crimson, Rush and others. It's his way of saluting the people that inspired him and since many of his fans also like the same groups he's referencing we all get enjoyment out of his homages. Still, his music isn't a rip-off of anyone, even when you can hear those influences you know it's a Steven Wilson song. Nobody mixes those various influences together better than him.

As for people complaining about the electronic elements on HCE? Eh, who cares. Other older Wilson fans were bitching about the "retro" direction of Grace For Drowning and Raven That Refused To Sing as well. You can't please everyone, you can only create art that pleases yourself and hopefully your fans will join you. Personally, I love most of what he's done, especially his solo albums.

P.S. - Hand Cannot Erase is EASILY the best album of 2015. Nothing else comes really close.

 

JoeF, I didn´t really mean quoting old things, or incorporating riff citates. I rather meant the subordination to a certain thought (sound and arrangement concept of an album). which is not necessarily a bad thing, it wasn´t for Raven to my ears at least. the contrary, I find a strong individual and distinct sound character always better than a ´good interchangeable´ one.

progrocker71, of course there´s different people complaining, you can´t please everybody. and I guess that´s good (and I´m a huge fan of his DVD documentary and his general approach as musician).
but what I also think is that one ´sound form´ fits better to a certain musical way of expression than another, it´s the nature of music that you can´t do everything with anything. take Queen who radically changed their compositions when they changed sound (A Night At The Opera with late 80s Queen production? forget it, eh?), or Bowie for that matter (who tastefully developed through styles and accompanied the sound to compositions perfectly). Judas Priest Prog-Hardrock ´Sad Wings Of Destiny´ vs. the cold 80s Metal classic Defenders Of The Faith. Miles Davis for that matter. and in this regard:
Wilson included a bit of ´modern electronics´ again and made the sound ´less 70s´, but the music didn´t really change enough for me to fit to this sound change.
I really tried hard to like the album, made 3 attempts to buy it.
to stick with already mentioned examples, just like I would not want to have Def Leppard´s ´pyromania´ with a garage 4track sound, while that perfectly fits to Sun Ra´s psychedelic 60s / 70s stuff and gives it ultimate intimacy and spectacular character.

 

right... my favorite Rock album this year.

 

Amen! 103% agree with you.

 

just try this :
Anekdoten - Until All the Ghosts are Gone



and i am a huge fan of SW ....

 

Interestingly I was somewhat disappointed in HCE because it was supposed to be a modern sound but yet again it was mostly in that prog rock route again with some heavier power chords. Electronic sounds are really minimal also (I would only call the intro electronic).

Raven I didnt like because it was basically a very stripped down live recording. Insurgentes is probably my favorite right now because its all over the place and even more modern sounding than HCE.

I have been a fan since 2005.

 

What about "Perfect Life?" Quite "modern," fairly "electronic."

Grace For Drowning has plenty of "modern" sound to it. I'd say it's the one that best blends classic prog with current trends. Tracks like "No Part of Me" and "Index" are thoroughly fresh.

 

Older instrumental sounds can still produce new music. Just because you use a Hammond or a mellotron doesn't mean it's 1972 all over again. Last time I checked some artists are still using oil paint on their canvases.

To me the sound of primarily analog instrumentation is what I gravitate toward and I'm pleased to hear it applied by artists like Wilson who are simultaneously paying homage to their influences and also moving the sound of those instruments into new areas. Same applies to Opeth, Riverside, Big Big Train and many other modern prog bands.

 

I agree, but still. There are some instruments that time-stamp songs to a certain era. I mean, if someone plays a Clavinet on a new recording, it's 1974 all over again. It's often used to evoke that time. On Riverside's excellent new album, there are flourishes of Hammond organ on some of the tracks that sound as though zombie Jon Lord was in the studio. I don't think it's an accident.
Either way, it's all good.