Steven Wilson Headquarters
Tonefloat releases a new vinyl only release of recordings by SW's ongoing experiments with drone and ambient music as Bass Communion. Litany is taken from new recordings using choral/vocal samples and looping techniques. These experiments may lead to a full album at some stage, but in the meantime 23 minutes of work in progress will be issued as a 2-track 12inch EP. The ep comes in a beautiful sleeve designed by Carl Glover and will be available in limited editions of 1,000 copies on black 180 grams vinyl and 250 copies on coloured 180 grams vinyl.
You can pre-order now from the Tonefloat store, or from Burning Shed. Release date is late July.
Another new Bass Communion release "Chiaroscuro", a CD of the live performance in Antwerp in November 2008 in a beautiful Japanese gatefold mini LP sleeve, will also shortly be available. However, this release will be exclusive to SW's own mail order outlet Headphone Dust. More news shortly.
The forthcoming Steven Wilson NSRGNTS RMXS CD has now been expanded into a 6 track mini album, running almost 40 minutes.
RMXS was originally announced as two EPs, split between a CD and a 12 vinyl release. But at the 11th hour a remix from New York dark hip hop artists dälek came in that totally blew us away, and we couldn't wait to put it out so it has been added it to the CD version of RMXS. In addition given the quality of the Abandoner remixes in the competition (and the number of votes we have had for the 8 finalists) we've decided that the winner, still to be established, will now also be included on a physical release.
The newly expanded NSRGNTS RMXS 6 track mini-album will receive a full retail release in August, but an advance run of 5,000 copies will be shipping from the KScope store from June 29th (please note that the Kscope edition and the retail edition will be exactly the same).
The vinyl release will remain unchanged (still 3 tracks, 1000 copies, only available from Kscope store) and a digital version with all eight tracks will be available in August.
SW's debut album Insurgentes was released earlier this year on Kscope. The album received a great reception, not just from fans and critics but also from fellow artists. Several of these artists have now remixed tracks from the album and NSRGNTS RMXS is a selection of these mixes.
The CD edition features a mix of the albums opening track Harmony Korine by David A. Sitek, currently enjoying massive critical acclaim as leader / producer of TV On The Radio. It also features mixes of tracks by Engineers, Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) and Fear Falls Burning.
The 12 vinyl edition of NSRGNTS RMXS will be limited to 1000 copies and will only be available from the Kscope store. It also features the David A. Sitek mix along with two mixes of Only Child by Pat Mastelotto.
Both the CD and 12 inch are available to pre-order now from the KScope store.
Finally a digital edition will collect all six tracks available on the CD and 12 inch, and will also feature the winner of the remix competition which has been running on the Insurgentes site.
The competition offered fans the chance to remix the track Abandoner. With the competition now closed, Steven has listened to all the entries and created a shortlist of eight mixes. These mixes are all available to listen to on insurgentes.org and you can vote for your favourite. Voting ends on May 29th.
Steve would also like to take the opportunity to thank all the wonderful submissions to the remix competition, over 200, all of which were listened to!
Headphone Dust have a small number of copies of the bonus CD from the original Insurgentes special edition available to people who did not manage to get one of the book editions (if you did already get one please don't email us!)
For details on how to obtain a copy, go to Headphone Dust Mail Order.
You can now purchase the Bass Communion / Pig "Live in Mexico City" album as an mp3 download or high quality FLAC download from Burning Shed. Beautifully recorded within the natural ambience of Laboratorio de Arte Alameda in Mexico City on 27th Feb 2008, this is a collaboration between SW on guitar/laptop, and the noise / improv group from Mexico. Originally released on vinyl only by Important Records in 2008.
Acting as a bridge between No-Man's elegiac 2008 return Schoolyard Ghosts and the forthcoming live concert DVD Mixtaped, Wherever There Is Light is a strictly limited edition 5 track enhanced CD EP release.
From Schoolyard Ghosts, the poignant title track features a guest performance from US pedal steel legend Bruce Kaphan. The alt-country tinged Death Was California and the atmospheric Counting are two new songs especially written for the EP, while Carolina Skeletons and All The Blue Changes are 2 live recordings from No-Man's Autumn 2008 mini-tour.
Also featuring Grant Wakefied's poetic video for the title track, a powerful preview from the Mixtaped DVD, and a striking Carl Glover designed digi-pack, the enhanced Wherever There Is Light EP is a rare and beautiful thing from the band Uncut memorably described as 'Britain's most underrated sorrowful sonic architects'.
You can pre-order it now from Burning Shed - to be shipped on 11th May.
Listen to the live version of All the Blue Changes from the EP on the No-Man MySpace page.
The Bass Communion "Molotov and Haze" 3 vinyl set is now available from Headphone Dust, and it's a beauty! It was originally recorded in February 2008 during a period of experimentation and preparation for the recording of SW's debut solo album "Insurgentes", using just multi layered guitars and laptop processing. The combination of glacial beauty and power drones represented a new approach for SW's experimental side. For this ToneFloat vinyl edition each of the 4 tracks from the original CD occupies one side, but 2 of the tracks are extended versions (Molotov runs 5 minutes longer, Haze 3 minutes longer) - the set is pressed on 180 gram black vinyl, and housed in a thick gatefold sleeve.
In addition the first edition of 500 numbered copies includes an exclusive 10 inch vinyl of the Haze Shrapnel CD EP in its own picture sleeve. This will not be available separately. Available and shipping now from Headphone Dust.
There are some very nice items of SW "Insurgentes" merchandise now available to order from the KScope store. A t-shirt (in 4 sizes), a super large A1 poster, and some limited edition signed prints.
To tie in with the Mexican release date of the album that was partly inspired by and recorded in the city, next month Steven will return to Avenida de los Insurgentes in Mexico City to sign copies of Insurgentes and meet fans.
Wednesday 15th April, at 4:30 PM - Store HARD 737 (Rock Shop), Insurgentes Sur # 363 interior 8 Mexico City.
King Crimson's label DGM have announced that they will start to release Steven's 5.1 surround sound mixes of the King Crimson back catalogue in June, with "Lizard" and "Red", followed by a special 40th anniversary edition of "In the Court of the Crimson King" in October. Where appropriate new stereo mixes and out-takes / alternates have also been mixed, although we don't know yet if DGM will approve these for release as part of the new editions.
The 8th edition of Uwe Häberle's complete Steven Wilson discography is now available online. This edition contains 127 new entries, with a total of 750 entries across 369 pages.
Go here to download the pdf file.
KScope are issuing a 2 LP vinyl version of Insurgentes at the end of March, which also contains 4 additional tracks - Port Rubicon, Puncture Wound, Collecting Space, and Insurgentes (Mexico). Pressed on 180 gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold sleeve, this will be limited to 2,000 copies. It's available to pre-order from the KScope webstore now.
The red vinyl edition of the Harmony Korine 7 inch single is now sold out, but there are a few copies left in both black and white vinyl.
The video for Harmony Korine is now available to view on the website of US magazine Blender. If you haven't seen it yet, head on over there to see what all the fuss is about!
SW appears on the cover of the current issue of US magazine Electronic Musician. The issue includes an in depth interview on the recording of "Insurgentes" and other topics. The interview is online, but the magazine features a 9 page spread which includes several photos not included on the website.
The full length director's cut of Lasse Hoile's amazing video for "Harmony Korine" is now available to view on you tube in high definition.
Insurgentes finally gets a full UK release on 9th March, and during that week Steven will be visiting some key independent record stores in London, Cheltenham, Cardiff and Bristol to sign copies of the new album. So if you would like to come along and meet Steven here's when and where to do it:
MONDAY 9TH MARCH 5.30PM
SISTER RAY
34-35 BERWICK STREET
LONDON
WIV 8RP
TUESDAY 10TH MARCH 5.30PM
RISE
UNIT 19
BEECHWOOD CENTRE
CHELTENHAM
GL50 1DQ
WEDNESDAY 11TH MARCH 5.30PM
SPILLERS RECORDS
36 THE HAYES
CARDIFF
CF10 1AJ
THURSDAY 12 MARCH - 6.00PM
FOPP BRISTOL
27-29 COLLEGE GREEN
BRISTOL
BS1 5TD
Now available is the beautiful picture disc vinyl edition of Bass Communion "Loss" - go here to order your copy of this limited edition of only 500 copies. Also in stock at Headphone Dust is the super limited 2 CDl edition of the brand new Sand Snowman album "Two Way Mirror", which features SW as guest singer on 2 tracks (returning the favour of Sand's memorable guest appearance on Insurgentes).
The Insurgentes website has now undergone a major update and includes details of a remix competition where everyone has the chance to re-mix the track Abandoner from Insurgentes. The remix that Steven judges to be best will be included on a future official Steven Wilson release. More details are on the site. As an example of what can be done there are also two great Abandoner remixes by Engineers, (Kscope's newest act), and Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson).
The first single from Insurgentes will be released in mid Feb on 7 inch vinyl only. The A-Side is a remixed edit of album track "Harmony Korine", and the B-side is non-album track "The 78", which was briefly available as an untitled bonus track on the deluxe mail order edition released last November. The single comes in a choice of 3 colours: black, white, and blood red vinyl, limited to 1,000 copies of each. These are now available to pre-order from the KScope webstore.
As the release date of Insurgentes approaches there will much activity over the next few weeks, including the exclusive unveiling of the Lasse Hoile video for Harmony Korine (which will also be issued as the first single release from the album), downloadable remixes, and a remix competition. SW has been busy promoting the album with interviews and a series of playback events for press. The recent event in London has already been reviewed online by the music-news.com website (in the Spotlight section).
Newbury Comics over in the US now have a special pre-order offer, which includes a signed CD booklet. Please note that the US edition is slightly different from the European version in that it comes in super jewel case instead of the hardback digipack. Otherwise contents are the same. Order here.
You can still pre-order the European 2 disc version of Insurgentes from Burning Shed and receive the instant mp3 download version of the album to check out while you are waiting for the physical release.
LAST FEW DAYS! PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SPLIT 7 INCH SINGLE IS NOW SOLD OUT.
2008 was a prolific year for SW's Bass Communion project, with several new releases / limited editions, as well as reissues of earlier works. Some of these are now being made available from Headphone Dust at a special price throughout January, including a brand new 2 CD reissue of Bass Communion II / III. III was previously only available as an on demand CDR and has been unavailable for a long time. Both albums have been remastered and packaged in a beautiful gatefold card mini LP sleeve. This is now available for the special price of £10 for a 2 disc set.
Other Bass Communion releases on sale in January are the most recent full length album "Molotov and Haze" (£6), the "Dronework" CD EP reissue (£4), and the 2 disc edition of "Ghosts on Magnetic Tape" (£10). All available from Headphone Dust'.
Finally, we have a few remaining copies of the 7 inch vinyl single that was originally given to attendees of the Fear Falls Burning / Bass Communion concert in Antwerp on 1st November 2008. The BC side contains an 8 minute out-take from the "Molotov and Haze" sessions. This is a limited edition of 500 copies in spot varnished sleeve.
Other Bass Communion releases in 2008 were the "Pacific Codex" box set (sold out), Bass Communion / Pig "Live in Mexico City" LP (sold out), and the Bass Communion / /Freiband "Haze Shrapnel" 3 inch CDR (still available).
You can now pre-order the 2 disc version of Insurgentes from Burning Shed. Release date is 24th February, but if you pre-order you will receive a link to an instant mp3 download so you can listen to the music while you are waiting for you physical copy to arrive.
SW will take a "busman's holiday" to play guitar for his friend Aviv Geffen on his first solo tour of Europe in January (whilst also taking the opportunity to do some local press and promotion for Insurgentes along the way). The dates are:
16th Jan - Rotunda Club, Krakow, Poland
17th Jan - Postbanhof, Berlin, Germany
18th Jan - Knust, Hamburg, Germany
20th Jan - Luxor, Koln, Germany
21st Jan - Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
22nd Jan - Ampere, Munich, Germany
24th Jan - Cafe de la Danse, Paris, France
27th Jan - Proud Galleries, London, UK
The band will be the full Blackfield line up (with Tomer Z, Seffy Efrati, and Eran Mittelman), but note that while there's sure to be a few Blackfield songs performed, most of the songs will be from Aviv's forthcoming debut English language solo album (produced by Trevor Horn).
Headphone Dust's stock of the 2 CD reissue of Bass Communion II+III was delayed coming from the US, so we are now going to hold off making it available until after Xmas to avoid the post rush, but we will have it at a January only special offer price of £10 for the double CD in Japanese mini LP gatefold sleeve, or £15 if purchased with "Dronework". All other Bass Communion CDs will also be at reduced prices during January.
The CD/DVDA special editions of Insurgentes are now shipping. The vinyl versions will also start shipping soon. Please be a little patient as there are a lot of orders, but they will all be sent out over the next week or two. Both versions of the deluxe edition are now sold out, and it's been confirmed that the retail edition of the album will be a double disc set with the 10 track album as a stereo CD and 5.1 DVDA. This will be issued by KScope in February.
SW has made an agreement with Kscope in the UK for the international release of 3 solo albums over the next few years, starting with the retail version of Insurgentes on 10th February 09. The track listing for the album is:
1. Harmony Korine
2. Abandoner
3. Salvaging
4. Veneno Para Las Hadas
5. No Twilight Within The Courts Of The Sun
6. Significant Other
7. Only Child
8. Twilight Coda
9. Get All You Deserve
10. Insurgentes
Guest musicians appearing on the album are Gavin Harrison (drums), Tony Levin (bass), Mike Outram (guitar), Dirk Serries (guitar drones), Jordan Rudess (grand piano), Clodagh Simmonds (vocals), Sand Snowman (acoustic guitar), Theo Travis (flute, clarinet), Michiyo Yagi (koto), and a full string section.
The deluxe 2 CD/DVDA book version on SW's own label is now sold out on pre-order, but there are about 100 copies left of the 4x10 inch vinyl book version - head over to www.insurgentes.org if you would like to pick up one of these remaining copies. Both versions of the special edition are still on target to ship in late November.
Thanks to everyone who came to the amazing Fear Falls Burning / Bass Communion night in Antwerp last night, a quite unforgettable night indeed! An in depth review of the show appears here.
A special exclusive split 7 inch was given to all those that attended - the Bass Communion side is an out-take from the Molotov and Haze sessions called "Fusilier".
The other news is that a 2 CD reissue of Bass Communion II (with the long unavailable Bass Communion III - previously an on-demand CDR - on the second disc) will be issued by Beta-Lactum Records in mid November in a gatefold mini LP sleeve (now the standard packaing for all BC releases). Headphone Dust. will have copies of this new edition soon. This year has already been a busy year for Bass Communion releases, with new albums Pacific Codex and Molotov and Haze, the reissue of Dronework in mini LP format, the vinyl only collaboration Bass Communion / Pig live in Mexico City, and the collaboration EP with Freiband "Haze Shrapnel". Pacific Codex and BC/Pig were limited editions and they are now sold out, but the other titles are still available from Headphone Dust.
A website dedicated to the forthcoming Steven Wilson solo album (and Lasse Hoile's documentary) "Insurgentes" is now online. You will soon be able to pre-order the special deluxe edition exclusively from this site, but for the time being a new trailer for the album is available to view. This time the music is a special edit of the album track "Get All You Deserve" (the full album version is 6.15). Once again the footage is taken from the documentary of the same name, shot, directed and edited by Lasse Hoile. There are 6 other established musicians in the trailer - gold star if you can name them all! (exclude the brief clip of Porcupine Tree. Also Robert Fripp is not one of them, and neither is the ex drummer of Opeth).
The vinyl LP Bass Communion / Pig "Live in Mexico City" is finally available! Go to the Important Records website to pick up a copy.
The LP was beautifully recorded within the natural ambience of Laboratorio de Arte Alameda in Mexico City on 27th Feb 2008, in collaboration with the noise / improv group PIG.
Originally intended to be a companion release to the recent CD "Molotov and Haze" on Important Records, but delayed due to manufacturing issues, the LP is a limited edition of 500 copies and is packaged in a Carl Glover designed deluxe screen printed jacket with a clear spot gloss print. There are 5 different cover colour variations each limited to 100 copies and containing a different color of vinyl. Packaged, like all Important releases, in a handy resealable Japanese poly-bag.
As with all Bass Communion limited editions sure to sell out in no time at all - available now from Important Records.
Headphone Dust are receiving many questions regarding the forthcoming SW solo album "Insurgentes" and whether it's possible to pre-order it. Please note that the special multi disk edition and download versions of the album will only be available from November, and then only from www.insurgentes.org. The multi disk mail-order version will be limited, but not so limited that there won't be plenty of time for everyone who would like a copy to order one. Once the new website is set up we will start to reveal a bit more about the contents of the special edition, and perhaps make available some preview material in addition to the current Insurgentes Trailer.
In the meantime there are plenty of other recently issued SW releases available from Headphone Dust mail order, including the fifth in the Cover Version series, and new Bass Communion releases "Molotov and Haze" and "Dronework" (mini LP sleeve edition).
A trailer for "Insurgentes", the forthcoming solo album by Steven Wilson, is now available to view on YouTube, and elsewhere. The trailer features clips from the documentary of the same name that Lasse Hoile has been filming throughout the making of the album. "Insurgentes" is due for release in November as a download and special deluxe multi disc mail order version, with retail release to follow in early 2009.
Steven's partner in Blackfield, Aviv Geffen, has also completed his first ever English language solo album. Produced by legendary producer Trevor Horn (Seal, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Paul McCartney, taTu, Art of Noise...etc), and also featuring SW on guitar, you can now watch the Aviv Geffen EPK on YouTube.
A new edition of Bass Communion's Dronework CD EP is now available from Headphone Dust. This 20 minute drone piece was originally issued as an on demand CDR, and it's now available as a full factory pressed CD (but still exclusive to Headphone Dust) in a beautiful Japanese style mini LP card sleeve, with brand new Carl Glover designed artwork.
Also finally in stock after some manufacturing delays is the reissue of the first Continuum CD.
Headphone Dust now have copies of the vinyl reissues on ToneFloat of the 2 Sand Snowman albums, previously only available as handmade CDRs on Reverb Worship. Remastered for vinyl by SW, these are limited editions of 500 copies each on 180 gram vinyl. A strange-beautiful combination of pagan folk and psychedelia (think the soundtrack to The Wicker Man, Comus, Opeth's mellower moments). Sand is also one of the contributors to SW's forthcoming solo album, and SW sings on the next Sand Snowman album, due later this year. You can hear the music on the Sand Snowman MySpace page.
The new Bass Communion CD "Molotov and Haze" is issued by Important Records on 22nd July, and Headphone Dust have the CD on sale for £8 now. The CD comes in a beautiful Carl Glover designed gatefold mini-LP jacket. The companion vinyl release Bass Communion / Pig "Live in Mexico City" has unfortunately been delayed due to production issues, and will now be released later in the summer - more news on that when we have it. Also in stock at Headphone Dust from next week will be the repress of the first Continuum album (Continuum being the collaboration between SW and Dirk Serries of Fear Falls Burning / VidnaObmana). Headphone Dust also have a few copies of the new Travis Fripp CD "Thread", price £11 plus shipping.
The fifth and penultimate in the series of Steven Wilson's Cover Version singles is now available to order from Headphone Dust. As with the first 4, the single contains a surprise cover version and an SW original, the original this time being a reworked version of a song previously heard on the SW MySpace page, "Well You're Wrong". The previous 4 cover version singles are all still available and there is currently a special offer to get all 5 for £15. Any single Cover Version CD (including the new one) is now at the reduced price of £3.50.
The series is planned to conclude with Cover Version 6 (not recorded yet so don't ask when!), which will come in special packaging to house all of the singles.
Headphone Dust also have copies of the recently released Bass Communion / Freiband 3 inch CDR "Haze Shrapnel" issued by Frans De Waard's MOLL label. This is priced at £3.00. For more info on this release see the news item below.
Please note that this item will be available from Headphone Dust from early July (along with the new Cover Version V CD single).
An additional track from the sessions for the forthcoming Bass Communion album "Molotov and Haze" is now available on a 3 inch CDR issued by Frans De Waard's excellent MOLL label. Details as follows:
Bass Communion/Freiband - Haze Shrapnel 3"CDR. A new Bass Communion piece and a Freiband remix thereof. Released by My Own Little Label. Price is 6 euros postpaid worldwide (paypal: info@kormplastics.nl).
The tracks are exclusive to this release. Molotov and Haze will be released by Important Records in July.
No-Man have added 2 further (and final) live dates in Holland and Germany, following the London show:
3rd September 2008 - De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands.
(tickets available from www.ticketmaster.nl).
4th September 2008 - Savoy Theatre, Düsseldorf, Germany.
(tickets available from www.eventim.de).
The first show at the Bush Hall, London, on August 29th will be filmed for possible DVD release. This show is now sold out.
A new Bass Communion CD and LP will both be released by Important Records in the US on 22nd July. The CD "Moltov and Haze" contains 4 layered guitar drone pieces, 2 noisy (Molotov) and 2 transcendently beautiful (Haze). The album will be issued in the by now familiar miniature card gatefold sleeve, and you can hear extracts from it on the Bass Communion MySpace page.
The LP is a collaboration recorded with Mexican noise / improv group Pig in February this year - "Live in Mexico City" will be a highly limited vinyl only release of 500 copies in special screen printed sleeves. Headphone Dust will have both items for sale, but sorry it's not possible to reserve a copy of the vinyl release at this stage.
SW will perform a Bass Communion set as special guest of Fear Falls Burning on 1st November at Theatre cc Luchtbal, in Antwerp, Belgium. He will be performing his recent explorations in guitar drone music (a CD "Molotov and Haze" is due for release on Important Records on 22nd July - you can hear extracts from it on the Bass Communion MySpace page).
During the show Steven will also join Fear Falls Burning on stage as guest. Tickets and all relevant information available here.
The new No-Man album Schoolyard Ghosts is now available to pre-order from the No-Man online store. The CD/DVDA 2 disc set comes in a lavish digi-pack with booklet, the DVDA featuring a 5.1 mix of the album, a photo gallery and videos for 3 songs. In addition the first 2,000 copies sold from the store will come with an exclusive limited edition 6 track bonus CD of alternate versions of tracks from the album.
Schoolyard Ghosts is officially released on May 12th, but the 3 disc pre-order No-Man store edition will ship in late April/early May.
A vinyl version is in preparation, and a new t-shirt based on the album cover artwork is also now available to order.
There is now a microsite dedicated to the new No-Man album "Schoolyard Ghosts". It includes a video for an edit of the song "Truenorth" (which runs over 12 minutes on the album itself). The No-Man MySpace page also includes extracts from the album, which is officially released on KScope / Snapper on 12th May. The first edition includes a stereo CD and 5.1 surround sound DVDA, with an additional exclusive bonus CD for copies pre-ordered from the No-Man store (details to be announced soon, please don't enquire about this yet).
Headphone Dust have 2 new ToneFloat vinyl releases, both with connections to SW:
Anja Garbarek »Smiling and Waving« LP+7 inch £18.00
Recorded in 2000 in London, this strange and shimmeringly beautiful album won a Spellemannspris (Norwegian Grammy) in 2001. Smiling and Waving was produced by Anja and Steven Wilson, except for 2 tracks which were produced by Talk Talk's Mark Hollis. Additional contributions come from Robert Wyatt (whose own version of "Stay Tuned" from this album can be found on his most recent solo album "Comicopera"), Theo Travis, Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri. The first 500 copies of this LP edition are pressed on coloured vinyl in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with inner bag, and includes a 7 inch single in its own sleeve, featuring "I Won't Hurt You" and "Blinking Blocks of Light", two tracks that were only available for a short time as part of a Norwegian limited CD edition of the album.
The Use of Ashes (ft. Bass Communion) »untitled« £8.00 (blue/orange)
A 10 inch single that includes the original demo version of The Use of Ashes "Ice" (7.45) on side A and a Bass Communion reconstruction of The Use of Ashes "Mousehill Daydream" (10.07) on side B. The 10 inch comes in a PVC sleeve and is available on orange vinyl (limited to 250 copies), blue vinyl (250 copies) and clear vinyl (100 copies only).
Please email hd@swhq.co.uk first to reserve a copy and request a price including shipping (please remember to tell us which country we will be shipping to).
Also back in stock at Headphone Dust is Bass Communion's first CD, and the last remaining copies of SW's Cover Version 2, 3 and 4 CD singles, which are sold out elsewhere (there will be a repressing at some point, but not for a while).
No-Man's sixth official album, Schoolyard Ghosts, has been completed. Recorded in August/September last year, and Jan-March this year, the 53 minute album features 8 new songs, and will be issued on Kscope in mid-May. A deluxe 2LP vinyl edition will also be released by ToneFloat. Videos and audio previews will soon be available on-line. For more news, track listing, and details on the performer line-up, head on over to the official no-man site, or to Tony Kinson's revamped no-man - a confession site.
Bass Communion's "Pacific Codex'' is finally here! You can order a copy now from Headphone Dust.
''Pacific Codex'' is possibly the most minimal and zen-like beautiful of all Bass Communion releases so far, a single 40 minute piece based entirely on processed and layered recordings of metal sculptures and gongs, creating complex waves of deep subharmonic sound. To fit with the oceanic theme, Carl Glover has designed an elaborate box set package which includes both stereo CD + 5.1 surround sound DVD-Audio discs housed in a thick card gatefold sleeve, a 36-page perfect-bound full-colour booklet, and a 2-sided thick card hand-numbered insert (975 copies), all housed in a super-thick case-bound card box (slipcase style).
Equation Records in the US are now sold out and not accepting any more orders.
To tie in with the release of ''Pacific Codex'', there is also a repress of the 2 disc edition of Bass Communion's "Ghosts on Magnetic Tape" , which includes the original album and the full length Andrew Liles reconstruction in a miniature thick card gatefold sleeve. This will ship at the same time as Pacific Codex, and you can pre-order both releases together from Headphone Dust to save on postage costs.
On the 4th October 2007 Porcupine Tree arrived for an in-store performance and signing session at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida, with 200 fans also in attendance. Although it was originally planned that the full band would play, lack of space dictated that it was only the 2 guitarists / singers Steven Wilson and John Wesley who delivered an impromptu performance, including many songs rarely (if ever) played by the band, making for a very special and intimate show. Fortunately this one-off performance was captured by a remote recording facility and the complete 8 song, 33 minute show is now being released in a digipack sleeve created by photographer Lasse Hoile and designer Carl Glover. The CD is available to pre-order now from the PT Store and is expected to ship in the week commencing 18th Feb. It will also be exclusively available to US retail through the Think Indie chain of independent stores.
Dutch vinyl specialists ToneFloat will also release a quality 180gm vinyl edition of We Lost the Skyline in a gatefold sleeve, with a limited and numbered edition of 1,000 copies on marbled vinyl, and a regular edition on black vinyl. These editions will be released on 18th March, but will also be available to pre-order soon from the ToneFloat website. The Porcupine Tree store will also stock the vinyl editions once they are released.
Full track listing for the album is:
1. the sky moves sideways (4.02)
2. even less (3.27)
3. stars die (4.33)
4. waiting (3.52)
5. normal (4.52)
6. drown with me (4.09)
7. lazarus (4.29)
8. trains (4.04)
Having been on the road for almost the entirety of 2007, Steven is now busy in the studio working on 2 brand new albums. One of these is his first ever song based solo project, something which will reveal a darker musical side of SW not hitherto heard in any of his other projects. The solo album is a work in progress with no set release date, but material is coming thick and fast, so a release sometime towards the end of this year seems likely.
Also well underway and expected to be issued in May is the first album by No-Man in 5 years. Its current working title is "Schoolyard Ghosts". You can find more information on the no-man MySpace page.
Other new releases in the pipeline include the much delayed release of Bass Communion's "Pacific Codex" box set, as well as a repress of the 2 CD version of "Ghosts on Magnetic Tape", both in February. Meanwhile the 2008 edition of Porcupine Tree's "Lightbulb Sun" album is expected in April as a CD/DVDA double disc set, and another new PT related release should be available from March on the band's Transmission mail order imprint (details on the PT site soon).
Finally, due to demand Soleilmoon will press another 1,000 copies of the first album by Continuum, SW's collaboration with Dirk Serries, bringing it up to par with the 2,000 copy edition of Continuum II. Scheduled for June release. Meanwhile after the first Continuum album was successfully reconstructed by Dirk himself on the Continuum Recyclings Volume One double LP, a highly talented and known musician from the experimental underground will recycle Continuum II for another double LP. More news on this soon - in the meantime check out the Continuum MySpace page for audio samples and updates.
And just a reminder that throughout January only you can buy all 4 SW Cover Version CD singles for the price of 3 from Headphone Dust (UPDATE - Cover Versions 2, 3, and 4 are now sold out again at Burning Shed, who had the majority of the pressings, but there are a few copies left at Headphone Dust)
Pacific Codex was due to be finally released first thing in the new year. We say "was" because unfortunately when the sets came back from manufacture there was a problem which makes it impossible to send them out as they are. With so many parts to the package (the CD, the DVDA, the book, the gatefold sleeve, the insert, and the box) there was always the chance that something wouldn't come out quite right first time. Anyway, all is being fixed / redone, but alas it does mean another delay, most likely until February.
NOW AVAILABLE FROM HEADPHONE DUST and BURNING SHED
ToneFloat have announced the next in the series of vinyl upgrades to the SW catalogue, a lavish double vinyl edition of Bass Communion ii, which collects the six tracks from the original 1999 CD release plus for the first time the release of Wide Open Killingfeld parts 2 and 3 on Side 4, which are exclusive to this release. As always with ToneFloat releases, the album comes with a superb gatefold picture sleeve, and the first edition of 500 copies comes on white vinyl. You can order now from Headphone Dust or Burning Shed.
Other news from ToneFloat: "with the first edition coloured vinyl editions sold out, we now have black vinyl editions of bass communion's ghosts on magnetic tape, and no man's speak and returning jesus in stock. all three albums are available from our store. there's a nice offer on all three available."
There is now a Steven Wilson Street Team MySpace community, so if you want to help out with spreading the word about SW, PT, Blackfield, and other SW projects please head over and join at www.myspace.com/promotesw.
Headphone Dust Mail Order have a handful of the special t-shirts that Soleilmoon produced to commemorate the release of the Bass Communion "Loss" CD/DVDA. Please remember to specifiy which size you require when you place your order.
The next Bass Communion release "Pacific Codex" is now expected in October, in the most lavish packaging yet for a BC release. In the meantime there are a few copies left of the Fear Falls Burning 5LP vinyl box set "Once We All Walk Through Solid Objects", which includes a Bass Communion collaboration on Side One (note that this track will also be issued on a Bass Communion CD at some time in the future). Limited to 500 copies, the set is now sold out at source.
There are 4 new PT items available to pre-order now from the Porcupine Tree online store, including the brand new "Nil Recurring" mini album, which for the time being is exclusive to the store.
PORCUPINE TREE - Nil Recurring (CD mini album)
Only a few months after the release of the acclaimed Fear of a Blank Planet album comes this mini album (29 minutes of music) containing 4 lengthy tracks written during the same sessions, completed over the Summer, and now presented as a cohesive self contained PT work in their own right. The title track is an instrumental featuring Robert Fripp on lead guitar, and the whole EP moves through the full PT spectrum of atmospheric ambience, melodic hooks, and crushing riffs. This first edition of the mini album is on the band's Transmission label and comes in an exclusive fold out digipack, limited to 5,000 copies.
Pre-order this item now - scheduled shipping week commencing 17th September.
PORCUPINE TREE - Fear of a Blank Planet DVDA
A special limited edition audiophile 5.1 surround sound version of PT's acclaimed 2007 album, released on the band's own Transmission imprint. Features the 5.1 mix of the album in high resolution DTS 5.1 digital surround sound, as well as all 4 tracks from the Nil Recurring mini album mixed into 5.1 surround sound. The disc also includes three video works directed by Lasse Hoile: a special Blank Planet Introduction short film, the uncensored version of the Fear of a Blank Planet promo video, and the full length 17 minute film for Anesthetize as seen during the band's live shows.
Pre-order this item now - scheduled shipping week commencing 1st October.PORCUPINE TREE - Fear of a Blank Planet (2LP vinyl)
Finally for all vinyl fanatics comes the double LP edition of Fear of a Blank Planet, issued by vinyl specialists ToneFloat. The double vinyl edition also includes all 4 tracks from the the Nil Recurring mini album. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl, packed in a state of the art heavy gatefold picture sleeve with innerbags, designed by Carl Glover.
Pre-order this item now - scheduled shipping week commencing 1st October.PORCUPINE TREE - Fear of a Blank Planet (2LP vinyl - Special Edition)
A special limited edition of only 1,000 copies worldwide pressed on blue/black marbled 180 gram double vinyl, housed in a numbered picture slipcase, and with the addition of a glossy full-colour 16-page 12x12inch picture booklet. The limited edition is only available directly from ToneFloat and Porcupine Tree (one copy only per customer).
Pre-order this item now - scheduled shipping week commencing 1st October.
Headphone Dust Mail Order now have copies of the new Fovea Hex CD "Allure", on which SW makes a guest appearance (note that this is the single disc edition - the version with the bonus remix CD is only available directly from Die Stadt).
Headphone Dust also have a small quantity of the 5LP vinyl box set "Once We All Walk Through Solid Objects" by Fear Falls Burning, which includes a Bass Communion collaboration on Side One. Note that this track will also be issued on a Bass Communion CD at some time in the future, but in the meantime this is a truly gorgeous (and heavy!) item, which includes an FFB collaboration with a different artist on each side, including Steve Von Till (Neurosis), Final (Justin Broadrick from Jesu / Godflesh), Birchville Cat Motel..etc... The set is limited to 500 copies and almost sold out already.
Bass Communion "Pacific Codex" is now likely to be issued in September, and Continuum II (the final pressing, taking it up to its limitation of 2,000) should be back in stock by mid to late August.
Available to order now from Headphone Dust Mail Order.
Continuum represents a multi-layered synonym for the collective ambition and vision of Dirk Serries (VidnaObmana, Fear Falls Burning) and Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Bass Communion, Blackfield), motivated by their immense passion for a wide-range of musical styles. Continuum II is the second release in a series of limited edition albums being issued by Soleilmoon Recordings. Each CD is presented in a beautiful oversized digipack with breathtaking design and artwork by Lasse Hoile.
"Continuum 1", the first release, captured both artists' love of desolate, minimal music, and featured three 20 minute pieces of richly melancholic textural music. It sold out within a few weeks of its release, and was subsequently pirated in the Czech Republic. Fast-forward two years, and Serries and Wilson are back with Continuum 2. The new album again has three long pieces, but breaks from its predecessor by enriching its electronic soundscapes with a variety of crushing electric guitars. The album defies easy categorization as it willfully and relentlessly crosses boundaries and genres, breaking every rule it meets and tearing down fences and expections along the way. Is it ambient? Is it metal? It is neither, and yet, it is both. But it's so much more. Think of a Sci-Fi horror film shot on the surface of an abandoned, ghost-ridden planet, or the soundtrack to a slow motion apocalypse in which all life is extinguished beneath rock, dust and convulsing earth.
Continuum II is released on 16th July (please refer to the mail order page for information on shipping) in a limited edition of 2,000 copies in a tall DVD style digipack with a set of postcards.
One of the most remarkable and strange-beautiful musical ventures of the past few years is about to wrap up with the release of the last in a series of EPs. So much did Steven love the first 2 EPs he talked his way into appearing on the third one! FOVEA HEX 'Allure' is the third and final part of the 'Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent' series by Fovea Hex / Clodagh Simonds, which has featured among other contributors; Colin Potter, Brian Eno, Roger Eno, Robert Fripp, Andrew McKenzie, and Percy Jones. SW appears on the title track of 'Allure" playing some treated guitar. The first 500 copies will include a bonus CD 'The Answer' featuring 60 minutes of material reworked and remixed by Andrew McKenzie of The Hafler Trio. This version will only be available from Die Stadt and Janet Records directly. There is also a box set version that includes all 3 EPs (6 CDs in total, as each comes with a bonus disc of reworkings by The Hafler Trio). Essential in SW's opinion, but to listen and find out more visit the Fovea Hex MySpace page.
It seems like we forgot to mention that the deluxe and highly limited 180 gram 2LP vinyl edition of SW's IEM 1996-1999 album is now available. Sure to sell out very quickly of it's 500 copy only run, it's available now from Headphone Dust Mail Order, or from Burning Shed.
Also in stock at Headphone Dust Mail Order is the 2LP edition of the Theo Travis album "Slow Life", which includes an 18 minute Bass Communion reconstruction on Side 4.
Other vinyl items that Headphone Dust have pretty much the last copies of are IEM "Arcadia Son", Porcupine Tree "On the Sunday of Life..." and Blackfield "Blackfield" - please email hd@swhq.co.uk if you are interested in any of these.
Now available from the Burning Shed download store are a collection of demos written and recorded during sessions for the Returning Jesus album. This download album was originally issued as the third disc of Tonefloat's lavish Returning Jesus - The Complete Sessions vinyl release in 2005. These alternate, and often very different, versions of Returning Jesus songs date from between 1994 and 1998 and comprise the creative groundwork of what was to become No-Man's most popular and critically acclaimed album.
£5.10 GBP mp3 / £7.00 GBP flac
Comprising the drum mix of 'The Break-Up For Real', 'Back When You Were Beautiful' and '(bluecoda)', Snapper Music's promotional ep to support the release of the new CD/DVD-A edition of No-Man's acclaimed 'Together We're Stranger' album is now available from the Burning Shed download store at a specially reduced price. Containing downloadable artwork by Carl Glover, the ep is intended as an inexpensive introduction to the band's music.
Available from Burning Shed now.
The Steven Wilson "Collecting Space" EP compiling tracks made available on SW's MySpace page is in preparation for release towards the middle of this year on Headphone Dust, as is the Bass Communion "Pacific Codex" CD/DVDA on Equation Records. In the meantime SW appears in one capacity or another as a guest on forthcoming releases by VidnaObmana ("The Bowing Harmony" for which SW provided all of the vocal parts used as the source material for creating the album), Fovea Hex ("Allure" to which SW provides treated guitar to the title track), and Dream Theater ("Systematic Chaos" for which SW provided an apology). Also his 2 long-form Bass Communion remixes for Theo Travis and Fear Falls Burning will be issued soon on vinyl releases by ToneFloat.
The next volume of Continuum, SW's ongoing collaboration with VidnaObmana / Fear Falls Burning main man Dirk Serries, is complete and due for release on Soleilmoon in the Summer. In the meantime you can hear some extracts from the album on the Continuum MySpace page. It's quite a departure from the "ambient" feel of the first album.
This new 2 disc Snapper edition of No-Man's Together We're Stranger comes with the original stereo mix on CD, a new booklet featuring sleeve notes from Mojo's Johnny Black, improved packaging and an audiophile 5.1 DVD-A surround sound disc, also including high resolution 24 bit stereo.
The DVD-A mix also includes surround mixes of the Break Up For Real (drum version), (bluecoda), the video for Things I Want To Tell You and a photo gallery.
This edition comes with a postcard exclusive to Burning Shed.
Released on 20/4/2007 - Preorder now for £10.00 GBP from Burning Shed.
There is a lot of news regarding SW related releases on the ToneFloat website. These include a 2LP vinyl edition of the IEM 1996-99 collection, two long Bass Communion reconstructions released on albums by Fear Falls Burning, and Theo Travis, and also a limited edtion signed canvas print of SW from the front cover of Unreleased Electronic Music. These items are all available to pre-order from ToneFloat now, but (with the exception of the canvas print) will also be available from this site when they are released.
ToneFloat also have a handful of the 'C' box set left, which includes the Bass Communion vinyl LP "Indicates Void". These are now sold out at Headphone Dust.