Music

RETRO REVIEW: PORCUPINE TREE ‘In Absentia’

Published

14 years ago

January 28, 2010

In the summer of 2003, I randomly purchased the Porcupine Tree album, “In Absentia” based solely on the cover. It was of half a face, close up and painted blue but aged and cracked with a hand pulling apart the eyelids grotesquely, the eye rolled completely back. Sounds pretty sweet, right? The cover satisfied my joy of all things “horror” and randomly buying an album just seemed like such a “cool” thing to do. Man was I going against the system! Plus, who the hell had heard of Porcupine Tree then?

“In Absentia” starts off with one of the heavier tracks of the album, “Blackest Eyes”. There are beautiful produced instruments, wonderful textures and great usage of musical space. Dynamically speaking, the song rolls from thick, distorted guitar tones to ambient acoustic passages. Very crisp production from the start makes the music a joy to listen to. But I’ll be honest, the first time I heard this track, I though, “meh…” and went to the next track, “Trains”.

I really do believe that I probably played this track about 20 times before I allowed myself to go to the next track. I was somewhat unhealthily obsessed with this track and made EVERYONE listen to it to appreciate the melodies and, especially, the vocal harmony breakdown before the 3/4 time bridge. When I finally went to track 3, “Lips of Ashes”, I decided to go through the rest of the album in one go. I felt slightly nervous that the rest of “In Absentia” couldn’t possibly match the beauty and uniqueness of “Trains”. There was no need to be nervous. This album was one hell of a journey, but worth every second I invested into it.

Later I would read online that there was a rumor going around that “In Absentia” is a concept album that revolves around the life of a serial killer. Singer/Guitarist/Songwriter Steven Wilson has neither confirmed or denied this, but rather has said that the lyrics are open to interpretation and people can take from them what they will.

With amazing production, songs that range from thick and heavy to mellow and ambient to heartbreakingly beautiful, “In Absentia” is not an album for casual listeners. However, if you’re willing to invest a little bit of effort to understand that not only is each song an individual piece but is rather part of a whole, you’ll be wholly satisfied with this

Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

2 weeks ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…