STEVEN WILSON, THE HARMONY CODEX

What can one say or write about Steven Wilson that has not been said or written about already? Guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, composer, audio engineer, producer, Wilson is and has been one of the most prolific and influential musicians of his generation. With a scope and body of work spanning thirty years, his journey and career is really unparalleled. 

For many, Wilson's band Porcupine Tree has been the entry point to all things Wilson. From there, it was on to his other bands, collaborations, and solo projects. Each one occupying a unique musical space with its own sound and point of view. There is just so much to list and share here that I'm not even going to start. What I am going to do is jump to Wilson's new solo album,The Harmony Codex.

In Wilson's recently published autobiography, he includes a short story called...The Harmony Codex. It's a self-described piece of dystopian sci fi. Dystopian in the sense that it’s a science fiction story, but it takes place in a world that Wilson says is just about recognizable as our own yet it's very surreal. Like a lot of dystopian sci fi, Wilson says, its metaphor for the world we live in today. And in this case, the central metaphor is the never-ending staircase.

Wilson points to a direct relationship between his short story and his new album that shares the same name. While there are some songs that Wilson has drawn on from the story's characters and situations, there are others that are more 'obliquely related to the subject matter' in the sense that they relate to this idea of “it’s about the journey, it’s not about the destination.” But where does one start such a journey muscially speaking?

In an interview Wilson said that when he started writing this record he had nothing. No agenda. He just sat down and started making music for the sake and for the pleasure of experimenting with sound, and experimenting with songs in the context of experimental sound. That experimentation has augmented Wilson's musical DNA. While certainly still familiar to past albums and works, there is something different going on here. Spatially and sonically this is a newly formed space and soundscape and its next level. I could go on, but I will stop here as this is not a never-ending blog post. 

The Harmony Codex truly is about the journey and it's a journey that we should all be taking in its entirety...all at once. So my suggest is that you put on your headphones, sit back, and let yourself experience this remarkable album. You will be rewarded for it. 

WOODS, PERENNIAL

Are you a Woodsist? If you are not, you should be. For almost twenty years, Jeremy Early and Jarvis Taveniere have been making their own brand of psychedelic folk-rock that never ceases to surprise or put you into a state of relaxation. On their twelfth studio album, Perennial, nothing in this regard has changed, although their approach to songwriting has. The band has said that this album grew from a bed of guitar/keyboard/drum loops by Earl which was a form of winter night meditation. It eventually evolved into an unexplored mode of collaborative songwriting with the others in the band. With tape rolling, they began to build, jamming over the loops, switching instruments, and developing a few dozen building blocks that became their album. This new approach brings a freshness, looseness, and groove to their music that is hard to resist. Am I a Woodsist? I am indeed.

ON ROTATION

Lots of great music. Not enough time to write about it all...but here's what's on rotation for me right now. 

The Loving Paupers, Ladder

Cleo Sol, Heaven 

ON ROTATION

Lots of great music. Not enough time to write about it all...but here's what's on rotation for me right now. 

Night Flight, Songs From Echo Zoo 

Islands, And That's Why Dolphins Lost Their Legs 

This Day In History, Years Of Wear & Tear 

THE MOMMYHEADS, CONEY ISLAND KID

Every few years I 'discover' a band that seems to have been around for decades and I'm left scratching my head wondering how I'd never heard of them or heard their music. Such is the case with The Mommyheads. Reading reviews of the band's many albums, the common theme is that this is a band that has been getting better and better with time and age. I can't yet speak to that since I haven't listened to their back catalog of 14 albums that span 34 years going back to 1989. What I can say is that their 15th album, Coney Island Kid, is absolutely fantastic. 

Fusing pop, prog, indie and psychedelic rock, into a swirling kaleidoscope of curious and slightly idiosyncratic music, The Mommheads have similar underpinnings to XTC and Motorpycho (especially 2020's The All Is One). I was drawn into Coney Island Kid right from the ambient synth opening of title track which uses Coney Island as a backdrop to convey 'themes of desperation and soul-searching'. Honestly, it's been a minute since I was this intrigued with a band or album. 

BRUNO MAJOR, COLUMBO

There once was an old ivory white 1981 Mercedes Benz 280sl named Columbo. Columbo was named after the 70's TV character. The car and character's trench coat were the same color. Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Bruno Major loved Columbo...the car. 

After being locked down at his parents house in Northampton, England during COVID, where he felt starved of life and experience, Major hopped a plane to LA. There he would drive around in Columbo. The car became a symbol of his renewed autonomy, being able to go wherever he wanted to go and do what he wanted to do once more. In an interview, Major said that this was the most prolific period of writing in his life with songs exploded out of him. Those songs became his third album, Columbo.

Columbo the character was eventually retired. Columbo the car met a different ending in a car crash. While major may have have lost Columbo, he found a new place of creativity from those drives in his 'nuts and bolts' traveling partner. And it has produced Major's best album to date, so it's fitting that he would sing fondly of Columbo on its title track and of a time when they can ride together again.

"Columbo, Columbo, I'll see you on the other side. We'll go for a sunset ride. You wait, someday, we’ll drive the world away. On the Pacific Coast Highway"