Tag: prog

Show Review: Steven Wilson at The Wiltern 05/12/18

This band plays it To The Bone

Steven Wilson (Wiltern)-5 Steven Wilson is easily one of the most prolific recording artists of the last couple of decades. At the same time he was the main creative force behind Porcupine Tree, he also managed a number of side projects like Blackfield, No-Man, and Storm Corrosion, as well as remixing numerous classics by Yes, King Crimson, XTC, and others. After Porcupine Tree was put on an indefinite hiatus—there is still yet to be any official “end” of the band—Wilson’s solo career has flourished even further, defying genre expectations of the “progressive rock” scene in favor of creating honest artistic expression. His latest work, To The Bone, continues to push forward towards the art of “pop” even further than his last release, while still maintaining a melancholic edge that has been a theme of his work for quite some time. The North American leg of the To The Bone tour is coming to an end and I caught his Los Angeles performance at the historic Wiltern in Korea Town.

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The Leaky Faucet: Dredg – The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion

I hope Dredg aren't trying to say that they "mailed it in."
I hope Dredg aren't trying to say that they "mailed it in."

Retail Release Date:  June 9, 2009

Leaky Faucet Acquisition Date:  May 6, 2009

Dredg really never had a shot on the major labels.  They’re a prog rock band, first and foremost.  This is, of course, why I like them.  For their last album, Catch Without Arms, they teamed up with a big name producer (Terry Date) and had songwriting help from Queensyche’s Chris Degarmo.  That’s a high powered team, and the album that came out of it had a lot of polish and shine, but also lacked some of the musical innovation found on the band’s older releases.  In a lot of ways, it made their earlier albums sound like demos.

So now Dredg is off of the major label, yet they’ve maintained the polished sound, but–and this is exciting–they’ve also thrown caution to the wind in a lot of ways.  No longer worried about trying to sound like the band the majors want them to sound like, they go back to the more experimental sounds of their earlier albums, Lietmotif and El Cielo.  And it’s almost a complete success. Continue reading “The Leaky Faucet: Dredg — The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion”