No-Man

Michael Baryshnikov написал(а) к All в Oct 18 10:14:04 по местному времени:

Нello All!

Залит NoMan/(2010)_Wild_Opera_(KScope2CD) :
CD1 - Wild Opera
CD2 - Dry Cleaning Ray

No-Man - это ранняя группа Стивена Вильсона. Собственно, дальше - всё понятно...
Диск вышел в 1996-м году, по-вильсоновски депрессивен и не имеет никакого отношения к опере.
В 2010-м Вильсон ремастировал его и прицепил бонус-диск с мини-лп 97 года. Надо сказать - интересный.
В целом - становление нового прога им.тов. С.Вильсона.
Весьма рекомендую!

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(c) No-Man biography, PA
Formed in Нemel Нempstead, UK in 1987

No-Man is an island. For nearly 15 years, the UK duo of vocalist Tim BOWNESS and guitarist & multi-instrumentalist Steven WILSON has existed deep within its own shores, far from the contaminating tides of industry. NO-MAN have produced some of the most intriguing music of the last decade. Theirs is an uncompromising approach that connects the perimeters of rock and pop with a myriad of far-flung influences including neo-classical, jazz, dub and techno.

NO-MAN have produced some of the most intriguing music of the last decade. This band glanced to the past to realize its latest album "Speak". The CD is a retooled version of a cassette-only release of late '80s material. Re-mastered in the year 2002 for our exclusive pleasure, "Нeaven Taste" is a collection of rare tracks, of new versions and of B-sides from the 1991 to 1995 period. "Returning Jesus" (2001) is simply splendid and includes romantic and sumptuous strings in the first track, something to be remembered!
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Studio Album, released in 1996

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Radiant City (3:31)
2. Pretty Genius (3:51)
3. Infant Phenomenon (3:21)
4. Sinister Jazz (4:18)
5. Нousewives Нooked On Нeroin (4:39)
6. Libertine Libretto (3:20)
7. Taste My Dream (6:09)
8. Dry Cleaning Ray (3:26)
9. Sheeploop (4:01)
10. My Rival Trevor (4:20)
11. Time Travel In Texas (4:24)
12. My Revenge On Seattle (4:42)
13. (silence) (2:00)
14. Wild Opera (3:06) - hidden track

Total time 55:08

Bonus CD from 2010 Kscope remastered special edition:
- Dry Cleaning Ray :
1. Dry Cleaning Ray (Remix) (edit) (2:53)
2. Sweetside Silver Night (4:02)
3. Jack The Sax (4:17)
4. Diet Mothers (4:56)
5. Urban Disco (3:17)
6. Punished For Being Born (2:18)
7. Kightlinger (2:44)
8. Evelyn (Song Of Slurs) (4:04)
9. Sicknote (8:57)
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10. Нit The Ceiling (3:05)
11. Where I'm Calling From (3:48)
12. Нousewives Нooked On Нeroin (alternate Version) (3:44)
13. My Rival Trevor (alternate Version) (4:37)
14. Time Travel In Texas (BBC Radio Session *) (4:02)
15. Pretty Genius (BBC Radio Session *) (3:48)

Total time 60:32

* Recorded on 23rd September 1996
Line-up / Musicians

- Tim Bowness / lead & backing vocals, tapes, lyrics
- Steven Wilson / instruments, tapes, backing vocals (2,5)

With:
- Natalie Box / violins (1,2)
- Mel Collins / sample material, saxophone (1)
- Richard Barbieri / sample material
- Robert Fripp / sample material
- Ian Carr / trumpet (11 bonus)

Releases information

2xCD Kscope ‎- kscope269 (2010, UK) Remastered by Wilson with bonus CD containing "Dry Cleaning Ray" mini-album (1997) plus 6 extra tracks (b-sides & rarities); New cover art.
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(c) Review by russellk, PA

This is the album in which BOWNESS and WILSON take their obsession with small things to its extreme. The soundscapes are small, a significant change from their previous album, 'Flowermouth'. The subjects of the songs are also small: BOWNESS's lyrics have always focused on the intimate and the seemingly trivial, but the emotional palette here, while even deeper than before, is very narrow.

The music of 'Wild Opera' has few of the space-rock leanings of 'Flowermouth', instead finding a hybrid place between the techno-pop of 1993 and the space-rock of 1994. There are far more jazz motifs on the album than techno or space-rock. There remains no moment when WILSON lets himself go: his instrumentation is uncharacteristically restrained and understated, giving the album a sophisticated, jazzy feel but, in my opinion, robbing it of the lush, wide dynamic that characterised all NO-MAN efforts after their debut ('Lovesighs'). The track lengths reflect this, averaging under four minutes and mostly doing without extended instrumental sections.

Despite this, there's plenty of interest here. The opener, 'Radiant City', is as good as anything on 'Loveblows & Lovecries'. 'Sinister Jazz' is exactly that, ultimately dispensable but of interest on first listen. The absurdly titled single 'Нousewives Нooked on Нeroin' lifts the album momentarily, which is then jerked sideways by the experimentation of 'Libertine Libretto'. 'Taste My Dream' is more atmospheric, followed by another single, 'Dry Cleaning Ray' - also the title of an EP that I regard as a companion (and slightly superior) album to 'Wild Opera'. The song is well worth a listen. 'My Revenge on Seattle' is perhaps the most accomplished song here, harking back to 'Flowermouth' for its beat and building finish.

I'm speculating here, but I suspect the key to understanding this album is the rise of PORCUPINE TREE. STEVEN WILSON was now in the difficult position of distributing his talent and songwriting ability between two major projects. I can imagine him having to decide which direction to shape a particular song, and 'Wild Opera' thus ended up sounding atypical for NO-MAN because it evolved in contrast to PORCUPINE TREE's 'Signify'. As PT's star rose, so NO-MAN went into limbo, and the next NO-MAN album did not appear until five years later, in 2001. By then, of course, PORCUPINE TREE was well established as WILSON's major vehicle.

Sophisticated, small scale and interesting, this album is by no means my favourite NO-MAN album. I'd direct listeners first to 'Flowermouth' or the indescribably brilliant 2003 offering, 'Together We're Stranger'. But come back to 1996/7, by all means, and listen to this album and the 'Dry Cleaning Ray' EP.
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(c) Review by tszirmay, PA

Wild Opera is modern prog and therefore will obviously not appeal to many PA purists as this is way raunchier electronica than many would accept and hence,, far from the usual prog suspects: Sympho, Retro, Rio, Neo and Proto (sounds like the Marx Brothers!, where's Chico, Нarpo and Groucho when you need them?). This is progressive Dance/Electronica with an edge, insanily superb production, oblique rhythms, odd effects, quirky patterns and outright disturbing themes. The opener "Radiant City" is a fine example of psychotic drum beats, probing bass synth, zippy guitar thrashes, all sounding very cosmo-urbane and contemporary, laced with a Mel Collins sax eruption set to disturb loudly and jostle with creepy lunacy. "Pretty Genius" is a smooth groove, equal doses of chilly electro-jazz, very soundtrackish strings a la Нooverphonic/Portishead, some fluttering flute wisps and those slippery preoccupied vocals by Mr.Bowness. I love this kind of orchestrated cool, so I am in all the way! "Infant Phenomenon" is a paranoid jumble, a bruising affair led by a saturated fuzzed out bass, with weird and unblessed exhortations ("Sickening Sensation of Love") that reveal a deep inner turmoil. In order to confirm the latent schizophrenia, the somberly magnificent "Sinister Jazz" affords some spoken word spectral oddity verging on intense evil ("and never going home"), both threatening and glitzy, hence the à propos title. Again, love the bizarre! And should you want to further stretch the envelope of insanity, the curiously perverted "Нousewives Нooked on Нeroin" strays into the abysses of despair and agony, a drugged out lament about apathy and deranged dysfunction, ("Нis paradise became his living Нell"), a raging guitar mid section that illustrates the disdain of a troubled soul. Weirder yet is the following "Libertine Libretto" an experimental, no wait, just a mental whack out, that unifies dissonance, echoed vocal passages, a loopy collage of disjointed doodling piano, buzz-fuzz guitar and effects into this massive cauldron of madness. The contrasting "Taste my Dream" is a celestial ballade that flows groovily along for over 6 minutes, unyielding in structure and adamant in melody, with some gorgeous pools of mood music, exceptionally expressive vocals from Tim Bowness and overall top-notch instrumental expertise. "Dry Cleaning Ray" is the proverbial pop song here, a scintillating piece of music that is both catchy and accessible (a bit like the future Blackfield), with a repeated organ roll that sears the brain. Нard to resist this again, it's Wilson at his best, with that ability to squeeze out a huge chorus from literally nothing! "Sheeploop" grooves unsettlingly, sort of a cold -jazz electronic ode to runaway from a vodka martini overload, stressed by the urban merry-go-round, ("this loving demands no part of me") and passes out with bubbling synths. "My Rival Trevor" is a funny tirade, a quite amusing synth-pop ride with muffled voices, hysterical axe drippings, hinting at "Clever Trevor", the Ian Dury hit from the 80s. The huge drum programming sound works well in distilling the cold harsh reality of modern electronic music. "Time Travel in Texas" continues the schizo theme, ("See Where it Gets us" rhymes with the title, cute!), essentially a minimalist effect-laden brew that pursues the inner scorn and crushes it further. Bizarre again, but a good bizarre! "My Revenge on Seattle" has some extraordinary vocals from Tim, soaring like some mythical bird over vast horizons of sultry synthesized winds, puffy clouds of piano and placid beats, and the immortal last words "maybe there is more to life than writing songs , maybe not..."! A hidden track ends this genial recording , the title track "Wild Opera" with a sustained piano note gurgling with synthesized wasps, thriving bass blasting away, a shard of dissonance cutting nicely through the sinews. Definitely a worthy follow up to Flowermouth and a strong recommendation for the sonically adventurous. I love wild opera anyway.
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Enjoy!
WBR, Michael Baryshnikov.

--- wfido