OFF: Fear of a Blank Planet

[Jonathan Jarrett]

On Wed, Jun 06, 2007 at 05:17:24PM -0500, mike coleman typed out:
> >*I totally agree.....I seem to remember reading reviews about Stupid Dream
> >five years ago (almost)?? being too commercial, etc...in fact I _THINK_ it
> >was Jon Jarrett (which is a tribute of sorts to you , Jon,  if correct, 
> >that I remember)  but for me, I think Stupid Dream is my favorite*

	I probably did say that when it came out, and it's certainly 
what I thought then--I'd got the self-titled by arch British popsters 
Blur at the same time and was disheartened, in a way, to find it about 
five times more psychedelic than the gloomy lumbering prog of _Stupid 
Dream_ and five times more interesting tune-wise than the various 
soundalike SW mopey popsongs. By now I've slightly changed my tune, 
though. (The Blur album is still great, though, and don't let anyone 
tell you different.)

	This is mainly because I think _Lightbulb Sun_ is even more 
commercial, but also considerably better; it's as if SW decided that he 
would remake _Stupid Dream_ but this time with the concentration to get 
the best out of it. So you have `Piano Lessons' converted into `How Is 
Your Life', the other singles all drowned in the breakdown of `Last 
Chance to Leave Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled' or `Where We 
Would Be' and the godawful `Stop Swimming' buried under `Russia on Ice'. 
The title track's the only one I don't particularly go for.

	I think they did the same thing again with _Deadwing_, FWIW, to 
me _Deadwing_ is very much _In Absentia_ again with slightly better 
material. It's as if the big changes of direction take more time for the 
band to get used to these days, which is probably fair enough when it is 
in fact a band these days and not just SW sitting in his parents' 
basement cackling over 35-minute Floydian soundscapes.

> *  I tend to be very forgiving of artists, especially of Steven's caliber,
> because he is so great it is just mindblowing, and if he never did another
> thing I'd never forget*

	The last PT gig I went was years ago now, and they did two sets, 
the first of which reminded me of exactly that feeling, and the second 
of which was a kind of _Stupid Dream_ singles hour, for a lot of which 
the band weren't joining in, and made me want to go home early.

> *Good god am I glad I still have all my original PT CD's.......it looks to
> me like he's not only razor-clever with the music but with the marketing as
> well.......it looks downright DANGEROUS to collect them.....you'd need to
> buy each album in about 6 different versions right???*

	In the wise words of Gary Oldman's character in _Leon_, "That's 
why I stopped!"

> *I have only played the new one about 3 times and indeed it may still impact
> me, not concerned though....I'll pick up anything by those geniuses so long
> as I can afford*

	I will have to get this one eventually but as with TMTYF I'm not 
rushing it. Come to that there's a new Clutch out I haven't got yet--who 
am I fussed about, these days? Can it really be only Litmus? I may need 
some new bands.

> *Is the Radioactive Toy promo CD single one of the collecters bombs???  I
> had 2, but at least "F*ckhead"  Eric Johnson (who _is_ lucky I have not
> removed his limbs, I'm still debating) left me one*

	I believe that one is one to hang on to, yes :-)

> *did the mystery of the name Porcupine Tree ever get "solved"???*

	Dunno about `solved', but it was one of the names from a spoof 
psychedelic sixties pastiche band that only existed in fictional form 
until SW began making the music for it. Why he picked that one and what 
it was supposed to mean, if anything, I bet even he doesn't remember... 
Yours,
	Jon (alive, but still moving too fast to disembark from his 
timewarp in safety)
-- 
"When fortune wanes, of what assistance are quantities of elephants?"
	    (Juvaini, Afghan Muslim chronicler, c. 1206)
 Jon Jarrett, Fitzwilliam Museum, jjarrett at chiark.greenend.org.uk