Caught In The Whirlwind
Posts tagged porcupine tree
Vox Hunt: Best of 2007
01693 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
Show us which album tops your best of 2007 list so far.
There was a TON of good music released this year, but for me…so far…Fear of a Blank Planet is my album of the year.
Random Dump O' Stuff
01721 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
I'm still alive! Honest!
I just really haven't had much to talk about since the state fair. Or much that I'd like to throw up on the internet anyway. There have been a few things going on but nothing that I could make a full post out of, but now that there's enough collected random stuff…
- I got sunburned at the state fair, just below my eyes. That was annoying. I guess I forgot to put sunscreen there.
- I've determined my Dad should purchase all concert tickets for me from here on out. First 2nd row at the Porcupine Tree show, now we've got 4th row center seats to see the Blue Man Group in October, a week or two after seeing Porcupine Tree. Next up, Trans Siberian Orchestra tomorrow.
- Apple is going to be releasing new iPods today based on popular speculation. Several of my friends are on strict orders to knock me unconscious if I even imply that I'm putting my credit card into any web forms.
- My apartment has a new green screen door and will be receiving a brand new front door at some point in the future. Also green.
- My software engineering professor is really hard to understand, and he says "ummmm…ah….errrrrr…" every 2-5 words.
- I met up with a friend from my high school who was also taking software engineering. Which is handy because the course requires group work.
- I'm currently in the process of eBaying the more expensive cards in my Magic:The Gathering collection. I used to be big into it but they've sat in a closet for a couple years and I figure I should sell them before people stop playing the game. Looking back at my last 31 days of eBay history, I've sold $768.53 total worth of magic cards so far, bringing me to the realization that I spent wayyyy too much money on that hobby.
- My Belkin iPod car adapter (charger + line out) has been on it's last legs for a while after the casing got broken on the dock connector part, leaving just the bare connector and the wires. Yesterday wires started falling off, until finally, it killed the sound, so I need to get a replacement at some point.
- Another one of my Zebra Danio's vanished. This time it wasn't in the filter. I have no idea what happened to this one. Vanished like ol' one eye.
And there we go. Random facts related. Now to tag that mess…
4 Days!!!
01741 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
As of the writing of this sentence, there's only 4 days, 11 hours and 19 minutes until the Dream Theater concert in Buffalo.
I'm starting to get within the excitement threshold of seeing possibly my favorite band play live again, even if it is with two openers this time. That's also combined with the fact that I got a 4 day weekend out of it. Well, really 4 and a half because of the fact that I have a company picnic to attend friday afternoon which, to me really doesn't count as "work" exactly. Hey, at least it's outdoors.
Another bit of concert news…I just realized that our second row seats at the Porcupine Tree show (63 days, 11 hrs, 59 mins…) are actually front row. Let me explain…we're sitting in the orchestra pit right below the stage which is oval shaped. We're sitting on the edge of the pit, which, due to the oval shape of the pit itself…we're like…right up next to the stage.
Oh, and other concert news! Trans-Siberian Orchestra just announced their tour dates. Hopefully I'll be able to go see them January 4th. It's a little after when I would normally like to see them perform, but…it's good enough for me to see that awesome stage show again.
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All Tickets, All The Time
01761 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
I have a couple of things here related to concert tickets. One good, one bad. First up…the bad.
The Dream Theater tickets I was holding on to for the August 20th show had a bit of an accident. They got a tad bit wet and stuck together, kinda ripping slightly and obscuring some of the ticket information. I noticed yesterday morning and was in almost a near panic because of it (since one of the tickets isn't mine). I called up the venue though and described the damage and they said it should be fine, and if it isn't we could visit the box office and they would straighten things out for us. Looking at the tickets now, the damage isn't that bad. You can still see all the relevant information on both tickets…just not in all the spots it was printed 
Second story, the good. The tickets went on sale for the October 18th Porcupine Tree show at The Egg in Albany. Second row. Woo! First time I've ever been in the first couple rows. I've been 8th row before, but second row is something else.
QotD: My Current Top 10
01805 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
What are your top 10 most-played songs currently?
Over the last few weeks, I'd have to say that most of my most-played songs are going to be Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree.
In fact, according to my last.fm profile, my most played tracks from last week were the 9 tracks from Systematic Chaos, plus Porcupine Tree's Anesthetize from Fear of a Blank Planet.
Probably not really a huge surprise or anything. I'll do the top songs from two weeks ago too, if you're interested in hearing about a week that wasn't mared by an album release.
- Dream Theater – Constant Motion
- Dream Theater – The Spirit Carries On
- Dream Theater – Home
- Barenaked Ladies – Falling For The First Time
- James LaBrie – Pretender
- OSI – Sure You Will
- Iron Maiden – Hallowed Be Thy Name
- Live – I Alone
- Rush – Witch Hunt
- Porcupine Tree – The Sound of Muzak
Vox Hunt: So Far, So Good
01826 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
Audio: Show us the best album (new or old) that you've bought this year.
Easy.
The new Dream Theater is coming out in 13 days though…so…this one may be in for a fight.
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Influence Is A Two Way Street
01832 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
Last night was an important night in my development as a civilized member of society, for two reasons:
- I had my first root beer float.
- I learned how to (reliably) snap my fingers.
These two events are the latest in a long line of developments, organized by my friends, which are correcting certain oversights which they deem to be unbelievable. Next up on the list, I believe, is blowing bubbles with gum.
As you might have guessed, I went over to my friends place last night for dinner and to watch some Chobits anime stuff that I got from Netflix earlier. In the process there were root beer floats and, um…snapping lessons.
I also got to pay Wassy back for her horrible influencing of me over the years by influencing HER. Hah! Two nights ago
when we were scouring the area for fish, I was playing Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet. She told me that she actually liked it, which is probably one of the first times I've had something playing and somebody said "hey…that's pretty good!" I brought over a couple of CDs last night for her to borrow to give her more of a taste for their music. She apparently hates me now because I'm not supposed to be able to influence her back. Last I heard, she was finishing up Deadwing and…wait a second…this just in. I'm a "jerk" and she left 5 minutes early for work so she could listen to it for a little longer.
BWAHAHA! Mission accomplished
I also picked up my new glasses on my way over to their place. It's sooo nice to be able to see now.
Fear of a Blank Planet
01838 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
Much to my surprise, I signed onto the Mike Portnoy Forum earlier this week only to be greeted by a discussion of the new Porcupine Tree album, Fear Of A Blank Planet. I hadn't realized it was coming out, so I rushed over to Best Buy and nabbed it.
I'm a fairly large Porcupine Tree fan and Steven Wilson (the man behind the band's production, writing, lead guitar and vocals) is one of my favorite people in music right now. It seems like everything he touches turns to gold. Very talented.
The reason I love Porcupine Tree is that nothing else really quite sounds like them. They can be heavy one minute with rocking guitar riffs and then suddenly turn very…strange and sound scape-y, or veer more towards pop or…It's very, very strange. Usually when I try to explain PT to people who haven't heard them before, I break down and end up saying something to the effect of "Porcupine Tree is, like, um…er…well, they're like Porcupine Tree!"
And the tradition continues here with the follow up to their awesome Deadwing. The CD begins with the title track, which sounds very standard Porcupine Tree, more towards the heavy side. Honestly, I haven't really gotten into this track. It sounds way too busy for my tastes and the vocal effects make it a little hard to understand the lyrics at times.
The second track, My Ashes is a much more mellow song, providing a nice break from the title track's busyness. I really liked this song a lot, probably because of my current musical mood, which is tending towards less heavy and more melodic/open songs.
The third track is Anesthetize, the 17 minute epic which has to be my favorite track on the album by far. Alex Lifeson from Rush guests on this track's guitar solo which leads into a VERY experimental and weird sounding section about 5 minutes in which ramps up into a quick tempoed, groove oriented section that continues until towards the very end of the song. I LOVE this part. This one song would have been enough for me to buy the CD alone.
Sentimental the 4th song is more along the lines of My Ashes, but with more strange effects on the drums giving the opening an odd feeling. This feels a lot like something that would fit right in on their Stupid Dream album, which isn't a bad thing by any means.
Way Out of Here highlights for me how much I enjoy listening to Gavin Harrison's drumming. He keeps it very groove oriented, but still with a lot of extra room to play around and make things interesting. He very rarely plays a straight ahead pattern. The middle of the song turns…odd and then suddenly drops from a sort of haunting guitar line into a really heavy riff. It's a song of contrasts really the entire way through.
Sleep Together starts off electronicaish sounding and stays that way through the entire song with a lot of synth effects with the guitars only kicking in during the chorus.
Overall, I like the album, but I don't think it beats out Deadwing as my favorite from Porcupine Tree. It's definitely going to be on heavy rotation in my car for quite some time to come.
QotD: Strange Little Songs
01882 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
What are the weirdest song titles in your playlist or music collection?
Submitted by Charline.
I listen to a lot of progressive rock type stuff which, by definition, can have some crazy song titles.
The first one that comes to mind is Spock's Beard's epic off of their Feel Euphoria album, A Guy Named Sid. As you might guess, this song is a story about…a guy. Named Sid. Spock's Beard also has, on an early cd Snow two songs named Freak Boy, and Freak Boy: Part 2.
Porcupine Tree is also a good source of odd song names. Baby Dream in Cellophane, for example.
James LaBrie's Millmuzzler project has Beelzebubba which is a really weird song to go along with it's title. Speaking of solo projects, Jordan Rudess' latest solo CD has a couple of gems on it. Bar Hopping With Mr. Picky and Insectsamongus specifically.
And who can forget, the Arrogant Worms' I Am Cow.
I could keep on going…but I don't really feel like looking through my entire music collection this morning.
QotD: Today’s Top 5
0Books, movies, music; what’s in your top 5 right now?
- Porcupine Tree – Stupid Dream I just bought the remastered version of this off of amazon. The one with the DVD-A of the album included. Really nice, but kinda weird in that Porcupine Tree way. If you’re into progressive type stuff and haven’t checked them out, you should.
Steven Wilson does some of the best audio mixes out there. Everything he touches ends up being great it seems.
- The Dragon Reborn by Robert JordanBook 3 in the Wheel of Time series. I’m really digging this book so far. Like I’ve mentioned on previous occasions, I’m not sure why I didn’t read these before I did, but now I’m making up for lost time. From what I hear the series is best in the beginning and then kinda drags out a bit, but we’ll see…
- Walk The Line (DVD)I watched this last night after renting it from Netflix. Johnny Cash was an amazing man, and this movie lived up to his reputation. I had no idea about what he went through in his life and it made me respect him a lot more after watching it. The movie was incredibly well done, great script, awesome actors. I highly recommend it.
- Final Fantasy IV AdvanceOne of the classic RPGs of all time remade for the Gameboy Advance (and by definition, my DS as well) I think I’m almost done with it. It’s been a fun, classic-like ride so far
I can’t think of a number 5 right now though, maybe I’ll come up with something later
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