If this is your first foray into this feature, welcome! I encourage you to go back and check out the previous entries. And by all means, enjoy the music from the past and the present. I’ve finally gotten wise enough to give older albums their year of release.

AN AFTERNOON WITH PORCUPINE TREE

I showed up at the Porcupine Tree party in around 2007, not long after they released Deadwing (2006). The album caught my interest because Adrian Belew (my personal hero) was making a few cameos on guitar. It was easy to pick out Adrian’s playing, but then I started actually listening to the band. And whooooaaaa NELLY they were good!!! Just like that, I had a new obsession.

Porcupine Tree’s follow-up album, Fear of a Blank Planet (2007), was every bit as good. Maybe even a smidge better. And of course I had to explore the back catalog, starting with In Absentia (2002).

I’m hard-pressed to think of a bad note being played on any of these records. They were on a roll until an album called The Incident (2009), which even band leader Steven Wilson deemed subpar. But after spending a few years focusing on his solo career (we’ll discuss my obsession with that catalog later), Steven brought the band back together and gave us Closure/Continuation (2022), which is rock solid.

I was able to attend the concert from this tour. If it’s the last we hear from this band, they went out with a bang.

MILES DAVIS, Tutu (1986). While my father (a jazz fanatic) talked about him all the time, this was the first record I ever consciously heard by the legendary Miles Davis. To my 19-year-old mind, this is what jazz was supposed to sound like. (It didn’t help that I was listening to more than a little instrumental R&B, aka “smooth jazz.”) Over the years, my mindset has shifted. First of all, jazz? Nah, not really. Secondly, it would’ve been more appropriate to credit this album as Marcus Miller featuring Miles Davis. After all, it was Miller who wrote all but one of the album’s tune (the other came from George Duke) and played almost all the instruments. For the most part, Miles basically played off what he heard Miller create when he came into the studio to overdub his parts. That’s a long way from jazz.

Does that make this a bad record? Not at all. But it is very much of its time. Live versions of this album’s tunes — featuring a full band — are a big step up. Miles wanted to be on the forefront of what was hip in the music world. He even won a Grammy for his efforts. But I don’t recall seeing a lot of kids walking around wearing Miles Davis t-shirts. So … mixed results, I guess.

By all means, give this record a go. Just know what you’re getting into.

KING CRIMSON, Sheltering Skies: Live in Fréjus, August 27 1982. My favorite incarnation of King Crimson playing one of my favorite shows on vinyl? Yes, please!

Fans might recognize this set as the source for the band’s home video The Noise. That doesn’t bother me in the least. The set is smokin’. One can tell that this band has been playing together long enough to know how to make this difficult music bend to its will. And it should be no surprise that “The Sheltering Sky” is my favorite track. I love it so much, I named my band after it. Also worth the price of admission is “Waiting Man.” This LP is worth the time and the money.

https://www.dgmlive.com/

KATE WAKEFIELD, Everything Goes Around and Around. As half of Cincinnati-based Lung, cellist and vocalist Kate Wakefield uses her top-tier talent to put hardcore, punk-like tunes with distortion to deliver raw and aggressive tunes that will peel the paint off the wall. This solo collection is quieter and more intimate. There deeply personal messages to be found amongst the beautiful multi-tracked vocals and instruments. I, for one, find the music rather therapeutic. Listen and see what it does for you.

https://katewakefield.bandcamp.com/album/everything-goes-around-and-around-download-only

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If you would like to have your music reviewed, please contact me at cirdecsongs@gmail.com