Steven Wilson - the hypocrite....
Jan 4, 2011 at 5:48 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 66

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From PT's website:
 
12/18/2010
PT App
PT are in the process of developing an official App for iPhone and iPad for release around Feb/March (and maybe later also for Android). It's heading towards being something quite unique, watch this space for more news soon...
 
 
Didn't Steven Wilson absolutely LOATHE the iPod?  Remember his childish rant and the 4 or 5 videos he took, showing different ways he was able to demolish an iPod?
 
What a hypocrite.  What a sell out.  Now he's endorsing iPhone apps. 
rolleyes.gif

 
Jan 4, 2011 at 5:58 PM Post #2 of 66
I don't care what Steven says as long as he keeps putting out amazing music, which he is.
 
Jan 4, 2011 at 7:37 PM Post #4 of 66
Eh, I love the direction PT have been moving in. The new albums work much better live so if you haven't seen PT live yet I suggest you do.
 
Although new Blackfield and a new solo album does have me excited.
 
Jan 4, 2011 at 7:55 PM Post #5 of 66
He's pathetic, desperate to pull of some hipster-alternative-I-don't-care-about-anyone show every change he gets. Or creates, if there's none at hand. I throw up a little in my mouth every time I hear his music. The guy redefines pretentiousness.
 
He has made some bloody good music though, shame about the vomit
 
Jan 4, 2011 at 8:08 PM Post #6 of 66


Quote:
Eh, I love the direction PT have been moving in. The new albums work much better live so if you haven't seen PT live yet I suggest you do.
 
Although new Blackfield and a new solo album does have me excited.


I've seen PT live several times, and have been listening to them since 1995.  But that has nothing to do with the fact that SW is a hypocrite.
 
Jan 4, 2011 at 8:10 PM Post #7 of 66


Quote:
He's pathetic, desperate to pull of some hipster-alternative-I-don't-care-about-anyone show every change he gets. Or creates, if there's none at hand. I throw up a little in my mouth every time I hear his music. The guy redefines pretentiousness.
 
He has made some bloody good music though, shame about the vomit


The best part about his stage performing is his finger-flashing-pseudo-gang-signs.  You gotta' love that. 
rolleyes.gif

 
Jan 4, 2011 at 11:10 PM Post #8 of 66
I used to feel let down when an artist whose music I admired turned out to be a bad person or did things that did not equate to the great works they produced. I now realise that this can be quite common, especially with very "talented" people. I think we need to learn to separate the artist from the art. Many talented people have a poor attitude towards many of their "fans" too. e.g. John Lennon, Frank Zappa, etc. Maybe they need this to forge ahead and create new works (the creative process), and not bask (stagnate?) in the adulation of the great unwashed masses. Personally, I think it is just best to enjoy the music and not dig too deep where you don't need to go.

Yes, I do like Steve Wilson's music - but I do see how he could come across as pretentious or hypocritical.
 
Jan 5, 2011 at 7:36 PM Post #9 of 66
Why don't we wait and see what the app actually does?
 
If anything it's a promotional tool, and eventually you have to accept the fact that people get information via technology these days.
 
Jan 5, 2011 at 9:40 PM Post #10 of 66


Quote:
Why don't we wait and see what the app actually does?
 
If anything it's a promotional tool, and eventually you have to accept the fact that people get information via technology these days.


It doesn't matter what it does.  The point is that he used to talk tons of smack about the iPod and convenient technology.
 
Jan 5, 2011 at 9:56 PM Post #11 of 66
IpodPJ beat me to it. You can't say "iPods ruined everything", only to bring out an apple-app. Makes you look like an a$$
@Murray l'art pour l'art is way behind us.
 
Jan 5, 2011 at 10:51 PM Post #13 of 66
You can also buy Porcupine Tree music on iTunes. If you keep up with him you know he seems to be trying to make money in a lot of ways. Re-releasing older albums. Several versions of limited editions and so on. Maybe his capitalistic tendencies have overcome his dislike of iPods and their associated stuff. I still really like their music though.
 
Jan 5, 2011 at 11:02 PM Post #14 of 66


Quote:
 
Didn't Steven Wilson absolutely LOATHE the iPod?  Remember his childish rant and the 4 or 5 videos he took, showing different ways he was able to demolish an iPod?
 
What a hypocrite.  What a sell out.  Now he's endorsing iPhone apps. 
rolleyes.gif


 
What's funny (ironic?) is that his complaints were about MP3 compression and how that destroys the music.  Yet his recordings sound like they've been run through an MP3 processing step during mastering.  The recordings lack the sense of space and spatial cues and wide soundstage that a recording is capable of.  The irony is that those are some of the same bad effects that happen with MP3 style compression.  So to my ears his lossless recordings sound lossy to me.
 
Compare the sound of Porcupine Tree to King Crimson (I think it is fair to compare the two).  The King Crimson albums sound spacious, have a wider soundstage, have sounds that intermingle with spatial cues and are what I consider to be better quality recordings.  The Porcupine Tree albums are claustrophobic in comparison.  That isn't to say the Porcupine Tree albums are poorly recorded.  The sound quality doesn't suck.  But it's nothing to brag about.  And if you're going to rant so publicly about MP3 compression destroying the music it is best to make sure you're not living in a glass house.
 
Listen to the 1996 release of Signify.  How could you release that and not know the sound quality was suffering.  Then the 2004 remaster of Signify.  OK, that's better but it got loudnessed in the process.  Pick your poison.  The 2004 version is better overall. But jeesh.  The guy needs to worry about his mastering before concerning himself with ranting about MP3 compression.
 
Jan 6, 2011 at 12:00 AM Post #15 of 66


Quote:
Quote:
 
Didn't Steven Wilson absolutely LOATHE the iPod?  Remember his childish rant and the 4 or 5 videos he took, showing different ways he was able to demolish an iPod?
 
What a hypocrite.  What a sell out.  Now he's endorsing iPhone apps. 
rolleyes.gif


 
What's funny (ironic?) is that his complaints were about MP3 compression and how that destroys the music.  Yet his recordings sound like they've been run through an MP3 processing step during mastering.  The recordings lack the sense of space and spatial cues and wide soundstage that a recording is capable of.  The irony is that those are some of the same bad effects that happen with MP3 style compression.  So to my ears his lossless recordings sound lossy to me.
 
Compare the sound of Porcupine Tree to King Crimson (I think it is fair to compare the two).  The King Crimson albums sound spacious, have a wider soundstage, have sounds that intermingle with spatial cues and are what I consider to be better quality recordings.  The Porcupine Tree albums are claustrophobic in comparison.  That isn't to say the Porcupine Tree albums are poorly recorded.  The sound quality doesn't suck.  But it's nothing to brag about.  And if you're going to rant so publicly about MP3 compression destroying the music it is best to make sure you're not living in a glass house.
 
Listen to the 1996 release of Signify.  How could you release that and not know the sound quality was suffering.  Then the 2004 remaster of Signify.  OK, that's better but it got loudnessed in the process.  Pick your poison.  The 2004 version is better overall. But jeesh.  The guy needs to worry about his mastering before concerning himself with ranting about MP3 compression.


Agreed.  The Incident has worse SQ than anything he's ever released.  Oddly enough, the SQ on his solo stuff (especially Cover Version I through VI), Insurgentes, and even some Blackfield (with the exception of a few tracks that distort) are better than most PT stuff.  The best SQ on PT albums was when he recorded in his home studio for Lightbulb Sun; the sessions for Stupid Dream and Recordings are also pretty good.  In Absentia and Deadwing weren't bad also.  FOABP wasn't great (neither was the music), but the B-sides album Nil Recurring was better.  The DVD-A versions are usually better though.  The Incident is just awful, and the DVD-A version of it might be even worse (I haven't decided completely, because I honestly hate listening to it.)
 

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