Can we all just take a minute and appreciate the work that this wizard has done? In my opinion, Richard is the most important part of Porcupine Tree's sound. Look at songs like Sleep Together, Buying New Soul or Dark Matter.. Would these masterpieces even be half as good without Mr Barbieri? Hell no.
The amount of shit that he has to do in live performances is crazy. He keeps the band going. The fact that he doesn't show off or insert 5 minute keyboard solo wankery into his songs (I'm looking at you Jordan Rudess) shows that he's a true musician, and a master of his craft.
I think we should take a moment to appreciate all of Richard's great work because this band sure wouldn't be the same without him.
To the mad scientist!
http://imgur.com/CyQg4ir
Hey everybody, hope everybody's week went well! Some of you may know that Richard dropped his third studio album today, titled "Planets + Persona". I was super excited for this release.
From the two tracks I've heard, Solar Sea and New Found Land, this is much more down my alley than Blackfield V, and I'm sure a ton of you will love it, so check it out! Unlike Richard's past works, from what I've heard so far this album features a lot of live instrumentation, mixing jazz, dance and electronica.
If you've listened to it, what are your thoughts?
On Sunday I'll update the sidebar with a new picture of Mr Barbieri from the album.
PS: The song New Found Land was written for PT after The Incident!
From Kscope's website:
"The Japan and Porcupine Tree keyboardist Richard Barbieri releases his most sonically expansive work to date, with a brand new album entitled Planets + Persona. It is the third Barbieri solo album, but the first to feature such a wide pallet of instrumentation. Vintage analogue synthesisers combine with acoustic performances and jazz elements. Twisted voices are always present, though not in a language we can recognise. Barbieri skilfully utilises the talents of a pan-European core of musicians to produce an album that marries synthesised sounds with organic instrumentation to conjure up vivid, colourful and allusive soundscapes. It’s a skillful commingling of texture and tone, mood and musicality.
Recorded in London, Italy and Sweden, this is Barbieri’s most ambitious solo work to date with a central theme of duality that runs through the album. The title alone – ‘Planets and Persona’ alludes to this, and the dialectic theme is a constant throughout the contrasting and shape-shifting sounds of the album. Take, for example, Night of the Hunter – inspired by Charles Laughton’s only directorial movie , the piece moves through subtle shifts of atmosphere and emphasis, through melodic, dream-like sequences through to harsher tones; it’s a piece that builds to a profound cumulative effect. Elsewhere, Solar Storm shifts gears artfully, with Percy Jones’ sometimes percussive bass work contrasting to the smoother synthesiser textures incisively. Barbieri’s purely solo Interstellar Medium shows that his ability to develop and realise a theme under his own auspices that underscores his innate creativity. It’s but one aspect of a thoroughly engrossing and immersive album."
Listen:
- album montage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx5bK
