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Porcupine Tree — Staircase Infinities
(Blueprint BP 217 CD, 1995, CD)

by Dan Casey, Published 1998-07-01

Staircase Infinities Cover art

According to the liner notes, this CD EP is a companion release to the Tree's second album, Up the Downstair, and contains further music taken from the same recording sessions in 1992-93. While that may be true, there is quite a difference between this and the aforementioned album. Remixed and issued by Delerium (the Tree's mother label) in 1995, this disc is now again available domestically via Blueprint. The first track is the spacey "Cloud Zero," which contains some very hip and jazzy Strat soloing over an agile percussion groove and rich organic keyboard soundscapes. The second tune is the only vocal number, "The Joke's On You," with half-whispered verses and an upper-range melodic chorus. The EP continues to space out from there with the half-ambient half-ethnic "Navigator" and more aggressive guitar soloing from master Steve Wilson. Two more instrumentals follow, the closer being the well-known (among fans) "Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape" with its accelerating groove and soaring guitar work. Overall this EP is fairly mellow, but it hangs together remarkably well. This was really the big turning point for Porcupine Tree, as the band really developed a much more rich and full sound with these songs. In fact, this EP in and of itself goes above and beyond the first two full-length albums. If you are already a fan, this is a must-have. If you are new to Porcupine Tree, this is a great place to start and work yourself forward from.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 15, 1995 releases

Related artist(s): Porcupine Tree, Richard Barbieri, Steven Wilson / I.E.M.

More info
http://kscopemusic.bandcamp.com/album/staircase-infinities-2020-remaster

 

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