Porcupin Tree

See for Miles' Fever Tree/Another Time, Another Place combines Fever Tree's first two (and best) albums on one compact disc. While this is certainly of interest to collectors of '60s psychedelia, most listeners will be satisfied with one of the group's hits collections.

Equal parts retrospective, autobiography, and objet d'art, Björk's Family Tree gives fans a very special glimpse at the creative processes behind her work, collecting two decades' worth of her music and words in a unique, lavishly packaged set. A white paper sleeve embossed with work by Icelandic artist Gabriela Fridriksdottir holds a translucent, petal-pink plastic case containing five 3" discs of "Roots," "Beats," and "Strings"; a collection of Björk's favorite songs from her albums; "Words," a booklet of selected lyrics; and an essay by Björk explaining the genesis of this set, which manages to use phrases like "taxonomic structure" and "a new Icelandic modern musical language" without sounding too ambitiously academic…

Though Porcupine Tree's permanent lineup was in place by the time Sky Moves Sideways was complete, it was actually a combination of old and new, with a number of tracks once again done by Wilson on his own. Regardless of the provenance of one song or another, though, it was another fine release under the Porcupine Tree name, continuing the excellence of Up the Downstair while achieving a new liquid sense of drama and overall flow…

Using the textured sonics of The Unforgettable Fire as a basis, U2 expanded those innovations by scaling back the songs to a personal setting and adding a grittier attack for its follow-up, The Joshua Tree. It's a move that returns them to the sweeping, anthemic rock of War, but if War was an exploding political bomb, The Joshua Tree is a journey through its aftermath, trying to find sense and hope in the desperation…

The Winter Tree is the new moniker for the American outfit formerly known as Magus. Both are the main creative vehicle for composer/musician Andrew Laitres, and his latest collaborators Deb Bond (keyboards) and Mark Bond (vocals and guitars). Magus dates back to the mid 1980s and has many full length releases, but in 2010 Andrew changed the name to The Winter Tree after a song from one of his favorite bands, Renaissance. The self-titled debut album was released in 2011. Soft symphonic art rock with nods in the direction of folk music is what The Winter Tree explores on their debut album, music pastoral in spirit and expression, emphasizing gentle moods and careful melodies in a manner that should appeal well beyond the art rock universe…

On October 4th 2007, Orlando was given a very special treat. Porcupine Tree showed up for an in store performance and signing session at Park Avenue CDs. It had been planned originally for the whole band to perform, but due to the space limitations only Steven Wilson and John Wesley took the stage…

This concert was filmed over two nights at the 013 in Tilburg, Holland in October 2008…

Nick Cave is an artist who has never shied away from exploring the darker side of the human experience, often in broadly gothic strokes on his early albums but with a growing degree of nuance and compassion as Cave and his work matured. But a very real and deeply painful tragedy was visited on Cave while he was working on his 16th solo album, Skeleton Tree. His 15-year-old son Arthur Cave died when he fell from a cliff in July 2015, and while the writing and recording was already underway when the youngster suffered his accident, the grief and pain of loss Cave felt is palpable throughout this album. Skeleton Tree is relatively modest in scale – it runs just 40 minutes, the cover artwork is minimal, and the music lacks the dramatic, grand-scale arrangements of Cave's albums of the 21st century.