{"id":12075,"date":"2017-01-18T05:30:12","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T10:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=12075"},"modified":"2016-12-07T14:38:19","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T19:38:19","slug":"steven-wilson-hand-can-remix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/18\/steven-wilson-hand-can-remix\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Wilson: Hand. Can. Remix."},"content":{"rendered":"

Steven Wilson<\/strong><\/a> came to fame via Porcupine Tree<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 one of his many group projects \u2013 and his name has become synonymous with current-day progressive rock. In addition to a highly successful solo career \u2013 2015’s Hand. Cannot. Erase.<\/i> is his fourth and arguably best album \u2013 Wilson has made a name for himself through his work remixing classic rock albums. He has applied his skills to key works from the catalogs of King Crimson<\/a><\/strong>, Jethro Tull<\/strong><\/a>, Yes<\/strong><\/a>, Gentle Giant<\/strong><\/a>, ELP<\/strong><\/a>, Caravan<\/strong> <\/a>and others. As a product of his multifaceted career, Wilson has built a fan base that extends across multiple generations of music fans: younger listeners explore his current work and deep back catalog, while older listeners enjoy the fruits of his labors as applied to The Yes Album<\/i>, or King Crimson’s influential Red<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest,\u201d Wilson says, \u201cI’ve kind of stopped doing that.\u201d And he has a carefully reasoned explanation. \u201cThere was a point at which I could have easily spent my whole life doing remixes of classic albums,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI’m very grateful for the fact that there was no shortage of offers coming in, but the priority for me has to be my own music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"steven_wilson_mirror\"<\/p>\n

He allows that some of the titles he’s remixed haven’t been reissued yet, mentioning albums from Chicago<\/strong> and acts associated with the 1980s: XTC<\/strong><\/a> and Tears for Fears<\/strong>. \u201cThe Tears for Fears ones are beautifully recorded albums,\u201d he says, \u201cso the reason to do those is to create the Surround-sound element of the reissues. But there have<\/i> been albums I’ve remixed that I’ve felt I could perhaps fix things that were perhaps slightly compromised in the original mixes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most well-known album in that latter category is XTC’s 1986 album Skylarking<\/i>. That record was originally produced by Todd Rundgren<\/strong><\/a>, an artist\/producer whose body of work is \u2013 like Wilson’s own \u2013 unique, varied and vast. But XTC leader Andy Partridge<\/strong><\/a> was famously dissatisfied with Todd’s work on that LP, and was happy for Wilson to take a crack \u2013 30 years later \u2013 at getting it \u201cright.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson does his best to remain diplomatic about any problems associated with the original Skylarking<\/i>. \u201cApparently there were problems with tape recorders that weren’t set up correctly,\u201d he says. \u201cSo it’s nice to be able to fix those things, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n