Insurgentes

Infobox Album
Name = Insurgentes
Type = studio
Artist = Steven Wilson


Released = November, 2008
Recorded = All over the world,
January — August 2008
Genre = Drone, Shoegazing, Industrial
Length =
Label =
Producer = Steven Wilson
Reviews =
Last album =
This album = "Insurgentes"
(2008)
Next album =

"Insurgentes" is the title of the first full-length solo album to be released by British musician and record producer Steven Wilson, most well-known for his frontman role in popular psychedelic/progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. This was recorded all over the world between January and August, 2008, album is due for release in November 2008 as a download and special deluxe multi disc mail order version, with retail release to follow in early 2009. Wilson describes the album as "the most experimental song-based music [he has] made." [http://www.innerviews.org/inner/noman2.html Innerviews: No-Man - Positive momentum] ] The album is named after the Avenida de los Insurgentes, the longest avenue in Mexico City, where part of the album was recorded.

History

Promotion and release

In July 16, 2008, a photograph showing Steven Wilson standing in the entrance of a stone temple with a cloudy sky background and the phrase "STEVEN WILSON - INSURGENTES ...COMING SOON..." appeared in the main page at Steven Wilson's official site.In August 6, a trailer video was posted to Steven Wilson and Lasse Hoile's respective MySpace pages [ [http://www.myspace.com/lassehoile Myspace.com - Lasse Hoile - DK - www.myspace.com/lassehoile] ] , and to Lasse Hoile's YouTube page; since August 8, also in the Wilson's webpage. Lasse Hoile is a long time collaborator of Steven Wilson, and is famous for his visual and video direction works with Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, Opeth, Dream Theater and more recently The Pineapple Thief. The trailer belongs to a documentary of the same name Hoile directed that will accompany the album.

In August 25, an "Insurgentes" microsite was set up at www.insurgentes.org, which is the official website for the album, from which people can pre-order the album as of October 6.

In September 28, a second trailer was released featuring a 3 and a half minute edit of a song called "Get What You Deserve" (the song, according to insurgentes.org, on the album is 6:15 in legnth). According to a post on "Steven Wilson Headquarters" website, six established musicians appear in this trailer. Mikael Åkerfeldt from Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, and Israeli famous rock musician, singer and songwriter Aviv Geffen are also amongst the featured artists. Rumours that King Crimson's guitarist Robert Fripp and ex-Opeth drummer Martin Lopez also appear were confirmed untrue.

The movie

The website now states that a documentary, filmed and directed by Lasse Hoile, based on the recording of the album shall be released in the spring of 2009. As the theme of the album continues where Porcupine Tree album "Fear of a Blank Planet" left —how the downloading culture harms the ability of the listener to concentrate in the concept of an album and to feel passion in discovering music—, Wilson is showed destroying iPods repeatedly during the film. The documentary film is based on the curiosity of the artist to travel around the world to find inspiration and create music.

In a 2007 interview with MTV, Wilson said to think that "Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations" seem to "distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there." [cite web | url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1555478/20070323/porcupine_tree.jhtml | title = MTV News | publisher=MTV.com | date=2007-03-23 | accessdate= 2007-03-23]

An 18 minute extract from the film will be included on the DVD which comes with the special edition of "Insurgentes".

Influences

Steven Wilson mentions post-punk shoe gazer music as a major influence for the album, citing bands like Joy Division and The Cure. He says the album is also very noise and drone-oriented.

Formats

The album will be issued as a double CD plus a DVD-A and a 4 x 10 inch vinyl version [ [http://tonefloatrecords.blogspot.com/ Crazy-diamond.nl/tonefloat] ] , both with hardback book. Both editions will only be available to order from the "Insurgentes" microsite. A standard retail CD version will be issued early in 2009.

The first CD includes the album itself, while the second CD consists of songs recorded during the same sessions but excluded from the album. The vinyl edition contains all songs from both CDs.

The DVD-A, included along with the CD edition, contains a 5.1 Surround Sound mix of the album, 24 bit stereo resolution, 18 minutes from Lasse Hoile film "Insurgentes" (currently in development) plus other video material.

The CD and vinyl editions are limited to 3,000 and 1,000 copies respectively.

External links

* [http://www.insurgentes.org/ "Insurgentes" microsite]
* [http://www.swhq.co.uk Steven Wilson Headquarters] - Steven Wilson's official website
* [http://www.theseaweedfarm.com/ The Seaweed Farm] - Steven Wilson related news
* [http://www.myspace.com/therealstevenwilson Steven Wilson's MySpace page]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krtkPF1OpOU Insurgentes trailer on YouTube]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KD7_uiVHVw Insurgentes trailer 2 on YouTube]
* [http://www.lassehoile.com Official Lasse Hoile Website]
* [http://myspace.com/lassehoile Lasse Hoile's Myspace Page]

References