Gavin Harrison, drummer for British prog innovator, Porcupine Tree, has announced a brand new solo album of re-imagined songs from the acclaimed Porcupine Tree repertoire, "Cheating the Polygraph," due out in North America on April 14 via Kscope (April 13 in the UK, April 17 in Germany, April 22 in Japan).
Gavin Harrison currently finds himself working with British progressive rock group, King Crimson. His playing and performing résumé includes stints with artists as varied as Iggy Pop, Lewis Taylor, Manfred Mannand Kevin Ayers.
"Cheating the Polygraph" is an ambitious project which sees the restlessly creative Harrison re-imagine eight Porcupine Tree songs in a set of vivid and vibrant new arrangements that give full, free rein to his inquiring musical mind.
The eight tracks which comprise the album were recorded over a five-year period, with Harrison working in conjunction with a crew of some of the finest contemporary musicians, including the gifted saxophonist Nigel Hitchcock and bass player Laurence Cottle. It's a set that will no doubt excite much controversy; Harrison use of the 'Big Band' musical sound stage isn't some ersatz attempt to make a 'Swing' album; it's closer in execution and arrangement to the innovative works of Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, a layered, richly-textured selection that is both beautifully-recorded and incisively delivered.
No respecter of arbitrary musical pigeonholing, Harrison doesn't so much ignore genre confines as smash right through them – Harrison states in his thoughtful liner notes: "It's very important to me to push the boundaries of music whilst respecting what came before. In the arrangements of these pieces we really get 'out there' with some of the harmonies and rhythms, and we vastly extended the edges of the original compositions." Harrison also drops little musical depth bombs throughout by interpolating shards of melody and musical themes from other Porcupine Tree songs seamlessly into the musical patina of "Cheating The Polygraph," which serve to underscore his frontiersman spirit; this is some of the most enthralling, engaging and challenging music you'll hear in 2015, but there is also wit and charm in abundance here, too.
TRACK LISTING:
What Happens Now?
Sound Of Muzak/So Called Friend
The Start Of Something Beautiful
Heart Attack In A Layby/The Creator Had A Mastertape/Surfer
The Pills I'm Taking (from Anesthetize)
Hatesong/Halo
Cheating The Polygraph/Mother & Child Divided
Futile
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Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal - E-Zine
