Description
The new Bass Communion album Loss is not about the violent moment of loss, but its aftermath. The crushing melancholia, the endless questions of “what if?” and “why?”, as well as the concepts of regret, missed opportunity, or a feeling or moment in time that can never be recaptured. But even in the midst of this gloomy scene, hope and light are born, for loss is never total. Memory lingers, a residue of evidence is left behind, and life goes on.
Steven Wilson, the man behind Bass Communion, says “For me, the album is an extension of the previous release, Ghosts on Magnetic Tape, which relates to Electronic Voice Phenomena, or the idea that the dead can still communicate with the living world through recorded media. In order to try to capture this feeling I wanted the music to leave a spectral, ghostly impression, and to have an organic decaying quality, like something trying to break through from another world. To this end my musical sources were mainly 78 rpm records, a vibraphone and an upright piano. No synths or electronics were used, only organic sources or instrumentation that has been around for at least the last century.” Although best known for his rock band Porcupine Tree and his production and mixing work for artists as diverse as Opeth and Yoko Ono, Steven Wilson sees Bass Communion as his personal labor of love. In Bass Communion we hear not only the music nearest to his heart, but the music closest to what he himself listens to: “In freeing myself from thinking in terms of melody or rhythm, and focusing purely on the texture and inherent qualities of pure sound, I believe the music achieves a purity of intent and spirit, as a means to express some of my innermost feelings, such as loss, at a much deeper level.”
Following a limited edition vinyl release, Loss is being issued in unlimited digital glory, as a two disc set consisting of a high resolution 5.1 surround sound DVD-Audio disc and a standard stereo CD. The DVD-Audio disc is compatible with all DVD players, but will sound best in a player with DVD-A capabilities. And the CD of course can be played pretty much everywhere else.
