Sometimes when a friend of Steven Wilson gets the opportunity to dive deep in the dungeons of his musical history of this entity that seems to go further than the existence of time there will be a new band introduced. Appr 30 years ago Mr. Wilson collaborated with Ford to produce 3 short tracks that are released through the Tonefloat label that released many obscurities over the years. Under the inspirational band name GOD those 2 lads take you to a more New Wave experiment. Nearly 11 minutes are saved to be pressed on a limited batch of 999 vinyl EP's. A regular prog song would easily make it to this length. But it isn't prog. Why bother to review it then? It's Steven Wilson. 4 What can we say about his brother in crime, Ford? I've looked in to that. But I think this is the only thing he did in music before he went on to pursue an acting career. There are 200 hits on actors on Imdb so I can't really determine which one he is, or that he had any success. When the first track (City) kicks in the beat catches you in an instant. The voice of Ford gives you that typical pop/new wave feel and gets you to “funky” town... groovy in this case. The sound of the guitar is typical for early SW recordings. It evolved through the years, but it's still his signature sound. Even on the To The Bone album. Bad Dreams continues in the same fashion and yes (!) with a harmonica to introduce Ford's voice. When you're in to the early No-Man recordings you'll notice several similarities. I don't think Ford could ever replace Tim Bowness, although it wouldn't sound so bad if it was the other way around. Tim wouldn't be out of place on this EP. If it wasn't for the pause between the tracks Love could be the outro of Bad Dreams. Quieter, more relaxed with a slice of cello sounds. The end of the recording gives you the feeling it was a real amateur recording. Speaking of, the sound quality is not high end. But good enough to listen to. For a SW collector like me, a “must have”. Since SW is reaching a bigger audience these last years, these obscurities will be hard to get and unaffordable on e-bay and discogs in the future. **** Erik van Os Where to buy? |
