Stimulated by the All India Radio posts of December last, a friend asked me if I could possibly feature any other "Floyd-esque music".
Porcupine Tree is a band that I followed at a distance throughout his (Steve Wilson Porcupine Tree) /their (Porcupine Tree band in various guises) journey. There is a wide range of styles to chose from with the multi-faceted unit. Being mainly driven by Wilson, it is all of excellent quality, be it my cup of tea or not.
But their prog-rock outings venture into Floydian space. Primarily The Sky Moves Sideways.
On the UK original release (Delerium Records DELEC CD 028, 1995), the tracklist is as folows:
The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)
Dislocated Day
The Moon Touches Your Shoulder
Prepare Yourself
Moonloop
The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase Two)
While on the US original release (C&S Records CS8524-2, 1995), the track order differed:
The Sky Moves Sideways Phase One
Stars Die
Moonloop
Dislocated Day
The Moon Touches Your Shoulder
The Sky Moves Sideways Phase Two
So both have different track orders & the UK version has "Prepare Yourself" but not "Stars Die" while the US version has "Stars" but not "Prepare". In 2021 there was a Japanese re-issue on two CDs. It included both "Prepare" & "Stars" as well as "The Sky Moves Sideways (alternate version)" & two versions of "Moonloop" labeled "Moonloop (improvisation)" & "Moonloop (coda)". The first CD follows the UK version tracklist with "Moonloop" missing. The second CD has "Sky (alternate)", "Stars", Moonloop (improv)", & "Moonloop (coda)".
The version I am presenting is my own tracklist, which to me makes more sense. I put both "Prepare Yourself" & "Stars Die" then rounded it off with "The Sky Moves Sideways (alternate version)" (a 34+ minute long opus) in the penultimate, & "Moonloop (coda)" to end it all.
The Sky Moves Sideways Phase 1
Dislocated Day
The Moon Touches Your Shoulder
Prepare Yourself
Moonloop (improvisation)
The Sky Moves Sideways Pase 2
Stars Die
The Sky Moves Sideways (alternate version)
Moonloop (coda)
Enjoy,
NØ