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░ ██ ██ Artist: Tim Bowness ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Stupid Things That Mean the World █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2015 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2015-08-29 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Progressive Rock ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: Inside Out Music ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ Tim Bowness will forever be best known for No-Man, █
█ his long-running û but now sadly dormant û █
█ collaboration with prog superstar Steven Wilson. █
█ Having said that, Stupid Things That Mean the █
█ World, which follows up last yearÆs Abandoned █
█ Dancehall Dreams, demonstrates clearly and █
█ concisely that Bowness has more than enough █
█ songwriting nous to produce excellent records █
█ without his long-term collaborator. █
█ Opener æThe Great Electric Teenage DreamÆ feels, █
█ more than anything else on the album, like a █
█ direct continuation of Abandoned Dancehall Dreams, █
█ retaining as it does the vaguely claustrophobic █
█ feel of that albumÆs opener, æThe Warm Up Man █
█ ForeverÆ. Moving swiftly from its vaguely ominous █
█ opening, it soon provides a pleasing early rush of █
█ intensity, with Bowness seemingly railing against █
█ the death of the musicianship dream, pointed █
█ references to the digitisation of music included. █
█ ItÆs followed by two extremely pretty, slightly █
█ fragile tracks in the shape of an old No-Man █
█ excerpt, æSing to MeÆ, and æWhere YouÆve Always █
█ BeenÆ, both of which reference an old English folk █
█ tradition with their acoustic guitars and pastoral █
█ melodies. █
█ The title track, meanwhile, hints at mid-period, █
█ Wild Opera-era No-Man, with its funky bass line █
█ and choppy guitar parts being a world away from █
█ the minimal, gentle folk feel of the previous two █
█ tracks. WhatÆs particularly impressive by this █
█ point, four tracks in, is that Bowness is █
█ determined to keep making his solo albums █
█ reasonably diverse, rather than reining things in █
█ to a predictable pattern. This is further █
█ emphasised by the excellent æKnow That You Were █
█ LovedÆ, with its wonderful balance of hazy █
█ nostalgia and poignant reflection, and æPress █
█ ResetÆ, which, paradoxically sounding both oddly █
█ contemporary and strangely familiar, might be the █
█ closest thing Bowness has recorded to a modern █
█ alt-rock song. █
█ ItÆs a shame not to see more made of two very █
█ short tracks near the albumÆs end. The captivating █
█ little instrumental æEverything But YouÆ, uses █
█ flute, violin and voice to make quite the █
█ impression over its brief (just over one minute) █
█ duration. It would have been interesting to see █
█ where this brief snippet of an idea might have █
█ led, hinting as it does at something distinct from █
█ previous Bowness penned epics like the last █
█ recordÆs æI Fought Against the SouthÆ. æSoft █
█ WilliamÆ, meanwhile, is a short piano-led piece █
█ that feels like it could have been expanded along █
█ the lines of something like æSmiler at 50Æ from █
█ Abandoned Dancehall Dreams. The extreme brevity of █
█ these two very promising tracks, which are the █
█ penultimate pair on an album lacking in lengthy █
█ songs, unfortunately contributes to the second █
█ half of the record losing some of the potency of █
█ the first. █
█ The only real flaw of Stupid Things That Mean the █
█ World, then, is that itÆs perhaps just a touch too █
█ slight. Abandoned Dancehall Dreams did a fine job █
█ of demonstrating that No-ManÆs loudest and most █
█ experimental moments often came from Bowness as █
█ much as they did from Wilson. This side of █
█ BownessÆs musical personality is, as already █
█ illustrated, by no means absent from Stupid Things █
█ That Mean the World, but the more restrained, and █
█ slightly less expansive feel, of some of the █
█ tracks here perhaps makes the record as a whole █
█ feel slightly undercooked in comparison to its █
█ predecessor. Nevertheless it is another fine entry █
█ into the enviable discography of one of the most █
█ sadly underrated of British songwriters. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ CD 1/2 : ░
░ 1. The Great Electric Teenage Dream 3:58 ░
░ 2. Sing to Me 5:46 ░
░ 3. Where You've Always Been 4:07 ░
░ 4. Stupid Things That Mean the World 3:05 ░
░ 5. Know That You Were Loved 6:44 ░
░ 6. Press Reset 3:54 ░
░ 7. All These Escapes 3:06 ░
░ 8. Everything You're Not 3:40 ░
░ 9. Everything But You 1:12 ░
░ 10. Soft William 1:40 ░
░ 11. At the End of the Holiday 4:58 ░
░ CD 2/2 : ░
░ 1. Stupid Things That Mean the World (Nick 3:09 ░
░ Magnus Mix) ░
░ 2. No-Man - Best Boy Electric (Sing to Me) 1:59 ░
░ (Steven Wilson Mix) ░
░ 3. Know That You Were Loved (David Rhodes' 6:29 ░
░ 'Electric' Version) ░
░ 4. I Still Miss You (UXB 'Ambient' Mix) 6:13 ░
░ 60:00 ░
░ ▒ ▒
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