The Incident

Steven Wilson has always been out of step with the musical world, never ceding to fashion. Under a variety of names — No-Man, Bass Communion, Blackfield and Steven Wilson — he has recorded music that is meant for anyone willing to listen past the commercial music world’s need for a quick hit single and indulge themselves in something that’s sometimes classical in composition, progressive rock in arrangement and heavy with ambience and mood. With track five, “Drawing the Line,” Wilson breaks into nearly conventional hard rock, but it’s a slow, brooding walk to get there. In an age of MP3 singles, Wilson has crafted an 18-track musical piece where each track requires the other. Songs segue from one to the other, indulging in electronics (“The Incident”), exploring folk (“The Seance”) or sprawling through space (“Occam’s Razor,”) or both (“I Drive the Hearse”). During its near 12 minutes “Time Flies” encapsulates just about every style imaginable. Porcupine Tree explore territory that’s at once familiar, yet all their own.