Tim Bowness

Tim Bowness Online

Tim's occasional online diary can be viewed on his own website, at the Centrozoon website and also at Krimson News. Diary entries cover both his musical activities and his day-to-day thoughts, and frequently provide surprise advance information on his work with No-Man and other projects.

A brand new Tim Bowness page has also been installed on the One Little Indian homepage to coincide with the release of Tim's first solo album.

However, recent information and an introduction to all of Tim's work is also contained on this page. Read on for more information, or use the links at the top of the page.

Tim's New Solo Album (& Single)

Tim's first solo album, 'My Hotel Year' (One Little Indian Records, catalogue number TPLP425CD) was released on October 25th, 2004. A dedicated album page with the finalised tracklisting, timings, cover art and performer details is online here. There is also a beautiful microsite dedicated to the album here, containing more information, images, lyrics, press material and details on fan campaigns.

Tim's main collaborator on 'My Hotel Year' is David Picking of Rhinoceros, although Peter Chilvers and Stephen Bennett (Henry Fool) have also made strong contributions. Tim's Centrozoon colleagues also appear (Markus Reuter on two tracks, Bernhard Wöstheinrich on one), while Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine, Isotope, Soft Heap) and Roger Eno contribute to one track apiece. All songs are brand-new originals except World Afraid (reworked from the Rhinoceros album 'Tiny Ghosts') and The Me I Knew (a new version of a song from Centrozoon's 'The Scent Of Crash And Burn' EP).

An accompanying single, called 'Sleepwalker' (One Little Indian Records, catalogue number 454TP7CD) was released on December 2nd, 2004. It features an edit (minus strings) of the album version of the title track, plus a previously unreleased track from the album sessions, 'Unprotected'. More information can be found on the dedicated 'Sleepwalker' page on the One Little Indian website. A second single from the album, 'Last Year's Tattoo', is scheduled for spring 2005.

'My Hotel Year' is available from Burning Shed - 'Sleepwalker' is only available from One Little Indian.

Tim adds "'My Hotel Year' is worthy of comparison with the recent No-Man albums, but sufficiently different to make its own mark. So far the new songs have been concise, emotive and at something of an unusual angle to the later No-Man material. Lyrically, the work combines the narrative touches of 'California, Norfolk' with the sense of personal expression that typified the songs on 'Together We're Stranger'. Perhaps the music also echoes this, being more robust and organic than the former, but more concise than the latter. My gut instinct is that these songs represent something unique and potentially lasting in terms of my ongoing work."

Tim played a well-attended and well-received live concert in London on November 8th 2004 in support of the album release. Backed by a full band (Peter Chilvers on piano, Michael Bearpark on guitar, Pete Morgan on bass, Stephen Bennett on organ and synthesizer, and Andrew Booker on V-drums) Tim performed material from the No-Man, Samuel Smiles and Bowness/Chilvers catalogue in addition to songs from 'My Hotel Year'. One particular surprise was the resurrection of No-Man's 'Housekeeping' (from 1993). A second London date has now been scheduled for March 1st 2005 - click here for more details.

Tim's Forthcoming Projects & Guest Appearances

Tim is planning two more project releases for the future. The first of these is an album for voice, solo piano and accordion, possibly containing fresh interpretations of previously-released songs. This will probably involve Peter Chilvers and Roger Eno.

The second is the Voiceloops project, which has been progressing in sessions since mid-2003. As the name suggests, this music consists of overlaid, looped and treated vocal patterns. The voiceloops approach has been unveiled at recent gigs with Centrozoon and Alice.

Tim describes the Voiceloops material as varying "from the dense and intense to the hymnal and haunting (with) a certain edginess that takes it away from the New Age prissiness of much loop music. If the material has a problem so far, it's that the current balance is too extreme and unusual to sustain for an entire album (unless Diamanda Galas and Derek Bailey are role models, that is). Although the voiceloops are as resolutely uncommercial and emotive as No-Man's 'Together We're Stranger', the pace and feeling are very different." Assisted by loop musician Andy Butler, Tim has recently completed a "rough version" of a Voiceloops album. Further project explorations will make use of pre-composition and samples / inspirations from external sources such as gamelan music.

Tim has several current ongoing / unreleased collaborations with other musicians. Work with experimental bass guitarist / composer Hugh Hopper is described as "jagged and jazzy, and anything but familiar or lovely.". Ongoing collaborations with Roger Eno and with Andy Butler and Norwich guitarist Deive Montaigue (on a loops project called Echosphere) have not yet coalesced into album projects.

Previously-mentioned collaborations with Jarboe (ex-Swans), Ryan Coseboom (of American dream-pop band Halou) and Italian art-rock band Fjieri Group have been shelved indefinitely.

Tim's Most Recent Guest Appearances

Tim performed with Michael Bearpark and Stephen Bennett at the Second Annual Cambridge Festival of Looping (which took place at the Michaelhouse Cafe, Trinity Street, Cambridge, England) on June 26th 2004. Other performers were Bernhard Wagner, Andy Butler and Economy Of Motion Full details are on the Loopfest website.

Tim appears on the debut album by A Marble Calm (a new collective band centred on Peter Chilvers and marimba / vibraphone player Jon Hart). The album, 'Surfacing' is out now on Burning Shed. Peter Chilvers describes the music as "a mix of textural instrumentals and long drifting songs (influenced by) Robert Fripp's Soundscapes, Brian Eno's ambient albums, Arvo Part, Herbie Hancock and Bass Communion, along with the ambient song elements of 'Together We're Stranger' and David Sylvian's albums." Other guest performers are Theo Travis (flute loops), Sandra O'Neill (vocals and vocal textures) and Rob Jackson (pedal steel guitar loops). Tim co-wrote, performed and produced two ten-minute tracks on the album - 'Another World' and 'The Conquer And Divide'.

Tim performs on the latest album by well-known Italian art-pop singer Alice (who has also worked with ex-No-Man Ben Coleman, Steve Jansen and Mick Karn). 'Viaggio In Italia' (NuN Entertainment S.r.I., catalogue number NUN0150432). is an ambient-styled mixture of original material and cover versions. Tim sang vocal duets with Alice on two of the album tracks, both cover versions (King Crimson's 'Islands' and Syd Barrett's 'Goldenhair'). The album also features guest appearances from British art-pop stalwart Jakko Jakszyk, Italian jazz trumpeter Paolo Fresu, and Italian pop singer Fabrizio De Andrè. Tim also performed at Alice's concert at Milano Duomo, Milan, Italy on March 25th 2004, during which he and Alice performed 'Islands'. Tim also performed two 'Kerouac Loops' (readings from Jack Kerouac augmented by use of voiceloop processing) accompanied by Paulo Fresu.

'Viaggio In Italia' might be difficult to find outside Italy and is unlikely to be made available via Burning Shed. Anyone having problems in obtaining the album is advised to visit the NuN Entertainment homepage.

Tim's Past Guest Appearances

Tim has previously made guest appearances on Rhinoceros' 'Tiny Ghosts' album, the 'ReMiKSiS ::: AH' EP by SPLaTTeRCeLL (David Torn), on Peter Chilver's solo album 'He Wrote This' on Alias Grace ('Embers' and 'Storm Blue Evening') albums, and on Saro Cosentino's 'Ones And Zeros' album (alongside Peter Hammill, Trey Gunn, Jakko Jakszyk and others). More details are available on the Guest Appearances page of the No-Man discography.

Steven Wilson

Steven Wilson HQ

The very latest information and news on Steven's activities can be found at Steven Wilson HQ, which is maintained by Steven himself. This is the most up-to-date source of Wilson information anywhere on the Internet. It contains pages dealing with all of Steven's projects, plus playlists and news. It is also the place where most of Steven's occasional limited-edition project releases are announced.

However, recent information and an introduction to all of Steven's work is also contained on this page. Read on for more information, or use the links at the top of the page.

Steven's Forthcoming Projects, Production Work & Guest Appearances

Steven's newest active music project is called Continuum. This is a large-scale collaboration between Steven (as Bass Communion) and Belgian ambient musician VidnaObmana. A full-length CD album will be released by the Soleilmoon label towards the end of 2004.

Steven's Most Recent Projects, Production Work & Guest Appearances

Steven's latest release is the CD single 'Cover Version II'. Like its predecessor, it features two tracks based on relatively simple arrangements for acoustic guitar, piano and voice - a Wilson interpretation of a famous song by someone else plus one new original song. The gold CD is a strictly limited edition of 1,000 copies and comes in a plain crystal case with no artwork. This CD single is part of an ongoing series of 'Cover Version's - there are plans for a box-set box to hold all of them once the series is complete.

Steven released a limited edition specially-packaged CD-R called 'Unreleased Electronic Music, Vol 1' (Headphone Dust, HDSWCD10) during April 2004. This was an 11-track 65-minute album of electronic music which Steven had created between 1990 and 2004: similar to Bass Communion music in certain respects, but with a much stronger beat-driven element drawing on industrial and hip-hop rhythms (a few of the pieces were created for television commissions). The production run of 100 CD-Rs sold out within a single day. More news on this (and on any subsequent repressings) will be available at Steven Wilson HQ.

Steven has recently been very busy with his Blackfield collaboration - more information is available here.

Steven played a rare solo acoustic set in support of Blackfield at their London concert on September 10th 2004. He performed four Porcupine Tree songs ('Even Less' and 'A Smart Kid' from 'Stupid Dream', 'How Is Your Life Today?' from 'Lightbulb Sun' and 'Trains' from 'In Absentia'), plus 'Moment I Lost' (from his 'Cover Version' single) and a cover of Abba's 'The Day Before You Came'. He was joined by former No-Man member Ben Coleman (on electric violin) for 'Even Less', 'A Smart Kid' and 'Trains' - the first time the pair had worked together since Ben's departure from No-Man ten years ago.

Steven mixed all of the tracks on the new album by Theo Travis (the British jazz saxophonist / flautist and composer who's a frequent Bowness & Wilson collaborator. The album is called 'Earth To Ether' (33 Records, catalogue number 33JAZZ115) and is available now. It features contributions from jazz musicians Marc Parnell, Andy Hammill and Simon Colam, plus a guest appearance by Richard Sinclair (Caravan, Camel) on vocals and acoustic guitar.

Steven appears on the current VidnaObmana album 'Legacy' (Relapse Records, RR 66242). This album is the third in VidnaObmana's 'Dante' trilogy and is described by the artist as "a fusion of industrial, ambient, Fourth World and even some post-rock elements, performed on electric guitars, overtone flutes and an array of electronic devices." Steven plays guitar on 'Legacy's title track, which apparently features a ten-minute guitar solo (one of his longest to date). Also appearing on the album is singer / guitarist Steve Von Till of San Francisco alternative / industrial / tribal metal band Neurosis.

Steven has mixed one of the B-sides for Marillion's latest EP release, 'Don't Hurt Yourself' (Intact Recordings, catalogue number CXINTACT2). Steven mixed the song 'Angelina', a version of which also appears on the current Marillion album 'Marbles' (Racket Records/Intact Recordings, catalogue number 12772). Steven's contributions to the mixing of 'Marbles' are not specified in the CD booklet, but Wilson completists should note that he contributed the vocal mix for the album version of 'Angelina' (on both the single and double album versions of the album), mixed all of 'Genie' (on the double album only) and contributed unspecified "bits and pieces" of mixing to other tracks on the album.

Steven mixed the current album by Swedish band Paatos. The album is called 'Kallocain' and is out now on Inside Out Music (catalogue number IOMCD 169). Some may remember Paatos as the band who supported Porcupine Tree on tour in Sweden, playing a kind of prog/trip-hop crossover music.

Steven has also mixed eight tracks on the current album by British jazz saxophonist and composer Ben Castle. The album is called 'Blah Street' (OTRecords, catalogue number RIZCD27002) and is available now. It features appearances from various international jazz musicians including Mark Edwards, Tim Harries and Enrico Tomasso. Ben Castle describes his own music as "jazz meets Radiohead, White Stripes and Reggie Kray" and has drawn approval from senior jazz figures including Joe Zawinul.

Steven's Past Production Work & Guest Appearances

Besides the projects mentioned above, Steven has made guest appearances on albums by O.S.I., Spirits Burning, Jansen Barbieri Karn, Indigo Falls and Fish.

He has also produced and / or mixed albums or individual pieces for Anja Garbarek, Opeth, Yoko Ono, Cipher, Fish, Psychomuzak, Ange, Theo Travis and Marillion (often contributing guest performances); and makes an appearance on Opeth's 'Lamentations" DVD (interviewed and featured as producer and guest performer).

In his Bass Communion guise, he has also collaborated with Muslimgauze, Jonathan Coleclough, Colin Potter and Naseer Shamma.

More details are available on the Guest Appearances page of the No-Man discography.

Tim Bowness is a member of the loose electronic collective Darkroom, along with electronicist / No-Man remixer Os and experimental guitarist Michael Bearpark (other people have been involved on a more casual basis). The project started off as an attempt by Tim and Michael to produce a soundtrack to the notorious footage of the Roswell alien autopsy, subsequently involving Os to expand the group's vision and capabilities.

Darkroom's music is in an experimental ambient style, mixing the sort of hypnotic ambient trance of acts like Seefeel and Mouse On Mars with the more jagged type of music produced by Eno, Fripp and Can, with an added element of Steve Reich-type New Music. Or, alternatively, as "a seamless blend of treated vocal and guitar improvs, scattergun rhythms and inventive synth experiments which calls to mind an unholy alliance between Fripp & Eno, Photek and Satan himself."

Darkroom's latest release is 'The DAC Mixes' (on Burning Shed). This album collects several unreleased Darkroom explorations which were recorded at the Digital/Analogue Cambridge Festival, 2001, and remixed by various guests, including Bass Communion, Rhinoceros, Theo Travis and Centrozoon.

A reissue of Darkroom's hard-to-find second album 'Seethrough' on Burning Shed. Originally released on Peoplesound in 1999, it consists of seven slices of electronica-driven aural assaults (occasionally recalling the more extreme experiments of Underworld or 'Wild Opera'-era No-Man) and finds the full Darkroom trio maniacally playing with the possibilities of the turn of the century pop song. Featuring the original version of the much-acclaimed 'Bottleneck' (plus seven other pieces including a previously-unreleased hidden track), 'Seethrough' is the most dynamic, twisted and song-orientated release in Darkroom's career.

A free Darkroom album called 'Freefall', is still available via the 'weed' CD-R swapping method previously utilised by Tim Bowness / Peter Chilvers to circulate official bootlegs (check in at the No-Man Newsgroup for further information). 'Freefall' constitutes the latest in the 'Fallout' series of remixed and reworked music from various Darkroom live recordings. The recordings on this album were taken from concerts and rehearsals from 2001 to 2003 and feature the duo lineup of Michael and Os plus guest appearances on bass from Peter Chilvers and Simon H. Fell.

In his other guise as Carbon Boy, Os has contributed to the Bass Communion remix album.

More information and news on Darkroom's activities can be found on the Darkroom homepage.

Steven Wilson's other main project is Porcupine Tree, a contemporary rock band fusing elements of psychedelic, progressive, heavy rock and metal with approaches taken from the dance-music revolution (such as trance, rave, and extensive sampling) plus the odd No-Man style pop experiment. The band currently consists of Steven Wilson (vocals, guitars, keyboards, samples, programming, production etc.), Richard Barbieri (keyboards and electronics), Colin Edwin (bass), and Gavin Harrison (drums, percussion). For live appearances, the band are augmented by John Wesley (guitars, backing vocals).

Porcupine Tree have released seven studio albums plus several live albums and "rarities" collections. They now tour frequently in Britain, Europe and America as a regular headlining act, having previously supported the likes of Marillion, Sonic Youth, Yes, Hawkwind and Ozric Tentacles. Their profile is steadily growing within various rock circles.

The Porcupine Tree Shop - an online sales resource run in collaboration with Burning Shed - is now open, selling all releases involving all members of Porcupine Tree (from the most popular albums right the way through to the experimental side projects and rarities).

Porcupine Tree's eighth studio album, 'Deadwing', will be released on March 21st 2005 by Lava Records / Warner Music. Less rock-oriented than the previous album 'In Absentia', 'Deadwing' is partially based on a "surreal ghost story" screenplay written by Steven and sometime Porcupine Tree / No-Man art collaborator Mike Bennion. The 60-minute, nine-track album contains material varying from short airplay-friendly songs such as 'Shallow' to lengthier pieces like the 10-minute-plus 'Arriving Somewhere But Not Here'. Most of the music was written by Steven but the album features the largest amount of full-band compositions since 'Signify' in 1997. The album also features guest appearances by Adrian Belew (King Crimson) and Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth).

Porcupine Tree's latest available release is 'Warszawa' - the second live album to be released on the band's own Transmission label. This derives from a live recording made by Polish radio during the band's 2001 tour (the last featuring former drummer Chris Maitland). 'Warszawa' is a digipack CD release running for over 79 minutes and features almost the entire performance. The 32-track master tapes have been remixed for pristine sound quality, which is far superior to the original on-air broadcast.

Porcupine Tree's back catalogue is currently undergoing an extensive reissue and revamping program - for up-to-date information on this program (and all other Porcupine Tree activities) visit the band's homepage.

Tim Bowness and Peter Chilvers have followed up their earlier work in Samuel Smiles by further work as a duo, exploring a more exposed singer-songwriter style.

Tim describes this as "ballad electronica, ambient folk, or perhaps the soundtrack to the best film you've never seen... It's almost like a latter-day miserablist singer-songwriter fooling around with early 1980's synth-pop technology. There are elements of The Blue Nile, Randy Newman, Steve Reich, Mark Eitzel, Arab Strap and late 70's Berlin-era Bowie/Eno creeping in, but we think it's quite an original fusion of those influences."

Two Bowness & Chilvers albums are currently available - both released on Burning Shed.

The debut album, 'California, Norfolk', combines dark, electronic textures and found sounds with lean, intense compositions and poignant lyrics. Songs range from the brooding, cinematic and orchestral sweep of 'Hostage', to the epic ambition of 'Winter With You' to the bleak, icy overtones of 'Days Turn Into Years', forming a suite of musical short stories awash with domestic drudgery, fleeting hopes, misguided trust and thwarted dreams. A beautiful microsite dedicated to the album can be found on the unofficial No-Man website.

The second album, 'Overstrand' - released as a Burning Shed CD-R - features outtakes and alternative versions of songs from 'California, Norfolk' (including a much cleaner version of 'Winter With You') as well as alternate versions of the Samuel Smiles songs 'World Of Bright Futures' and 'Sorry Looking Soldier', plus two previously-unheard compositions. The songs are arranged in a variety of ways from straight Blue Nile style synth-pop and harmonium songs to New Music chamber ensemble arrangements and highly-textured experimental ambience. Instrumentation includes marimba, wood flute, vibraphone, a guest appearance from Michael Bearpark on guitar and Peter's ever-evolving digital orchestrations.

An official bootleg of the duo's concert at The Rivoli Club, Toronto, in September 2002 is now available via the 'weed' CD-R swapping method (check in at the No-Man Newsgroup for further information. The "sonically flawed, but powerfully performed" recording features Tim and Peter performing songs from 'California, Norfolk' and from the Samuel Smiles / Henry Fool repertoire, plus a version of No-Man's 'My Revenge On Seattle'.

A previously recorded Tim Bowness / Peter Chilvers album - 'It's A Long Way Back To The Dark, Dark And Dark' - remains unreleased. Tim describes this album as "an English response to Laurie Anderson and Robert Ashley." It is a series of spoken word recordings from Tim with instrumental and electronic backings from Peter (consisting mostly of loops, Chapman Sticks, tablas, and synthesizers: Tim plays guitar and co-writes the music on one track).

Anyone interested in what the music sounds like should listen to 'Not Marble Nor The Gilged Monuments...', the track which Tim and Peter contributed to Materiali Sonori's 'Drop 5.1 - Shakespeare' compilation. This piece is based on a Shakespeare sonnet with an anti-war theme, recited by Tim and backed by a quartet of treated Chapman Sticks played by Peter. Tim and Peter are considering a release of 'It's A Long Way Back To The Dark, Dark And Dark' on Burning Shed, subject to existing agreements with record companies.

Recent Bowness/Chilvers writing sessions have resulted in what Tim describes as "an unexpected and experimental fourteen-minute lover-man soul piece in 5/4." Plans to name this piece 'Papa Love' have not met with unanimous approval...

Steven Wilson's electronic music project Bass Communion involves Steven experimenting with his more avant-garde urges and releasing recordings of instrumental music in a free-form ambient / process / electronica vein: pieces dealing mostly with textures and avoiding direct rhythm, but often featuring surprising uses of melody. The results have been compared to Labradford, Oval and Paul Schutze, among others.

Bass Communion music is made almost entirely without the use of synthesizers, using in preference sampled source material from actual live performances, some of which has been provided by Robert Fripp (guitar soundscapes) and Theo Travis (saxophones, flutes). Steven has also collaborated with the late Bryn Jones (who produced violent ethno / industrial / electronic music under the Muslimgauze name until his untimely death in 1999), with Jonathan Coleclough and with Colin Potter.

Bass Communion's latest release is 'Drone Works #6' (Twenty Hertz, no catalogue number) - a 20-minute CD-R EP which is part of the 'Drone Works' series issued by UK experimental music label Twenty Hertz. In keeping with the concept of the series the piece is one of the most minimal Bass Communion recordings to date, consisting of slowly shifting minimal drones. Other musicians who have contributed to the series include Freibrand, Darren Tate and Andrew Liles.

The latest full-length Bass Communion album release is 'Ghosts On Magnetic Tape' (Headphone Dust, catalogue number HDBCCD9), which Steven considers to be the finest Bass Communion release yet and among the best recordings from across his whole catalogue. The music consists of a one-hour work divided into five distinct sections, and shows Bass Communion at its most starkly bleak and beautiful. According to Steven, the album is inspired by Electronic Voice Phenomenon - "alleged tape recordings of the dead communicating with the living world, paranormal research most famously practised by scientist Konstantine Raudive in the 1970s." Steven adds "This is a spectral and brooding album, rich with dark clouds of sound, beautiful textures, creepy drones and eerie crackling." The first 1,000 copies available from the Burning Shed Store will come in a special heavyweight Japanese-style gatefold cardboard sleeve.

A companion album to 'Ghosts...' was released in November 2004. 'Ghosts On Magnetic Tape (Andrew Liles Reconstruction CD)' is a radical reconstruction of the Ghosts album by sound artist Andrew Liles, which takes the original into even creepier realms by using some of the original Raudive recordings. This full-length CD slots into the available space in the gatefold sleeve of the original 'Ghosts...' release.

The 'Atmospherics' album of "library music" (originally made by Steven in 1999 for the commercial music company Bruton Music) was briefly made available for fans during September 2004. Although not credited as such, this was essentially a Bass Communion album of a more accessible and friendly nature, containing eighteen short pieces of atmospheric music (used as incidental or background music on TV and radio worldwide) as well as 60- and 30-second edits of each piece. Nine of the tracks were reworked for or reissued on other Bass Communion albums: the other nine are exclusive to 'Atmospherics'. This album has now sold out: because it was never made available through any commercial channel, this album has proved to be one of the most elusive items in Steven's discography.

Bass Communion produce limited-edition releases on a fairly frequent basis, and these sell out very quickly. It is generally a good idea to keep an eye on Bass Communion's activities via the Bass Communion page at Steven Wilson HQ.

A previous Bass Communion appearance worth mentioning is the contribution to the unique compilation / reportage album 'The Fire This Time' (Hidden Art Recordings, catalogue number HI-ART 11), which utilises exclusive music, narration and samples to deconstruct the tragic and often scandalous history of the West's involvement with Iraq. Bass Communion's track is called 'No News Is Good News' and is a collaboration with virtuoso Iraqi oud player Naseer Shamma. Other contributions come from Orbital, Aphex Twin, Bola, Michael Stearns, Higher Intelligence Agency, Soma, Barbed, and Amba (Tom Middleton), with additional music from Ashra, Pan Sonic, Speedy J and Kait Gray. For further information, visit the project's website.

Tim Bowness is a member of Henry Fool, a band whose music is a distinctive combination of '60s / '70s progressive rock influences, contemporary textural experiments, Chicago-style art-rock and hard-hitting improvisations.

The band's core membership is Tim Bowness (vocals, guitar), Peter Chilvers (bass, Chapman Stick, guitar, keyboards) and Stephen Bennett (keyboards, guitar - also of LaHost and Fire Thieves). Various other musicians have contributed at various times, including the Samuel Smiles members Michael Bearpark (guitar) and Myke Clifford (saxophone, flute) plus drummers Fudge Smith (Pendragon / Steve Hackett Band), Richard Osbourne and Diego Mancini.

Henry Fool's debut album - also called 'Henry Fool' - was released on Cyclops Records in 2001 (catalogue number CYCL 103). It is currently available via Burning Shed. A second album is being recorded.

The band have made one live appearance to date - a performance at the 2002 Whitchurch Festival in Hampshire, England (sharing a bill with Focus and Sphere 3). On this occasion, Henry Fool consisted of Bowness, Bearpark, Osbourne and Chilvers (the latter doubling on bass and keyboards) and played a mixture of Fool pieces and songs from other Bowness projects ('Sorry Looking Soldier', 'Dreaming of Babylon', 'Also Out Of Air','Watching Over Me' and 'Brightest Blue').

A non-album Henry Fool track, 'Pills In The Afternoon' is available for download from the official website, and is available on the 'Cyclops Sampler 5' compilation (now available by mail order).

More information and news on Henry Fool's activities can be found on the Henry Fool homepage.

The Incredible Expanding Mindfuck is an occasional Steven Wilson project, in which Steven produces psychedelic experimental music inspired by material from the '60s, '70s and beyond (particularly the Krautrock of Neu!, Can and Faust, post-rock, Frank Zappa and the cosmic jazz of artists like Sun Ra). The music is a mixture of motorik grooves, textures, speech cut-ups, scientific psychedelia and organic dreamscapes.

A reissue of 'An Escalator to Xmas' (consisting of an album and EP on one CD, with bonus material) is planned for the near future.

The latest available IEM release is the project's third album, 'IEM Have Come For Your Children' (released on Headphone Dust, catalogue number IEMCD1). This features contributions from woodwind player Geoff Leigh (of Henry Cow and Ex Wise Heads) and drummer Mark Simnett (formerly of Bark Psychosis).

As with Bass Communion, IEM often produces limited-edition releases which sell out very quickly, so it is always worth keeping an eye on the project's activities via the IEM page at Steven Wilson HQ.

IEM albums are available from Burning Shed and the Porcupine Tree Shop, as is the IEM T-shirt.

Tim Bowness has been part of the intermittently-active "ambient folk" band Samuel Smiles since the early '90s. Originally formed by Tim's Darkroom colleague Michael Bearpark, the band has existed sporadically in various lineups over the years. It is currently inactive.

The most recent line-up of Samuel Smiles was a quartet of Tim Bowness (vocals), Michael Bearpark (guitars), Peter Chilvers (keyboards, bass, programming), and Myke Clifford (saxophones, flute, percussion). Some of the Samuel Smiles legacy has continued in the duo work of Tim Bowness & Peter Chilvers.

Samuel Smiles perform in a similar area to such singer-songwriter icons as John Martyn and Nick Drake, with some of the darker late-night elements of Leonard Cohen, John Cale, Mark Eitzel and later-period Nick Cave. The band balances intimate song structures with jazz-tinged, textural musical excursions influenced by the likes of Bowie, Fripp and Eno. They have released two studio albums and two live albums to date.

The most recent Tim Bowness / Samuel Smiles release is 'Live Archive Two', an expanded reissue of 'The Way We Used To Live' (their deleted live album from 2000). Recorded direct to CD at a performance in Cambridge in December 1999, this features all of the tracks from 'The Way We Used To Live' plus six bonus tracks from the same performance, including a fascinating excerpt of the No-Man classic 'Days In The Trees' and a glorious previously-unreleased rendition of 'Sorry Looking Soldier'.

Also available on Burning Shed is 'Live Archive One' which consists of the band's first "live-in-the-studio" recordings from Amazon Studios, Liverpool, in 1991 (although the album also includes subsequent recordings from 1993, 1996 and 1999).

The Samuel Smiles homepage is currently offline.

Tim is a member of the trio version of Centrozoon, the German ambient / experimental / loop music project who more usually function as a duo consisting of Markus Reuter (Warr Guitar, also of Europa String Choir) and Bernhard Wöstheinrich (synthesizers / percussion). The trio's beat-and-texture-driven music is comparable to parts of 'Wild Opera' and the music of the "ProjeKCt" fractals of the current King Crimson, with elements of German darkwave and even disco. Recent live performances have incorporated more sampling and the use of Tim's "voiceloops" approach.

Centrozoon's debut album as a trio - 'Never Trust The Way You Are' (Resonancer Records, RES04CE01) - was released on January 10th 2005, and is currently available from Burning Shed. Recorded in Germany, Finland, Canada and the US over a three year period and featuring drumming / mixing contributions from Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson), the album's fifteen pieces capture the unique and unfettered musical chemistry of Markus' Touch Guitar dexterity, Bernhard's impossible rhythms and Tim's distinctive, dynamic vocals.

'Never Trust The Way You Are' represents a compelling artistic highpoint for all involved - "a genre-defying fusion of art-pop, progressive, electronica and ballad influences, boasting a potent combination of mellow moods, difficult beats, powerful melodies and ambitious musical experiments."

The other two available trio releases are the 'Bigger Space' DVD and their debut EP 'The Scent Of Crash And Burn'. Recorded in autumn 2003 at a concert in Germany, 'Bigger Space' (Burning Shed, no catalogue number) is a unique document of Centrozoon's powerful live presence, and features hidden DVD extras plus the beautiful black-and-white images of photographer Telemach Wiesinger. 'The Scent Of Crash And Burn' (Burning Shed, catalogue number BSHED 0103) introduces the trio's electronic art-pop approach with five tracks of rhythmic and lyrical invention. All of these - plus previous Centrozoon albums not involving Tim - are available from Burning Shed and feature material that varies from dark-ambience to "extreme dance".

Tim frequently performs with Centrozoon in the UK, Germany, Belgium and Finland. Full concert details are always available on the Centrozoon website, along with news of download recordings (it is also possible to sign up for an e-mail newsletter here.)

In 1994, Tim released the 'Flame" album (One Little Indian Records, catalogue number TPLP58CD) in collaboration with Richard Barbieri, the former Japan / Rain Tree Crow and current Porcupine Tree keyboard player.

Building on Tim and Richard's enjoyable working relationship in the No-Man touring band of 1992 (which also featured Richard's fellow Japan colleagues Steve Jansen and Mick Karn), 'Flame" is an album of "ambient torch songs". Extending the ideas of Japan's 'Tin Drum' and the quieter moments of the first two No-Man albums, it makes the most of Tim's lustrous voice and Richard's uniquely textured approach to synthesizer arrangements.

'Flame' also features guest performances by Steven Wilson, Steve Jansen, Mick Karn, legendary British jazz-folk bassist Danny Thompson, Porcupine Tree drummers Chris Maitland and Gavin Harrison, and Tim's Darkroom / Samuel Smiles colleague Michael Bearpark. It contains the first appearance on record of the Bowness standard 'Brightest Blue'.

'Flame' is currently deleted and hard to find, but there are vague plans to reissue it in the future - probably on Medium Productions Ltd.

Richard and Tim have often considered recording a follow-up to 'Flame' as and when schedules allow, but to date 'Flame' is the only collaboration they've managed.

More information about Richard Barbieri can be found on the Medium Productions Ltd. and Porcupine Tree websites.

Blackfield is the collaborative project by Steven Wilson and his friend Aviv Geffen, a reknowned Israeli singer-songwriter. Steven does most of the singing for this project, with the two men sharing the songwriting and instrumental work.

Several Blackfield download singles (three versions of the song Blackfield) will be available from the Blackfield homepage from December 12th 2005.

Blackfield's debut album - entitled simply 'Blackfield' is now available from the Porcupine Tree Shop. All songs were produced and performed by Blackfield, with Steven mostly on guitars/bass and Aviv mostly on keyboards (but with some instrument swapping from time to time). Steven sang all lead vocals except on the songs 'Pain' and 'The Hole In Me', which were sung by Aviv. Other guest musicians on the album were the Illusion String Quartet, Yermi Kaplan, and Porcupine Tree drummers Gavin Harrison and Chris Maitland.

The album has already produced two number one hit singles in Israel ('Hello' and 'Pain') and both sales and reviews have been excellent.

Following the success of their concert dates in Tel Aviv and London, Blackfield are touring Europe in late November and during the first half of December 2005 - tour dates and other information on Blackfield can be found at the project's homepage

Altamont was one of Steven's teenage projects - a psychedelic electronica duo (with keyboard player Simon Vockings) which formed and made its recordings in 1983 (when Steven was 15 years old). Altamont were very much influenced by early '70s German electronic music, particularly that of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze between 1970-73 (before they started to use rhythms and sequencers extensively). Consequently, the music Altamont recorded was mostly dark electronics with little or no rhythm.

A limited edition vinyl-only picture disc LP - 'Altamont' - was briefly made available on Headphone Dust in September 2002. This contained Steven's own selections from the hours of Altamont recordings. There are no plans for a reissue or repressing.

Unfortunately, there is no Altamont homepage.

Ben Coleman was No-Man's violin player from 1988 to 1994, and appears on almost every track recorded during that period.

Ten years after leaving No-Man, Ben made a enthusiastically-received live guest appearance in Steven Wilson's acoustic solo set at the Blackfield concert in London on 10th September 2004. He added electric violin to three versions of Porcupine Tree songs - 'Even Less', 'A Smart Kid' and 'Trains'.

Ben has been involved in several projects since parting company with No-Man. The highest profile project has been Trashmonk (the band formed by former Dream Academy leader Nick Laird-Clowes, which alternates between acoustic songwriting and heavily produced psychedelic songscapes.). Ben is now a full member of Trashmonk and performs on four tracks on their debut album 'Mona Lisa Overdrive', (released by Creation Records Ltd., catalogue number CRECD 212; subsequently reissued on the Poptones label). Ben plays electric violin on 'Polygamy', 'All Change', 'N.W.O' and 'Dying Day'.

Ben's most recent musical appearance on record was as a performer on the soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci's film 'The Dreamers' (Nettwerk Records, catalogue number B00019JQDM). Ben performs on an orchestral cover of Jimi Hendrix's 'Third Stone From The Sun', playing electric violin versions of the original Hendrix guitar parts.

Since No-Man, Ben has also worked with Italian art-pop star Alice (in a touring band which included Mick Karn and Steve Jansen), and played on the Steve Jansen / Yukihiro Takahashi mini-album 'Pulse' (released on Medium Productions Ltd., catalogue number MPCD 7). This is a songwriting collaboration between the former drummers for Japan / Rain Tree Crow and Yellow Magic Orchestra, which Jansen describes as "a straightforward collection of pop songs with a few deviations thrown in." Ben plays on the track 'Life's Like That'.

Stuart Blagden was No-Man's guitarist during the "No Man Is An Island" phase of 1988-89 (having previously worked with Tim in the Manchester art-rock band Still). He can be heard on two No-Man tracks - 'The Girl From Missouri' (the band's extremely rare debut single) and 'The Hidden Art Of Man Ray' (available on the 2004 reissue of 'Speak').

Since leaving No-Man, Stuart has been based in South-East London building an international profile as a well-respected guitarist. Mainly working on contemporary guitar music which incorporates a strong Latin-American influence, his highest profile project is Caratinga, an Anglo-Brazilian ensemble in which he plays cavaquinho (the traditional Brazilian ukelele).

Caratinga perform Brazilian choro - a 1930s/40s style of playing which grew from a “Brazilianising” of the polkas, tangos and waltzes of 19th century salon music, absorbing popular rhythms along the way and creating a repertoire of tunes that have become classic “standards” of Brazilian music. Stuart describes the music as being "hugely enjoyable".

The trio version of Caratinga (featuring Stuart, Jonathan Preiss on seven-string classical guitar and Anselmo Netto on bandolim) made an ecstatically well-received live appearance at the 2003 London Guitar Festival, performing on 30th September at The Bolivar Hall (part of the Embassy of Venezuela) and repeating the success of Stuart and Jonathan's performance at the LGF the previous year (as Duo Saudades).

In September 2000, Stuart completed a hugely successful tour of Argentina, playing as part of the 6th World Guitar Festival alongside such renowned guitarists and lutists as Paul O'Dette, Roland Dyens, and Eduardo Fernandez. He returned to play the festival again in 2001; and also performed at Viscount Linley's gallery in Pimlico, London in April 2001 at a major exhibition of rare guitars. Guests included Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Steve Howe (Yes), John Williams and Eric Clapton, and the opening ceremony was performed by the legendary producer Sir George Martin.

During Hidden Art's thirteen year history, it evolved from being No-Man's dedicated "imprint" label (historically used to release additional material in parallel to the main album and single releases) to becoming a separate art-rock / electronica label. Initially run entirely by No-Man as a cottage industry, Hidden Art's first release was the original 'Colours' single, the release which brought No-Man to wider attention.

During No-Man's time with One Little Indian Records, Hidden Art was also used to release the budget cassette versions of 'Hit the North Session Recording 07/10/92' (a memento of the short tour involving Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri and Mick Karn), 'Speak: 1988-89' (the near-ambient song recordings preceding 'Colours') and the original 'Flowermix' trance-dance remix album.

In 1995, No-Man joined forces with Voiceprint to reactivate Hidden Art as a full label releasing high-quality packaged CDs, the first of these being No-Man's 'Heaven Taste' and 'Flowermix' albums. These were followed over the next few years by releases from Tim Bowness / Samuel Smiles, Bass Communion, Cipher and Ex Wise Heads (as well as the original release of No-Man's 'Radio Sessions' CD-R). All of these followed No-Man's original intention of gathering a sympathetic group of like-minded musicians and a method of bringing their work to the public - something that has susequently been pursued with Burning Shed. (1999's 'Hidden Art Sampler' only shipped five hundred copies before being withdrawn and deleted, making it a particular collector's item in the No-Man catalogue).

In 2002, Hidden Art moved hosts from Voiceprint to what was then No-Man's record label, 3rd Stone Ltd. The entire Hidden Art catalogue was deleted, with some of it being revamped and remastered. Reissued versions of 'Returning Jesus' and 'Heaven Taste' are currently available on Hidden Art; as are the first two Bass Communion albums, IEM's 'Arcadia Son', Muslimgauze's posthumous 'Dar Es Salaam', and the "various artists" electronica compilation 'The Fire This Time' (see the Bass Communion section for more details on this one).

As of February 2003, Hidden Art became entirely a 3rd Stone imprint. Although some No-Man material still appears on the label, it is no longer administered by the band. The original spirit of Hidden Art is being continued with Burning Shed and Headphone Dust

The Hidden Art website is here.

Burning Shed is an online record label set up by Tim Bowness, Peter Chilvers and Pete Morgan in 2001. The label produces small, elegantly-packaged production runs of (mostly) CD-R format recordings at a budget price. These have included live and archive recordings of No-Man and related projects (such as Bass Communion, Tim Bowness/Peter Chilvers and Darkroom), but the label has expanded to release other recordings in a variety of styles. Burning Shed's catalogue now embraces out-rock bass-scapes, dream pop, trance-beat, bizarre songwriting experiments, moody folk music, chill-out, ambient loop-rock, trip-hop, film soundtracks and "blunted beat" dance experiments. Among those artists who have chosen to release music via Burning Shed are Rothko, Roger Eno, Alias Grace, Hugh Hopper, Centrozoon, UXB, Rhinoceros and film director / soundtrack auteur Mike Figgis.

The label specialises issues esoteric releases that would be considered a financial risk by most companies without the fear of incurring losses. Burning Shed production runs are dictated purely on the number of orders for each album, eliminating the need for distributors and the financially crippling initial runs of CDs, and ensuring that artists releasing material on Burning Shed make an immediate (if modest) profit.

Burning Shed also acts as a small-scale distributor. It hosts both the No-Man Shop and the Porcupine Tree Shop, and markets work by selected sympathetic musicians. These include Mastica (a band project by King Crimson drummer Pat Mastellotto), British guitarists Rob Jackson and Tony Harn, and German touch guitarist / improv loopist Markus Reuter (of Centrozoon and Europa String Choir).

According to Tim, "our primary aim was to create a strongly idealistic label that - if we set it up correctly - could justify releasing good albums that may only sell in single figures. In the event of having an album like No-Man's 'Radio Sessions' (which has sold several hundred copies without the aid of credit card sales, reviews or knowledge of its existence) the label would be doing very well.

"The amount of money being made may not be great, but it does mean that people have an easy means of accessing 'difficult' music, artists have a way of releasing material that would be otherwise stuck on a dusty DAT and in the event of the label getting a reputation and a particular title taking off, hopefully everybody's happy.

"Artistically, I envisage Burning Shed as being in the EG, Opal, Time, ECM territory, but with more some more song-based albums as well as the ambient / dance / jazz experiments."

Headphone Dust is a label which was initially set up to deal with Steven's more experimental side projects. To date, Headphone Dust has released or reissued material by No-Man, IEM, Bass Communion and Altamont, as well as Steven's 'Cover Version' single and his CD-R album 'Unreleased Electronic Music, Vol 1'.

In Steven's own words: "Since both IEM and Bass Communion are pretty off-the-wall and self-indulgent projects, I realised it would be pointless to give the music to record labels who would have a hard time selling it and would probably just end up aiming it at existing Porcupine Tree and No-Man fans. I would much rather this music found its own audience in a more organic and low-key way, through the Internet and a select group of mail order outlets and specialist shops."

Headphone Dust collaborates closely with Burning Shed, and consequently all of these albums can be ordered from the Burning Shed-run Porcupine Tree Shop, as well as from the Freak Emporium.

More releases are planned for the future.