Music Disc Reviews

For those of you who may still be wondering why this band turns up regularly in these pages, allow me to quote T Bone Burnett on the new audiophile format he's touting, CODE: "We need musicians to stand up for pure sound." Well, Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson (read our Q&A with him) has long been not only carrying the pure-sound ball for artists but practicing what he preaches on DVD-Audio. Latest example: this reissue of the band's 2000 album on CD+DVD-A. Make that DVD-A+CD, because the focus is on Wilson's high-resolution, 6-channel mix - and as we've come to expect from him by now, it's state of the art. Thing is, he keeps advancing that state; here, the sound is often so seamless and all-surrounding that you may think your speakers have dissolved. Extras include three bonus tracks. Also on DVD-A: Schoolyard Ghosts, the new album from side project No-Man.