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In Absentia, their Lava Records debut, is the latest fruit of Porcupine Tree mainstay Steven Wilson's obsession with progressive rock, a mania that dates to the late-1980s when the "band" was little more than a fantasy, though one with a remarkably imaginative--if entirely fictional--history and bio. But that pipedream eventually became a real "alt prog" cult fave, with these dozen ambitious songs finding a focus that occasionally eluded the band on half-hour soundscapes such as Voyage 34. Tracks such as Gravity Eyelids have a retro-psychedelic feel that would have done the XTC alter ego Dukes of Stratosphear proud, with Wilson's pure melodic tenor pushing it beyond the merely baroque (2003)

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Eighth album from experimental prog-rock act featuring Steven Wilson (No Man). 10 tracks, 3 of which feature the stunning string arrangements of Dave Gregory of XTC, includes the singles 4 Chords That Made A Million and Shesmovedon (2000)

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Stars Die is a 2CD compilation spanning Porcupine Tree's stint with Delirium Records between 1991 and 1997 and consists of the best album tracks and singles as well as previously unheard rarities. Porcupine Tree began life in as a one-man vehicle for multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson, eventually morphing into a full band line-up. Intent on dispensing with the 1970s mothballs, Porcupine Tree have carted the stale fabric of prog-rock off for treatment at the trance-and-dance-beat-drycleaners and--not entirely unsuccessfully--shifted the antique, astronomical black vacuum of space-rock on a few years from the era of blurry images of Buzz Aldrin on black and white telly

Whilst Stars Die hardly constitutes a giant leap for mankind, it exudes a certain eccentric freshness, not least of all on the trippy trance of Voyage 34, the closet thing to Star Trek on LSD, and Synesthesia, on which they manage to delude themselves into believing they are the techno-prog Stone Roses. At its best, this is a fine introduction to a band who may appeal to people who know this is the 21st century, enjoy a bit of Radiohead, probably even the Orb but--to their credit--can't quite bring themselves to stick those old Steve Hackett albums in the attic (2003)

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