Porcupine Tree – Voyage 34

A strange concept, sampling voices of patients experimenting with LSD, and making an album of it. But it has turned out so well. This EP was meant to be featured on the “Up The Downstair” album, but it did not fit. It tells the story of a group of patients which are given sugar cubes saturated with LSD, with observations and testimonies of the people involved. It plays like an instrumental concert almost, a nod back to Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and Brian Eno. Steven wanted to bring psychedelic rock into the ambient world, and this EP is an attempt. At 70 minutes, it’s quite a handful to listen to, with its mood changes, interludes and other style changes. The EP is divided into four parts, to be able to fit evenly on a double vinyl release. The first part is mostly a rock song, accompanied by the samples of recordings, while the second dwells in the ambient world. “The LSD trip is a pilgrimage far out and beyond the normal mind...” Here the samples are much more frequent, and the music is mostly suggestive. Some drums here and there, and a layer of dark ambient undertones. But after a few minutes an electric guitar kicks in, and the beat changes to somthing more of psychedelic rock. The main theme of the song repeats in this section, along with the sample from Dead Can Dance’s “As The Bell Rings the Maypole Spins”. The third part goes over to being an electronic track, with subtle drums and hihats througout. It’s called “Astralasia Dreamstate”, because the music is sampled from their music. The next, and final part, is called “A New Civilization”, and serves more as a closer to the album than anything else. It explains how the mind should expand because of LSD usage, and after that it slowly disappears.