I haven’t updated in a while simply because I’ve been so busy. Here’s a rundown:

• I’ve almost completed my final assignment for this semester — I had three due within five days of each other, then after that it’s time to study for exams!
• saw the new Indiana Jones movie and loved it despite a certain refrigerator stunt leaving me rolling my eyes
• attended a meeting for the new film society at Katoomba’s Edge cinema
• bought some new CDs, including the new albums by Asia and Mudcrutch as well as catalogue titles by Asia, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry and Lindsey Buckingham
• getting my party organised still — it’s getting closer!
• started putting some thought into a possible business venture

In short, I’ve been flat-out, hence the lack of content here. But let me add that it’s always nice to know that the semester is almost over…

As a sample of the new no-man album schoolyard ghosts, here’s the promo clip for “truenorth (edit)”, excepted from the second part of the 13-minute epic “truenorth”. (The third part is actually my favourite, but this is still a nice introduction to the no-man sound.)

If The Phantom Menace portrayed the tension between Introverted and Extraverted Thinking (i.e. Ti and Te), then Attack of the Clones explores Extraverted versus Introverted Feeling (i.e. Fe vs. Fi).

Fe emphasises our duties and obligations within our respective social roles. As a Jedi, Obi-Wan has a duty that goes beyond his own personal feelings—he is a Jedi first and an individual second. On the other hand, Fi transcends these roles, freeing us from the context of whatever role we’re playing at the time: the guiding principle instead is what we personally feel is right—this is embodied by Anakin’s choices in the film.

These are the functions of Fe and Fi as acted-out within the psyche of an INTP, however. Fe is the Anima/Animus, being positive and idealised, whereas Fi is the Demonic Personality, being steeped in the darkest of connotations. It’s personal bonds that keep leading Anakin down the path of the Dark Side because he’s ignoring his larger duties and obligations.

One scene in particular makes this dichotomy quite plain: Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme are chasing Count Dooku on Geonosis when Padme falls out of their ship. Anakin demands that they fly back to get her, but Obi-Wan bites back: “Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way!” He then asks “What do you think Padme would do, were she in your position?” to which Anakin must admit, “She would do her duty.” Padme, of course, is Fe as the Anima. (See my earlier post on The Phantom Menace.)

Beyond all this, Te (as the Opposing Personality) gets another beating, this time as a political philosophy: when Anakin advocates what is essentially a benevolent dictatorship, his reasoning is simply, “If it works…” Meanwhile, Dex’s commentary on the difference between knowledge and wisdom can easily be interpreted as Te vs. Ti.

There’s more, but I need to ponder it further…

On Saturday, the 26th of April, I journeyed down to the Enmore Theatre in Sydney once more, this time to see one of my favourite bands, Porcupine Tree, on the only Sydney date of their long-overdue first Australian tour.

Porcupine Tree started as a one-man side-project for no-man’s Steven Wilson, but after several albums in the early ’90s, the project eventually evolved into a genuine band that hearkened back to ’70s progressive space rock without directly imitating it.

It was 2002’s In Absentia, however, that marked the most obvious change in the band, with drummer Chris Maitland being replaced by the extraordinary Gavin Harrison instead. This was a chance for Wilson to fully integrate the sonic palette of progressive metal to the mix, the result being a curious mix of the layered melodicism of Brian Wilson, the psychedelic textures of Pink Floyd and the bursts of thrashing guitars of Opeth. The best comparison would be to King Crimson, but even that misses the mark somewhat.

In any case, these guys are legends among those of us in the know, and as soon as they announced their Australian tour, I made sure that I would not miss out on this extraordinary event.

The tickets I’d bought gave a showtime of 7:45 pm, so I arrived at the theatre by 7:10, which, while probably a good idea, meant half-an-hour of waiting without anything to do. The lines (there were two–one for each side of the doors) were quite massive, which was pleasantly surprising, given how unknown the band is outside certain circles. At 7:45, however, there was a cheer as we all began to pour in.

About half-an-hour after that, support act Sleep Parade did a 45-minute set, and they managed to keep a rather restless crowd entertained. This is a Melbourne-based prog-rock three-piece, and their sound actually reminded me somewhat of latter-day Marillion. I really respect the fact that there are Aussie bands out there doing more than just the usual rubbish, and it’s great to see Wilson & co. supporting local acts, too.

When 9 pm rocked around, Sleep Parade’s set was over and it seemed as if Porcupine Tree would appear very soon. They didn’t come on until about 9:30, however, and by that time everyone was DESPERATE. Prior to that, the lights would move occasionally, at which point some hopeful Aussie fan would cheer… only to then realise that they were jumping the gun.

Then, finally, the lights dimmed, the band entered, and the footage for “Fear of a Blank Planet” began playing behind them…

Setlist: (all quotes paraphrased)

• “Fear of a Blank Planet” (from Fear of a Blank Planet, 2007)
• “What Happens Now?” (from the Nil Recurring EP, 2007)
• “The Sound of Muzak” (from In Absentia, 2002)

Wilson: “Well, this is the first Australian tour. It’s been about 15 years coming and nine studio albums, so apologies for that. As I was saying in Melbourne last night, we just didn’t think we had a following in Australia, but I guess we do. To make up for it, we’re going to play as much for you tonight as we can. We can’t play everyone’s favourite, of course, but we’ll do our best. [At this point someone shouted something out.] Here’s a tip: it doesn’t matter what song you sing out–we have this thing called a setlist…”

• “Lazarus” (from Deadwing, 2005)

Wilson: “Porcupine Tree have quite a few more ‘epic’ tracks that we’ve done–we’re not exactly a band known for its brevity. [At this point, given his previous remarks, I was praying for 1995's opus "The Sky Moves Sideways", but alas...] Here’s the longest track off the last album. It’s called ‘Anesthetize’.”

• “Anesthetize” (from Fear of a Blank Planet)
• “Open Car” (from Deadwing)
• “Dark Matter” (from Signify, 1996) — this was a real highlight, as it was the earliest track played and is one of the best songs from their ’90s catalogue
• “Hatesong” (from Lightbulb Sun, 2000) — featuring a workout from Harrison that well-deserved the shout-out by Wilson immediately afterwards
• “A Smart Kid” (from Stupid Dream, 1999) — concluding a trilogy of tracks from their pre-Harrison days, this was yet another highlight

Wilson: “How about some more metal?”

• “Blackest Eyes” (from In Absentia)

Wilson: “Most Australians probably know us from our last album, Fear of a Blank Planet [at this point a guy near me shouted out "Not true!!!"--I'd like to agree, but Wilson's probably right] so we’ll do another track from it. It’s called ‘Way Out of Here’.”

• “Way Out of Here” (from Fear of a Blank Planet) — much better live than on record, and the accompanying footage is quite haunting; interestingly, John Wesley sang the chorus
• “Sleep Together” (from Fear of a Blank Planet)

Encore:

• “Mother and Child Divided” (from the Deadwing sessions)

Wilson: “We didn’t play that in Melbourne last night, but we figured Sydney was more of a METAL crowd. Anyway, this next song is quite popular in our shows in Europe and America… [some of us (including me) started shouting 'Trains!!!'] It’s called ‘Trains’.”

• “Trains” (from In Absentia)
• “Halo” (from Deadwing)

All told, the set went for about two hours.

Overall, it was a great night with a great crowd. There were the obvious young metalheads, but there were also the older prog rock fans who just wanted to see the saviours of modern rock in action. (I obviously identify more with the latter group.) I was hoping to hear “Even Less”, “Drown With Me” and/or “Cheating the Polygraph” (as I didn’t really expect anything from the solo days), but… maybe next time.

Still, how often do you get to see rock’s best kept secret in the flesh?

Now, how about Pink Floyd reform with Roger Waters, record a collaborative effort and then do a world tour?

The new no-man album, schoolyard ghosts, is released on Monday, and let me tell you: it’s amazing.

This is yet another creative peak for Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness; the first release by the duo since 2003’s together we’re stranger sees them once again exploring subtle textures and moods in a contemplative, melancholic setting. Every track is stunning in its own right, but the standout has to be the near-13 minute epic “truenorth”, which moves through several phases as it shifts and evolves, not once feeling like pieces stitched together. This is music to send chills down your spine.

Wilson, of course, has also released albums under the banners Porcupine Tree, Blackfield and Bass Communion in the intervening five years since no-man’s last masterpiece, but I can’t imagine (say) the metalheads who are recent ‘Tree fans ever really liking schoolyard ghosts (except maybe the dynamic track “pigeon drummer”). Wilson’s strength is his ability to work within different styles and genres yet still sound unmistakeably like himself.

Of note are the appearances by Pat Mastelotto and Gavin Harrison, both of whom are King Crimson alumni (with Pat being the former drummer for Mr. Mister, of all things, and Gavin, of course, being the drummer for Porcupine Tree since 2002). These guys are masters behind the kit (would Robert Fripp have it any other way?) and, once again, it shows.

schoolyard ghosts is a work of great beauty that deserves a listen by anyone interested in subtly evocative textural explorations.

I want to discuss briefly Introverted Thinking (Ti) as a function for a moment.

Ti-types, more than any other, want to understand systems at a fundamental level, getting to the core principles. Unlike Te-types, they’re not satisfied with simply knowing isolated causal chains (i.e. if-then statements, such as “If I press this button then the third light goes on”).

Why?

Once you understand the system rather than simply its outer behaviour, it affords you independence by liberating you from only being able to work within certain contexts. In other words, if a condition outside of Te’s if-then-else chain is met, it’s out of luck while the Ti keeps motoring along.

Ti-types thus want to anchor observed causal chains to underlying principles. Their bias, then, is that all well-designed systems should be internally consistent, and it’s the seemingly arbitrary nature of Te that is the most frustrating to them.

But if we look at Heroes like Qui-Gon Jinn (The Phantom Menace) and perhaps Tron (Tron), as well as Father-figures like Harry Tuttle (Brazil), we get a better idea of the essence of Ti…

At heart, Ti is an approach to life whereby you’re guided by reasoned principles independent of the rules and laws of “the system”. The Ti mindset is that of an intellectual rebel who wants to come to conclusions on their own terms through reason without anyone else’s framework being imposed on them; furthermore, it’s a mindset that demands such conclusions to be present in order to guide actions.

In a sense, then, Ti is similar to Fi, except its conclusions are arrived at by intellectual reasoning instead of moral certitude through Feeling. Whereas Fi is concerned with the question “How do I feel about this?”, Ti instead involves asking “What do I think about this?” and indeed, it’s this question that preoccupies the consciousness of Ti-types (i.e. ISTPs and INTPs). This question is more than just an arbitrary judgement, however — it’s more like the Socratic method directed upon oneself, and perhaps that’s the perfect illustration of Ti at work.

To summarise, Introverted Thinking (Ti) is an approach to life that involves forming independently-derived principles based on an intellectual process of reasoning.

I just finished watching The Phantom Menace for the first time in years, and something leapt out at me this time around:

The major theme here is Ti versus Te.

Te is symbolised by the planet of Coruscant, and in particular by the Senate and the Jedi Council. These arms of the Republic have become unthinking and institutional, following their rules and procedures to the letter rather than the spirit of their laws. This is, essentially, a cautionary tale of Te run amok and is a great example of the Te Opposing Personality in INTPs.

Ti, on the other hand, has its mouthpiece in Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). This Jedi Knight will “do what [he] must” despite what “the system” says. He’s a loose cannon as far as the Jedi Council are concerned because he won’t go along with consensus judgements (Te). It’s here that we see a clear example of the Ti Hero, where independent, intellectual judgement (free from “the party line”) is where the primary source of identity lies. (It seems pretty clear, too, that Jinn is essentially George Lucas’ surrogate.)

Perhaps most notably, however, the idyllic Naboo represents Fe. Why? It’s the primary depiction of the idea of symbiosis (i.e. mutual cooperation). Interestingly, it also stands-in for the feminine principle — the Anima — as embodied by Padme. Again and again, the Anima/Animus function seems to be offered as the ideal state to strive towards. Fascinating!

Finally, Se — trade, greed and conspicuous consumption — is played by both the Trade Federation and Watto, the junk dealer. These are Tricksters: dubious figures who aren’t outright villains.

I’m sure there’s more here as well, but that’s all I’ve got for the time being. But despite what anyone may think of the film’s merits, it’s yet another window into the INTP psyche and is valuable on that basis alone.

In conclusion:

• Hero/Heroine: Qui-Gon Jinn (Ti)
• Anima/Animus: Naboo (Fe)
• Opposing Personality: Coruscant (Te)
• Trickster: Trade Federation, Watto (Se)