Insignificance (Porcupine Tree album)

Insignificance consists of a series of demos, unused songs and outtakes by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. It was the second promotional item sent to subscribers of the band's "Transmission" information service, in 1997, in the form of a 50-minute cassette and limited to 500 copies. Insignificance was remastered and re-released in 2003 as the second disc of the expanded edition of Signify, with a slightly different track listing.

Track listing

Original 1997 cassette release

Side A

1. "Wake As Gun 1" – 3:24
2. "Hallogallo/Signify" – 6:53
3. "Waiting" – 6:45
4. "Smiling Not Smiling" – 3:40
5. "Wake As Gun 2" – 3:42

Side B

1. "Neural Rust" – 5:47
2. "Sever Tomorrow" – 6:01
3. "Door to the River" – 4:17
4. "Insignificance" – 4:54
5. "Nine Cats (Acoustic Version)" – 4:03

CD 2 of the 2003 Signify expanded edition

1. "Wake As Gun 1" – 3:29
2. "Hallogallo" – 3:37
3. "Signify" - 3:28
4. "Waiting" – 6:56
5. "Smiling Not Smiling" – 3:49
6. "Wake As Gun 2" – 2:06
7. "Neural Rust" – 5:53
8. "Dark Origins" - 6:54
9. "Sever Tomorrow" – 6:04
10. "Nine Cats (Acoustic Version)" – 4:08

Track details

The bonus CD on the Signify expanded edition removed the tracks "Insignificance" and "Door To The River", but later appeared as bonus tracks on the reissue of Metanoia.

Steven Wilson wrote this on the sleeve notes^[1]:

Wake As Gun I/II: This song was demoed in various incarnations. It always sounded like it should be a part of something bigger and longer but I never found a happy home for it. At one stage it was part of another "Signify" unreleased track "Cryogenics" (never recorded but performed live once at the Roadmenders, Northampton – anybody have a tape of that show?).
Hallogallo/Signify: "Signify" was supposed to be P.T. play Krautrock, so much so that the demo actually starts off as a faithful (reasonably) cover version of the Neu! Classic "Hallogallo" (one of my top 5 desert island discs) – however clearly something went horribly wrong about 3½ minutes in and "Signify" was born.
Waiting: My original demo.
Smiling Not Smiling: Not used either.
Neural Rust: Later reborn as "The Sound Of No-One Listening". Richard Barbieri thought this sounded like a seventies spy theme so while I was trying to work on the drums with Chris he was jumping around the studio control room performing TV stunts and Starsky + Hutch impressions. He was probably right though – I think it’s the funky wah-wah guitar that does it.
Sever Tomorrow (or just "Sever" as it was to become): The demo version – seems slightly mellower + more melancholic than the album version...it’s certainly slower, like most of my demos.
Door To The River: This is a track that was originally improvised in the studio + then "recomposed" later (or decomposed). The piano, lead gtr and major processed bass were added later. Intended as an EP track (it still could be).
Insignificance: This is pure improvisation – just me, Colin + Chris, extracted from a 45 minute long jam recorded late one night at The Doghouse in Henley. The basic backing track for "Intermediate Jesus" comes from the same jam.
Nine Cats: Not strictly speaking a "Signify" out-take of course. This "On The Sunday ..." LP track gets more than a few requests at gigs. Unfortunately the band don’t play an arrangement of it, but bowing to audience pressure in Italy (late '95) I played it twice as an acoustic number. It sounded ok so I recorded it like this thinking it might be suitable as an EP track.

References