Grudge Match update

Today vocalist Liz Constantine (who we know as the lovely voice on "Rescue" as well as its predecessor track "Rescuing Fischer," among other accomplishments), announced via Twitter that she will be featured as a vocalist on the score for Grudge Match, as well as her creative partner Dante Marchi.  Formerly of Dizzy X, their new ensemble is called The August Empire, and they released their debut album Before the Hereafter in August (clever!) of this year.

Media Watch: a nice find

An ongoing series wherein I comment on Trevor's recent publicity.

In my "Neato Stuff" listing on the front page there is a link to Trevor's page on the website for his film scoring representation, Kraft-Engel Management.  But the site also contains an interesting feature article, and the focus is on The Jacaranda Room, the studio located on his residential property which Trevor has utilized since the mid-80s for recording.
http://www.kraft-engel.com/creative-space/trevor-rabin/

The studio has gone through many renovations - including a revamp courtesy of Los Angeles-based studio technician wizard Charlie Bolois for the Talk recording sessions - and as Trevor states, it has evolved into an entirely professional space which has its own character and vibe apart from its convenient location.

There are some nice photos included, such as the shot which was first used in my interview "Trevor Rabin: the cultivation of Jacaranda" published last year on the Rocktopia website; picturing Trevor with his favorite Gibson.  As with his client page on the site, the article also contains the player which allows visitors to sample all of Trevor's scores from Con Air onwards.

Media Watch: In The Studio (90125 30th Anniversary)

An ongoing series wherein I comment on Trevor's recent publicity.

Famed syndicated radio interview program In The Studio with Redbeard has turned its gaze to the 30th Anniversary of 90125, featuring interview segments with Trevor as well as Jon Anderson, Alan White and Tony Kaye.
http://www.inthestudio.net/redbeards-blog/yes-90125-30th-anniversary-jon-andersontrevor-rabinalan-whitetony-kaye/

The actual anniversary of the album is next month, of course, but this is an interesting and informative program in regards to the making of the album and its impact upon Yes history and the cultural landscape of popular music.

The Secret Discography: Proto-"Owner"

One of a series which examines Trevor’s musical career in South Africa.

Recently an item was posted in the news section of Trevor's site to note that "Owner of a Lonely Heart" has passed the seven million mark in sales worldwide, and goes on to relate how the song came to be written.  A useful verification is found in the mention of the year of the song's composition, 1979.

The year is significant to me because of a theory I developed back in 2011 after hearing a song Trevor produced for Rene Arnell (nee Veldsman) from her album Call Me, which was also recorded and released in 1979.  It's called "Paying My Dues" and was written by Rene and Cynthia Schmacher.  Trevor produced Call Me during the same period of time he was working at RPM Studios in Johannesburg on sessions for Face To Face as well as the second release for the studio-based ensemble Disco Rock Machine.

Trevor and Rene were both session musician veterans of long acquaintance and Rene also contributed vocals to the song "Could There Be" which appeared on the original version of Beginnings, backing vocals over the whole of Face To Face (mostly notably on songs like "I'm Old Enough (To Make You A Woman)" and "Now") as well as lead vocals for Disco Rock Machine.  She went on to form Via Afrika, serving as their bassist and vocalist; the band was best-known for their single "Hey Boy."

Here is the song in question, which was the b-side for the single "Sooner Or Later."

As seen in the comments, I am not the only one who sees similarities between it and Trevor's best-selling song.  However, those observations arose because I had made a comment of my own in the Yesfans community.

This one made me giggle because the arrangement is a sort of proto-"Owner" in that it's got a simple driving riff and lots of little accents which do that same "Surprise!" kind of thing and then the big chorus. I wonder what he was listening to in London which eventually led him in that direction.

I'll leave it to each reader to judge, there may be those who don't hear a resemblance, and I acknowledge - with "Owner" a part of my fandom DNA (as with all the people who became fans of Trevor's via YesWest) - that anything even remotely like it will cause that association to emerge.  But I don't believe it's mere coincidence...though it is a "chicken-or-egg" question.  "Owner" was going to be written at that time - there was no stopping it - and perhaps the seeds of it emerged during those sessions or it so absorbed his imagination in the writing that it began suggesting itself in other situations as well.  Trevor is just as gifted an arranger as he is a musician, songwriter, engineer and producer - and much of his work during the South African years supports this assertion.

I made the following observance before I heard "Paying My Dues" when discussing the various melding of styles within "Owner":

So when you stop to think about it…the dance factor inherent in “Owner of a Lonely Heart” owes a lot to Trevor’s nascent experiences in disco as much as to the New Wave trend which had overtaken the market at the time he wrote the song. After spending a few years trapped in the pub rocker genre prison Chrysalis needed him to be in so they could market him, he once again began writing songs which reflected the true breadth of his musical history: rock, pop, and yes, even disco. The extent to which those influences were then absorbed and redefined adds yet another layer to a fascinating history…and lots of great music. 

But at that point I was not aware of the year Trevor first began writing the song.  So now I would posit that those same impulses were there as always, but just as a natural state rather than an expression of circumstances.  Trevor's musical imagination is inherently capable of dynamic audacity, and perhaps there is none so popular an example as that song which is both wholly of its time and completely outside of it as a modern classic.

Spreading Rumours review

I'm with them.

(L to R: Sean Gadd, Christian Zucconi, Hannah Hooper, Ryan Rabin, Andrew Wesson)

GROUPLOVE
Spreading Rumours
(Canvasback/Atlantic)

To provide this review a frame of reference I'd like to discuss how I first came to love the group (*rimshot*).  The band's debut EP was originally released in 2010 and the song "Gold Coast" was featured in the film The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which Trevor had scored.  As I always read the credits for films, but especially those which Trevor has worked on, I was able to figure out that Grouplove was Ryan's new band and thus I rushed off to alert fandom to this discovery and downloaded their EP, which I did enjoy, and not merely for its progeny (besides Ryan, bassist Sean Gadd is the son of British vocalist Steve Gadd).  I especially liked the production values of "Gold Coast," appreciating the choices Ryan made as an engineer and producer.

Success does not just happen to a band, they have to achieve it, and Grouplove was tireless in performing and managed to land a distributor in Atlantic and thus a contract.  The following year saw the release of Never Trust A Happy Song, which is a great album, with only one song I would consider filler ("Betty's A Bombshell" - I wish they would have included "Gold Coast" as they did with "Colours" and "Naked Kids").  With a variety of styles from indie rock to shiny pop to trip-hop to a sort of neo-glam and a few other genre nods, it sold well and "Tongue Tied" became one of the most-played and licensed songs of 2012.  I knew it was a hit single the very first time I heard it and if Ryan - much like Trevor with "Owner of a Lonely Heart" - becomes defined by that song...well, I can think of worse things.

So all of that goes to explain that I am and have been a fan of this band.  I have listened to the EP and Happy Song many times and the band's collective talent, energy and synergy with one another is the key to their success. Being attractive and personable certainly doesn't hurt either.  But what I liked about the album is that it seemed to present the band in their best light, how this was a once-in-a-lifetime pairing in all ways.  Instrumentally they blended together so well, and the call-and-response of Christian's and Hannah's vocals were as much a part of the sound as the perfect hooks and the manic energy of their playing.  I had no qualms in proclaiming this to be an excellent debut.

I appreciate and admire that the band is not merely reprising their formula with Spreading Rumours, that they are setting themselves new benchmarks and ambitions.  Production-wise this is a great work, and I'm betting other artists will hear it and find themselves thinking, "Wow, I want Ryan Rabin to produce my next record!"  The sum of his experience and education is brought to bear in the arrangements and elaborate layering evident in all the tracks.  This is a great-sounding record, and as he brought in a couple well-known engineers to assist with the mix, it's another example of how the band is focused on ensuring their own success, not content to leave it to others or even the popular zeitgeist while at the same time maintaining artistic integrity.

That said I'm not sure, song-wise, how well it all jells as an album.  I think it may have at least two songs too many.  Their are fewer stylistic shifts and even less of Andrew and Sean.  I know they're in there, amidst all that layering, but the character of their playing and songwriting seems less evident.  While Sean sings the verses on "Flowers" - one of the bonus tracks on the deluxe edition - there's nothing on the original tracklist, though Andrew sings co-lead on "Shark Attack."  And I miss them.  There's less of a rock focus, more EDM texturing (one notable moment comes in "Hippy Hill" with a out-of-left-field dubstep bridge in the middle of the song) and while that's not bad it seems to muddy the feel of the band.  There are hooks throughout, it's just that those songs more devoted to mood than melody seem to flounder a bit in my estimation.  When there is a good hook or a catchy melody with interesting sloganeering in the lyrics, then it works nicely.  But in a few places I did wish the band had made different choices, such as "Didn't Have To Go," which is an achingly heartbreaking meditation on young love from Hannah, but her vocal is a bit too shrill and forced in the chorus, it undermines the unvarnished longing of her voicings in the verses.  On the other hand, I did appreciate the decision to put a percussive coda on the end of "Sit Still," it's nice to have a reminder of what a great drummer Ryan is.

But the album begins and ends wonderfully: "I'm With You" is ambitious and intricate, an indie pop symphony of sorts, and "Save The Party For Me" is a sweet acoustic-based lullaby, again focusing on the chemistry of Christian and Hannah much as "Close Your Eyes and Count To Ten" did on the last album.

The deluxe edition of the release contains three extra tracks, and "Girl" is the best of the lot, featuring Hannah surrounded by shimmering layers of electronica heavy on the reverb.

I tend to believe this album is a grow-er rather than a show-er, it will take time for most of the tracks to worm their way into my heart, and the relationship between the listener and the work has at least a year of connection to occur, hopefully deepening over time.  The character of the band and their artistic aims has already taken hold and so any effort, especially that which is forward-thinking, deserves everyone's attention.

When you raise 'em right.

I'll have a review of Spreading Rumours up soon - still working on it since the release last week - but I thought I'd share a bit of an interview with Ryan posted today, here is the link to the entire text for any interested readers:
http://diffuser.fm/grouplove-interview-2013/

It's a question he's been asked before (in different iterations) but this time I think Ryan did a nice job of articulating how he was prepared to enter the family business (as a product of a sane and secure environment) and also the important role Trevor and Shelley played in supporting the band during their inception.

You’ve been in bands before, and your father was a member of Yes. Have you been able to bring that experience to the other members of Grouplove — particularly with your rigorous work schedule?
As far as the travel, it’s a little different, because when my dad started in Yes, he basically came in and the band was already somewhat established. And when [1983's 90125] came out, it was their biggest album, selling more than all their previous albums combined. So he really started with them at the top. At that point, the industry was different with money, so they were travelling in private jets to go to shows and playing in arenas, so it’s not really the same experience.

Growing up, though, I learned a lot from him in terms of work ethic and musical training and rehearsal and working with other people and what to remember and concentrate on when performing. So, I think that stuff is very valuable. They also are just generally very supportive of the fact that I’m playing music. The rest of the band basically lived at my parents’ house for our first two years of playing together. Everyone sort of dropped everything and moved to Los Angeles, and my parents house is where everyone stayed. So, they definitely are influential in us being a band and getting where we have.

Just from reading about you, it sounds like yours was far more stable than the typical rock ‘n’ roll family. Even the fact that your parents are still together is not necessarily the norm.
Definitely. Stable is not what someone would usually say about a rock ‘n’ roll family. At the same time, there was never any pressure to do anything musical, only support. Sometimes kids are pressured by their parents to do something that they did or they want them to do, and naturally you push back against it. But there was never anything like that.

Media Watch: new Q&A

An ongoing series wherein I comment on Trevor's recent publicity.


The blog Kickin' It Old School posted a new Q&A with Trevor a couple days ago which can be read here:
http://oldschool.tblog.com/post/1970860329

This is a nostalgia blog with a particular focus on 80s pop culture.  Unfortunately there's not much new content, given that most of the questions focus on Trevor's tenure in Yes and we are wholly familiar with all the stories.  But this line is clearly the most hilarious of the entire interview:

The clothes and hair of the 80s were awful, and the Yes videos were too. 

Oh c'mon, Trev, you had THE BEST HAIR in the 1980s!

And as a retort-of-sorts to those who felt he had sullied the reputation of the band...

I loved recording Jon's voice. I would sometimes get a call from an engineer on Jon's solo projects. Jon would instruct them to call me to tell them how to get his voice to sound. I was very flattered. 

However, there is an interesting tidbit at the end which gives me hope for the further adventures of the firm of Rabin & Rabin:

I would love to do an album with my son, Ryan, at some point.

And also:

 I am starting a new solo album as a follow up to Jacaranda,

Huzzah!  Clearly what is needed now is lots of pestering about this project rather than AWR; you all have your assignment.