Media Watch: examining an album of merit

As the news that Trevor is recommitted to his solo works continues to circulate through fandom, the good chaps of the Yes Music Podcast decided on a discussion of Can't Look Away which covers two episodes (433/434). These episodes are within the context of their What did they do next? series, so they also contain historical commentary regarding what was happening with YesWest at the time and so forth.

https://yesmusicpodcast.com/what-did-they-do-next-part-14a-trevor-rabin-433/
https://yesmusicpodcast.com/what-did-they-do-next-part-14b-trevor-rabin-434/

Author Simon Barrow (Solid Mental Grace: Listening to the Music of Yes) also weighs in on the album this week and Trevor's career as a whole, you can read his latest blog entry here:
https://yessolidmentalgrace.com/2020/05/28/on-not-looking-away/

Media Watch: *thumbs up*

With thanks to Henry Potts for the heads-up.

Many artists are using this time of worldwide quarantine to further engage with fans via social media and one of those is former Genesis guitarist/solo artist Steve Hackett, who has come out with (among other things) a video series entitled Track Chat.  Yesterday's entry was for a song from his 2012 collaboration with Chris Squire - with an appropriate portmanteau, Squackett - A Life Within A Day.

He posits that this music might provide insight as to what it would have been like if Genesis (of a certain era) and Yes had gotten together to record.  I will say that the title track is one of my favorites from the release, it has a kind of Middle Eastern modality vibe to it.  Around the 2:45 mark Steve notes: "I remember Trevor Rabin saying he liked this a lot which is very nice to know.  Those Yes connections."  And with great performances and progressive values as embodied by the recording, it's easy to see why.

update: ABC 1-on-1 interview

As I reported back in March, Trevor gave an interview to ABC Audio's artist profile program 1-on-1 and today there was another press release circulated regarding its' contents.  It would be nice to have a list of affiliates to know where one might actually listen to the entire interview if possible, however this particular article features different pull quotes so it's worth a read.

http://abcnewsradioonline.com/music-news/2020/5/19/ex-yes-guitarist-trevor-rabin-working-hard-on-new-solo-album.html

(virtual) Party Time

Today is the day for some Springtime clearing of the cobwebs, courtesy of Captain Cuts' brand-new collab with Norwegian EDM artist Matoma and vocalist Georgia Ku, a House-style slice of happiness titled "Beside You."

Spot the Poms, part eight

Granted, this edition of Spot the Poms is not going to be difficult because it features an entire video of the world's cheeriest bass player.  I appreciate Rick putting a spotlight on the ERE as regards the making of The Red Planet because it means today we've got this!  Here we see Lee in his home studio (as nice as it is to spot the ARW poster, to be honest I'm more chuffed about the Headspace one from their 2012 Anonymous Visions tour) on a variety of basses (I think you can even see his Chapman Stick on the left just in frame) demonstrating some of the parts he played for the album, which has been rescheduled for release next month.

Media Watch: new Muse On Muse interview

Published in this month's issue of the Japanese music magazine Muse On Muse is a new interview with Trevor.

http://www.museonmuse.jp/?p=10795

Of note is Trevor verifying once again that ARW has concluded and his new solo album is 60% completed, which is definitely progress!

The same...but not.

Yesterday, Gonzo Multimedia uploaded a new promotional video for Changes to their YouTube channel featuring a track from 90124, but for the second time now they've mislabeled the song.

As long-time fans are aware, when the 90124 compilation was originally released in 2003, the last track on the CD was labeled as "Cinema" when in fact it was "Don't Give In" which serves as the basis for the Cinema track "Make It Easy" -  recorded but not selected for 90125 - and the intro of which was then performed as a prelude to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (and is generally credited thus on live releases such as ARW's Live at the Apollo).  And now "Don't Give In" is identified as "Make It Easy" but that is not correct.  They feature similar music but are not the same, just as "Moving In" and "Hold On" have much the same music but are not the same song.  The lyrics are completely different, and so the distinctly different titles make perfect sense in this context.  Thematically there is a similar thread of romantic strife, but a comparative listen will amply prove my point.

This is "Make It Easy."

As Trevor stated in the liner notes of 90124, it's "two bites of the same pie."

So it seems we might still not see a proper attribution of this particular song in the new boxset and one can react to that as they choose: either as an oversight not worth considering or yet another detail which may appear symptomatic of the quality of the release overall.