Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Doug Curran and Jeffrey Crecelius
This week Mark and I spoke to Chris Braide from the Downes Braide Association about their new album, Trauma. Even if you donโt know Chris, you will know his work because he has written and/or produced songs for many of the worldโs most successful artists. Heโs been nominated for a Grammy and has won an Ivor Novello songwriting award. This is the 6th DBA album and we usually manage to speak to Geoff Downes about the duoโs output so it was great to have a chat with the other half of the outfit.
Chrisโ Yes connections go further than Geoff, of course, as he was one of the original members of Producers, along with Trevor Horn. In fact, he has recently released new versions of the songs on the Producersโ 2012 album, Made In Basing Street. You can listen to that collection on Bandcamp.
Mark and I highly recommend Trauma, which is released today on Cherry Red Records, complete with another fabulous Roger Dean cover.
Is this album different to the previous 5 from DBA?
Who are the guests this time?
Is the music relevant to progressive rock fans?
Yes – The Tormato Story & Tales from Topographic Oceans – Yes Album Listening Guide
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken Fuller
This week we welcomed the ever-generous Geoff Downes onto the show. It was great to speak to the current Yes keyboard wizard about the new DBA album, Celestial Songs, as well as the recent John Wetton tribute concert and, of course, Tales from Topographic Oceans. Geoff also hinted at whatโs being planned for the forthcoming The Classic Tales Of Yes Tour so listen out for that! Itโs always a treat to talk to Geoff who reiterates the fact that he is and has always been a Yes fan himself.
Who is on the new DBA album?
What’s Geoff’s approach to DBA?
What’s going to be performed on the next Yes tour?
Let us know if you agree with us!
My previous DBA albums and my copy of Barney Ashton-Bullock’s book, ‘Bucolicism’, poems from which were used on Halcyon HymnsThe new DBA V album – Celestial Songs
Our (not really) new Facebook YMP Discussion Group is open to anyone to join but Iโll be adding rules and joining requirements when I have time (one dayโฆ). One of the advantages of the new format is that all members of the group have the same ability to post content, so itโs a bit more egalitarian, or somesuch. Please do search for the group and join in.
If you are still listening to the podcast on the website, please consider subscribing so you donโt risk missing anything:
Theme music
The music I use is the last movement of Stravinskyโs Firebird Suite. This has been used as introduction music at many Yes concerts. My theme music is not take from a live concert โ I put it together from: archive.org
This is going to be a really long episode so maybe you should listen in a few parts.
There are several really important pieces of news about releases, some audio contributions, a special 2 pence about Arc of Life and a wonderful interview with Julie from the Rabin-esque blog about Trevor Rabinโs movie score-writing career and The Glimmer Man which was the first thing he did after leaving Yes in 1995.
Wow. So unfortunately I will need to postpone the full round up of social webs until next week. Incidentally if youโve ever wondered how to see the community posts on the YMP Facebook page, you just need to click on the community tab towards the top of the page. Thereโs lots on there to enjoy and, as I say, Iโll get back to all that next week.
Frontiers Music Srl is excited to announce the release of ARC OF LIFE’s self-titled debut album on February 12, 2021.ย Arc Of Life is a new progressive rock supergroup featuring three members of the current YES line-up,ย vocalist/guitaristย Jon Davison, bassist/vocalist Billy Sherwood, andย additionalย drummer Jay Schellen, one of the most interesting talents in the โnewโ progressive rock scene in the US,ย Dave Kerzner (Sound of Contact)ย on keyboards, and Jimmy Haun (also featured on YES albums in the past) on guitar. Fans can get their first taste of the band’s forthcoming debut with the new single and video, ‘You Make It Real’. Watch HERE:https://youtu.be/_84UCEDeEkc ย Pre-order/save “Arc Of Life” HERE: https://orcd.co/arcoflife ย The concept behind Arc of Life is, in keeping with the progressive rock philosophy, to craft creative, challenging, and ear-pleasing music that pushes boundaries.ย ย Billy Sherwood describes the music as, โinteresting, with well-crafted songs, performed with precision and grace. All songs feature memorable melodies and lyrics thatย take the listener on a sonic adventure. Dynamic arrangements with peaks and valleys… it’s all there.โ ย The other idea behind the band is that YES would be a clear point of influence. But while YES is clearly the main point of comparison, a lot of musical similarities can be drawn to describe Arc Of Lifeโs grandiose and epic approach to music.ย ย In Jon Davisonโs words, โEach YES member understands and supports when others may desire to explore and thrive along new artistic avenues. We then each find further inspiration to bring back to the YES fold.โ ย But all the descriptions are best left to the listeners to discern for themselves as repeat listens will reveal more layers.ย ย Arc Of Life is a true garden of delight for progressive rock fans and the band is looking forward to performing live. โOnce the world gets over the COVID hump, Arc Of Life will be planning as much touring as we can fit in between YES and our other projects. Quite honestly, weโre all chomping at the bit to be out performing again!โ concludes Jon Davison. ย Tracklist: ย 1. Life Has A Way 2. Talking With Siri 3. You Make It Real 4. Until Further Notice 5. The Magic Of It All 6. Just In Sight 7. I Want To Know You Better 8. Locked Down 9. Therefore We Are 10. The End Game ย Line-up: ย Billy Sherwood – Bass and vocals Jon Davison – Vocals Jay Schellen – Drums Jimmy Haun – Guitars Dave Kerzner – Keyboards
What is Trevor Rabin’s film music like?
What do we need to listen to?
What do Arc Of Life sound like?
Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!
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Downes Braide Association (DBA) have announced the release of their new album Halcyon Hymns. The CD/DVD is out on 5th February 2021, and 2LP White Vinyl edition on 26th March 2021.ย
Halcyon Hymns will be the fifth DBA collaboration and follows their previous critically-acclaimed studio albums Pictures of You (2012), Suburban Ghosts (2015) and Skyscraper Souls (2017). The duo have also released Live In England (2019) recorded at their first ever concert at Trading Boundaries, East Sussex, in 2018.ย
โMarc Almond suggested I โget stuck into another DBA recordโ to lift the malaise,โ say Braide. โSomehow It was hard to muster any enthusiasm for it. We had all been so upbeat at the recent shows and now here we were in a collective, creative void. Itโs odd the way inspiration strikes though and it never ceases to delight and surprise me when the muse comes to play and it can happen at any time and without warning.
โI opened up a folder of new DBA ideas Geoff (Downes) had sent to me a while back and which Iโd listened to briefly and had made a note to do something with them at a later date. I canโt say why it happened but one day in the studio as I listened to the bits and pieces of ideas suddenly the songs started tumbling out as if by magic. Iโm not exaggerating or being melodramatic. These new songs sounded like personal reflections, they just wrote themselves. It was so easy, so enjoyable and so meant to be. Like a gift.โ
A few words from Geoff: โIt was so great to witness Chrisโs creativity making my fundamental ideas come alive. He took the bare bones of melodies, harmonies and textures I sent him, and somehow crafted these into something way beyond my expectations or imagination. โLove Among The Ruinsโ is one of the many examples on the album of his rare genius at work.โ
Love Among The Ruins is a delightful and uplifting love song, reflecting memories and tributes of a long lost halcyon time in life. The first track to be taken from the new album, Love Among The Ruins, is out today 4th December.
Halcyon Hymns also features contributions by Marc Almond (ex-Soft Cell) and David Longdon (Big Big Train).
The CD/DVD package also includes video footage of legendary artist Roger Deanโs painting sessions as he creates the album cover artwork for Halcyon Days together with lyric videos for three tracks from the album.
Halcyon Hymns track listing:
Disc 1
01. Love Among The Ruins
02. King Of the Sunset
03. Your Heart Will Find The Way
04. Holding The Heavens
05. Beachcombers
06. Warm Summer Sun
07. Today
08. Hymn To Darkness
09. Sheโll Be Riding Horses
10. Late Summer
11. Remembrance
12. Epilogue
Disc 2: DVD
01. Roger dean Painting Sessions
02. Love Among The Ruins
03. Your Heart Will Find A Way
04. Today
YMP Patrons:
Producers:
Jeffrey Crecelius
Preston Frazier
Bill Govier and
Wayne Hall
Patrons:
Aaron Steelman ๏ปฟ
Dave Owen ๏ปฟ
Mark James Lang ๏ปฟ
Paul Tomei ๏ปฟ
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Lind ๏ปฟ
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William Hayes
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Scott Smith
Geoff Bailie ๏ปฟ
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Robert and David
Please subscribe!
If you are still listening to the podcast on the website, please consider subscribing so you donโt risk missing anything:
The music I use is the last movement of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. This has been used as introduction music at many Yes concerts. My theme music is not take from a live concert – I put it together from the following two creative commons sources: thanvannispen and archive.org
Produced by Jeffrey Crecelius,ย Michel Arsenault,ย Wayne Hall,ย Preston Frazier and Bill Govier.
We managed to speak to Geoff Downes about his other new release – The Downes Braide Association’s DBA3 – Skyscraper Souls. Mark and I go into a lot of detail about the album and then ask Geoff some questions about its construction and influences.
There’s also time for a rather mischievous Yes and ARW 2 pence so something for everyone, we hope!
Is this DBA album a continuation of or a revolution from the last?
Did Geoff ever meet any of the contributors?
What is the writing process like?
Chris Braide and Geoff Downes
Listen to the episode then let us know what you think!
Produced by Preston Frazier, Bill Govier, Wayne Hall and Michel Arsenault.
It’s the 300th episode! We take a look back at some notable happenings in the past 300 episodes and listeners also sent in their audio appreciation of Yes. We announce the winner of the Steve Howe Anthology 2 set, donated by Preston Frazier and Mark and I get a bit over excited about the new Yes live album!
What are your favourite bits from the first 300 episodes?
What is the new live album going to be like?
Can we keep going for another 300 episodes?
Listen to the episode then let us know what you think!
