-->

Introduction:


A series of essays wherein I explore the numerous musical identities of my favorite musician: from child prodigy to teen idol to guitar hero to singer/songwriter to award-winning in-demand film composer.
Featuring news/updates and commentary/analysis of Trevor's career and associated projects.
Comments are disabled but please feel free to contact me at rabinesque.blog@gmail.com.



Tuesday, December 30, 2014

begin the Beginnings



Recently I came across some videos on YouTube (with thanks to YT user Gerald Tomoculus) of needle-drops of tracks from Trevor's debut solo album Beginnings - the original version released in South Africa - and combined with those uploaded by Duck Chowles, allows fans who are not familiar with the original version perhaps to have a better understanding of why it was such a great record (in my estimation, at least), and I was glad to be able to express that sentiment to him directly.  Trevor has noted in at least one prior interview that he wishes he never would have remixed/remastered the album (for international release) because in retrospect he believes the original version had a better sound to it.



There are obvious differences, for example, when you compare the original track "I Love You" to the reworked version "Finding Me A Way Back Home."


And I believe the original version of "Live A Bit" is also superior; the lead vocal is a bit drier and further upfront, the bottom end has more depth and the strings at the beginning are much sharper, the outro runs just slightly longer.

I think the differences between the mixes for "Love Life" are perhaps less obvious except, again, the vocal is more prominent.

There's some difference in the mix of "Fantasy" but more on the subtle side; I think the biggest difference is Trevor's voice is much higher on the original throughout.



Of the tracks which were omitted, it's a shame about "Could There Be" because I think it's one of Trevor's best moments of social commentary from that era.

The other track was "Love Alone."

Given that reissues are often bundled with a needle-drop of the original recording these days, I believe that would be a fine idea for Varese Sarabande to consider, and thus we could have another chance to experience Trevor's original vision for his solo debut directly - especially for those who do not collect vinyl.  There is much to discover in Trevor's legacy, and here's hoping the new year brings another opportunity in that realm.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Seasons Greetings

I'd like to wish all my readers around the world a very Happy Holiday season, whatever tradition you celebrate, with peace and joy and all good wishes for a wonderful New Year.  Thank you, as always, for your continued patronage.

I'm sure Rabinites have Trevor's version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" in their playlists and the only other holiday song I am aware of which Trevor played on was from Jon Anderson's 1985 holiday album 3 Ships - "Easier Said Than Done."  In the video, which is mostly a "making of" you can spot Trevor in some shots.



Next month, of course, will bring the premiere of the 12 Monkeys TV series on the SyFy channel, which is Trevor's latest scoring project and the second full series which he has scored.  There's been a fair amount of media coverage of late and I found this particular article interesting:
http://www.outerplaces.com/buzz/news/item/6367-6-things-we-learnt-watching-the-pilot-for-syfys-12-monkeys
For a bit of behind-the-scenes action you can check out these two Twitter accounts:
https://twitter.com/12monkeyssyfy
https://twitter.com/12monkeysroom

Filming for Season One just wrapped earlier this month, so I think it's safe to assume Trevor and Paul are still hard at work on the score.

There are plenty of ways to watch the show in the US: online at SyFy.com or by purchasing a season pass through Amazon Instant Video, and on Friday nights at 9 EST/PST, with the first episode airing January 16th.  I'm not certain yet whether I will be producing a Knowing The Score series for 12 Monkeys, but I may be recapping the first episode at the very least.