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Following the acclaim of their latest release, The
Ladder (Beyond), the Yes group rolled into NYC for three shows at the
Beacon Theater on December 7, 8 & 9. A number of the 20th Century
Guitar crew were on hand for the December 9th show and the general
consensus was that the night was an absolute success. Kicking off with The Yes Album evergreen “Perpetual Change”, Yes took the crowd
by storm with their 21st Century progressive rock spirit. As great as the
new live versions of “And You And I” (from Close
To The Edge) and “Awaken”
(from ‘77s Going For The One) were,
it was the newer numbers from The
Ladder that provided the evidence that the men of Yes have even
further evolved as master musicians. It was a tad disappointing that
nothing was performed from recent albums like Open
Your Eyes, Talk and Keys To
Ascension, yet it was abundantly clear that the fervent fans on hand
that night would go bonkers no matter what the group played. Perhaps the
best thing about The Ladder, and about the Yes of the late ‘90s in general is the
returning of guitarist Steve Howe to the creative fold. With and without
Howe, Yes have always been a formidable sonic force emitting enough power
to fuel a small planet, and with Howe regaining the lead and acoustic
guitar chores, the band once again revitalize, this time with high-tech
accuracy, the early ‘70s guitar-based orchestral prog-rock sound that
first brought them such amazing acclaim. In addition to his fine guitar
work on late 97’s Open Your Eyes and The Ladder,
Howe has also pleased his fans with several fine solo albums in the
‘90s with a special mention going to Pulling
Strings, released earlier in ‘99. In the spirit of his ‘94 album Not
Necessarily Acoustic, which chronicled his ‘93 American one man
concert tour, Pulling Strings is an audio souvenir culled from two dates on
Steve’s late ‘94/early ‘95 Pulling Strings tour of the U.S. Released
by the U.K.-based Resurgence Records in 1999, Pulling
Strings brings back memories of earlier works with Yes (including
acoustic excerpts from Close To The
Edge and Relayer) and his
days with Tomorrow (“My White Bicycle”). Other highlights include
innovative Howe takes of the vintage instro chestnuts “Misty” and
“Classical Gas” (backing tracks and all!) and a moving cover of the
controversial “Blinded By Science” from his mid ‘90s album classic The
Grand Scheme Of Things. An essential companion CD to Not
Necessarily Acoustic, Pulling Strings boasts good audio, color photos
of the master in action and valuable web and guitar tech info. www.nfte.org/Steve.Howe
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King Crimson fans following the
group’s ongoing activities should note that their record label,
Discipline Global Mobile recently reissued a 30th anniversary edition of
the fabled first Crimson album, In
The Court Of The Crimson King on CD
complete with a unique oversized mini-replication of the original
album art, 24-bit remastering and an impressive CD booklet featuring press
clippings of early reviews and new liner notes by KC guitar icon Robert
Fripp. Improved sound-wise over previous CD reissues of the famed In
The Court Of...,the
Discipline stamp of approval is all over this one. DGM has also just
issued a tasty, 25 track, double disc live sampler set of tracks from a
variety of Crimson line ups of years past. Entitled Circus
- The Young Persons’ Guide To King Crimson Live, the enhanced CD set
is separated into two CDs, Neon Heat
Disease - 1984- 1998 (disc one) and Fractured
- 1969-1996 (disc two). Disc one, featuring recent live tracks of the
current Crimson line-up, is a textbook example of exactly how state of the
art progressive rock should be played in concert. www.discipline.co.uk
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As far as cosmic instrumental
music goes, it doesn’t get much better than the French group Air. The
group debuted last year in the U.S. with their critically acclaimed CD, Moon
Safari. Their U.S. label, Astralwerks / Caroline Records recently made
available a splendid 30+ minute set of early Air singles, B-sides and
remixes entitled Premier Symptomes (First Signs). A made for
the ‘90s mix of keyboard laden atmospherics with added sampled guitar
effects, Air’s ultra-relaxed,
smooth ambient groove comes off like Tangerine Dream produced by Henry
Mancini! Caroline have also just released a new Air DVD documenting the
group’s ‘98 tour entitled Eating,
Sleeping, Waiting & Playing. A new Air CD of soundtrack music will
see release on Astralwerks in early ‘99. www.astralwerks.com
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Biggest disappointment of 1999:
Had to be the aborted U.S. release of Bali,
the new CD from the fabulous L.A. pop group The Wondermints.
Considering The Wondermints’ June ‘99 concert tour supporting Brian
Wilson, the pending release of Bali, on the N.Y.C.-based Big Deal Records, looked like a sure
thing. Well, lo and behold the album never materialized. This writer was
fortunate enough to procure a CD of Bali,
a Japan-only release, from Wondermints member and pop wiz-kid Darian
Sahanaja, who, together with bandmates Nick Walusko and Mike D’Amico
have created a work of true pop brilliance with Bali.
What a shame their American fans still have to wait for the CD’s
(hopefully?) imminent stateside release.
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