French TV #13: Stories Without Fingerprints Now Out

[M Sary]

Thanks for the nice comments! I'm a little blown away by how well this cd is flying; I was really beginning to believe this is a dead medium and it might be time to hang it up. Appears I might have been wrong. I wish I knew why this one seems to be clicking---I don't consider it radically different from what we've done in the past. Maybe everyone's finally catching up?

[thedunno]

That's great to hear Mike

No, the new one is not radically different. I can think of a few factors why sales might be up.
I think the new one has just a bit more catchy tunes then the previous two. The sound quality is superb too.
But also the times we're in. In this lockdown with no shows possible some people *may* see the importance again in paying for recorded music. As for myself; I always paid for music but the last few months I bought a lot more music. No restaurants, holidays, cinemas and shows.... I've got to spend my money somewhere. Besides that with working from home all the time I have a lot more time for listening to music as well.

[interbellum]

Finally got this one. Wow, what a wonderful sonic adventure (again). Favourite track: The Museum Of Worthless Inventions (French TV at its most symphonic).
Most funny title: That Jigsaw Puzzle Is Tearing Our Family Apart.

[M Sary]

Finally got this one. Wow, what a wonderful sonic adventure (again). Favourite track: The Museum Of Worthless Inventions (French TV at its most symphonic).
Most funny title: That Jigsaw Puzzle Is Tearing Our Family Apart.

Many thanks! You'll be happy to know we're insanely ahead of schedule for FTV 14 and will begin mixing in a month. Could come out this year if the stars align correctly! Guess I better see what's in the wacky title cookie jar.

[Hobo Chang Ba]

^ Wow. That's excellent to hear!

[calyx]

Many thanks! You'll be happy to know we're insanely ahead of schedule for FTV 14 and will begin mixing in a month. Could come out this year if the stars align correctly! Guess I better see what's in the wacky title cookie jar.

Is Pat Strawser again part of the team ? His keyboards are such a big part of the new album that I hope he stays on now. It was sad to see him disappear from this particular scene for years after Volare, great to see him making a comeback in FTV.

[M Sary]

Yep, Pat is still on our active roster, along with mainstays Katsumi Yoneda and Jeff Gard. In addition, we have FTV alumni Warren Dale coming back and contributing woodwinds to the new tracks. I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself for coaxing Pat back into the world of "difficult" music. He's had a big part in arranging some of the tunes, and they seem to end up being my favorites. Even his bass lines are too clever for me to mess with, and I ultimately play them verbatim.

[aith01]

This album is top notch. It's on my list of best 2020 releases.

[JKL2000]

Mike, do I detect several small references to Yes on the album, or am I imagining that?

[thedunno]

I also hear some Steve Howish guitar bits but I think this is not intentional.

Anyway, I am still loving this album. Certainly my favorite of the last three.

[M Sary]

Mike, do I detect several small references to Yes on the album, or am I imagining that?

Can't say that I'm aware of any, and if so, they weren't intentional. Yes ( as well as most 70's progressive music) is part of our DNA, so I'm sure bits of it will leak through occasionally. When I write, I can't say I'm really thinking of other bands/music; it's more an unconscious thing where you just wiggle your fingers about until something interesting emerges, then develop and contrast that with other discoveries and ideas, then hopefully wrap it up in a clever bow at the end. The only time we consciously Yes'ed something up was on our 7th cd, "The Case Against Art": I'd gotten to know a couple of the guys from Happy The Man and decided to cover "Partly The State" from their cd "Beginnings" with their participation, as it was a great song but poorly recorded. When analyzing it, we were surprised to notice there were 3 distinct riffs/melodic phrases that were nearly identical to parts from Yes's "Machine Messiah", which it pre-dated by something like 6 years! So it was hard to resist pushing those bits into the "Drama" end of the spectrum.

As for Katsumi's guitars, Steve Howe is definitely a big influence on him. I'll try to have him respond more in depth in the near future.

[francofrehley]

Until Mike called me up to check here I almost forgot I am a member of PE.

I'm glad to know FTV #13 has been well accepted and to see many encouraging comments in this thread,
I totally agree with Mike. I never be thinking of other bands/music when I play on the FTV stuff. It is like a chemical reaction or an organic interaction which means the others whoever tracked before me let me play on it spontaneously. In the process, as Mike mentioned, some references in our backgrounds could leak unconsciously.
Yes is definitely one of my references since Yes is the first progressive rock band I ever encountered and I was deeply into them when teenager. However, I would not say my guitar style has been much affected by Steve Howe. I am curious to know which part of the CD (song) sounds like SH. Please let me know.

The best five guitarists in my life are #1 Ace Frehley (KISS), #2 Franco Mussida (PFM), #3 Nick Barrett (Pendragon), #4 Steve Hackett (Genesis), #5 Malcolm Young (AC/DC). I rather challenge you to hear them in the CD!

Cheers,
Katsumi