Alex Lifeson's Envy of None project with Andy Curran, guitarist Alfio Annibalini and vocalist Maiah Wynne released their second album Stygian Wavz back in March via Kscope Records. This morning Kscope announced that the project is back with The Thrill - a 3-track single including an alternative version of Stygian Wavz's 4th track Thrill of the Chase, a demo version, and the album track itself. In addition to a digital release, they will also be releasing The Thrill as a 12" colored vinyl version with all proceeds donated to UNHCR's response to the Ukraine emergency - available exclusively from the band's merch store here. There's also this new lyric video for the song. From the video description:
... Bassist Andy Curran states "Thrill of the Chase was one of the last songs we worked on before handing in the completed record. It started with Alf's funky demo and Maiah loved it and was very vocal about completing it. She and I were wanting to add something up tempo to the record and this one, despite being a little left of center style wise seemed to fit nicely. It has a cool funky positive vibe that we enjoyed exploring, especially the outro dance party section!"
Alfio Annibalini adds "At first glance, this track seems like an odd choice to include on the album, but once Maiah added her vocals, the track instantly sounded as if EON had walked through a new yet familiar door. And as a special bonus, the remix even features a cowbell!" ...
The Thrill is currently available for listening on all the major streaming platforms, and the vinyl version will start shipping around November 1st, with pre-orders available here.
The 2nd season of the Trailer Park Boys: Jail Shorts released earlier this summer, and Rush's Alex Lifeson makes an appearance as "Big Chunk" in Episode 2 (Turtle Acid and a Bloody Knob). "Big Chunk" is a large, intimidating, and murderous criminal with a surprising sensitive side, who first appeared in the Trailer Park Boys animated series voiced by Alex Lifeson, who also plays him in "real life" in this episode. You can check out Big Chunk in this trailer for Season 2, and also in this video short where "Big Chunk" talks about his greatest quality (his farts). The new season is available to stream at TPB Plus (subscription required).
Rush producer Nick Raskulinecz was a recent guest on Rick Beato's popular YouTube show, where he talks extensively about his experience producing Rush's final two studio albums - Snakes & Arrows and Clockwork Angels.
... I know exactly what I wanted as a Rush fan. I know what kind of record I wanted to hear Rush make, and I had a pretty good idea of what the other Rush fans wanted, too. I think as the producer, I wasn't like freaking out because I was in the studio with Rush. I was freaking out because I was in the studio with Rush and had an opportunity to try to make one of the best records they had ever made because they had the material for it. They had the songs and I knew that. And I could tell that they really, really wanted to be with somebody who would answer their questions. "What do you think of this? I don't like it. Okay. What about this? Ooh, I like that." Not, "I like this. I like that. It's all great." They really wanted somebody who was just going to be brutally honest with them about the songs, the parts, and the performances ...
The Rush discussion begins around the 1:09:00 mark and runs for about 20 mintues, but the whole interview is worth a watch. You can check out the entire thing on YouTube.
Back in late 2023, Geddy Lee wrote a book of baseball stories titled 72 Stories from the Collection of Geddy Lee that he included as part of a package given to the winning bidders in a baseball auction that included much of Ged's extensive collection. He then announced via Instagram back in October of last year that he would be releasing the book for wide distribution sometime in 2025. A special, limited-edition version of the book was briefly made available around Christmas at the Rush Backstage Club. That edition is autographed, and comes encased in a red cloth-bound slipcase which includes an exclusive, custom-made Geddy Lee baseball, created specifically for this project. The standard version of the book will be available a week from this coming Tuesday, with a slated release date of September 30th (just in time for the MLB playoffs) and pre-orders are available here. And if you missed out on the special edition last year, it's been made available again, and you can order one at this location. John at Cygnus-X1.net has posted an excerpt from the book's Introduction and made it available online here.
This past Sunday's edition of the syndicated comic strip The Duplex by Glenn McCoy featured Geddy Lee; Eno dreams that he gets pulled over by a cop who is Geddy Lee in disguise, and Ged asks him to join Rush as seen here (thanks Phil P).
10 years ago today, on September 19, 2015, the Foo Fighters covered Rush's Tom Sawyer at their Anaheim, CA show with YES singer Jon Davison, who was also a childhood friend of drummer Taylor Hawkins. Before breaking into the song Davison says, "I have to say that Taylor and I were the biggest Rush nerds in highschool - mullets and everything.". You can watch the full performance below or on YouTube:
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!
