Leicester Bangs Review (2012):
934614
Hemingway's Cat - Next To You (Sacred Fire Productions)
The latest record from Hemingway's Cat is a five track EP of danceable guitar rock. The Woodstock, NY based quintet, led by guitarist Lorah Yaccarino (Ritual Motion, Ghostyard, Sacred Fire) only debuted in 2010, but experience tells - most of the group appear to be over 30 - and on "Next To You" they groove like a well-oiled machine with their rhythm section of drummer / vocalist Denise Parent and bass player Wayne Orr in fine fettle throughout.

Live on a small stage I imagine they're irresistible, but it can be a challenge for a jam band such as Hemingway's Cat to relocate all their verve and dexterity onto disc. They seem to have coped. Tracks like "While It's Hot" and "Get Over It" spark with energy, and an urge to move in an ungainly fashion `round the room can be a little overwhelming. When they slow things down, as on the title track, it becomes clear that the song is as important as the groove. Best of all is the larger-than-life "Dancin Dakini", a big favourite at shows, it transfers to record with all its excitement and heady vibe intact.
3474171
Think Joy Division meets The Kills/Pelican. The ladies kick some serious butt with their melodic thumping and great lyricism. If you like Joy Division, The Kills, White Stripes, MC5or melodic hard hitters like Pelican bit entirely original.... you'll love this band from England. Even better live. Definenatly worth a try.  I love this album. It's mixed perfectly without any studio pretentious over dub digital sound.
1888345
For any serious listener of ICP, Esham or Kottonmouth Kings, buy this album. I am always on the lookout for new bands that appeal to me. CDs like this help me find those bands.
1509719
Good album. Still prefer the older stuff though. I liked when it was a band and not a solo act
2937028
Really solid album! It is like a cross between Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes. They are certainly better lyricists than Fleet Foxes though.
2861970
Ugly, messy, disorganized, full of typos...but fortunately they (mostly) snapped out of it when it came time to review records. Sort of like when Beavis & Butthead suddenly became lucid when it was time to critique music videos. "Touch And Go" was definitely focused on the hardcore punk side of the spectrum. However,  they also covered a surprisingly diverse lot of other styles, from the industrial nightmare music of S.P.K. and Throbbing Gristle, to the soft sounds of Echo & The Bunnymen and U2. Which is a good thing, since the first half of their 22 zines contained no interviews, instead relying on record and live show reviews for content. And they must have reviewed 100 shows by their pals Necros (okay, they're your friends, we get it). The saving grace of this book (which collects all their 80's zines into one anthology), is the clear love of music shown in Tesco Vee's writing. He listened with open ears to punk, metal, pop, new wave, and noise. And it seems that he loved more than he hated, which I honestly did not expect. When T&G finally got around to doing interviews, they featured Misfits, Minor Threat, Die Kreuzen, Negative Approach, Necros (again), and a lot of other regional bands. There was also an unabashed love of Los Angeles bands on display here, Dead Kennedys and X in particular. But by the end of this book, I was honestly 'punked-out'. Tired of straining my eyes, turning pages upside down, and cringing at the shameless scatology on parade. For those who want to look back at a really awesome punk zine from this period, get ahold of Suburban Voice - which may be the finest DIY magazine ever. As for Touch And Go, it would have blown me away when I was 13. 25 years later, it occasionally hits the spot.
1869998
"Tunes" is basically a re-issue of the band's first two albums put together in one package with a few bonus tracks.  Morglbl are often described / categorized as jazz or fusion, but to my ears these guys have more in common with metallic guitar shredders like Joe Satriani than the jazz world.  In fact if you take away the band's occasionally humorous asides (ala Zappa) a lot of this music would fit right at home on a Satriani record.  Guitarist Christophe Godin is a guitar shredder of the first order and can hold his own with the best in the business.  The band alternate between metallic crunching and lighter more melodic fare.  A sense of humor is present throughout with the band sometimes throwing in silly voices and nonsense vocals.  This comes across a lot better on stage where the band are anything but serious, but on record I find it a bit annoying.  If you like the Morglbl's more recent material you should also like this earlier stuff.  For fans of guitar pyrotechnics Morglbl is a worthy purchase.  If you get the chance to see these guys live definitely give it a shot as they are great in concert.
4290256
Jordan Holt - Feral Children EP (Independent)
In 2012, Jordan Holt, a native of Minneapolis, decamped to the plains of South Dakota to spend a year "in reflection and meditation". His "Feral Children" EP is the direct result of the time he spent away, and the months of tranquility have informed a collection that is both eerie and pensive, and also beautifully peaceful. It's almost as if weights have been lifted and simple pleasures rediscovered, and the effect on the listener is wholly positive.

Comparisons aren't easy to fathom. On various websites, names like Ryan Adams, Bon Iver, Bright Eyes and Dylan crop up, but Holt's new music doesn't truly fit in with any of those folk. In fact, after some thought, the only record I can think of that I could place alongside "Feral Children" is Arthur Russell's "World Of Echo", insofar that both exist in a netherworld of half-heard lyricism and spectral backing - though Russell is very much a product of the avant-garde, while Holt comes from an acoustic folk and Americana tradition.

The five songs presented here are difficult to breakdown into separate entities, but repeated plays expose slight mood adjustments and changes of emphasis. Once it gets under your skin, you'll be playing it constantly - I know I have. Its autumnal, afterhours feel is enveloping and pervasive, and apart from there being too little of it, it's a stunning addition to a genre that doesn't really exist.
1022957
This record can be had from the CD Baby site for fifteen bucks; google for it. There's a very nice, high-quality, and rather generous preview demo there too, so you can check it out (there's a low-bandwidth version, but try to get it on a broadband link: the difference is quite noticeable). I loved it.

Enjoy.
2160381
I have been a fan of the band Joy Division since 1979, when I first heard their music on college radio. This book offers an insight into the band's history from the bass player, Peter Hook. Written with self-deprecating wit and inside knowledge, I got to know the members of the band from a unique perspective. The book's cover has a black-on-black "radio wave" pattern, which is similar to  Joy Division CD artwork. Finally, I understand that much as Ian Curtis' lyrics were the focal point of much of my admiration for the band; that each member contributed to the whole sound of the band.

Thanks for writing this, Peter. It couldn't have been easy to open yourself up like this, but it means alot to this fan.
2056603
Actually, I was thinking about listening to this CD prior to deciding to write on it.  My title is way overgeneralized.  Let's see: Fripp on guitar (I think mostly Les Paul at this stage; don't know what kind of acoustic) and Mellotron (a synth that mimics strings, woodwinds, etc.); John Wetton on Fender P-Bass and vocals; and, of course, the incredible Bill Bruford on drums whose name, if you listen to _The Noise_, a video from 1982, can be heard chanted from the crowd.  But the album in question was 1974; excuse me.  Track One, "Red," is Fripp's composition, an instrumental full of strange chords, sort of suggesting diminished fifth "devil" chords, etc., and also some odd 7/8 time signatures, but a fine performance by the whole band.  In fact, I think nobody goes overboard with self-indulgence here.  Track Two, "Fallen Angel," features Wetton's pleasant voice singing about violence in NYC, with the implication that the devil is responsible.  Track Three, "One More Red Nightmare," with words by Wetton (I think), is about just that while sleeping on a Greyhound bus.  Compare and contrast Bruford's fills in the instrumental parts to Billy Cobham's on a certain track of _The Inner Mounting Flame_ by Mahavishnu Orchestra (1973).  Track Four: a live improv ("Providence") which can also be found on _The Great Deceiver_ at greater length.  Includes David Cross on violin, who'd been given the ax, much to Fripp's distress...  Whatever.  Read the notes to _Great Deceiver_.  And Track Five, "Starless," which had been in process during the 1973-74 tour.  It appears here without Cross - so if you want to hear the original concept, I advise obtaining a copy of _The Great Deceiver_.

Some critics have dubbed KC the first heavy metal band based on this incarnation.  But KC was way more elusive for that kind of nailing.  They just followed their collectively individual instincts - if that makes any sense.  There's no other band like them, and, actually, "band" should say "project."  Fripp _is_ King Crimson.

One more word: John Wetton is, alongside Chris Squire, the best prog rock bassist I know from this period.  I'm just a nobody, a musician, in fact a bass player and drummer, but I learned almost all I know from listening to records.  _Red_ is a beauty.  Listen and be inspired!
4778575
Looks to be a sixteen track compilation of the Dutch psychedelic band's repertoire. About as good as their 'Revolution' release (see my review). Tunes that I, personally thought stood out were "Mr. Pityful", the title cut "The Life I Live", "Sour Wine" and the somber "Summer Thoughts". Might appeal to fans of the Outsiders, Frijid Pink and possibly Blues Creation and maybe the Troggs.
1934533
I read 1 or 2 really good reviews on the web for this album and then couldn't find any more.  So I listened to some soundbites and decided to get it.  The whole album tells a story and is a worthy listen from start to finish.  There are a lot of heavy riffs and cool bass lines to hold your interest.  The singer has a good voice with only a slight accent (I think the band is Italian).  One of the reviews said that the band sounds a bit like Tool which is true.  They also mix in some prog metal influences to create a pretty original sound.  They are not another Dream Theater copy.  Try them out if your looking for some heavy prog that isn't too generic.
4127401
The Barb Wire Dolls album Slit is a pleasure. The structure of their songs is more complex than most punk and there is more variety between them. They are a wonderful band in concert.
2105349
This was recommended to me the guys in the Russell's Prog room discussion forum, and they were right. Knowing that I am a big fan of bands like Porcupine Tree, Riverside, Dream Theater, The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, etc., they said "you'll love this."

Well, they were partially right, I do like it, but I don't love it. Bader Nana is good, but not great, and certainly not up in the top tier with the above mentioned bands. All the songs are worth listening to but only 2 of them are really standouts after a few listens, the kind of songs that'll still be on my MP3 player in 2 years. They are the final 2: Desperate Measures and The Destroyer of Worlds. I also like songs 4-6, Journey, Earth 1348 and The Plague, a lot.

Overall I have to say that, to my ears this falls in what I call "the 2nd tier" prog bands; bands like Andromeda, Shadow Gallery, Magellan, etc. Don't get me wrong, these are all good bands, and I like all of them, I just don't think they are "crme of the crop" bands like Porcupine Tree and Riverside. In most cases they certainly have the playing chops of the best; they just don't seem to have the same level of pure creativity, the same compositional skills as the "big boys" do. And a lot of the time that makes all the difference in the world.

When I think of these "2nd tier" bands I think of bands that would be fine opening for bands like Porcupine Tree, Riverside and Dream Theater, but not headliners themselves. And that's just what I think of Bader Nana.

But this IS a notch above much of the stuff I have heard from most of the 2nd tier bands, and it is his first album so he certainly has room to grow and mature. I'll DEFINITELY be interested in hearing from him in the future so......3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for a debut effort that's good, really good, but not great.

(Have to say I'm not sure how happy I'd be if I had of paid the asking price of $30; I didn't get it from Amazon. Hopefully the price will come down and/or used copies will start being offered.)
677353
Swedish band SYRON VANES have been around in one form or another since the early 1980s, releasing two albums back then, and then taking an almost 20 year long hiatus as recording artists before they returned again in 2003. "Evil Redux" is their fifth studio album overall, and their third since returning after the millennium. It was released through Denomination Records, a sublabel of Swedish Transubstans Records, in the spring of 2013.

"Evil Redux" is one of those albums that have given me a lot of minor frustrations. Not because there's anything wrong with the music, but because there's tons and tons of mostly minor details that sounds agonizingly familiar but that I'm unable to track down in my memory banks. The guitars in particular, riff constructions, certain common minor effects, some distinct guitar and drum combos that in sound or expression is of a kind I know I have encountered way back when I was a metalhead through and through.

Way back when is something of a key word for this production anyhow. This is a band that was active back in the good, old 1980s and they have their stylistic foundation firmly placed in that decade. Good, old fashioned heavy metal 1980s style with compact riff constructions pounding away, steady hammering drums backing it all and with powerful, melodic lead vocals on top. Judas Priest is probably the main influence for this band, and at times and especially in the vocals department Iron Maiden does come to mind. Possible traces of bands like Savatage and Empire-era Queensryche pops up on occasion, possibly some Dio thrown in there too for good measure, and certain recurring arrangements where light toned, frail guitar motifs are combined with harder edged riff constructions made me recall good, old Dokken. In addition certain tracks sports a subtly more modern sound, to my mind at least with some details fairly similar to the sound Alice Cooper explored on Brutal Planet.

The typical track on this album consist of chugging riffs with Judas Priest or Iron Maiden tendencies, instrumentation catering for the former and vocals for the latter, followed by an intermediate sequence somewhat more melodic in sound and fairly often with singalong qualities, leading on to a harder edged, impact heavy chorus. And these guys are fond of good, old fashioned anthemic chorus sections, in case anyone wonders.

Pleasant material at worst and fairly engaging at best, Syron Vanes have produced an album of the kind that warrants an inspection by those who long for heavy metal as it was made some 30 years ago. Those among them that appreciates the occasional singalong quality sequence and old school anthemic chorus sections a likely key audience specified.

My rating: 70/100
2575720
This is a band from Italy and is symphonic black metal, with a orchestra and choir.  The album is 54 minutes and has 11 tracks. and has a operatic singer on some tracks.  Very original stuff.  I like the sound and the drums, guitars and vocals are great.  A very large sound stage with the orchestra.  This album was released I 2013.  I will be looking for more of their CD's