This four-track EP is my first experience of Quicksilver Night, a project run by guitarist Warren Russell who brings in other musicians as he needs them, although he provides a great many himself. This 3-song release features the wonderful Meagan Finning on vocals, plus Jason Cale on lead guitar plus some acoustic and backing vocals, and is currently available with an additional song when downloaded, the 2016 single “Exeunt” which features Meagan again, but with Milt Gore on lead guitar. The EP starts with the title song and harmony guitars, but while they are driven along by the drums, Meagan comes in over the top with some beautiful double-tracked vocals. It soon becomes apparent that the songs are designed around her wonderful voice, as he provides some incredible soprano high vocals over the top of more controlled symphonic rock vocals – in many ways she reminds me of Floor Jansen. “October Skies” is more acoustic-based, while Meagan again reaches for the high notes, and the use of synthesized fiddles gives this a very Horslips feel as the electric guitars also make their presence felt.
There is again a lot of space within the arrangements, with Meagan always very much front and center. “Homecoming” is more complex, with intricate musical threads, organ, multiple vocal lines, plenty of piano and drums, and feels much more controlled and concise. The final track, “Exeunt”, feels slightly different to the others with more guitars, but given it was recorded some years ago perhaps that isn’t surprising. Meagan’s vocals are still at the forefront of everything which is going on, and it is they that make this EP such a delight. Pop over to Bandcamp and give them a listen as this is well worth hearing and is a great introduction to the work of Warren Russell.
Mind Key was formed in Napoli some twenty years ago by in 1999 by Dario De Cicco (keyboards) and Emanuele Colella (guitars) who wanted to create a band that brought together Dream Theater, Symphony X, Evergrey, and Pain of Salvation with short direct hard rock numbers. They release their debut in 2004, played gigs with the likes of Dream Theater, Vision Divine, and Pendragon, before releasing their second album “Pulse for a Graveheart” in 2009. This saw them with a new singer, Aurelio Fierro, and they again toured with the likes of Edguy, Vanden Plas, Europe, and Hammerfall, but the band then went on an extended break.
Now they are back, bolstered by a new rhythm section of bassist Lucio Grilli (ex-Soul Secret) and drummer Mirko De Maio (The Flower Kings, Hangarvain), and one has to wonder why they have been away for so long as this is high octane from the start and never lets up. I can certainly see where the guys get their inspiration from, but I am a little surprised not to find classic Stratovarius in the list, as well as that style, is all over this. Prog Metal, melodic metal, call it what you will, this is class from start to finish. Aurelio Fierro has a great voice, with an edge that gives it additional breadth and quality, combined with a great range. Add that to a rhythm section who are never going to just sit back and play gently but instead are driving and adding to the melody, and a keyboard player and guitarist who are locked together swapping leads and one is transported.
Thankfully the production is up to the task, and the result is an album that fans of bands such as Alcatrazz will also enjoy, with Colella proving he can shred like Malmsteen when the need arises. For fans of great rock music, let’s hope we don’t have to wait nearly as long for the next one.
Take a guitarist (who also provides some live samples), a trumpeter who also provides flugelhorn and keyboards, and a singer who also provides some electronics and a vocal synth, then put into a studio for one day only to record ten covers of some progressive rock tunes in a way which is both sympathetic and experimental, and this is the result. They mix acoustic guitar and brass with electronic and rock to create something which feels very modern but also at times very dated indeed. It stretches into jazz, particularly on “I Talk To The Wind/Roots”, yet at all times there is the feeling that this is a group of guys who are deeply in love with the music they are performing and want to pay homage while also moving it into a different direction. For the second time in recent months I have come across a cover of one of my favorite songs, namely “Shipbuilding”, here stripped back and taken in a totally different direction to the one which everyone knows, but even Robert Wyatt and composers Elvis Costello and Clive Langer would be impressed with this.
Boris Savoldelli is a well-known jazz singer (as well as a teacher of the form at Venice and Bresica Conservatories of Music), and his confidence in his ability allows Maurizio Brunod and Giorgio Li Calzi to step back and put plenty of space in the accompaniment. I prefer the songs where they don’t bother with electronic percussion but instead take the song into a new direction, such as on “Starless” which has at its core gentle acoustic guitar and jazz vocals (even scat at times) yet is also dominated by trumpet and some wonderful controlled electric guitar notes. The album is fresh, invigorating, exciting and exactly what a covers album should be to my mind as the trio don’t attempt to faithfully replicate what has gone before but instead takes that as a starting point for a new journey. Well worth discovering
Sendelica describes their latest album as “a door of perception into the jamming delights of Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly and The Byrds at the heights of their improvisational prowess.” If they had also added Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Nik Turner and VDGG they may just have nailed it, as this instrumental quintet is definitely bringing back the late Sixties, with jam-driven psychedelic workouts where bass, drums, and synths normally take the back seat to the strident electric guitar and sax. Sendelica have of course been producing great music in Wales for more than a decade now, and during this period they have also been incredibly productive – I note that on Bandcamp if one wishes to get their complete digital discography that amounts to 34 releases!
Here we have three extended workouts, all allowing the guys to flex their musical wings, with Peter Bingham (guitar, electronics) and Lee Relfe (saxophone) taking the lead, ably supported by Glenda Pescado (bass), Meurig Griffiths (drums) and Lord Armstrong Sealand (Theremin & synths). The last guys tend to provide the supporting role which allows the others to go off and take flight, creating new themes and constantly revisiting old ones, all locked in as one. Psychedelic, progressive, exciting, invigorating and full of space this is music that captures a band at home with each other, playing in a live environment. No need for retakes or fancy overdubbing, this is about getting a band in their natural environment and capturing that vibrancy and immediacy for the world to hear.
Although it is available both digitally and on CD, of course, the only way to really hear this is by getting the double vinyl release from Fruits de Mer, where the fourth blank side has been overprinted in UV full-color, a new technique offered by the Record Industry pressing plant (not so much a picture disc, more a disc with a picture on it…). Superb. 8/10
this was a long-lost number from Billy and the boys.
Overall this is a great little release, but it is let down somewhat by the drum production which is far too much to the fore. When the cymbals are louder than the guitars then one can say there is an issue. But fans of the band will undoubtedly lap this up and it certainly has me intrigued to hear more from them.
Starting with some rather dated keyboards this number soon turns into the melodic progressive music I have come to expect from Potter’s Daughter, this time aided and abetted by none other than the wonderful Annie Haslam whose voice is still as pure and wonderful as it ever has been. Here she combines with Dyanne Potter Voegtlin to create something quite special indeed. Amit allows himself to turn his amplifier up a little and come more to the fore with his solo, turning this song into far more of a progressive rocker than those on the album. This single combines two versions of the same song, but it is interesting not only to hear how the band is moving in their musical journey but also that they have already been accepted by one of the scene’s most treasured singers.
I thought I had managed to clear all my Christmas-released reviewing and then this arrived just before Christmas itself. Here we have five songs from L.A. Guns, the first of which starts with a somewhat rambling monologue from none other than William Shatner! I must admit, it is funny hearing him asking the band to play “Sex Action”. This then leads into “The Bills/Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You” (Billy Squier cover) which is followed by a down and dirty treatment of “Merry Xmas Everybody” which features harmony vocals, and a band obviously having fun. (Slade cover). “Dreidel” is just 9 seconds long and leads into “There Ain’t No Sanity Clause” (The Damned cover) before we finish up with “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)” (Ramones cover). 13 minutes of mayhem which actually comes off really well, as there is the impression that the guys just wanted to have a blast and that they certainly achieved.
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