Reviews

Jamie Lenman – ‘Muscle Memory’ [Review]

As regular readers will know, Jamie Lenman is a big deal where I’m from. My Facebook feed literally blew up with the release of the double-A-side Fizzy Blood/Pretty Please, news of his secret set at The Boileroom in Guildford, and the dates for his Heavy / Mellow Band’s recently completed tour. On top of all that, of course, there is this album. Not just a standard-length LP, but a 70-minute double album that takes in so many styles that I felt compelled to delay this review and let it all sink in and mature for a while. Now, however, it’s ready to go. Read more…

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Posted on 07 January 2014

Features

A Guide To Project RnL – Part Two

project rnlWelcome to Part Two of The Musical Melting Pot’s Guide To Project RnL! Click here for Part One, where we looked at Project RnL’s YouTube-based output to date. This time around, we’ll be looking at the extracurricular work of Project RnL’s core members: keyboardist Eyal Amir, and vocalist Ray Livnat. Read more…

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Posted on 04 January 2014

Features

A Guide To Project RnL – Part One

project rnl

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Project RnL. Remember that name in 2014. Originally formed in 2010, it didn’t take long for this prog-pop juggernaut to rev its engines loudly enough to be heard by Dream Theater – the band still sitting prettily at the very top of the prog scene’s naturally complex hierarchy – and begin collaborating with DT keyboardist Jordan Rudess. That’s an impressive achievement, by anyone’s standards.

Read more…

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Posted on 03 January 2014

Live Reviews

Doomed From Day One / Dye The Flux / Stone Giants / Change Persona / Origami Hearts [Live Review – Surrey Uni, 31/10/13]

Opinion

Change Persona

Unfortunately I missed the evening’s openers, Origami Heart – but Change Persona kicked off my evening with a fun and entertaining set of well-practiced punk tunes. Throw in a Sum 41 cover, an enthusiastic crowd, and a frontman in a dress, and you have all the signs of an act with great punk-centric potential. Nice job! Read more…

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Posted on 01 November 2013

Live Reviews

The First / Thousand Autumns / Jamie Lenman [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 11/10/13]

Opinion

Jamie Lenman (AKA Radu The Handsome)

If you had been scanning the Internet for a decent gig to head down to last night, come across the listing for this show, and then Googled the name of opening band Radu The Handsome, you wouldn’t have found anything to do with music (apart from the listing for this gig). You would, however, have found a ton of references to Vlad the Impaler’s allegedly homosexual brother, and perhaps his appearance in an obscure Doctor Who audio story. From this information you might have deduced that this band are a bit into Doctor Who, and might even suspect – rightly – that Radu the Handsome are not a real band at all, but Doctor Who illustrator and ex-Reuben frontman Jamie Lenman and his new band performing under a pseudonym.

But let’s be honest, that’s pretty unlikely. Read more…

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Posted on 12 October 2013

Reviews

Cenesthesie: ‘Visceral’ [Review]

Fiction

His back stiff against the steel monolith, Frank struggled in vain to escape the wrist and ankle clamps that kept him in place. His head throbbed. The featureless white walls of his cubic cell met his gaze and stared back blankly. He had awoken here, helpless and physically unharmed bar the chafing of the unforgiving clamps against his bulky forearms and calves. His last memory was of the comforting glow of his computer screen as he slid on his prized studio headphones and pressed play. Now he racked his mind in a plainly hopeless attempt to come to terms with his predicament. Read more…

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Posted on 16 August 2013

Reviews

Falsense: ‘Death of a Hidden Influence’ [Review]

Fiction

All it took was a simple slip of the tongue, and vast armies instantly materialised, prepared and poised, ready for war. Breath became artillery; words, ammunition. The ground shook and shuddered with each perfectly synchronised step as hundred-foot-tall soldiers stomped determinedly across a kaleidoscopic, constantly shifting landscape. Read more…

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Posted on 12 August 2013

Reviews

Arcane Roots: ‘Blood & Chemistry’ [Review]

Arcane_Roots_-_Blood_and_Chemistry_-_Cover_Art

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If you could make it past CERN’s security and replace the LHC’s put-upon particles with musical elements, this album would emerge in place of the Higgs Boson. Read more…

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Posted on 10 July 2013

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