Warm Winter

Memories of Machines is Tim Bowness and Giancarlo Erra. Mr. Bowness is also half of the group no-man, with Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree.I'm giving this album four stars based on the beauty of the melodies, and also some very nice work on the electric guitar, but I could have dropped half a star due to the tunes being somewhat insubstantial and relatively forgettable. The sound is a very mellow sort of prog rock, with Bowness' hushed vocals placed against a backdrop that ranges from more basic acoustic guitars to sweeping synth-scapes and actual orchestration. Bowness's buddy Steven Wilson performed on the album in a supporting role, and also helped with engineering. Among the other noteworthy guests are Robert Fripp and Peter Hammill.A possible word of warning: this CD would not play in my older-model CD player, although it plays just fine in my Mac.

There have been precious few albums that affect me on such a level. Giancarlo Erra and Tim Bowness have crafted an intricate masterpiece built upon heartache, loss, nostalgia, and...hope. Completely unsung and underrated album. If you're even a casual fan of No-Man, not only will you not be disappointed, you'll rank it up with the best in that catalog too.

I would just like to say that I love this CD. It is a true work of art equal to any of the No-Man CDs. I have been listening to this for six months now and I just find this music to be absolutely beautiful and interesting and the list of musical guests only enhance each track. Fantastic!

Very relaxt album - great music!

Those listeners already familiar with Tim Bowness, No-Man, No Sound, or Giancarlo Erra probably already have a feeling about what they are going to get when they first hear Memories of Machines' excellent debut project Warm Winter. Because mostly it's a continuation of what those men and their other groups are all about. And on this recording they have a lot of support from some of the biggest names in modern prog.Though it took me a little while to warm to this, I eventually did in a big way. Tim Bowness' vocals are an acquired taste but after years of listening to him, I recognize that they are a perfect fit for the kind of music he makes. Another reviewer describes them as "hushed". Perfect. You might also describe them as breathless. And here with Giancarlo Erra, he hones them to near perfection.My favorite cuts and to me the best compositions on the album are Before We Fall and Change Me Once Again. But I also really enjoy the title cut, Something In Our Lives, and a fine rendition of No-Man's Schoolyard Ghosts. About the only ones that really don't touch me are Lost and Found In The Digital World and the short piece which introduces the album.The CD comes housed in a six-panel gatefold case and is accompanied by an attractive and very useful booklet containing the lyrics. All other info is provided on one of the interior panels. If you are looking for some new music to which you can mellow down easy, then you ought to consider Warm Winter. It's well worth hearing again and again.

In which Tim Bowness of No Man fame and Giancarlo Erra from Italy's Nosound get together to blend the former's breathy dreamy vocals to the latter's laid back spacey soundscapes and guitar playing, all ably aided and abetted by the multifarious talents of Robert Fripp, Colin Edwin, Steven Wilson (mainly production duties), Peter Hammill, Julianne Regan and others. With a cast like that it is difficult to see how this could fail, and it doesn't let you down!Starting off sounding like a more full on No Man album, no bad thing, the sound fills out as we move from song to song. Giancarlo* gives the title track, apparently a leftover from the No Man album Schoolyard Ghosts, a searing guitar break, and the following song Lucky You, Lucky Me ends with a lovely melodic guitar run that fades out well too soon. Fripp starts the swoonsome Change Me Once Again with some trademark stylings, some of Tim's love-ballad-from-space poetry follows, then a Giancarlo solo - absolutely gorgeous!Some plaintive trumpet and sax on Lost And Found In The Digital World over Fripp's soundscapes lend the song a world-weary feel, existing only in bytes and floating away to somewhere more restful, free of self - "It's time for letting go.." and peace is found. More gorgeousness!Four of the songs here have been released in very different guises by No Man, but the album has a cohesive, optimistic and organic feel of its own. Some of lyrics are direct, some oblique, most are relationship based as you would expect if you know Tim's work with No Man. An album of beautiful dreamprog if ever there was one - oh no, is that a new category?I got this at the same time as A Scarcity Of Miracles by Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins, and they make for perfect companions. Another candidate for album of the year, no question.*All the credits for guitar parts are my semi-educated guesses!Tim Bowness has a blog on Wordpress that describes the gestation of the album, and three of the tracks are available to stream on Soundcloud.

Given what a distinctive (some would say Marmite-esque, love it or hate it) voice Tim Bowness has got, it's no surprise that this sounds a lot like No-man. What is a delightful surprise is just how much this sounds like No-man. Given just how incredibly good the pairing of Bowness and Wilson was and how much superb music they produced as No-man, this is a real tribute to Giancarlo Erra. But then anybody whose been lucky enough to have heard his work with Nosound will know that he's one very tallented man.So if you like the music of either No-man or Nosound you won't be dissapointed by this. But if you've never heard of either but you like music, which is well written, played and recorded and with thoughful intelligent beautifully sung lyrics, this just could be for you.

Amazing work from Giancarlo Erra and Tim Bowness. Clearly, the result is much more than the sum of the parts. Giancarlo, is a fantastic music and composer, but not that good singer. And Tim not always find someone that complements his demanding vocals, with the right music and arrangements. This was one of the more accomplished collaborations that I ever saw in rock music.A 5 stars prog disc, indeed.

Fantastic modern prog album. Lot's of Nosound feel with Tim Bowness vocals. Album I keep coming back to & always enjoy.

Excellent lp. Had it on digital now the real deal on vinyl.