Minster Hill: Press

Complex song structures and instrumentation, melodies intertwining around songs that involve you from the outset. Minster Hill instantly brings bands like XTC, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Beatles, et al, and Herrick is every bit the equal while standing out among the new POP brigade of artists following their lead. This is the kind of stuff that leaves me battered by superlatives and if you're looking for something fresh I'd say you found it.

"After a couple of stellar compilation contributions, the one-man-band Minster Hill unleashes their (uh, his) full-length debut. Exceeding this reviewer's expectations (which were pretty high, really), I find this CD to be nothing but entertaining, heart-warming, evocative, and one of the finest of it's kind this year. What "kind" is that? Minster Hill favours full and lush arrangements, often venturing into the exotic - the most apparent cross-reference here would be the likes of XTC (with a little bit of Jellyfish thrown in). Songs like the beautifully paced opener I've Been In A World Today (This Time), the Celtic-tinged Unconscious Kitchen, and the ultra-smooth Limelight Vivian paint vivid portraits indeed. Minster Hill clearly is not interested in playing by any rules. Anything goes - and it all works wonderfully. The Eastern feel of That's Fine By Me makes for a lovely and exotic number while the disjointed rhythm on the chorus of My Dear makes the ballad all the more interesting and enjoyable. These tasteful touches abound on Minster Hill - again, all to great effect. Minster Hill lets the songs and arrangements do the bulk of the talking and lets them take on a life of their own - rather than turn this into a "look what I can do" exercise. Get to know Minster Hill - you'll be all the richer for it. An exceptional piece of work." (**** out of 5)

" very interesting collection of songs which have all the earmarks of classics, each & every track. The odd man out in this company is the very cool closer "Monumental Escape", which takes the band away from the slightly quirky & eccentric numbers to deliver a more traditional rock sound, complete with the excellent production that fits out the rest of the album. For the aforementioned comparisons with the famed XTC, the outstanding track is "Let's Sing Our Song", which has a brilliantly offbeat melody propelled along by a great vocal performance, as my other favorite tracks "Unconscious Kitchen", "Someone To Be You" & the opening track "I've Been In A World". There's definitely been a lacking in bands willing to put good songwriting & performance ahead of being popular, but perhaps Minster Hill has taken that to heart, working on the assumption that good music will win out in the end - it has here

Hard to pin down, hard to ignore, hard to not praise...CD's like this don't arrive on the shores of Colorado too often...pastoral, sleepy pop that vamps spirits of mid/late 70's AOR giants like Supertramp, Yes touring with XTC as an opening band. Fine blending of quirky, swervy melodies and solid balance of acoustic and electric guitars. Soft pop fans of June & Exit Wounds, Jiffipop/Cloud Eleven and Cherry Twister should find this lovely confection of lilting vocal layering and easy-to-digest(re: not distracting) quirk their cup of tea. Progressive pure soft pop for now people. Very Highly Recommended!!

"If you were left cold by XTC's latest, then this is probably what you were expecting! Great songs, quirky changes and a fine blend of acoustic and electric instrumentation. Man, if Colin Moulding released a solo album today (produced by Andy Partridge) then this is exactly what it would sound like. Although I don't think it would touch the majesty that this album possesses. Don't let the XTC comparison get in the way, though. They don't SOUND like them. They just have the same quirky musicial stylings. Songwriter Howard Herrick has created a near-perfect album filled with everything that us pop fans want, need, desire and love. This is an album that is as enchanting as anything else you'll hear this yearfabulous".