No-Man are two (Steve Wilson and Richard Bowness) who have read their Proust (French geezer who wrote a BIG book consumed exclusively by pretentious gits to show off how well read they are; I started Volume Three yesterday) and Nabokov (randy Russian who felt more than paternal towards teenage girls) and are thus intimately acquainted with desire and obsession and all those other sweet lies you tell so she'll drop her drawers and show you the glory. They are adored by millions of people, three of whom aren't figments of my imagination.

But there comes a time in every band's life when wheels turn and fate smiles and perhaps that time is now, for they say new romance is back in fashion. Did it ever go out? Well, yes. But every storm has its rainbow and the hairshirts and DMs of Britpop have left us craving men called Alice and songs that peck and tear at our shrivelled souls like pelicans at oysters. And here they are. Sort of.

'Flowermix' is an occasionally lovely but thoroughly unnecessary remix of 'Flowermouth' (you can't eclipse perfection) but 'Heaven Taste' - B-sides and rarities - is as lush and as vivid as a safari through the Florida Everglades, all flamingoes and alligators and parrots swooping over rubicund marshland. We'll mention Bleed here, because it does as only broken hearts and castrati can, and the title track, which shimmers and sparkles for 21 mins and outstays its welcome by mere milliseconds.

Latecomers will star trek across the heavens to their forthcoming 'Wild Opera' opus (sample title; Housewives On Heroin) but you - if you are deluded and doomed and strut like a peacock - will begin with 'Heaven Taste' and swoon like olive branches in the autumn wind. (This is bollocks - Ed.)"
- Jamie T. Conway, MELODY MAKER

"'Flowermix' - I have to admit that the music of No-Man is new to me and that 'Flowermouth', although sometimes a little lightweight, was very impressive. 'Flowermix' is a new interpretation of the aforementioned 'Flowermouth' material.

Again the opening track, this time entitled 'Angeldust', is pure heaven with the soprano sax of guest Mel Collins prominent throughout. Best described as ambient, it is certainly atmospheric but I found my attention wandering amid all the sequencing by about Track 5. 'Flowermouth' is by far superior. (3/6)

'Heaven Taste' - A collection of rarities and out-takes from No-Man material from the period 1991-1993 make up this five track release.

The opening track 'Long Day Fall' features some emotional violin from Ben Coleman and the whole piece exudes class. An updated version of Nick Drake's 'Road' is worthy of a mention but perhaps the whole CD is about 'Heaven Taste' a twenty-one-minute instrumental epic. Featuring ex-Japan members Barbieri, Jansen and Karn it is highly structured but seemingly improvised and shows the band's willingness to take chances. Not progressive in the traditional sense but progressive it certainly is. (5/6) (for 'Heaven Taste' alone)"
- Geoff Pearson, WONDEROUS STORIES

"These are two No-Man "between albums". 'Flowermix' is a remix album, taking on the might that was 'Flowermouth' from a less poppy stance. Some of the peaks have been lost but the odd trough has been raised in energy too, resulting in a more consistent and perhaps duller representation of the original. More dinner-party pleasantries, but an interesting approach nonetheless. 'Heaven Taste' is a collection of B-sides and unreleased material; a touch more fluid in nature, containing some wonderful sound sculptures and dramatic, unexpected rhythms. Neither album is memorable; you often get the impression that these are stopgaps before the next release proper. Which they are, of course, so for that we can hardly wait. Check out Babyship Blue from 'Heaven Taste' on this month's FM CD. (Three stars each, or two and four: I can't make up my mind, a combined total of six anyway)."
- Andy Jones, FUTURE MUSIC

No-Man are singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson (of Porcupine Tree). They founded the band in 1990. After a couple of singles, they released the ambitious CD 'Flowermouth' in 1994. 'Flowermix' contains some interpretations of songs from 'Flowermouth', with co-operation of legendary King Crimson members Robert Fripp and Mel Collins. The album is primarily atmospheric to nature and should please the present followers as well as converting a new generation of ambient fans to the No-Man cause. 'Heaven Taste' includes rarities and outtakes recorded in the band's home studio between 1991 and 1993. As well as featuring an inspired update of the Nick Drake classic Road, the album boasts a stunning twenty-one minute instrumental collaboration with ex-Japan members Jansen, Barbieri and Karn, who formed the backing band for No-Man on stage once. Especially this song will please many progrock fans."
- DdR, BACKGROUND MAGAZINE

"Steven Wilson's No-Man have released three albums on One Little Indian but recently they've put two further albums CDs into circulation via their own company Hidden Art - all this as we await the new album, already complete, which will be released in April and will be called 'Wild Opera'.

The first CD, called 'Heaven Taste', contains five pieces, recorded at the group's studio during the period of 1991-95, which are available here for the the first time. Among them is a reworking of Road by Nick Drake which leaves its lyricism untouched while adding much in the execution, while the piece that gives the CD its title is a majestic musical odyssey lasting twenty-one minutes where musical ideas and forms interchange with a frenetic rhythm, leaving the dizzying, intoxicating feeling of a complex imaginary journey. Decisive in this is the participation of three musicians from Japan: Steve Jansen lays down a rhythmical carpet, Richard Barbieri colours with his keyboards, and Mick Karn punctuates the composition - with his bass, naturally, but also with saxophone. Even for this piece alone, this CD deserves to be discovered.

The second CD has the title 'Flowermix' and - as you'd expect - is a long-playing seventy-one minute CD which contains alternative treatments of the pieces on the 'Flowermouth' album. Here too most of the work has been done by Steven Wilson. The basis of the music is always in pop, but with many more effects and samples. More than a few times, it reminds us of the more rhythmical moments of Porcupine Tree; while we mustn't ignore the co-operation with No-Man on these recordings of Robert Fripp (guitar, Soundscapes) and Mel Collins (saxophone and flute), both of King Crimson and now collaborators with whatever promotes temptation within established musical forms.

So much for these brief descriptions. For the remaining material, which defies description, you must - by one way or another - bear a listener's witness yourself. Tracking down these CDs is worth any - repeat, any - effort. They're available at mid-price and are worth every single penny you'll give."
- unknown reviewer, (UNIDENTIFIED GREEK MUSIC MAGAZINE)

RUMORI
- in preparation