NO DECODER

German composer and multi-instrumentalist Yogi LANG is a person most likely best known for his lengthy tenure in the German band RPWL, where he has been the front man since its inception. "No Decoder" is his first solo production, and was released in November 2010.

Yogi Lang doesn't stray too far off the path of his band RPWL with his solo debut, and the longer items might as well have been planned for a future release by them. When he ventures forth into new territories it is to ones more frequently explored by artists with a mainstream orientation, by way of pleasant, gentle and unobtrusive ballads, in some cases with a sheer sense of beauty that does make an impact, while others come across as closer to the bread and butter variety of such creations. Overall, this is a disc worth looking into if you enjoy RPWL, and in particular the gentler parts of the band's output.

Yogi Lang, on this album, is still playing the Pink Floyd influenced songs, as he often did in the band he is most known for here, RPWL. That is not to say the songs are not original, but that the textures and feelings can be pinpointed from song to song, bringing up comparisons to Floyd tracks from Dark Side Of The Moon Onward. This isn't so bad, as Gilmour and Waters are both getting on in years, and new material from them is sparse at best. But while Lang has the Gilmour side down close to perfectly, save for the fact that no one can imitate DG's perfectly smooth guitar solos, he is missing Waters' genius. The final effect is that this album comes much closer to sounding like the two Waters-less Floyd albums than anything else. The intention is good, the sound is good. But memorable? No.