Italian band Lionville’s first two albums are pretty much essential listening and subsequent albums have also kept the quality levels pretty high Now the band are back and with a new singer ex-Work of Art vocalist Lars Safsund has undertaken lead vocals on most songs Lionville have secured the very considerable vocal talents of Alexander Strandell (Art Nation Given the brilliance of Safsund’s work on previous albums the band needed a world class vocal replacement and Strandell is world class and then some AOR bands really need a great vocalist to lift the material and breathe life into the hooks and Strandell does that in spades on Supernatural One of the issues with AOR is that it can be very formulaic and can all sound very similar especially in the crowded European scene where the 1980s Scandi AOR sound has influenced so many bands over the past three decades Lionville sit squarely in this sub-genre of AOR and thus potentially run the risk of becoming lost in a sea of similar acts headed by main-man Stefano Lionetti remains of a uniformly high standard throughout the album I knew exactly what this album was going to sound like before even pressing ‘play’ but the quality of songwriting is such that it more than holds its own and the overall quality of the performances This album is quite simply a masterclass in how to create this kind of music The songs are chock-full of planet-levelling hooklines sparkle and provide atmospheric washes of sound in all the right places and guitar solos that explode out of the speakers on a tsunami of note-flurries Add Alexander Strandell’s stratospheric vocals into the mix and you have a very fine piece of work indeed There is also a ton of energy in the recording Even when the band slows things down a touch there is still a colossal pulsating groove to proceedings all of which helps to elevate Lionville to the higher echelons of the European AOR scene A song-by-song breakdown of this album isn’t really necessary ‘The Right Time’ is a wonderful mid-paced burner of a tune with some utterly fabulous pop hooks and exactly the right balance between chiming guitars and atmospheric keyboards Add in the requisite ‘love-lorn’ lyrical content and you have the makings of the pinkest and fluffiest AOR anthem of the year ‘Nothing is Over’ is a nod to previous singer Lars Safsund being a brilliant uptempo anthem which sounds pretty much exactly like the very best of Safsund’s Swedish band Work of Art Strandell’s vocals hit heights previously only attained by pilots of stratosphere-visiting spy planes but never sound forced or deliberately ‘for show’; they just lift the huge melodies even further Sounding rather like a Swedish version of Toto’s mid-late 80s output with even bigger hooks this is a quite monumental piece of AOR and no mistake ‘Supernatural’ is proper AOR of the very highest order with keyboard parts straight out of 1982 the sort of production that makes the very best of light and shade and a chorus where the drums just pound the impossibly powerful hookline straight into your brain before an (unexpectedly) Arabian-flavoured guitar solo scythes out of the mix Strandell makes full use of the entire breadth of his very considerable vocal range throughout this song to quite stunning effect ‘Gone’ is also very Work of Art in its execution but with Strandell’s vocals stamping the Lionville identity firmly upon it while ‘Unbreakable’ is a show-stopping ballad in the very best AOR tradition with layer upon layer of guitars and keyboards providing the bedrock for Strandell’s highly emotive vocal performance this should be an essential listen as it is immaculately crafted and a great example of the genre Fans of harder-hitting music may find it all a bit too ‘pink and fluffy’ for their tastes but Lionville know their potential audience very well and Supernatural is a treat for the ears if this kind of thing floats your boat I love it – classy AOR of the highest order Pre-Order Here: https://ffm.to/lionvillesupernatural Full of Hell will release their new EP Broken Sword Rotten Shield on May 16th [pre-order]… NPR's Morning Edition takes listeners around the country and the world with two hours of multi-faceted stories and commentaries that inform Morning Edition is the most listened-to news radio program in the country Hankin Group aims to restore the floodplain along the Lionville Run in Exton Hankin Group has begun construction on a project to restore the floodplain along the Lionville Run in Exton spent time in prison but now works at a nonprofit that teaches students how to make homes more climate-friendly The free WHYY News Daily newsletter delivers the most important local stories to your inbox WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today. Preserving Our Water: How we use our Delaware Watershed The project is funded by The William Penn Foundation The data could be clouded by impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic Local climate activists rallied against Philadelphia Gas Works’ financial support to an industry group lobbying against clean energy Millions of tons of fabric waste are sent to incinerators or landfills every year where they can release climate-warming greenhouse gases Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal local news and information and world-class entertainment to everyone in our community WHYY offers a voice to those not heard, a platform to share everyone’s stories, a foundation to empower early and lifelong learners and a trusted space for unbiased news. Learn more about Social Responsibility at WHYY Some residents of the Lionville area of Uwchlan Township hope to stop a massive, 1.9 million square foot Amazon warehouse development from being built on 237 acres of farmland near their homes But businesses and other residents hoping for property tax relief say adding a major employer to the tax rolls and creating thousands of jobs is a boost for the entire community At a Board of Supervisors meeting Monday evening several hundred residents turned out to voice their opposition to a proposal for four new Amazon warehouses on Lionville Station Road near Route 100 and the Turnpike Township officials had already approved another warehouse complex at Happy Days Farm just west of the Lionville Road property residents opposed to them say they would adversely affect traffic Audubon Land Development, which did not respond to requests for comment, has submitted a sketch plan. According to the township’s website its proposal will need Zoning Board approval for a variance and special exception the plan includes 1432 car parking spaces; 348 loading docks; 394 trailer parking spaces; and 40′ trucker lounge stalls.’ Audubon is expected to file a revised plan based on input from township officials and residents Asked about tax revenue increases from the proposed warehouse development director of communications for the Downingtown Area School District we do not have any estimates related to the proposed building in Uwchlan Township,” said Shealy “The current plans submitted to the township by Audubon Land Development are just initial sketches and reports that would need to be presented before the district having a credible estimate any new commercial/industrial property generally does bring in revenue to help improve the tax base for school districts and municipalities,” she said The school district purchased the property in 2006 for $22 million but decided to sell it rather than build a school there, based on housing patterns. Audubon contracted to buy it for $96.25 million Kara VanValin said her neighbors are organizing and will fight the plan to bring the Amazon facilities to their residential neighborhood She is very concerned about contaminants from trucks leaking into her well water and the additional truck traffic on the roads which would not only lengthen commute times but also increase response times for emergency services they would “drastically change our quality of life I’m not even talking about property values We depend on the farmland for the rainwater to percolate through and feed our wells Can you imagine the runoff from diesel fuels?” The farm also drains into the Pickering Creek watershed People bought homes in a rural section of Chester County because they wanted to live in a less-developed area “And you just don’t expect that a warehouse of this magnitude will be in your backyard,” said VanValin Josh Shapiro (D) acknowledged that Pennsylvania lagged behind other states in economic development and committed to prioritizing it he did not respond when asked to comment on the Amazon plan Danielle Friel Otten (D-Exton) attended the meeting and said she “wholeheartedly shares the community’s concerns” and urged residents to speak out “We have seen here in Chester County several successful land preservation initiatives and they all started with community members organizing The best way for residents to advocate for the outcome they wish to see is to organize with like-minded neighbors have a specific ‘ask’ of the township supervisors and the school board and make your voices heard to the members of those bodies.” Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal For Comments, Questions, Or Complaints aboutour articles please contact us © 3545 The Unionville Times 2020 at 3:45 pm ETRonak Suchindra was among a short-list of 20 applicants for Nickelodeon's Kid of the Year (Suchin Rengan)Lionville Middle School eighth-grader Ronak Suchindra joins a Kids Connect workshop session part of the nonprofit he started this year PA — Five thousand kids applied to be named Nickelodeon's Kid of the Year Ronak Suchindra of Chester Springs was still there The Lionville Middle School eighth-grader stood out for his work starting up a nonprofit named Kids Connect as the pandemic closed schools last March "It was about getting kids involved," Suchindra said so he set about finding a way to solve the problem "What am I going to do to get kids involved who are sitting at home Kids Connect brings online workshops free to kids "a way to gather friends with cool talents and put them to work." Kids from all over the world are participating It grew out of an earlier capstone project at school He's corralled friends who are able to teach what they know They put together video workshops and kids can join in The fun and educational workshops are being picked up by schools "People started telling people," Suchindra explained The kids who took part in our classes gave us some great advice which helped me improve Kids Connect’s classes," he said He advertised the program and created a Facebook page so parents could stay up to date with all of the classes and information and other topics like how to solve a Rubik's Cube So far about 800 kids have attended the Kids Connect workshops The volunteers helping make it happen have logged around 650 hours and the workshops themselves add up to about 3,000 hours of interaction Suchindra did the nonprofit application process himself but has involved others along the way whom he said he hopes are awarded for their work "We also have around 30 youth volunteers who are working constantly to teach their classes to others." He considers the work a success because the kids in the workshops are "engaged with something to do and they are learning different subjects in a fun way." He said he found inspiration in Albert Einstein's words Suchindra said he hopes to keep expanding the programs and involving more kids and volunteers Kids Connect workshops have seen attendance from the U.S. Suchindra wants to study aerospace engineering "I watch movies about colonizing Mars and other planets His interests are in helping people connect The final-five list of Nickelodeon's Kid of the Year was named on Monday "It was really good to make the list of 20," he said "Our mission is to spread the love of learning to every corner of the world." Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Link IconCopy linkFacebook LogoShare on FacebookXShare on XEmailShare via EmailLink copied to clipboardLionville's Little League dream ends in loss to NewarkBRISTOL - Lionville Little League manager Steve Jewett asked for a cup of water and sat down for a postgame interview in a large After nearly two months and 16 straight wins Lionville's quest for its first trip to the Little League World Series ended Sunday night at the hands of Newark (Del.) in the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship "It's not something you prepare [for]," Jewett said this was going to end on a win or a loss." as the Pennsylvania champions could not figure out starter Nathan Hardcastle They also did not play the fundamentally sound defense that had gotten them this far Newark is the first team from Delaware to make it to the World Series in Williamsport since Wilmington's Naamans Little League in 2003 A six-run Newark third inning put Lionville in a daunting hole Lionville starter Joseph Janick walked back-to-back batters to start the inning and everything began to unravel from there Lionville committed three errors in the inning and Newark sprayed three singles en route to a 7-1 lead Lionville had not allowed more than five runs in a game but we needed to do some things to really press them," Newark manager John Ludman said A day after scoring nine runs and collecting 12 hits in the semifinals Lionville mustered just three hits off Hardcastle The hard-throwing righthander didn't allow a hit and struck out seven after giving up a run in the first He bowed out after 51/3 innings because of a high pitch count who struggled with his command from the start Righthander Mike Rodriguez relieved Janick and quieted Newark without much difficulty He allowed a run in the fourth but collected eight strikeouts in 31/3 innings Jewett was proud of his team's effort throughout the tournament "To be labeled as one of the best teams to come out of Lionville ever and one of the best teams in the state of Pennsylvania it's a testament of hard work and good play 2015A constable led a handcuffed 25-year-old Thomas Muir of Media out of the district justice?s office in Lionville Tuesday morning.LIONVILLE (WPVI) -- A drunk driving suspect was ordered held over for trial after a court hearing Tuesday morning in Chester County A constable led a handcuffed 25-year-old Thomas Muir of Media out of the district justice's office in Lionville Muir chose to waive his preliminary hearing and will head to trial it was on Valentine's Day at the intersection of North Ship Road and Route 100 where Muir allegedly hit the Hannagan family's minivan with his pickup truck killing brother and sister Miles and Charlotte The Hannagan's parents and two other passengers were injured Muir faces two counts of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and several more charges stemming from the crash were members of the Washington Memorial Pipe Band "They were intelligent and wonderful individuals and the pipe band was definitely part of their lives," said fellow band member Lucas Mitch who are still recovering from their injuries bandmates including Mitch joined members of the Chester County District Attorney's Office in court "We need to be there for them now and hope the justice system takes its course," said Mitch "The family is struggling," said the District Attorney Chief of Staff Charles Gaza "They've lost everything in one brief moment They're still physically recovering and emotionally coping with what happened." The residents voiced their objections at a meeting in the Lionville Middle School the large turnout was to ensure township officials are aware of their concerns about increased traffic and noise levels “Our biggest concerns are really keeping the neighborhoods,” May said “We have lived there for many years and everybody out in that area is on water wells and we’d be sharing water with a new development.” has submitted a preliminary sketch of the plan a member of the Phoenixville regional planning committee informed the council on Tuesday night that the Amazon project is in the works Kirkner said the boundaries of the proposed Amazon project are in Uwchlan and West Pikeland townships near Pickering Creek and the Downingtown Area School District owns a portion of the land Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. This is one for those of you who like your AOR smooth This is the kind of music for cruising down boulevards in open-topped cars for small-town girls and city boys who never stop believing and for those who think that Toto are because chances are you’ll love this album The genre has some quite tight limitations on its structure and as a result it can come across quite formulaic and samey Its fans often want the bands to sound like the greats of the genre from the 80s which can limit the genre’s growth and songwriters who really know their way around a great hook They also need a producer/arranger who fully understands how to layer everything up to maximise the power of the guitars and keyboards in particular Lionville are lucky enough to have all these elements in spades on this album They have created a classic AOR sound on ‘Magic is Alive’ and as such should have what it takes to keep the genre’s fans happy [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hzaQI9c6mM&w=560&h=315] Opening track ‘Nothing Without You’ sums up exactly what this album is about The guitar and keyboard combination is perfect the lead vocals courtesy of Work of Art’s Lars Safsund are stunning as usual and the stacked harmonies are colossal enabling everything to be heard in its full glory and this is kept up throughout the album [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBlY344T00I&w=560&h=315] They excel on the big up-tempo tracks like ‘Every Little Thing’ and ‘I’ll Never Give My Heart Away’ by ensuring that everything sounds huge with massive vocal and instrumental hooks and a ton of classic 80s-esque keyboard sounds The guitars rock along powerfully yet politely and the solos have just the right mix of bite like ‘Finally You’re With Me’ and ‘Into the Night’ which tug on the heartstrings like only AOR ballads can Lionville also channel their inner Toto on ‘If You Don’t Know Me’ with an instrumental mid-section that clearly shows the influence that Toto have had on their sound This and the superb ‘Reaching for the Sky’ are the times that they push the envelope a little on their version of the very tight classic AOR blueprint The latter track is heavily influenced by Toto and is a particular standout; its style is an area that Lionville would benefit from exploring still further in future releases [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOyvXZj4zlA&w=560&h=315] this is a superb piece of modern European west-coast-influenced AOR but that may well limit its appeal a little but for those who like their AOR with a bit more ‘bite’ or bands like Work of Art and ‘Seventh One’ era Toto Magic is Alive comes very highly recommended Keyboards Lars Säfsund – Lead & Backing vocals Michele Cusato – Guitars Fabrizio Caria – Piano & Keyboards Giulio Dagnino – Bass Martino Malacrida – Drums                                               Review by Andy Hawes for MPM Link IconCopy linkFacebook LogoShare on FacebookXShare on XEmailShare via EmailLink copied to clipboardSchool cancellation messages go show-bizIn his first robocall of the school year announcing a snow day Downingtown Area School District Superintendent Lawrence Mussoline stuck to the basics: In his first robocall of the school year announcing a snow day the strain of the winter had clearly taken its toll as Mussoline threatened to take a trip to Punxsutawney to have a chat with one of the nation's more celebrated prognosticating rodents "You and I have been talking way too much this year," he told parents on his recording Thursday night As the harsh winter drags on - causing cancellations across the region over every calamity thinkable: snow frozen pipes - administrators are getting creative with how they break the news More snow was in the forecast for Tuesday morning challenging superintendents to stay on top of their games two principals in Mussoline's district recorded a musical parody - the "No School Musical Medley" - that received 45,000 views on YouTube in 24 hours West Chester Area School District Superintendent James Scanlon used a poem to cancel his ninth day of classes this winter: "There's more sad news that I must deliver "All schools in West Chester are closed tomorrow "So grab your cocoa and drown your sorrow." Winter-weary school officials across the country have found similarly creative ways to break the robocall doldrums The most common song to remix: Vanilla Ice's 1990 single "Ice Ice Baby." As another administrator donned a pair of ski goggles "Sleet falling down like a million missiles "Bringing snow delays and early dismissals." Lionville Middle School principal Nick Indeglio and Downingtown Middle School principal Jon Ross opted to start their parody video with a more local tune: "Allentown" by Billy Joel Indeglio stared longingly into his snow-covered yard who live in the same Berks County neighborhood have been recording weekly podcasts under the moniker the Rock Star Principals since September they filmed the parody over a few hours Thursday afternoon "It should be very obvious by watching it there wasn't a lot of production value in it," Ross said amassing more than 61,000 by Monday afternoon For the video's final few bars - see it on YouTube at http://tinyurl.com/lltg2h2 - the two bobbed back and forth in the frame singing the "Let It Snow" song from the movie Frozen Scanlon said he had tried not to take the cancellations too seriously And while he might have ideas for other creative cancellation calls he said he hoped he would not have to use them