Paloma Faith: The Glorification Of Sadness. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The cathartic nature of art is such that in the worst moments of our life we can find something in the ether or a structure created by hands in tune with grief, melancholy, or even the desperation of objectionable misery, that will raise the spirit, give meaning to the time in such a way that it aids forgiveness of our own mistakes, as much as it furthers the embrace of clemency with those who sought to destroy us.

Steve Hackett: The Circus and The Nightwhale. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Fifty years ago the world awoke to the sound of what many describe as the greatest concept album of all time, at a stroke the ability to place an entire Progressive narrative down on a double album was presented in such a way that to this day The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway almost has a spell of mysticism surrounding it, an air of Progressive theology that has taken on its own place in time that few albums of its genre can match or emulate.

True Detective: Night Country. Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, Fiona Shaw, Finn Bennett, Isabella Star LaBlanc, Christopher Eccleston, John Hawkins, Dervla Kirwan, Anna Lambe, L’xeis Diane Benson, Aka Niviâna, Joel D. Montgrand, Owen McDonnell, Erling Eliasson.

Although it is unwritten, a good detective will know instinctively when the need to turn away from the letter of the law is good for the community, when the reveal of the truth will play into the hands of those with evil intent and not the victims who suffered under the yoke of oppression, be it corporate or personal.

Buckingham Nicks: Alabama 1975 – Live At The Morgan Auditorium in Tuscaloosa. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Embrace it all, every crackle, pop, and effect, behold the fierce nature of the live recording when it hasn’t been polished to a studio standard, for being able to hear something from a period before your time is a gift of opportunity that requires acceptance, investigation, enjoyment.

Haunted Scouse. Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Helen Carter, Paul Duckworth, Lynn Francis, Julie Glover, Michael Starke.

We deal with grief in our own way, but we must allow humour to part of the therapy in taking us from a place of heartbreak to one where we can look back at the times before the moment and take solace in the joy what came before, the small things that make a smile and a laugh the most beautiful response in the world.

Solar Eyes. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Birmingham’s musical history is arguably only surpassed by the city on the Mersey, and for that its past must be respected, and that which comes from its future given a full hearing of possible appreciation.

In a part of the country that gave the world bands such as Magnum, Duran Duran, The Twang, Black Sabbath, ELO, and Esoteric, the ability to be different, to be directly involved with the pulse of the city and spread the message out beyond the river Rae and its vast network of canals, to strike a chord of your own is an act of powerful consideration; and in Solar Eyes and their self-titled debut album, the fluid and considerable vastness of the musical sense of self explodes with virtue and belief all over the aural networks and cognitive reasoning.

Katie Henry: Get Goin’. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The point of momentum is that it must be given a reason to continue, and lest inertia or entropy emerge and eat away at the beauty of the energy provided, like rust on a steel heart, it must not only Get Goin’, but it must also be prepared to avoid the effects of Time that suggests that the end is a welcome release.

After The Flood. Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Sophie Rundle, Matt Stokoe, Jonas Armstrong, Lorraine Ashbourne, Philip Glenister, Daniel Betts, Arthur McBain, Tripti Tripuraneni, Jaqueline Boatswain, James Quinn, Heider Ali, Maui Connock, Anita Adam Gabey, Nicholas Gleaves, Steve Cooper, Jeanette Percival, George Bukhari, Ray Castleton, Sara Beasley, Jake Whitehurst.

The build-up in tension that comes from a promise of a modern-day disaster requires to always be delivered. Failure to underline and provide the ending to which many have expected, replacing it with a noting more than a wishy-washy explanation is detrimental to the time and care placed before the viewer, and leaves a taste in the mouth that is overall, unforgiveable.

Vanessa Peters: Flying On Instruments. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The clouds and storms of late have been moody, mean, and arguably fierce beyond compare, they have blocked our collective sight from seeing the land of safety and creativity from the air; and all we have been able to witness is the constant tsunami as it circles the world with terrifying speed.

Flying On Instruments alone does not always mean we have navigated from above with a greater precision than those who steer ships through the storm, but it can often be the truth that those that do might get to see and feel the warmth of the sun earlier and the land of opportunity and redemption with greater clarity.

Dennis Van Aarssen And Jeff Franzel: Just Call It Love. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We Just Call It Love, and for some it may be a momentary lapse of reason in their day-to-day existence, a blip that starts to consume their being, that takes their brain and soul on a journey together which often defies reason; right until it makes sense, and then the harmony observed is crucial to the heart’s own intentions of feeling alive.

Art in any form is love, and no matter how you may find your own way to have your heartbeat faster, there is a part reserved for the classic of another’s tune to ignite a fire in your body that you may learn you should never have ignored.