Author Archives: admin

Alex Kingston, The Ruby’s Curse. Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Humanity, it seems, is fascinated to learn of an ancient curse that is placed upon an object or even upon a person, it adds mystery, mystique, it allows vast swathes of the populace to insist upon regulations, and for others it acknowledges that there is something beyond our recognition that needs to be explored, to be investigated; and in that search for answers, for the logical explanation behind the supposed spell, we reveal a truth about the nature of our species.

Alex Kingston, The Ruby’s Curse. Book Review. full post

(543 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

Deception. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jack Cutmore-Scott, Ilfenesh Hadera, Lenora Crichlow, Justin Chon, Laila Robins, Amaury Nolasco, Vinnie Jones, Stephanie Corneliussen, Evan Parke, Billy Zane, Jack Davenport.

The existence of the magician and their sleight of hand proves that we all want to be fooled at some point in our lives. Perhaps it is the willing of the suspension of belief that attracts us, the chance that we might see through the mist and feel the satisfaction of being the only one to have worked out the illusion, whilst at the same time wondering what happened to the child within who was overawed by spectacle as well as exhibition.

Deception. Television Review. full post

(464 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Margo Cilker, Pohorylle. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If the road is straight and long, then no matter the view that accompanies it, it will seem as though there is nothing to do but cruise along and be taken on a long instructional ride and become bored by the endless direction being offered. Deviation and change, the odd bump, the swerve to avoid the oncoming obstacle, the sense of delivery at taking a corner a bit sharper than you might have otherwise considered, these are the things that make life, the journey of interesting perception, truly worthwhile.

Margo Cilker, Pohorylle. Album Review. full post

(443 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Freya Beer, Beast. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Art inspires art, the very reason it exists is to bring joy and reflection to those that suffer and to stimulate the mind for others to feel the arousal of the written word, the provocation of the aural inducements, and the eyes wide open motivation of sincere urging to create; art is to the world as flirting is to the dance of love, one cannot exist without the other.

Freya Beer, Beast. Album Review. full post

(381 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Louis de Bernières, Despatches. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is a tendency to forget that song writing, is in effect poetry in motion, it is a building block, a foundation of description, a release of the inner most feelings, and no matter the style, no matter the voice, the poetry, and by virtue of its delivery, stand out as perhaps one of the most expressive forms of heroics we can muster about ourselves; for in that moment of reveal we are exposing our naked soul, we are allowing the relief of humanity to carry us onwards.

Louis de Bernières, Despatches. Album Review. full post

(424 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Joe Bonamassa, Time Clocks. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Time was when the word progressive was considered a death knell to an artist who believed they were anything but. To be mentioned in the same fair as the Blues would have been suggestible of heresy, you might as well have walked into the Tower of London, stolen the crown jewels, and then set up a pitch in Peckham market and give them away with a packet of washing up powder.

Joe Bonamassa, Time Clocks. Album Review. full post

(467 words, 1 image, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Saskia, Where Are We Heading. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If there is a plan, a grand overarching scheme, a blueprint with the answers placed with pain staking precision, then for the most part, the overwhelming majority of humanity has not been told or made aware of its existence. It can feel as though we are at the opening moments of Douglas Adams’ insightful Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as the Vogan race inform the people of Earth that they had all time in the world to object to the destruction of the planet by lodging a complaint about the building of a bypass which happened to be on a Thursday.

Saskia, Where Are We Heading. Album Review. full post

(442 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

The North Water. Television Review.

Cast: Jack O’ Connell, Colin Farrell, Sam Spruell, Stephen Graham, Tom Courtney, Peter Mullan, Roland Møller, Philip Hill-Pearson, Gerry Lynch, Kieran Urquhart, Simon Rubaudo, Greg Dennis, Magnus Constable, Guillaume Cotre-Roux, Andrés Glattfelber, Martin Rasmussen, Kristoffer Ronning, Lars Ronning, Jack Wren, Stephen McMillan, Nive Nielsen, Rishi Kuppa, Paul Brennen, Kris Hitchen, Mark Rowley, Ipeelie Ootoova, Keenan Carpenter, Lee Knight, Tony Pitts, Eliza Butterworth, Natar Ungalaaq, Jerry Laisa, Bryony Miller, Chicho Tche, David Prosho, Benjámin Takács-Abaffy, Jonathan Aris, Jamie Maclachlan.

The North Water. Television Review. full post

(619 words, estimated 2:29 mins reading time)

Mark Pountney, Love, Luck And Time. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision * * * * *

To own the emotion of sentiment is surely another way of declaring that you understand how important another period of time was to you and how, in the case of art, it has inspired you to believe that its extraordinary presence can still not only make you a finer person, but give you Love, Luck and Time in which to make your own romanticism, someone else’s emotional adventure and discovery.

Mark Pountney, Love, Luck And Time. Album Review. full post

(387 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

Black Widow. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, Rachel Weiz, David Harbour, Ray Winstone, William Hurt, Olga Kurlenko.

It was the film the franchise needed, it just seemed to come at the wrong time.

Marvel have barely put a foot wrong in over a decade’s worth of film and television serials which have caught the public’s attention and imagination, and if looked upon as a stand-alone film within the franchise, Cate Shortland’s Black Widow has all the hallmarks of being a heavy hitter within the ranks; not only for the dynamic framed between Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh as Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova respectively, but for the way that the film is not afraid to tackle the murky waters of young children being groomed for war.

Black Widow. Film Review. full post

(371 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)