Author Archives: admin

Birichen, Hush. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are two spheres of appreciation in which an artist always knows they have struck a chord with the audience, the wild jubilation of the ecstatic, the raucous noise that greets the beginning and the finale of a song as if the world was ending and the only way to commemorate it is with wolf-whistles and weirdly loud, high pitched yells in which to burst the ear drums of those around you and claim that it does no harm. There is also the simpler, more profound Hush of wide eyed contemplation and understanding of delighted, but sober, euphoria, the prelude of true gratitude before the heartfelt and meaningful applause.

Birichen, Hush. E.P. Review. full post

(376 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Iona Fyfe, Dark Turn Of Mind. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It takes courage to fight against the genre box that people wish to put you in, their own sense of comfort is not for the artist to appease or uphold, the way they proclaim the art in certain terms is not for the performer to maintain, in the end the integrity of the entertainer is to keep themselves in a position in which they get joy out what they create and exhibit, the valour in offering something different or at least producing a separate tune.

Iona Fyfe, Dark Turn Of Mind. Album Review. full post

(469 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Overkill, Last Man Standing. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Who would be the Last Man Standing when the sound of war finally gives way to peace, who would want to be the final piece on the chess board when all around has been scattered to the four winds and the prospect of further engagement with an invisible army is as assured as night following day, of Alice trailing the time-obsessed white rabbit into a psychedelic adventure.

Overkill, Last Man Standing. Single Review. full post

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

Omniabsent. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The way we carry on after we lose perhaps the one that we may have called muse, or in at least found sharing our ideas with passion, is shrouded in the feeling of absence, the mystery of the ghost guiding our mind to finish the job in hand, it is a presence that is welcome, required when it feels as if the world cannot continue in the same vein and one that feels the loss everywhere, that knows instinctively the value of being Omniabsent and what darkness and melancholia can be achieved.

Omniabsent. Album Review. full post

(403 words, 1 image, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Terry Titter: A Christmas Story. Comedy Review, Royal Court Theatre Studio.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

When one of its own isn’t around, the city feels like its pining for their return, too often the sound of laughter is taken for granted, and when the comic does not appear on stage for a time, the happiness can be seen to dissipate like thinly weaved mist being stretched and called back to the sea, to be lost in the gloom; what is needed in such times is A Christmas Story, one told by Terry Titter.

Terry Titter: A Christmas Story. Comedy Review, Royal Court Theatre Studio. full post

(479 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Aquaman. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson, Willem Defoe, Randall Park, Temuera Morrison, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Graham McTavish,Michael Beach, Julie Andrews.

It would not be unfair, unkind or malicious to suggest, openly state, that of all the D.C. comic book heroes to have come and gone, stayed around and become iconic, Aquaman had probably the worst of starts, and continued throughout to receive unjust treatment within the realms of ideas, attention and delivery, the character was a joke, a seismic buffoon brought to life as a foil for the grittiness portrayed in the golden and silver ages of comic books.

Aquaman. Film Review. full post

(602 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)

Bumblebee. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr, John Ortiz, Jason Drucker, Pamela Adion, Stephen Schneider, Len Cariou, Dylan O’Brien, Peter Cullen, Angela Bassett, Justin Theroux, David Sobolov, Lenny Jacobson.

You cannot blame a film studio for keeping a franchise going when it remarkably continues to have fans clamouring, almost chomping at the bit to revel in its storylines and desiring to learn more about the possibilities of other worlds. You cannot fault business for delivering what the public wants, it is when the film studio brings to the screen the unexpected that is when you have to praise them for their sense of direction, for the understanding that when you have a formula that works, you don’t let it fade, you don’t let it become stale.

Bumblebee. Film Review. full post

(495 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Death And Nightingales. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Matthew Rhys, Ann Skelly, Jamie Dornan, Valene Kane, Charlene McKenna, Martin McCann, Sean McGinley, Michael Smiley, Francis Magee, Des McAleer, Ciaran Flynn, Aoibheann Mullan, Paul Kennedy, Eugene O’Hare, Pip Torrens, Conor MacNeill, Frankie McCafferty.

Against the backdrop of the fight for radical Irish independence from Britain in the 19th Century, a story of corruption, betrayal and tragedy is neatly interwoven through a 24 hour period in the life of Beth Winters, a condensed down reflection of what was happening across the Irish Sea, the pride of individuality and freedom from what was arguably seen as a distant master, one who made all the rules but wanted to keep the people in chains, if not physically, then at least metaphorically.

Death And Nightingales. Television Review. full post

(422 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Paul Dunbar & The Black Winter Band, Gig Review. Music Room, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There is always a debate on whether it is the atmosphere, the songs or the venue in which the music is played in which gives the night its vibe, its sense of hopefully glorious thrill and heart pounding beauty; a night which if you are fortunate enough to attend will leave you breathless and on the verge of weeping tears of joy of having had the honour of witnessing unfold.

Paul Dunbar & The Black Winter Band, Gig Review. Music Room, Liverpool. full post

(391 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Rosenblume, Gig Review. Music Room, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

All through the fire we search for the ones that can ease our soul, that will lift our spirits in times when the winter dark threatens to overwhelm us, to consume us; it is after all better to surrender to the flames of passion than to shiver in the cold embrace of the unloved.

Rosenblume, Gig Review. Music Room, Liverpool. full post

(374 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)