In silence,
I let your words
filter past,
your contempt ricochets off walls,
causing tears and splits in the faded
wallpaper that has covered
up the decaying brick since
I first met you, silence;
I break the hush, and
now I see how you tried
to smother me.
Ian D. Hall 2018
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Whether we win or lose, regardless of failure, defeat, collapse at the final staggering hurdle or in our moment of glory we take to the microphone placed before us, the sweat beating off our brow, pouring with rampant pace off our chin and falling with grace to the floor beneath us, we should always urge caution to our brains and mouths lest they run away with excitement or bitter disappointment, to refrain from uttering words that may come to become more than a memory to us, Never Say Never.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There is a presence of almost sacred conformation which comes across when the listener takes the albums of Bad Touch into consideration, for playing purposes or to argue over a well-earned drink in the local bar. A delicate nature which doesn’t hide from its basic drive, its origins documented, its inspiration a generous groove of wealth and the slog of the journey; this is how Bad Touch have created their own place in music, a position fought for, and won by determination of spirit and the ability to keep going, to take on every circumstance with the same smile, the same reason to get up in the morning and Shake A Leg.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
A new chapter is always worth licking the fingers for in eager anticipation for, the feel of the new world as it opens up, flourishes, and takes root in your psyche, it is worth every second you have to wait for the plot to develop, for it to consume your own feelings in the story. You never disregard what went before, you don’t see the hero leave the stage, but you do commend the narrative turn, you realise that the players come and go, but that they are never a Passenger, they are just as important as the scene being set, and the tale being weaved.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It is only when the demons bite and the desperation of a phone call at four in the morning becomes a necessity that you find out the truth behind a friend’s true statement of Anytime You Need Me, just call. It is a sign of more than friendship, this is a family that chooses you to be part of, a declaration of love and honour, one that can withstand the blues of life, but instead installs the hard rock in which to grasp hold of when it feels like you a drowning in a raging river of problems, indecision and false hope.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The early morning light that shines down on the River Mersey is one that can captivate the soul, from either side of its quiet roar, whether seen from the vantage of the blind but all-seeing Iron Men that line the route downstream like guards on view, saluting in a returning hero from its nightly excursions, or across the water, where its majesty mixes with the morning dew and creates a sense of hope, of individual and collectivism that nowhere else can match; it is almost as if this Move Through The Dawn is the herald of the stirring heart being woken, a call to arms to see the right thing done.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There will always be those that hang in dark places and with the unnerving ability to be snide about the ways others live their lives, it seems to be more prevalent, more widespread, an established and prevailing state if affairs into which the open hearted and passionate run the gauntlet of explaining why the ability to reminisce is important, why we find ourselves at the edge of our lives and thinking of those times in which the world promised much.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
We are living in a time of dichotomy and a reversal of logic, the period on which historians will argue that despite all reason, all comprehension, we are allowing the minds of people to become closed and void of sensible judgement, and nations to become insular, less tolerant, less respectful to their neighbours and the world. Margins are drawn, fences to hold back reasonable debate are installed and guarded by those whose hearts are dipped in the black ink of old belief; too these tarnished souls, the frontier gained is enough, to the rest of us, the new age has proved we no longer live on the fringes, that there should be No Borders.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
We are dominated by our surroundings, the seemingly never-ending flatness and the scene in which mountains meet the oceans, all take their toll on the minds who see and inhabit such views; when the examination of what it provides in the way of art looms large and almost predatory upon the senses, a wolf that seeks both shelter and food and finding both in plentiful supply.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It is a peculiar sense of events in which the world of Paul McCartney, one of the absolute legends of popular music, can be seen as a divisive figure, the music being torn one way, lovingly respected the other; both sides claiming victory, both sides swaying the argument that Time has either been kind, or has started to wane down the years, like a clock that was always on show on a mantlepiece, always keeping the owners alert to the day’s events.