Author Archives: admin

Morgan Rider, Deep Dark River. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Without the story-teller, life is without its supply of imagination, without the musician, life is devoid of meaning; the combination of these two pursuits is more than a stream of passion that runs dry in times of exhausting, and parching, artistic drought, it is a mighty waterway, as bottomless as the eyes and ears can fathom, deep and never shallow but one that holds perhaps the unsolvable puzzle close to its soul; one that cannot even be gleaned unless the listener is prepared to jump in and seek the treasure to be found in the Deep Dark River.

Morgan Rider, Deep Dark River. Album Review. full post

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

The Magpie Salute, High Water I. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

One for sorrow, two for joy… a child’s rhyme in which the salute to ward of the possible impending nature of bad luck is rewarded with the idea that all can be turned to good fortune, a prophesy perhaps, a revelation of what is to come. If that is the case, then the twelve tracks that make up The Magpie’s Salute’s debut album High Water I must have taken the rhyme to heart as they have served up a set of songs that can immediately placed into the bracket of the modern classic; a lofty high in which many magpies may have felt like royalty due to the consistency of the signalled musicianship.

The Magpie Salute, High Water I. Album Review. full post

(394 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Full Fat, In The Dark. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The one overriding thought that comes with being In The Dark, is that eventually you will find the illumination that will lead the way out into the light, that a word, a movement, a measured resonance will indicate that the well-lit is only a deep breath away, that all you need to do is stop and think for a while, let the sound of the ticking in your mind lead you away from the dark and out into the open, out to embrace the Full Fat of the world.

Full Fat, In The Dark. Album Review. full post

(367 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

James J. Turner, Hey Brother. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The starkness of the black and white image is always more illuminating, arguably more interesting, than the full colour expose of life, a picture or a film will always be more intriguing than the added flavour of wild and vivid colours which cloud the issue and in many respects take away from the story at hand; a tale of a returning wanderer, so long unseen, his voice missed, is one that should be loved for all its glory in the scene of black and white contrast, a view in which we can smile and rejoice as we shout out, Hey Brother.

James J. Turner, Hey Brother. Single Review. full post

(416 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Davy Edge, Poems From The Midnight. Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Every poet must understand that their craft is an extension of their soul, that the darkness and the light are to be seen in equal measure lest they find themselves on a road in which their chosen mode of transport will, if not let them down, then get bogged down in the intricacy of finding the right word, the shape or rhythm in which to convey their feelings, their thoughts, and the passion which can become too often, overwhelming.

Davy Edge, Poems From The Midnight. Book Review. full post

(606 words, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

War & Peace, Television Review. (2016).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Paul Dano, Lily James, James Norton, Jessie Buckley, Jack Lowden, Aisling Loftus, Tom Burke, Tuppence Middleton, Callum Turner, Adrian Edmondson, Rebecca Front, Greta Scacchi, Aneurin Barnard, Mathieu Kassovitz, Stephen Rae, Brian Cox, Kenneth Cranham, Gillian Anderson, Jim Broadbent, Kate Phillips, Olivia Ross, Thomas Arnold, Adrian Rawlins, Ken Stott, David Quilter, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Otto Farrant, Chloe Pirrie, Rory Keenan, Terence Beasley, Pip Torrens, Guillaume Faure, Ludger Pistor.

War & Peace, Television Review. (2016). full post

(616 words, estimated 2:28 mins reading time)

(More) Small Talk.

 

Not big

on small talk,

the gossip of the television

or the town, occasionally

the ears hear something,

a word or two

on the bus coming home,

and I wonder if my earphones

have fallen out,

to be able to overhear

the excited chatter

of who loves who, marries who, hurts who,

snogs who, betrays who, who made who

care, but then, like an infection

you get caught up in silent

observance, and marvel at the beauty

of animated earwiggery, of the gestured

(More) Small Talk. full post

(113 words, estimated 27 secs reading time)

I’ll Be Damned, Road To Disorder. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When you feel as if the entire universe has set you up for the fall, that the long-held belief of a golden trail of fortune in your life, then it is perhaps only the knowledge of what awaits on the Road To Disorder that can set you free from your chains. Those chains are only as rigid as you wish to make them, if you half-heartedly jangle them in a manner befitting the stroppy and the weak-willed, then they will hold fast; however, should you pull hard on the steel and bound fast iron, till the muscles ache and the mind is ready to explode, then the road to disorder is one to celebrate, for at least you are going there on your terms.

I’ll Be Damned, Road To Disorder. Album Review. full post

(414 words, 1 image, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

June 1974, Nemesi. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The quietly spoken word speaks volumes, if that is the case, then the instrumental only soliloquy, or the book of low rising, highly passionate notes which pulls the listener into a different realm of introspection. Words are power, a presentation without such terms of vocal expression should perhaps be seen as deep magic, an enchantment, a charm which weaves itself around the idea of retribution against hubris, and one in which the Nemesis adores the sound of.

June 1974, Nemesi. Album Review. full post

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

Helion Prime, Terror of the Cybernetic Monster. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

To have free reign over your imagination is arguably the greatest gift that we can hold onto, especially in a time in which demands to the point of almost bombastic, ordered without question, fascist intent that we think of nothing but the next Pound, Euro, Yen or Dollar. To have the ability to withstand this featureless political doctrine and exemplify the beauty of marrying both hard science and science fiction in a cold merciless machine, is to know that the possibilities are still endless, that humanity still matters above all else.

Helion Prime, Terror of the Cybernetic Monster. Album Review. full post

(435 words, 1 image, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)