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Bluenose B: Truth Is King. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The truth is not always honest, it can be a variation of whatever the beholder and speaker feel in the passing is relevant, ideal, and more believable; this is the world in the 21st Century operates…not in black and white terms, but in shades of opinion, and rarely does it capture the truth of existence.

It is then to the artist to apply a letter of stringent authenticity, of offering trust in their vision, and never wavering from certainty, and into this world of music direction, of genuine reaction to the art of recreation and subtle revisiting haunts, words, and times to which Bluenose B, otherwise known as Stephen Lawson, reveals that Truth Is King absolutely.

Paul Dunbar. Gig Review. Music Room: Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There are names in Liverpool that just draw you in, that leave you with remorse when you cannot find a way to blow off life’s expectancies and attend a show, a performance, a sense of the masterclass they, and those alongside them, offer with grace and sincerity, whilst rocking the plaster dust of static existence to the four winds.

Jenny Colquitt. Gig Review. Music Room: Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

After the drama of a cold winter, the sunshine that seemed to bleach the sadness and concerns of Liverpool away for a while at the end of February day was one that bought a huge reflex of musical entertainment to the crowd, almost wrapped in awe, to the support set of Jenny Colquitt at the Philharmonic Music Room as she opened with expertise and charm ahead of Paul Dunbar’s album release.

Medusa Quartet: Weaving Gold In Broken Places. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The Chinese art of Kintsugi is one only appreciated, it could be argued, in Western civilisation for the aesthetic it provides, the beauty in the eye of the beholder, rather than its intended purpose of repair and healing; and whilst the sense of uniqueness to each restored item is astonishing, it is exquisite and pleasing to the eye, but it betrays the point of Weaving Gold In Broken Places is to feel the metaphor of restoring the humanity, the goodness of the person who may have succumbed to addiction, to manipulation, to being broken by life.

After The Flood. Series Two. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Sophie Rundle, Lorraine Ashbourne, Matt Stokoe, Nicholas Gleaves, Philip Glenister, Tripti Tripuraneni, Heider Ali, Maui Connock, Faye McKeever, Jacqueline Boatswain, Leo Flanagan, Jill Halfpenny, George Bukhari, Ian Puleston-Davies, Alun Armstrong, Steph de Whalley.

We think of what happens after the flood as more of a clean-up, no matter how large the operation, rather than discovering a truth, that we can just scrape the residue from the top layer of the surface and find peace, calm, a forgetfulness of harm and all will be well, that we will by definition come to appreciate the inevitable sense of reorder once more.

Alan Triggs: Time. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It is always about Time, the upbeat song that has you dancing with strangers at three in the morning, the melancholic pulse that finds an audience during the daylight hours as others play and frolic, shout, scream with excess, whilst the chosen few finds solace in the temperament and the quiet heartbeat of a person finding the words accurate enough to show their raw and human emotions.

Andy Fairweather Low: Gig Review. Music Room, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

If Paradise is supposed to be nice, then for the audience who packed themselves into the Philharmonic Hall Music Room, the sound of Andy Fairweather Low performing the first of his two night run in the venue, whilst taking on the ensemble in the main hall who had filed in for a rendition of Tubular Bells, Paradise does not come close to describing the former leader of Amen Corner’s appeal, it is a dream of glory and delight wrapped in gentle expression and forthright commitment to the beauty of the song, praising to heaven humanity and the love of the artistic pursuit.

Sue Hedges: By Yourself (A Different Kind Of). Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

By Yourself, a lesson learned by many that often the finest way to bring your truth to the front in your own time and manner. Surround your self with artists who buy into your concept and thoughts, but ultimately the artistic endeavour is one best realised in the mind of the beholder.

Paul Dunbar: The End. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Some fear the end, they see it as a finale they were never prepared for, wasting precious time to avoid what they may see as a void, a darkness to which they will never see light appear, refusing to believe the spotlight of enlightenment will ever shine in their direction, perhaps offering salvation, possibly delivering nothing more than the whispers of emptiness.

Neil Campbell: Diagonals: An Anthology (2020-2026). Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There are times in art when an original piece, already lauded for its perspective, its place in time, finds its true value when recognised as part of a larger picture, that a song, an instrumental which captivated an audience suddenly finds a home as part of a continual, substantial profusion rhythm, not just a moment placed into the world, not even part of a key where a couple of movements come together, it is an expression of wider purpose, of a full exposure to the soul and the beauty that is revealed.