Author Archives: admin

The Bordellos, Gary Glitter E.P. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The moment of shock, the element of surprise that is able to breathe inside the minds of those with imagination, is always such a treat to come across because most will only see the title of something without listening or reading beyond and whilst the name of the E.P. will quite rightly raise an eyebrow and even have some spluttering over their hard boiled tea, The Bordellos always have a way of turning the music on its head and coming up with a selection of songs that bite as well nurture the aural glands.

The Bordellos, Gary Glitter E.P. E.P. Review. full post

(384 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

The Color Morale, Desolate Divine. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is a kind of humility, of earthy secular cool attached to the isolated and melancholic. Without melancholy, existence is just a set of lines running between extreme happiness and the dark of despondency, melancholy allows the colouring of all courage to be realised, it is the rest that allows the brain and heart to gather strength and become unified in its passion to take on the best.

The Color Morale, Desolate Divine. Album Review. full post

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

A Shoreline Dream, Whirlwind. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It seems to be a dichotomy in waiting, the serenity of the title enraged by the possibility of destruction to be wrecked upon the coast; the sacrifice that the coral will offer in place of the spreading and multitudes of sands. When A Shoreline Dream releases the power of the Whirlwind, the mixed message might take some getting used to but soon becomes as hauntingly beautiful as sitting down in the grass covered dunes and letting the water smash over you.

A Shoreline Dream, Whirlwind. Single Review. full post

(359 words, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Cal Ruddy, Communication. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Communication, it can either break down, be misinformed like a game of Chinese Whispers, so much so that it tears minds and friendships apart, or it can restore faith, it can bleed truth, it can be awkward. It can be devastating in its silence and it can be beautiful, something that will make your heart stop and make you sit in the shade of quiet for a while; it is Communication that makes us human and it is the simplicity of it that brings out the finest belief in us all.

Cal Ruddy, Communication. E.P. Review. full post

(484 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Midnight Over Mellieha Bay.

Midnight over Mellieha Bay,

new holiday apartments

dotting the once barren sands,

crumbling castles formed

from plastic dream

and two weeks of summer break.

I once caught a glimpse

of the fragmenting Sun

from under the ramparts

of the green umbrella and the screams

of afternoon drunk disciples

lounging erect in the burning shadow;

I blinked and looked out

across the flat sea,

ripples of ebbing life

exhausted by decaying time

and I fear the long trek

up the hill to Mellieha.

 

Midnight Over Mellieha Bay. full post

(89 words, estimated 21 secs reading time)

Mo.

The sweat pours wistfully from your brow

and like many before you,

Thompson backflip, Coe eminence,

Ovett working class maverick, Wells

my hero at the age of nine, dipping head

on the line, Lyndon Davies grace in the air,

sand undisturbed, Sean Kerly, an honour

to have met before he won Gold,

David Wilkie years after he became an icon,

Steve Redgrave, Linford Christie, Matthew Pinsett,

ninety six disappointment, crushed memories,

weightless and unimpressed, my own failure

at the heart of it…

Kelly Holmes resurgent, beautiful, bold and a queen

Mo. full post

(208 words, estimated 50 secs reading time)

Ladies, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It has all the makings of a great introduction, the curtain raiser presented by a ringmaster of great repute and with a talent for the language of their craft to entice and beguile the wary watcher in from the cold, to dazzle and astonish as ribbons fall from the ceiling and the audience’s eyes are diverted for a while from the main event. It is not the jiggery pokery of a circus that attracts in this instance, it is the dynamic of a band from Leicester who have made Liverpool very much their home.

Ladies, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(433 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Anna Houghton, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

To be on any invited bill shows respect, it shows a longing to hear more of what you offer and is a sentiment that should never be dismissed easily. To be on the bill of an E.P. launch, to be among the select crowd of performers installing reverie and flights of musical fantasy in the midweek desert is to know that music is not a delusion, it is not an unfulfilled desire, it is hope wrapped in sheet music, placed within the instrument of choice and given care.

Anna Houghton, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

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

Tea.

I can’t seem to function these days

without the hot rush

of tea, without

the taste of inspiration

that fills the gut and sends

ideas spinning out of control

into a void in which

I pluck, grab and scramble

for a single notion.

Long dead

are the days when a beer,

a glassful of whisky

sipped at dawn, revolver shot

to the brain and imagination

crowded

would be the order of the day;

I miss that, I miss the insanity,

the belief that I could conquer all…

Tea. full post

(131 words, estimated 31 secs reading time)

Cal Ruddy, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The moment will strike unexpectedly and without warning, the musician on stage will look down upon the crowd that has gathered before them, perhaps so large that they can no longer see their eyes glimmering with hope, perhaps so intimate that the windows to the soul are all they can focus on. In the end it doesn’t matter, all that is significant is the true moment in which the musician gives the best of nights and you sit in the corner, breathless and broken, buoyant and a believer; it is the moment in which Cal Ruddy supplied at Studio 2 in which the venue arguably witnessed one of the finest ever performances inside its hallowed frame.

Cal Ruddy, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(466 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)