Category Archives: Music

This Island, Into Stars. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The tentative dip into the ethereal can become all consuming, it tempts you in to its misty-like waters, and then before you realise the commitment you have made, it sweeps over your emotions, it pulls you under the waves and then as the beat kicks it, it gives you the signal that you can breathe in the atmosphere created.

A tentative dip is all an artist can hope for, but in some circumstances that dip soon takes on the fullness of a tide in which to ride the scree and immerse yourself between its soft tone and hard edge. The point where the sea meets the sky can only be broken by the island in between.

This Island, Into Stars. E.P. Review. full post

(361 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado, Come On In. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The invitation is clear, Come On In, pull up a chair, revel in the sound and the ambience and then stay awhile, reflect upon what the invitation meant and how pleasing the result is.

Invitations are sent with glad tidings, the recipient is aware of how much may be at stake, the source filled with trepidation and pride at what they wish to bestow upon the visitor as soon as they enter the domain of the intended gift. It is in that music present that Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado stand at the door of expectancy and hover by the light switch of illumination, ready to parade the exhibit; under the glare of scrutiny and absolute conviction stands Come On In and it is one that surely the fan and the inquisitive will find easy to submit to.

Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado, Come On In. Album Review. full post

(405 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Matthew Robb, Dead Men Have No Dreams. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

If Dead Men Have No Dreams then the living have their work cut out in attempting to fulfil their ancestors’ visions.

To honour the visions, the imaginings and the ideas of those that went before you, you must at first make sure you understand the message that they sent you during the dreaming and whilst they may be gone, turned to bones and dust, their memories still live on, through us, through the songs we sing and the instruction to the future to bear witness at the folly or the greatness we have inspired. 

Matthew Robb, Dead Men Have No Dreams. Album Review. full post

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

Kevin Brown, 6 Strings And A Dream. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Simplicity is an underrated virtue. The world today seems to beholden to the extravagant and the possessive, we have lost our way in the meaning of humble and modest, the quality of self-effacement that is endearing and one that holds together a life with a greater degree of satisfaction than the self-prophecy spouting will ever muster in an age of self-recommendation in the ethereal world.

Kevin Brown, 6 Strings And A Dream. Album Review. full post

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

Triggers And Slips, The Stranger. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The point of survival is not to fit in and blend into the crowd, but instead to fly against the continual pattern of migration and be The Stranger who others see as visionary, the figure that radiates the sense of the unfamiliar and the outsider to whom all is possible because they are not tied to the whims of collective fashion and patented dogma.

Triggers And Slips, The Stranger. Album Review. full post

(409 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Stephen Harrison, The Pale Blue Moonlight. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is a time when our thoughts can travel the world before we have even blinked, no longer hidden away in drawers our demons and our angels have migrated beyond the journal and into the ether, they bathe in The Pale Blue Moonlight and revel in the heart of every cloud and silver lining casting its shadow on the world below.

For some, this embrace of the elevated form of confession could be seen as inappropriate, a sentimental token of escapism and even importance taken too far, but for Stephen Harrison it is one of genuine reflection and it is one that basks in the moonlight and the warmth of the sun in equal, beautiful, fashion. 

Stephen Harrison, The Pale Blue Moonlight. Album Review. full post

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

White Little Lies, Parallel. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

An equal match in any environment is one to savour, two prize fighters of equivalent prowess slugging it out in the ring, two suns casting their warmth with similar results on the planet and people below, an equal match is more than just resemblance, it is the way we appreciate the Parallel and hold it up as an example of twin virtue and excellence.

White Little Lies, Parallel. E.P. Review. full post

(407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Camilla Sky, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is an unrivalled elegance that is on show when Camilla Sky steps on the stage and allows herself to feel the moment, the twinkle in her eye that suggests mischievous beauty and the roving thoughts of melancholy greatness are idols in which to bow down a head and be thankful for; even in the swirling mists of laying her life down for lyrical inspection, there is a style and refinement that shines through with absolute purpose.

Camilla Sky, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

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

Elizabeth The Second, Two Margarita At The Fifty Five. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To be able to swagger with impunity, you must not only have a reason but you also must understand humility, the modesty in which to carry it off. There are ways in which to show this without looking meek, painfully shy, it is all about deportment and the way you make others feel about themselves.

Elizabeth The Second, Two Margarita At The Fifty Five. E.P. Review. full post

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

Tombstones In Their Eyes, Maybe Someday. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Sometimes you have to fear the darkness you perceive, at others it is best to grin at the emotion and embrace it, to make it fear you.

Advice is often given with a double-edged sword, it is ruled by control, and as the rough end of the tongue will torture the receiver if not followed exactly to the letter. We can only hope that Maybe Someday advice and the darkness are accepted as being a choice that we can ignore without being made to feel guilt, or concern.

Tombstones In Their Eyes, Maybe Someday. Album Review. full post

(401 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)