Category Archives: Music

Kalandra, Beneath The Breaking Waves. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There can surely be no argument that Norwegian band Kalandra have been utterly missed in their former adopted home of Liverpool, the sound of the ethereal and the dominating unearthly beauty that resonated throughout their live performances in the city was always a huge pleasure to catch on a night when the world seemed out of kilter or when the heavens were just in the right position to make anything else in the world, for a short while, seem imaginary and not visible.

Kalandra, Beneath The Breaking Waves. E.P. Review. full post

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

Astles, Live At The Nordic. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A certain special venue and a spine tingling, life affirming performance always seem so intrinsically linked, that one special vibe that was captured for all time and has become imbedded into the psyche of the artist. They undoubtedly will always do a finer performance, give the audience an assured thrill but that one brief moment under the watchful heavens, in the closed vicinity of four walls, in front of an appreciative and respectful audience; that is the point, the standing ground for any future engagement.

Astles, Live At The Nordic. E.P. Review. full post

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

Aimee Mann, Patient Zero. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Everybody wants to be a star, almost everybody that is and some truly have the potential or the grit to become so and yet for so many others all they truly see is the white sign above the Hollywood hills proclaiming some sort of secret message that this is their destiny, they were born to be famous.

Aimee Mann, Patient Zero. Single Review. full post

(422 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Quinn Sullivan, Midnight Highway. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The road indeed may be long, it may be one in which the petrol gauge hovers above the empty tank signal for quite some time before finally you come to a shuddering and dramatic halt in some quiet and eerie back water. That road is not for the faint hearted, it is the one in which fables and myths arise and stories of the most unsavoury flavour feature; it is not the Midnight Highway, it is not the one that has the radio playing songs of joy and memory and the comfort of solitude or the reassurance of company along the way and the sound that covers thousands of miles just to take you back to a place you might call home.

Quinn Sullivan, Midnight Highway. Album Review. full post

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

Rainbreakers, Rise Up. E.P. Review.


Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

We live in interesting times, the world has always found a way to drag down the individual to a point where it feels safe from that person’s hopes, desires and dreams and yet it constantly requires that the border between aspiration and conformity be pushed ever further back, that someone poking their head above the wall to survey their surroundings be taken in hand and silenced. If ever there was a time to Rise Up, whether artistically or physically, then surely before the century gets too bogged down with the guilt of almost fascist thought of trampling down of anything that resembles free will.

Rainbreakers, Rise Up. E.P. Review. full post

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

Laura Marling, Semper Femina. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Tori Amos once wrote that only women bleed, it caused much debate at the time but undoubtedly she was correct in her assertion, the female of the species may be more deadly than the male but its suffering at the hands of masculine and the aggressive feminine is enough to understand why Feminism is needed now more than ever. It might be a call for sisterhood in some quarters but the damage that a woman receives from her own gender, her own doubts and fears is enough to feel the heartbreak that comes with Laura Marling’s Semper Femina.

Laura Marling, Semper Femina. Album Review. full post

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

Circa Waves, Different Creatures. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Everything comes in waves, the relentless, the powerful and the seriously cool; it could be arguably seen as nature’s way of improving the mind’s relationship with the world when the whirlpool of life threatens to take you under and pound you into submission. The waves reflect on a certain kind of majesty, the lasting thought that the world is not our own and we cannot control tide nor Time, these Different Creatures are what make the world turn so spectacularly.

Circa Waves, Different Creatures. Album Review. full post

(389 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

The Scott Poley Project, Passport. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

A Passport is a very precious item, especially in days of uncertainty, in times of mistrust and in these days of political misjudgement, of the drawing in of borders, of closing people off from free thought and growing discontent, to have a Passport is the finest of possessions to have at your arsenal; it is an arsenal that The Scott Poley Project use to devastating effect and stimulating achievement.

The Scott Poley Project, Passport. Album Review. full post

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

Tiki Black Ft Jo Bywater, Free Like Smoke. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

They say there is no smoke without fire, that the burning of the sky is only a by product of flames that steal the very air and chokes the blood as it seeps into the lungs, taking the voice and clogs the eyes, blinding them from what is real and the clarity that comes with unhindered visionary purpose.

Tiki Black Ft Jo Bywater, Free Like Smoke. Single Review. full post

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

Marti Pellow, Mysterious. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision rating * * * *

Smooth comes in eras, just like every word in the English language, its connotation changes with the times, its use of fashionable deployment in certain arenas and sentences can be implied with good intent and praise or can be damning, the undertone of sarcasm firmly attached to the point where it hard to block the kicking forever.

Marti Pellow, Mysterious. Album Review. full post

(421 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)