Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Rarely does the accordion get the measure of admiration that it so richly deserves in the music sphere; it is an instrument that perhaps seen as unsexy, not cool, one that harks back to a time before the glamour of the electric guitar took on the world and was smashed into pieces by Pete Townshend on speakers that would never sound the same again.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
At the end of the world, what lullabies would you sing those who you love and what songs of anger would you chant with fingers pointed at those who have done you wrong; any decent person would probably suggest that the two somehow meld into one, that you treat those who have done you disservice the generosity of forgiveness in such bleak times, after all, the music is there to build bridges not hate. Despite it all music is a savior and perhaps a guiding light in a world of Modern Ruin.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There is nothing Middle of the Road about Eric Gales, if anything the music is a highway, an expressway with only the best eateries along the way, the dust cleaned and given to flights of fancy instead of dirt in the eyes and the speedometer happily cruising just above the limit; after all if you are going to break hearts with your music, you may as well break a few rules also.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The breathing quickens, the feeling of gravitas and surprise once more is palpable under the skin and the pulse, once steady, a continual motion of fixed security, now, with elegance injected into the nearest vein, doubles in speed, it magnifies the feeling of drought that has been inexplicable in the heart as you come to realise that whilst music is truly global, you can only see so much of it live due to fiscal responsibilities and distance.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
It is not only the scars of our life that affect us in the dark, when we think nobody is looking that the pulse that runs through our blood and past the ridges, the mountains of blemishes, the small but memory enhancing wounds that parade our body as if they were still fresh, still able to mark out Time, it is the actions of others that see us bleed a year, a decade, a century on; we are the products of grandparents hopes and the mutilations that wracked their dreams.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
There is a certain majesty in the way that Elfin Bow presents her self-titled new album, not one of false regal misfortune but instead the type that is more natural, more ethereal, the type in which Tatiana would look upon her fellow fairies with pride or Juno, the wife of Jupiter would tease and rack the conscious of Tiresias whilst being the mother of all strong women in the Roman Empire; it is the majesty of innocence, of sublime spirit and protection and one that Elfin Bow, the superb Elizabeth Jones, wears well.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The gray mist of dawn is something we rarely see or feel anymore, unless we are fortunate to live in the wilds, the spectacular almost foreign fields, the wide outdoors with its forests and glens, its raging tormented rivers or its stone valleys, the dawn mist is anything but enticing, it is a languid orange white, polluted by yesterday’s disappointments and about as inspiring as a cold bath in the Arctic Circle. The gray mist in the hands of Mike Oldfield though is a wonder to behold, Time is endless, it has the draconian sense of a future set in stone and seemingly unavoidable and yet small cracks, fractures in random places which may signify nothing but when the final blow is delivered, reveals that Time is a mystery shrouded in sunshine.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
There is a hole, a missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle in Liverpool, one that stands out alongside her talented fellow Norwegian countrywomen, including the superb Kaya Herstad Carney, as they influenced and fashioned Liverpool for so long but have made their way to tickle the heart and seduce the soul of populaces of other towns and cities, and in some cases far away continents; this hole, this tear in the fabric of Liverpool has been greatly noticed and whilst the superb voice of Grethe Borsum has been missing from the day to day life of the city, at least thanks to the power of the internet, it is still possible to find that her music is still entrancing.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
We are always at war, a permanent state in which our minds are odds with society, with each other and within ourselves, the moment in which someone forgets you exist, the time in which we stood alone because snide remarks in ears won through…all these instances play out and the war in our head rages, yet for all that we put our best smiles on and face the world with subterfuge, for as Wars is at pains to point out, We Are Islands After All.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
If you look back on your life so far is there a period which defines you more, shakes your belief in your ability to the point where spectres howl in unison, where they find ways to ridicule even the greatest of accomplishments, because of that every day may seem like a struggle to find the joy that is wrapped up in between the hours, Too Many Ghosts may sap the mood but in Mike Grogan’s world they are a boon and a bewitching addition to the music collection.