Category Archives: Music

Doghouse Roses, Lost Is Not Losing. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The modern age has taught us many things that our ancestors would have balked at, it may be just the way things work out, that our very nature is pre-disposed to argue with a voice that is full of nonsense, that we have forgotten the art and point of debate with civility in our hearts, that when we suffer defeat at the hands of those with greater persuasive qualities or indeed that their philosophy is of greater sound text, we belittle ourselves by believing all is lost and not Lost Is Not Losing.

Doghouse Roses, Lost Is Not Losing. Album Review. full post

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

Lewis & Leigh, Ghost. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It is only by accident that some of the greatest discoveries are made, that inner voice in your gut which suggests with high spirits, “Try me, you’ll like me, you will love me”; it happens so much but we often disregard the advice our senses tell us, implores upon us and yet if we did but listen the once, like the random happy accident that awaits, our hearts would undoubtedly be more fulfilled. It is a happy accident to come across art in the same way, the moment when you hear a snatch of a song and find yourself buying an album and not being disappointed at all.

Lewis & Leigh, Ghost. Album Review. full post

(392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Matchstickmen, From Our Own Ashes. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

On fire, blazing with so much anger and hope that the only thing that might compare to a match held up close to the eye is seeing the Sun being so much in focus that the Earth may as well be hurtling towards its intense solitary star; Matchstickmen, the snare and crackle of Lucifer’s tip with added muscle of songs that radiate and roar like the finest stoked fire in a Scottish Highland’s castle on New Year’s Eve, it is the fact that Matchstickmen have produced such a fine and wonderful album that From Our Own Ashes somehow is going to be comfortably one of the great hard rock albums of the year.

Matchstickmen, From Our Own Ashes. Album Review. full post

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

A J Hobbs, Too Much Is Never Enough. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is point where the general public’s opinion falls into the sphere of boredom, it is not the artist’s fault, it is perhaps though a reflection of the times that there is just too much of too much going on, that the pull on the heart of the ordinary Joe is too huge to truly get to grips with. Yet it has to be understood that in any art, any realm of the artistic, Too Much Is Never Enough.

A J Hobbs, Too Much Is Never Enough. Album Review. full post

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

Mike Zito, Make Blues Not War. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The world is on a knife edge, a relentless march to its own seemingly assured destruction, one that cannot arguably be stopped and one that has left eminent scientist Stephen Hawking to conclude there may be only a 1’000 years for Humanity to survive and for the planet to be rid of its gorging hosts; perhaps the best thing to do to at least stem the tide is for the population to look deep in its own soul and Make Blues Not War.

Mike Zito, Make Blues Not War. Album Review. full post

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

The Changing Room, The Magic Of Christmas. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Language may be a living breathing entity, an important part of what it means to be human, yet it has the despondency, the frightening ability to disappear if not nurtured and cared for. The Cornish language, spoken by so few people in the lands surrounded by the northern waters of Europe was very much in danger of dying out, of becoming as endangered as the once thriving tin mines, yet as the superb Duo that make up The Changing Room, Tanya Brittain and Sam Kelly, note in their third release of the year, The Magic of Christmas is enough to turn any tide and make language loved.

The Changing Room, The Magic Of Christmas. E.P. Review. full post

(353 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Johnny Coppin, All On A Winter’s Night. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Christmas has a horrible habit of feeding many addictions, of allowing the schmaltz and the more commercial, the more consumed side of the festive period to be seen in all disturbing glory. It is hard not to be cynical about the time of year when so many people are either left alone or in want of conversation, a roof over their heads or something to eat; it is the time of year that can bring out the very worst in people…and thankfully the absolute best, the most beautiful in humanity, it is a credo that Johnny Coppin adheres throughout his sincere and wonderful arranged album All On A Winter’s Night.

Johnny Coppin, All On A Winter’s Night. Album Review. full post

(414 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Ellyn & Robbie, Skywriting With Glitter. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10

To the memory of all the great poets, the scribes with no forethought of fame or fortune, whose only reward it may have been was to get the words out of their heads, to let them finally depart their minds, to this end Ellyn Maybe and Robbie Fitzsimmons can only be seen as honouring, dedicating themselves to the cause of poetry and in their album Skywriting With Glitter, they truly take on the words with absolute sincerity of spirit and fashionable beauty.

Ellyn & Robbie, Skywriting With Glitter. Album Review. full post

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

Metallica, Hardwired to Self-Destruct. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Arguably Metallica will go down in history as the kings of American Metal, if not contenders for the band that Empires quake and fall for, yet for all the blazing guns, the screams of red hot pokers as they clash against the sabre, the sword and the caressed steel, there was undoubtedly a period in which some of the fan base felt lost in the group’s company. Following on from the Black Album and right through to the debacle that was St. Anger, there was a general feeling of unease in the air, it cut through the swathes of vinyl, through the past honours and threatened to disable the moorings of one of the finest music ships ever created.

Metallica, Hardwired to Self-Destruct. Album Review. full post

(452 words, 1 image, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Anne Allen, The Romantic Flute. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Romance, to some it is about feeling wanted, desired, cherished, perhaps with the knowledge firmly and subtly denied that it will lead to a form of subjugation, of power being placed back and forth between the two parties involved; eventually always leading to the damned phrase, if you loved me you would…. Romance though should arguably be seen like love, not one that monetary can be placed upon, rather it should be the feeling of being equal, of feeling relaxed and safe enough in each other’s company that is the main flush of excitement in any relationship.

Anne Allen, The Romantic Flute. Album Review. full post

(400 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)