Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There are many reasons to believe that the 1980s was a decade in which to forget musically, it cannot be denied that the pop scene, aided by the advance in music television and the mass appeal of the accompanying video, was something of an extravaganza, it was the raging hulk that couldn’t be slowed down and few other bands and their music from other genres were able to corner any type foothold in the minds of the music fan.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
John T. Davis certainly knows how to pack a dramatic punch. Arguably from his days as the foremost documentary film maker in Ireland, the ability to lead either the viewer, or in this case the listener, down a certain way of thinking, of believing in a clear route towards an enlightenment, and then pulling back the whole picture, the seamless, confident and flawless scene to reveal another kind of truth, a missing link between what we know and what can only be learned; this is the world that John T. Davis shows in both his album Last Western Cowboy and the distinctive country hooks that flood Indigo Snow.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The relationship between humanity and the sea is one that can be seen in everyday life. As a species we are both fascinated by its calming allure and we are wary of the might and savagery it holds. As an island race, the British in particular feel the pull of the sea, it is the greatest defence and it is a source of food; it is also arguably one of the muses for beautiful poetry and majestic music that writhes like an eel through the veins of all who come into contact with it. For Iain Sutherland it is the reason, the inspiration, to go Back To The Sea.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The mercurial band may be missing from his latest release but that’s not to say that the music on offer, the delicious Northern attitude and fiery wit is any the less impaired or any less fruitful because of it.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
To see Patterns where there are none is a propensity that only Humans seem to be able to master with such high definitive skill and yet it doesn’t stop the relationship between the imagination and the unclear from forming, from enveloping itself deep into the psyche. It is that recognition, that connection that forges ideas, theories and the intimate design of logical answers and wild speculation to thrive and give credence to our existence.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
When you are afforded the opportunity to listen to a loose collection of songs, a dip into the ocean of artistic endeavour and pre-E.P. planning, then the honourable thing to do is to take that opportunity and allows the un-bound and unrestricted access to all areas.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
If the need for the sincere spiritual uplift is ever taken up, then surely it would fall to Shirlie Roden to supply it.
Music is a subjective beast, the adoration or the desire of it is as individual as the snowflake cascading, hurtling with intent down to Earth and can be just as easily destroyed by the uncaring or the blindly ignorant. It can suffer derision, it can enlighten. Yet throughout it all a particular piece of music might fall into the hands and it can offer a glimpse of something tangible that had not been seen before, a sideways glance out of the corner of a myopic eye and the realisation that the world is so much bigger, so much brighter that it was thought to be. This is arguably the case with Shirlie Roden’s seventh studio album, Be The Love.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Addiction can cost and yet in some cases the thrill of the chase is worth it, especially when it leads to a road previously unexplored and one that doesn’t cause harm or specific danger to anyone; it is the addiction of a music nature, a compulsion to attempt to understand the arts, in any of its languages or forceful communications, that leads to deeper enjoyment and perhaps a flirtatious infatuation that just keeps giving.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10
An artist who speaks their mind, is worth their weight in gold; an artist who doesn’t mind the thought of how his ideas may be interpreted should on many levels be lauded and praised for having the courage and the audacity of their convictions to be seen for standing for the notion of uniqueness. It is into that arena, that barbed cage of industry that Duncan Ewart throws his hat into the ring for and which not many could claim to have tossed A Better Hat upon.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10
The album’s instruction is clear, even if the final result isn’t. Get Up may be the command of an artist with so many hit songs and great tours behind him but his latest offering, the directive familiar of a thousand sleep induced mornings or the order to carry on the Rock fight, falls somewhat short of being an incisive and authorative instruction by the Canadian Rock legend.