Category Archives: Music

Neil Diamond, Melody Road. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are many song writers/performers that are capable of bringing out such a range of complex emotions in the listener that at times it can be either a disquieting experience, one in which the fruitful, almost halcyon days come rushing up from behind or one in which humility reigns supreme and the quiet deftness of time allows a certain introspection of the artist’s work. After releasing music in which has shaped a certain section of society with its tuneful melodies and songs involving love, anguish, the beating heart of joy and life in general over six decades, Neil Diamond has more than earned his place in the hearts of music lovers the world over and his latest album, Melody Road, is no different.

Neil Diamond, Melody Road. Album Review. full post

(458 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Corazon, Hawn Jien. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

One of the problems that the British seems to have dumped on its doorstep by the populaces of other countries, rightly or wrongly, is that we can be far too staid in our appreciation of other countries’ musical heritage. As a nation we might make the odd noise, the gestured nod in all the right places and congratulate the musicians on producing something insightful, thrilling perhaps, but it never seems to last. From one musical extreme to other, from the might of Heavy Metal to the laid back nature of Folk or the hedonism of pop culture, if it’s not sang in English we tend to hold it at arm’s length for fear of ridicule or misunderstanding.

Corazon, Hawn Jien. Album Review. full post

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

Virgil And The Accelerators, Army Of Three. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are just some things that cannot be beaten, destroyed or taken apart by the flippancy of a malnourished pen. They can only be dipped further into the inkwell and given the responsibility of adding greater texture or colouring, the actions of a pen that gains its pleasure by understanding that the thought of not declaring just how good something is, is akin to the desperate act of the bored, twisted and lonely. That by not embracing something for all its worth is a sacrilege.

Virgil And The Accelerators, Army Of Three. Album Review. full post

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

Chasing Pandora, Time. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When the general populace think of the Mediterranean they might ruminate on the blue skies, the mixture that hangs in the air of European influence and North African desire, of wars raged, of a dusky exoticness that draws people in from all over the world and a general ambience that is hard to ignore. Those qualities are even more abundant when it comes to the islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino. Three islands in which the European influence has played out heavily across the time, from the French, the Italian states and the British, they weathered and braved terrible onslaught day after day during the Second World War and have a well-deserved reputation of being a distinctive and friendly people to the point that their music, no matter the genre, just seems so uplifting that it is cross every sphere of authorative stimulus imaginable. Chasing Pandora from Gozo are no exception.

Chasing Pandora, Time. E.P. Review. full post

(425 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Devon Allman, Ragged And Dirty. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are times when it is all a musician can do is to play the notes that completes the soul, no matter how dangerous, no matter how solitary or seduced they make them feel, they must feel armed, perilous and ready for a new critical adventure; even if it makes them Ragged and Dirty.

Devon Allman, Ragged And Dirty. Album Review. full post

(435 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

The Hut People, Cabinet Of Curiosities. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Long may life be an endearing and ongoing succession of finding music in which constantly catches the listener out, providing an unseen rope trick on which to balance upon and eventually fall hopelessly and utterly for whilst providing no worthless safety net for shattered illusions.  Music must succeed or fail on its terms and for that it remains a true and exciting form of art.

The Hut People, Cabinet Of Curiosities. Album Review. full post

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

Kids On Bridges, Kidology. Album Review.

First published by Liverpool Live, October 2014.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Every generation occasionally despairs at the one that is following it, the ones for whom the hopes of creating a fairer world depend upon as the preceding group realises that it has somehow failed to change the world enough to make pettiness and want a negative emotion consigned to the dustbin of history. The despair comes in because somehow they believe that if they cannot make a difference then what chance does this next lot have? There are too many distractions, too much entertainment on offer in which to make making a stand against so called higher powers almost impossible.

Kids On Bridges, Kidology. Album Review. full post

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

Suzi Quatro, The Girl From Detroit City. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

To take a gentle walk through an artist’s life is one of the greatest pleasures that anybody can really hope for. The collected works of Constable, Turner or Van Gogh in an art museum for all to see, an entire volume of Shakespeare’s sonnets in which to let the heart sing, a marathon run of Richard Burton or Pam Grier films at your local art house cinema or a night spent in listening to the recordings of Harlem sensation Gladys Bentley, all art is a series of seeing the performer from first breath, through magical momentum to a hopeful ovation at the end. To walk in their footsteps should be seen as an honour.

Suzi Quatro, The Girl From Detroit City. Album Review. full post

(515 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Electric Wizard, Time To Die. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The thought of being alone in the dark, whether in the physical world or the memories that lay heavy as you tuck your blanket over your head, can be a world in which some never come back from fully intact. The dark is somewhere in which the guide books never tell you how to behave or what to do. To alleviate the problem, the only thing to do is place the earphones over the head and fall completely for arguably one of the best British Doom Metal merchants around and their eighth studio album, the stunning Time To Die.

Electric Wizard, Time To Die. Album Review. full post

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

Orfila, Writing On The Wall. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Writing on the wall is normally a phrase that signifies an abrupt ending, a sense of closure if a wrong, and sometimes inevitable, turn is made. The thought of all chances gone and it is just a matter of time before the clock heralds an unsatisfying conclusion to what could have been something magnificent.

For the threesome that makes up Folkstone’s Orfila, it’s not that the writing is on the wall, eulogies being prepared and a service of rememberance being arranged, the opposite is true, the writing is done with a flourish and heralds loudly that there is a band around who can offer a night in listening to music which is both gentle and sincere; the script is still being added to and it looks great so far.

Orfila, Writing On The Wall. Album Review. full post

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