Category Archives: Music

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)

Robbie Hill &The Blue 62, Price To Pay. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

A meeting of minds can happen so unexpectedly, so suddenly that the resulting maelstrom of emotions and musical frenzy that follows is something you just have to try and grab the tail of and tag along for the ride.

For Robbie Hill & The Blue 62, a chance meeting with Jesse King in Finland has led to a young Scotsman adding weight to the Blues and invigorating a genre with their, and Finnish drummer Tatu Parssinen, seriousness, style and collective wit and charm. The Devil at times might hold all the best cards in the deck but there is always a Price To Pay when allowing someone dedicated to join the game.

Robbie Hill &The Blue 62, Price To Pay. Album Review. full post

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

Flying Colours, Second Nature. Album Review.

 

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There is an adage that to have done well you passed with flying colours, the overall result was about as close to perfection that you could ever hope for without a team of University lecturers raising an eyebrow in your direction and asking for a re-count on the basis that nothing could be that good. To pass with flying colours sounds good, it reads well and it puts a song in your heart so loud that it drowns the sorrow of high expectation in your own life with magnificence normally reserved for trying to please loved ones and close friends.

Flying Colours, Second Nature. Album Review. full post

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

Sanctuary, The Year The Sun Died. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Nothing changes in the end bar time itself, although fans and listeners may wonder might have happened, what could have been in the world of Metal had Sanctuary not folded in on itself after the release of the live offering of Into The Mirror, what would have a world that took Metal into the homes of those that only five years before had shunned the American metal Gods of Metallica, Megadeth, the likes of Queensryche and Anthrax. Would Sanctuary have found a safe haven in which to preach to the converted and beyond?

Sanctuary, The Year The Sun Died. Album Review. full post

(506 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)