Category Archives: Music

Chicago, Chicago XXXVI. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Creatively Chicago were one of the finest bands to have ever come out of America, they rank up there with absolute greats and their blockbuster of an album which they wrecorded live Chicagio at Carnegie Hall still rates as one of the finest pieces of music ever captured in the rawness of the stage show. Yet time moves on, the slight off putting stale, fragrant-less aroma comes out every now and then as you listen intently to the ensembles latest release Chicago XXXVI.

Chicago, Chicago XXXVI. Album Review. full post

(492 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Me And Deboe, Here They Come. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9^1/2/10

There are times in life when you really feel honoured…beyond that, grateful, to have heard a set of songs by a band or an artist in which the long nights caress the furrowed brow and handles the inner music beast with the soft click of the finger. That ambient caress is never far away when it comes to ME and Deboe, yet they also manage to tune you into a different direction in life, the mere taste of a song can cause the heart to gain momentum, give it the energy to face a new dawn and ultimately make you relieved that music chose to infiltrate your soul.

Me And Deboe, Here They Come. E.P. Review. full post

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

Kilmara, Love Songs And Other Nightmares. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is always something that keeps even the sturdiest and happy go lucky minds awake during the hours of darkness, whether it the constant thought of repression, misplaced anger, guilt or unremitting sorrow, nightmares find a way into the deepest recesses and have an annoying habit of making you pay whilst you sleep as you do when you are awake.

What keeps them at bay can be just the knowledge that somewhere somebody truly loves you for whatever you and whatever you have done, tenderness and darkness so compatible, so alluring and cautious that it can only be described as Love Songs and Other Nightmares.

Kilmara, Love Songs And Other Nightmares. Album Review. full post

(475 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Richard Durrant, Cycling Music. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Imagine the days when a bike ride meant disappearing into the country for a while, round to nearest largest natural expanse of nature you could find or even when you could ride on the road unhindered by the feel of ever increasing technology dogging every turn of the wheel. Many have tried, and in some cases notably succeeded, to recapture what that feeling is like, to have the click of the milometer go up in stages before your eyes whilst taking in the surroundings without an engine interfering with the natural order of the world. Many have tried but Richard Durrant goes one stage further with his album Cycling Music, he captures the peace of the journey rather than the frenetic discombobulated three minute rage, the sunny day through winding roads and the taste of local food tempting the palate rather than the steam inducing affair of the Tour de France or of thousands of fans lining a route just to see a flash of sweat pass them by.

Richard Durrant, Cycling Music. Album Review. full post

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

Midge Ure, Fragile. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Midge Ure is arguably a man who has seen it all and lived it all, certainly when it comes to music. A member of one of the finest bands to come out of the U.K., the rich tapestry of working with the legendary Phil Lynot and Thin Lizzy, writing several hit songs including the superb Visage track Fade To Grey, Love’s Great Adventure, If I Was and been a founding member alongside The Boomtown Rats outspoken frontman Bob Geldof of Band Aid; and somehow in amongst it all somehow finding the precious time to keep going on the road and performing with absolute elegance to audiences up and down the country, he cannot be accused of being delicate.

Midge Ure, Fragile. Album Review. full post

(463 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Rachael Dunn, Placing Stars. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Like the good old 45 R.P.M single, the bastion of pop charts past, there are times when an E.P. can leave you trustingly wanting more. You love them; they speak to you in the same way that a novella or well-written Ernest Hemmingway short story can grab your attention for a while but you just cannot help knowing that a little more would send you over the edge into some sort of exquisite dream. Like the child only being allowed one small sweet lest the sugar content send them going into a crazy spiral of juvenile energy rush, the listener has to limit themselves to knowing what has been put out is enough, even if it is with a shrug of musical despondency.

Rachael Dunn, Placing Stars. E.P. Review. full post

(379 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Raelism, Freedom Within The Prison. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Everyone has a prison, a jail cell or gaol of their own making; it is how they deal with the thoughts inside that surrounding wall that set them apart from others. Sometimes your mind and imagination are the only Freedom Within The Prison.

Raelism, Freedom Within The Prison. E.P. Review. full post

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

Bolshy, RADICAL. ANARCHIC. BOLSHY. SCOUSE. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Radicalism is not dead, no matter how hard some may try to bang another nail into the coffin of much needed change, the young of today keep finding a voice and it is a voice that needs urgently to be listened to. Like the music that sprang forth with the likes of the great Pauline Black and Coventry band The Selecter or The Specials, if you refuse to listen, if you lock your door and hideaway behind the thought that all is cosy in the world, then the shock of superbly interesting lyrics and great musicianship that comes out Liverpool band Bolshy and their E.P. RADICAL. ANARCHIC. BOLSHY. SCOUSE might just make you change your mind and actually listen and get your mind out of the television schedules.

Bolshy, RADICAL. ANARCHIC. BOLSHY. SCOUSE. E.P. Review. full post

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

Seether, Isolate And Medicate. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Every so often the urge to bang your head in time to the powerful beat playing out before you is so overwhelming that anyone with a serious neck condition might really have to think twice before disregarding a medical practitioners sage advice. On the other hand, you only live once and the music that Seether, the raw power that comes across from Shaun Morgan, Dale Stewart and John Humphrey amps should never get in the way of enjoying the unfolding spectacle.

Seether, Isolate And Medicate. Album Review. full post

(443 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Gary Gardner, Privileged. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Having had the honour of seeing Gary Gardener perform live, the music fan could take the news of an imminent release of an E.P. with great pleasure. In fact in some parts of the world the celebrations would be so great that they would be cleaning off the bunting off the streets for weeks! This though being Britain, restrained jubilance is always a key. For there would be nothing worse than taking a well-made pudding out of the oven and adding just another egg to the texture. Gary Gardner is worth more than that and the set of songs he has placed under the E.P. title of Privileged is not just a sign of things to come but the eye raising unrestricted look into a musician’s mind.

Gary Gardner, Privileged. E.P. Review. full post

(403 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)