Category Archives: Music

Tori Amos, Under The Pink. 20th Anniversary Retrospective.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Just 18 months after releasing her debut album Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos stamped her authority on her music direction by releasing the superb Under The Pink.  Gone were the days Y Kant Tori Read forever, this was 100 per cent what the talented musician was all about, trailblazing, confessional, confrontational but with that alluring feminine smile paving the way before slamming the piano with full heart and lyrics that were designed to make you thing as well as enjoy. The musical personification of poets Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton but with even bigger welcoming attitude and an allure that got beneath the skin of the subject she wrote about.

Tori Amos, Under The Pink. 20th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(966 words, estimated 3:52 mins reading time)

Transatlantic, Kaleidoscope. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Following on from the acclaimed album The Whirlwind, the four members of Transatlantic, Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Roine Stolt and Pete Trewavas, have once again got together to produce something that is so compelling, so like the Progressive Rock of old and yet new, exciting and in the case of two of the longer tracks, daring musical storytelling.

Transatlantic, Kaleidoscope. Album Review. full post

(587 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Indica, Shine. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Far beyond the shores of Norway and passed the Nordic Noir world of crime drama of Sweden is a land that very few people in Britain will ever probably ever set eyes upon, let alone take the chance to delve discretely into the world of its music. Finland’s output whether pop, folk or even its incredible rock/metal scene, it seems there is always a thousand fold of alleged hopefuls who would rather batter a much loved song in the hope of fulfilling a thirty second dream to meet a judge who will cast scorn on their ability than take in the hard work of another nation’s music.

Indica, Shine. Album Review. full post

(395 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

David Crosby, Croz. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

It seems somewhat odd to believe that someone as exquisite a song writer and musician as David Crosby, a living legend of the American highway and creator of some of the finest music to come out of the Folk/Rock scene has only recorded four solo albums in a career that is as lengthy as the famous Route 66. His work with Graham Nash and Stephen Stills, Buffalo Springfield and Neil Young is inspiring enough; it captures the essence of humanity in all its glory and deep down dirty despair but his solo work, which started in 1971 with the highly rated If I Could Only Remember My Name, has not been prolific. It is a story that has been rectified with his fourth release, the outstanding and beautifully crafted Croz.

David Crosby, Croz. Album Review. full post

(454 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Villy Raze, De Novo. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There have been great musicians, great poets and great song writers that have come out of Ireland. The social eye of Damien Dempsey, the urban mouthpiece of a disenfranchised youth of Bob Geldof whose barbed, razor like quality made him a voice of a generation in Dublin and beyond and north of the border, the legendary Fergal Sharkey’s great way with words and imagery endeared him and The Undertones across the Irish Sea and into the heart of John Peel and beyond. Add now to this these and other intelligent and very special performers, the sound of Villy Raze.

Villy Raze, De Novo. E.P. Review. full post

(481 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Heath Common,The Dream of Miss Dee. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

If Jack Kerouac were alive today, surely he would have been extolling the virtues of a man from Lancashire, possibly even turning him into a tragic anti-hero with an Americanised pseudonym and an abundance of women or men after him and plying him with whisky and repeatedly asking him to sing one of his songs that typify the road. Heath Common is that man, a character like no other, so unique that Kerouac or Ginsberg could not have captured the real essence of the road, in this case the Great Mancunian Way, he travels.

Heath Common,The Dream of Miss Dee. Album Review. full post

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

Eddi Reader, Vagabond. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To suggest that the phenomenal Eddi Reader has wandered through music since bursting onto the scene with Fairground Attraction would be doing this versatile and exciting musician a massive disservice. This is not a woman who can be accused of strolling through life, drifting from record to record, song to song as with some; the beauty she exudes through her music is enough at times to take your breath away and her latest solo album Vagabond is no exception.

Eddi Reader, Vagabond. Album Review. full post

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

Ed Harcourt, Time Of Dust. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

If there is ever any question over just how good, how brilliant, a musician and lyrists Ed Harcourt is, then that might be the day to hang up the earphones, put away the stereo and flog your collection for enough money as you can make and head off to the place where the silent order of monks and nuns reside, for no music could ever surely lift your spirits again.

Ed Harcourt, Time Of Dust. Album Review. full post

(418 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

The Jigantics, Daisy Roots. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

In amongst all the signs of having enjoyed a debut album by a band surely listening to it and not notice the time slip away from you as it pulls you in to its musical soul has to rank highly. Another sure fire way is when you find yourself humming along with the harmonies in a relaxed fashion, the infectious nature getting to you quite easily and the smile returning to your lips as you swim amongst unhurried lyrics and elegant instruments.

The Jigantics, Daisy Roots. Album Review. full post

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