Category Archives: Music

Paul Simon, Hearts And Bones. 30th Anniversary Retrospective.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Paul Simon, whilst quite rightly regarded as one of the most important and influential American musicians and songwriters of the 20^th Century, has had moments in which, no matter how much you love him, you have to take a long hard look at his creative output and suggest that some albums really should have been left locked away in the vault and only ever released as a set of curiosities long after the gifted musician hangs up his guitar for the final time. Such is the fate that should have befallen the 1983 Hearts and Bones release.

Paul Simon, Hearts And Bones. 30th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(606 words, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

The Shadow Theatre, Voices. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Good things come to those who wait…so it is said. Like a punishment handed down from your parents or school teachers as they try to impress upon you the art in queuing, a particular skill that is required to be British it seems, waiting is a virtue.

The Shadow Theatre, Voices. Album Review. full post

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

Brothers Groove, Play The Game. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There can be no arguing that the city of Birmingham and its suburbs have contributed much to the fabric of Britain, from poetry to industry, Trevor Francis to Dennis Mortimer, Heavy Metal to the works of W.H. Auden and Tolkien, Birmingham has hand in it, even if it imports most of these from other places and like Liverpool cherishes it enough to claim it as their own. Like Heavy Metal though, which is as Midlands as the River Rea or The Sports Argus, a current band of Blues players, the very likeable Brothers Groove, are very much entrenched in the Birmingham ideal and their album Play The Game has that essence of Midland mindful music winding through it.

Brothers Groove, Play The Game. Album Review. full post

(419 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Linnea Olsson, Ah! Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

For many, the first sight or sound of Linnea Olsson may well have been her sterling support and overwhelming addition to Peter Gabriel’s live arena shows during 2013. As magnificent as her contribution was, it would be a disservice not to shout and praise from the rooftops her solo album from 2011, the cello driven Ah!

Linnea Olsson, Ah! Album Review. full post

(363 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

William Shatner, Ponder The Mystery. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are always new worlds to explore, even those you have been briefly to before can still hold a world of wonder within its dark caverns and forbidding forests. For William Shatner, the man who first took Star Trek fans on an adventure that shows no signs of running out of steam, the music quest has been taken before but not perhaps to the best of receptions. Times have changed, William Shatner has grown older and wiser and his life has taken many different turns since those heady days of the 1960s at the head of the Enterprise. This certainly feels like the best time to Ponder The Mystery.

William Shatner, Ponder The Mystery. Album Review. full post

(488 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Ed Poole, Winters. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are some E.P.s and albums released that are designed to make you sit and listen to them, it is their function and reason to be. Whether it is your favourite band’s new commercial offering or an album that you have been compelled to purchase via the thousand commercials that have bombarded the television and radio, they have been almost solely created to make that awful thing called a buzz. In Ed Poole’s case his E.P. hasn’t been designed to make you listen but it something of a pleasure to find yourself doing knowing that the sweet sound he creates is genuine and honest.

Ed Poole, Winters. E.P. Review. full post

(384 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

Rev Ferriday & The Longdogs, Nine Beats. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

With the long winter nights approaching quicker than Mo Farrah taking on a 1500 metre race just for the sheer enjoyment of it, the time spent warding off the British cold and thoughts of dark dreary nights are always in the thoughts of those who want good music to take them away from the impending and incessant wind and rain. In Rev Ferriday &The Longdogs’s latest release Nine Beats, there is another reason to sit in front of the fire, take in some exquisite and thumping music and revel in the thoughts that the clocks will soon go forward again.

Rev Ferriday & The Longdogs, Nine Beats. Album Review. full post

(335 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Trivium, Vengeance Falls. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

If one band was going to give Black Sabbath a run for their well established and seemingly unassailable position as producing the best Heavy Metal album from an American or British band then really Trivium and their brutally astonishing, captivating and hard edged album Vengeance Falls could well be the only serious contender.

Trivium, Vengeance Falls. Album Review. full post

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

Gary Numan, Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind). Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are some things in life that will always seem permanent, the first drops of rain on a British lawn leading to water companies announcing that there will be a hosepipe ban, qualification by any of the home nations to the finals of the World Cup or getting the newspapers going over the top in their assertion that the trophy will be coming home. However, perhaps most welcome of all, the first track of a new Gary Numan album will just be the prelude to a recording so hot that if set out in space would cause the sun to develop blisters.

Gary Numan, Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind). Album Review. full post

(430 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Gary Numan, Dead Son Rising. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S.Media, September 21st 2011.

They say that form is temporary and that class is permanent, in Gary Numan’s case, it’s nailed down with a thousand six foot poles, a few million staples and an industrial size pack of Gaffer tape!

Ever since he arrived on the scene as part of the Tubeway Army in the late 70’s and thereafter on his own, he has continued to release album after album of scintillating music that defies ignorance of the industrial music and searing pop synths, in fact he welcomes it with open arms and embraces it with passion. Dead Son Rising is no exception, filled to the rafters with sounds that other bands would not even consider placing down for eternity.

Gary Numan, Dead Son Rising. Album Review. full post

(408 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)