Category Archives: Music

Buffalo Summer, Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Some albums announce themselves with a whimper, the cry of a terrified mouse confronted with the agonising choice of seeing a million traps before him or the faithful household cat stalking him from behind. Others roar as you would expect a majestic lion would on the Serengeti, full of deep meaning and warning those not to come too near him lest they get hurt in the process. Buffalo Summer’s self-titled 2011 release goes beyond the imagery of a the imposing king of beasts in its sweat and power of hard work as  it stampedes and crushes all who stand foolishly in its wake.

Buffalo Summer, Album Review. full post

(367 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Court Yard Hounds, Amelita. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

When a band, revered, unknown or considered with indifference by the greater music buying public starts to release side projects, no matter how good or popular, it always feels as though that there is an underlying issue waiting to come out and hit the bands fans in the face with a soaking wet and mud filled dirty sock, the shock seemingly coming as a surprise to everyone except those who started the thought of solo recordings under the group umbrella in the first place.

Court Yard Hounds, Amelita. Album Review. full post

(367 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Shannen Bamford, Paper Planes. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

For a taste of the ethereal, the subtle and gentle tones of a woman in harmony with her music and seeming comfortable with her place at the start of what hopefully is a long and industrious career, listeners could do worse than take in Shannen Bamford’s E.P. Paper Planes in which the young woman gives an absolute corking display of her talent.

The E.P. has become the de rigour of getting a young musician’s art out there without having to confine themselves too tightly to the rigidity and constricting emotional turmoil that recording a full blown album can do when first setting out on what can be at times a long lonely path.

Shannen Bamford, Paper Planes. E.P. Review. full post

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

Magnum, Wings Of Heaven. 25th Anniversary Retrospective.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

For the best part of a decade Magnum had been considered one of the finest melodic/progressive rock bands that had come out of Britain during that period and especially one of the best to ever come out of the Midlands area by the time Wings of Heaven came out in July 1988.

Magnum, Wings Of Heaven. 25th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(1119 words, estimated 4:29 mins reading time)

Newsted, Heavy Metal Music. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

From out of the cold realms of darkness comes something seriously fresh, an addition to realms of Metal…something new in Heavy Metal Music. Jason Newsted hasn’t sat around doing nothing since splitting apart from Metallica over a decade ago but he hasn’t quite hit the heights that he did during the period of which arguably Metallica were one of the highest rated and musically dominant groups on the planet. His tenure with the band coincided with the release of …And Justice For All and the so called Black Album/Metallica and in some respects he was the only person worth listening to during the groups torrid time between 1992 and his withdrawal at the start of the new century.

Newsted, Heavy Metal Music. Album Review. full post

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

Rachael Wright And The Good Sons, Dig. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Although the first words out of your mouth when the album finishes might well be the breathless exclamation of wow, or perhaps something more akin to anything considered vaguely Anglo-Saxon, it really shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that Rachael Wright and The Good Sons new album Dig is nothing short of fantastic. It is roller coaster of supreme sound, unblemished and rigorous to the point that the listener is not just gasping for breath as if supremely exhausted by the effect but revelling in its mastery. A collection of songs that leave you consumed and overjoyed is a rare feat but Dig achieves it in spades.

Rachael Wright And The Good Sons, Dig. Album Review. full post

(438 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Julia Fordham, Under The Rainbow. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Perhaps it is with deep regret that Julia Fordham was never as big or seemingly taken as seriously as she should have been. There are many women whose presence on popular music has kept them so entrenched in the British public psyche that even well into a new a century they are still spoken about with hushed reverential tones or outlandish and bullish feelings of near greatness, Julia Fordham and perhaps the great Sam Brown, daughter of the superb Joe Brown, are unfortunately only remembered when they bring out an album or one of their earlier songs deems play worthy on the radio…days in which seem too few and far between.

Julia Fordham, Under The Rainbow. Album Review. full post

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

Yazoo, You And Me Both. 30th Anniversary Retrospective.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If you are going to go out, leave them demanding more. A maxim that suits Yazoo’s second album You and Me Both right down to the ground. After the huge success of the band’s debut album Upstairs At Eric’s which reached the near unprecedented heights of number two in the U.K. album chart and breaking the U.S Billboard Hot 100, the creativity that Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke weaved together followed through in to the recording of You And Me Both and yet on the eve of the album’s release they announced their separation. Whilst they would eventually get back together for a series of gigs in 2008, the flow had been broken but at least fans have the debut and this excellent follow up to remind them of what exactly the pair bought to the table.

Yazoo, You And Me Both. 30th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(925 words, estimated 3:42 mins reading time)

Sorrows Path, The Rough Path of Nihilism. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When things are bad, the sensible thing is to turn to art and especially music to remind you of the beauty that once strode hand in hand with you. When a nation suffers as the Greeks have for the last few years, their world turning upside down as bail out after bail out by those with perhaps less altruistic agendas, then you would be forgiven to think that the mood of the people, let alone the young, can turn their ideas to being creative. Don’t mention that in front of Sorrows Path as they reflect on the 2010 release The Rough Path of Nihilism ahead of a new album this year.

Sorrows Path, The Rough Path of Nihilism. Album Review. full post

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

The Duckworth Lewis Method, Sticky Wickets. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Neil Hannon divides popular opinion as if having to choose between two certain brands of cola or picking out a holiday destination in two rival but equally well thought of islands. There are those that love what he does, the clever intonation, lyrics that play with the English language in such a way that he has become a master of the baroque and ornate. However all is not that plain sailing the polarising view is that he too intellectual, not that this is a bad thing, just some for whatever reason find it irritating.

The Duckworth Lewis Method, Sticky Wickets. Album Review. full post

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