Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Whisper it quietly, for the music and voice will do the rest, Ms. Caro Emerald is a force to reckoned with and someone who on the strength of her debut album and this new offering, The Shocking Miss Emerald might just bring a new set, numbering in the multitude, back to the fun and honest immorality of Swing/Jazz.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
There seems to be a new revolution in the heartlands of American Country Music. In the same way that in 2012 women led the way in revolutionising Blues to the point that nearly every album released by a woman outweighed the influence of their male counterparts, American Country Music has taken note, learned from the new rules and come up with some scintillating and interesting albums. Kacey Musgroves undoubtedly holds the pivotal position so far of for album of the year in the genre but Pistol Annies, a tight collection of three of the great new things of women of country, give an excellent account of themselves and make the genre such a pleasure at times to listen to.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
When Roy Dahan has something to say it is better to switch off every appliance that can disturb your train of thought for an hour, get whatever beverage you need to sustain you for the period of time allotted, close the curtains and sink back onto your bed or favourite chair and take in every word of Some Of This Life because at the end of the day the man’s hauntingly beautiful words will transport you far beyond these shores and to a land of mystique and tranquil repose.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
With a new album being worked upon, James J. Turner is one of those fortunate and rather splendid musicians who seem to find that the creative juices just never seem to stop flowing. The words, the songs that he sings with a hand over his heart storm through like the constant majestic water that goes over Niagara Falls. An ever flowing set that incorporates beauty and time and in his 2012 album How Could We Be Wrong? this is exemplified and justified.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Brighton is famous for many things. It is full if history, a passion that burns brightly, the capital of gay culture in the U.K. , the comedian Max Miller, The Levellers, the filming of Oh, What A Lovely War! and the superb Brighton Rock all reside in the very fabric in one of the most beautiful cities in the south coast of England. Arguably only Plymouth and Dover are more historic and only Bournemouth is more picturesque. All this wrapped up in one city, it’s no wonder that there is a vibe, a certain acceptance to be creative in the area and the band The Common Tongues enhance this reputation and with their E.P. Tether & Twine look set to add another notable notch to the bedpost of Brighton life.
Nobody but an absolute die-hard fan of Queensryche could have dreamed or foreseen how the band from Washington State would come crashing into the rock/metal progressive party in 1988. The group’s first couple of albums, 1984’s debut The Warning and its follow up Rage For Order in 1986 had charted well and the sound that Chris DeGarmo on guitar coupled with the blossoming intensity in which Geoff Tate sang was interesting, erring on the side of a youthful dynamic but didn’t look as though it would ever challenge the accepted order or the new American bands coming through. Then in May 1988 all that changed, the group released perhaps still to this day their single most important work, the dystopian tale of a heroin addict and an attempt at overthrowing the American way of life in a bloody revolution, its policies and its politics that made the times unbearable for many millions. To this day Operation: Mindcrime stands out as a classic, it paved the way for the band to become one of the most highly rated bands of the time with their complexity, incredible guitar playing and unflinching attitude to the social side of American life.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Joe Satriani makes a guitar bend and play to his will. Not only does he master the complex, savour the unimaginable and perform as if the instrument is letting go of all the secrets that she has kept guarded for decades but at times he thrills with the playful, that unique combination that makes him one of the legends of rock. His 14th album, Unstoppable Momentum is no different, the complexity, the moments of light hearted mischief are all wrapped up in what amounts to a great album a man who never seems to stand still.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
For any rock band to come out of Australia the unfair comparisons to AC/DC will always be bandied around like unwanted beer at a college dormitory party. For some the high expectations that the name carries forward will drag them down and cause ructions and implosions, for others they will strive to carve out their own niche and be better for it.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
In 2012, the women of Blues pretty much had it their own way, Whether American like Beth Hart with her album Bang Bang Boom Boom or the superb British Blues supremo Joanne Taylor Shaw and her brilliant Almost Always Never, the gentlemen of the genre, with a couple of exceptions, seemed far behind, languishing in the wake that the women had created.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There has always been something gentle in the way Matt Swift portrays his music, a spirit that has been severely tested over the years but somehow he keeps coming back for more. It has been a couple of years since Matt released the Lesson Over E.P., his first foray into releasing music and whilst that E.P. was genuine, from the heart and musically superb, the test was always going to be when Matt was in the right place to record another set of great songs. Questions Answered is perhaps the perfect response to Lesson Over.