Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
In a city that is overflowing with positive music and artistic vibes, one that encompasses nearly every genre imaginable and one that seems to buck the national trend in terms of venues and theatres that remain thankfully open compared to a lot of places within the U.K. it can be hard to get your voice heard. No matter what though Liverpool endeavours it’s absolute best to make sure the voices, the plays, the music gets played and heard.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It’s been a while since this extreme of Metal sounded this good, call the genre that it subsets itself into what you will but Eyrn Non Dae and their 2012 album Meliora could almost wipe the floor with anything that pretends to be its equal. The sound is exquisitely loud, brash, fundamentally outspoken and following in the tradition the likes of Slayer, Cannibal Corpse and Birmingham’s Esoteric but with that Gallic charm that overpowers the senses whilst talking sweetly and lovingly in your ear.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The U.K. had two versions of the 1960s. The first which revolved around Swinging London, Carnaby Street, the advent of women’s liberation and the pill, short skirts, sexual freedom, relaxation of antiquated laws, The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks. This world was there for the people of the U.K. to see but very few saw that glimpse of hedonistic Britain outside of the silver screen, news items and their dreams. For others, it was the second version, the world of Rita Tushingham and A Taste of Honey, The Wednesday Afternoon Play, Cathy Come Home, Carol White, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, social deprivation and unrest, sex scandals in Parliament, train robberies, Profumo and the threat of nuclear war between two superpowers either side of the U.K. It’s no wonder that people prefer to remember the sixties as a golden time in Britain compared to real life.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There are moments when you hear an album by a band, a solo musician, a collective of seemingly mismatched performers who somehow bring everything together to make a perfect record that you end up shedding a few tears of regret that you know you will never get to see them perform live. One such solo performer is the American musician Alexx Calisle, one such band is the sensational The Cherry Bluestorms from Los Angeles.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
All that glitters is not gold, an old saying and one of the most profound. In music circles, as in politics, it is perhaps the medium that is most abused and most trusted proverb. Music that finds its way on to reality television can be a big hindrance to any aspiring band coming through that has worked their socks off, no matter the genre, to get where they are. The pain, despair, heartache and the struggle that goes hand in hand with any artistic movement is somehow by-passed in favour of quick glory, not even the 15 minutes of fame that Andy Warhol suggested. Instead, perhaps thanks to the way we live now it’s been downsized to the length of time it takes to open your mouth and start to sing.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Heavy Metal has never seemed more healthy on the continent, whether in the unusual domains of France or in the realms of the lands that come together under the banner of the Nordic, metal it seems has seen off the shackles of the 20th Century, survived the many splits in the genre and now enjoys the start of a brand new era. In the natural home of Metal, the old industrial confines in which nurtured and honed the sound of iron and steel, it has been sadly lacking. The U.K. could be seen as having turned its back on the hammering sound of crashing guitar and beating heart of the drum. That is with a few exceptions…of which Sacred Mother Tongue proudly sit near the very top.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The jovial attitude that springs from the voice of Kacey Musgraves as her new album, Same Trailer Different Park, plays hides an acerbic wit and cutting disdainful melancholy which makes her a refreshing change in the world of American country music. There have been others who have this same outlook but they usually have been tarnished and jaded by a life time of regret and disappointment of the world they live in.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
When the news filtered through the North West press and bars that hosted music evenings in which Ragnhild Nordset frequented that the Norwegian musician was going to be leaving Liverpool, a place where she had become a firm favourite of the acoustic folk scene because of her tantilising voice, absolute sincere personality and incredible musicianship, there would have been no surprise that there would have been petitions made to keep this talented woman in the city and keep performing for the fans. Some people are meant to fly free though and if by returning to Nordic shores the creativity that was always there, flourishes even more then woe betides anyone who stands in her way.
Where Queen led a year before hand in their release of Hot Space, David Bowie was probably bound to go for the 1983 album Let’s Dance. However where Queen went arguably and disastrously wrong, The Thin White Duke, the master musical chameleon could only do right and Let’s Dance stands out as, up until the release this year of his album The Next Day, the last great and most adventurous album of a long and prestigious career.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It is easy to miss the greatness of an album, the glowing and fitting tributes that came its way. No matter how hard you try you cannot physically hear every single album released in your life time and beyond, the small matter of occasionally sleeping is a big hindrance in the pursuit of hearing great music, let alone the 8-12 hours a day that are spent working. By picking and choosing what you listen too, you miss out on a nugget, a mind-blowing sliver of gold that others have heard but because you were sleeping you missed. It can be seen as somewhat inexcusable but you do have to sleep sometime.