Category Archives: Music

H. Jack Williams. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

When hope becomes grounded, when it feels more than the stirring of potential and optimism, that is when we proudly place our name to the endeavour we have been pursuing, when we state our intentions as more than honourable, but a promise in action…that is the point at times of the self-titled release; a short step from the placing of the subjective singular approach, a more enlightening and channelling of the exhibition of artistic renaissance to come.

H. Jack Williams. E.P. Review. full post

(349 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

The Pale White: Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Why do we place so much faith in the apparently soulless, why do we show such devotion to the constancy of the hum of the electric heartbeat, pray to the lifeless length of time unresponsive friendship that a television or radio can provide…it is almost as if we understand our connections to the Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century are not only deep rooted, but a stage of slow evolution that is being guided by a pulse out of reach to the naked eye but felt intensely.

The Pale White: Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century. Album Review. full post

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

Emily Portman: Dominion Of Spells. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The authority of the human heart and mind must forever hold sway and opinion in all things against the growing strain of artificial intelligence, the Dominion Of Spells, the word, the influence of art that comes from enchantment and incantation alike, are to be seen as sacrosanct, fiercely embedded in truth and one that comes from the belief of the stroke of fortune that we are able to breath life into the armour of collected tales and those that weave a narrative together.

Emily Portman: Dominion Of Spells. Album Review. full post

(457 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Dana Fuchs: Live In Denmark. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Long held up as one of the modern powerhouse Blues singers of her generation, Dana Fuchs’ authentic, intense voice, her inflamed charm and enticing presence on stage, and in the studio, has marked her card as perhaps being a rival to long missed Sheffield megastar Joe Cocker, feminine but filled with the sovereignty, the engine of a Rolls Royce, as she punches home every drop of blood from the words and guitar with fortitude and fierce cool.

Dana Fuchs: Live In Denmark. Album Review. full post

(403 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Squeeze: Trixies. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Life seen through the eyes of young men, of teenagers with the whole world waiting at their feet should be a joyous musical occasion. Instead, it often turns their vision to a physical concept that would underline just how the times and the political situation has shaped them, forced them to see in the end life not as carefree and filled with possibility, but instead as a series of tales weaved together tempered by experience and delusion.

Squeeze: Trixies. Album Review. full post

(403 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Karl McCann: Trial By Versions. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The enormity of the project that Karl McCann has undertaken is evident as he follows up his previous releases, including Put It All Behind You and It Was Only A Dream with an impressive insight into the way we perhaps understand music as listeners and how an artist can pull you into seeing, witnessing a kind of metamorphosis of intention and belief of the personal epic, of pushing the artistic boundary beyond the comfortable but producing something rather incredible.

Karl McCann: Trial By Versions. Album Review. full post

(344 words, estimated 1:23 mins reading time)

Visions Of Albion: Avenues. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Into each life the sense of the profound and delicate must not only fall, but be seen for exactly what they are, moments of seismic and unadulterated beauty. It is the rainbow seen through the downpour, the longed-for figure emerging through the gloom at the funeral to hold your hand and whisper that the road you are on will lead you to Avenues of plenty, that benefit and elegance of the soul being complete and ready for the song to be sung.

Visions Of Albion: Avenues. Single Review. full post

(299 words, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

Robben Ford: Two Shades Of Blue. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Freedom is not a gift, it is a right, and one neglected by many as they swear alliance and allegiance to a system that requires subservience, that insists on compliance across the board…no room for the individual to make the best of their lives, no recourse to the law of liberty or of understanding that there may be not just one, but Two Shades Of Blue in which to feel that all paths are open to explore, to perform, to feel gratification within.

Robben Ford: Two Shades Of Blue. Album Review. full post

(380 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Axum Folk Ensemble: Crossing Borders. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Crossing Borders is at times best approached without words, the sense of anxiety that can be swept aside by just listening without a verbal exchange hindering the process of acceptance and a guarantee of understanding with simple gestures and a flourish of music acting as a serenity to progress and further advancement.

To see beyond the self-imposed margins that bind us to the comfortable and the content is not a gift, it is a right of every person, a need to push the boundary of existence, to speak less but create more unblemished sound, and as the eight strong membership of Axum Folk Ensemble provide with proof intact and dynamic cool in the new E.P., Crossing Borders, so the need for the listener to expand their own horizons becomes imperative.

Axum Folk Ensemble: Crossing Borders. E.P. Review. full post

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

Andy Cohen + Eleanor Ellis + William Lee Ellis: Whistlin’ Past The Graveyard. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

What can be summoned through the simplest of human acts in a certain setting can lead some to believe that grave luck may follow, or to others a sign that from the sense and realm of the ethereal comes a kind of guidance, that the spirits who heard you Whistlin’ Past The Graveyard are there not only to aid, but spread fortune in your favour.

Andy Cohen + Eleanor Ellis + William Lee Ellis: Whistlin’ Past The Graveyard. Album Review. full post

(443 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)