Category Archives: Music

Ed Harcourt: El Magnifico. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

To be able to capture the listener’s heart is to feel assured of the time you placed into the art you slaved over, to capture the melancholic essence of the listener’s soul is to be assured of a far higher purpose than you might have expected.

The imagination requires feeding, the stimuli it provides can be an inspiration to those who might find the dark just a little too enticing, and it takes an artist who understands the withering notes of a tortured soul to express them in such a way that they appear magnificent, almost serene, always passionate, and that is certainly the case when it comes to Ed Harcourt, his lyrics, and his particular way of communicating to the listener via instruments that sing fruitfully and in silence bring beauty.

Ed Harcourt: El Magnifico. Album Review. full post

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

The Bordellos: I Promise Not To Make Art Again. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Annoy the critic and the censor of personal virtuosity by continuing to create that which pleases you and the minority, for in their ire you will achieve the kind of immortality that few can only dream of, and the finer point is that they don’t truly understand the art you have made, the reasons for it, and because of that your voice will be heard across the void of those who utter I Promise Not To Make Art Again.

The Bordellos: I Promise Not To Make Art Again. Album Review. full post

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

Eagles: To The Limit – The Essential Collection. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Leave the cynicism at the door as you check yourself into the palace of Eagles memories that come with the new release of their collected works and the advantage of a series of live songs from their 1976, 1980, 1994, 1999, and 2018 tours.

Eagles: To The Limit – The Essential Collection. Album Review. full post

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

Katarina Pejak: Pearls On A String. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We covet the strangest of rarities in our pursuit of beauty, we adorn our skin with gems but often our hearts and souls go without such finesse; such is the skewed way we consider wealth we would rather glorify gold and silver as a mark of our good fortune and populace than ever offer merit to that which may have come from a more unexpected place, which to some could be an irritant, but which holds an artist’s eye with a fonder, more alluring sense of style, and whilst Gold may ravish, it is Pearls On A String that highlights sensuality and natural instinctive charm.

Katarina Pejak: Pearls On A String. Album Review. full post

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

Gun: Hombres. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

A thousand Harley Davidsons roaring in unison as they escort a squadron of Spitfires as they prepare to take off could only dream of capturing the elegance of cylinders being fired as fiery and significant Scottish rock band Gun once more appear before the listener as the Hombres to whom the sound is always in capable hands, in souls ready for action, in minds attuned to the fight ahead.

Gun: Hombres. Album Review. full post

(342 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

Session A9: The Magic Roundabout. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

To Generation X, their childhood was arguably one of the weird and wonderful as television programmes especially that were geared towards their mindset were often trippy and alluded to a sense of the pursuit which would not be tolerated in any other time; and one in particular springs to mind as the former winners of the Scottish Traditional Music Awards ‘Best Live Act’ attest to the heavens their splendid new album, and the lively, animated, passion that expands from within.

Session A9: The Magic Roundabout. Album Review. full post

(411 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Feeder: Black/Red. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The pilgrimage has become a word more associated with its religious connections, with its sense of selflessness and devotion to a God so engrained that you are willing to put the body through torment just to prove your commitment; and yet there is no need to head to Canterbury for a selection of tales that showcase support, to attachment, and an enthusiasm, perhaps all that is needed is the road to Newport, and rather than accompany Chaucer’s muses, we instead find ourselves as escorts to Grant Nicholas and Taka Hirose of Feeder.

Feeder: Black/Red. Album Review. full post

(387 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

John Jenkins: Bury Myself In The Sand. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We no longer think of the album before us as the finished article, that everything we hear was all that was recorded in the studio at the time the artist spent pouring blood and sweat in the name of releasing their soul; for there are always extras, cuts to the recording, extended takes which often give rise to questions from the listener, and then the tracks that could not be found a home at the time but which later are revealed in a golden hue, in celebration of the artist’s will.

John Jenkins: Bury Myself In The Sand. Single Review. full post

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

Blueblut: Lutebulb. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

We can wait all our lives for that one jazz album to match our own infectious energy, and when it finally arrives, we are either unprepared for the sheer scope of the imagination utilised, or we become struck by awe at the momentous audacity taken in producing the unsuspected brilliance.

There is no halfway measure when it comes to Jazz, and in a flash of cool and deliberately paced musicianship of the Viennese trio Blueblut, that experimental drive pounds at the heart and the mind as if being on a ride through a kaleidoscope of colours and sounds that leave the listener dizzy and panting, straining on a leash for more.

Blueblut: Lutebulb. Album Review. full post

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

Pete Morton: Fair Freedom. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

A Golden Thread once pulled would often suggest a loom industriously working to create perhaps the fabled fleece that Greek antiquity held in admiration and coveted appreciation.

It seems as though Pete Morton has been on his own journey, an expedition that has seen the superb lyric writer step back into the shadows and become of sorts an observer of humanity, and in the four years since A Golden Thread was released, there has been an explosion of human activity, of partial societal immobility and a tension that has not been felt bubbling under the skin for a couple of generations. Pete Morton has obviously watched it all unfold, and in his own indomitable style has returned from the shadows and turned on the light for the listener to witness the picture of Fair Freedom that we so deserve.

Pete Morton: Fair Freedom. Album Review. full post

(340 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)