Liz Hedgecock: A Spider’s Web. Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Whilst Arthur Conan Doyle is rightly lauded by many as the godfather of the British detective, it can also be argued, quite intently, that because of the Victorian and Edwardian attitudes that prevailed during his writing career, his ability to write about women was poor at best, and at worst, damning.  Of course, you write what you know, and that world in which Sherlock Holmes was born into, was one forced by the rampant progression of the notion of Empire and what it meant to be British, what it meant to be a man.

Liz Hedgecock: A Spider’s Web. Book Review. full post

(478 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Gareth Williams: Songs From The Last Page. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Art inspires art.

History is replete with the historical and the past endeavours of an artist enthusing the soul of the student, of the long distant sculpture illustrating to the modern cartoonist just how to capture form and feeling, of the novel displaced in time being captured like lighting in between a leather cover performing miracles in the world of music long after the authors have passed their way into the next realm.

Gareth Williams: Songs From The Last Page. Album Review. full post

(372 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Paul Hardcastle: Nineteen And Beyond: 1984-1988. Box Set Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The strangeness of being a name on the lips of everyone to one who can pass relatively unnoticed through a large crowd is one that is an underrated and startling. It is a reassurance that we can all have a moment in the national limelight that is filled with compliment and congratulations, and then be comfortable in our niche that we thrive, without being exposed to overwhelming idolatry.

Paul Hardcastle: Nineteen And Beyond: 1984-1988. Box Set Review. full post

(566 words, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)

The 19th Street Band: Near Perfect. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Striving for perfection is to be lauded, but it is time to admit that it is a curse on the artistic endeavour, it puts the apprentice and the star eyed pupil off as they are not only competing against themselves, but the judgement of the one to whom stands beside them with the large stick of authority relishing the opportunity to install a discipline that becomes a spectre at the feast of enjoyment.

The 19th Street Band: Near Perfect. Album Review. full post

(377 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Justin Levinson: Collamer Circle. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Justin Levinson is a name that arguably won’t be familiar to the music lovers of the U.K., and that as is stands, is okay, for the nature of the islands is often insular, only embracing long after the introductions and with a wariness that comes from shaking hands too often with that which eventually fades away. Only the hardiest of listeners push the virtue of that which could inspire, and when the message finally hits home, what is created is a lens of enjoyment, a full stare down the musical barrel and one that is a true creation by one who himself was inspired by the likes of the legendary Lester Bowie and Fontella Bass.

Justin Levinson: Collamer Circle. Album Review. full post

(383 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

Erasure: Always (The Very Best Of Erasure). Vinyl reissue (2023) Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

How we measure Time is one of artificial construct, and yet like other species, we can find ourselves not thinking of it in ways of the seconds and hours, of the days taken from us as we wrestle with nostalgia and hope of finer times, but in terms of how sculpture evolves for the artist.

Erasure: Always (The Very Best Of Erasure). Vinyl reissue (2023) Review. full post

(502 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Olivia Ross: Grace The Blue. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Perhaps its prophetic, more certainly timely, but as the stunning Olivia Ross delivers her immense debut solo album to the fans and music lovers, so we should turn our back on the grey and look to Grace The Blue skies that will, if we embrace the opportunity to do away with all that we understand to be toxic, all that we have clung onto in the hope they will lead us to some mythical utopian dream. 

Olivia Ross: Grace The Blue. Album Review. full post

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

Maggie Moore(s). Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jon Hamm, Christopher Denham, Tina Fey, Nick Mohammed, Mary Holland, Allison Dunbar, Happy Anderson, Louise Krause, Oona Roche, Tate Ellington, Richard Lippert, Micah Stock, Gabriela Alicia Ortega, Peter Diseth, Joseph Ortega, Nicholas Azarian, Bobbi Kitten, Crystal Mayes, Jodi Lynn Thomas, Derek Basco, Sewell Whitney, Roni Geva, Christopher Kriesa, Bryant Carroll, Kristin K. Berg, Sale Taylor, Jeff Allen, Claire Hinkley.

Maggie Moore(s). Film Review. full post

(421 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

1883. Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tim McGraw, Sam Elliott, Faith Hill, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Audie Rick, Marc Rissmann, James Landry Hébert, Anna Fiamora, Malcolm Stephenson, Amanda Jaros, Jordan Walker Ross, Stephen Austin Long, Konstantin Melikhov, Eric Nelsen, Noah Le Gros, Josef Bette, Eric Bear, James Jordan, Rob Mello, Martin Sensmeier, Sacha Seberg, Neal Kodinsky, Daen Olivieri, David Midthunder, Billy Bob Thornton, Rita Wilson, Graham Greene, Tom Hanks.

1883. Television Drama Review. full post

(498 words, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Once And Future: A Genius For War. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Sylvester McCoy, Ken Bones, Nicholas Briggs, Beth Chalmers, Esmonde Cole, Terry Molloy, Yasmin Mwanza, Stephen Noonan, Tim Treloar, Michael Troughton.

The Time War is a moment in science fiction history that sends waves of anticipation and excitement down the spine of those to whom understand the sheer significance it afforded the fanatics and dedicated buffs of the long running British series Doctor Who.

Doctor Who: Once And Future: A Genius For War. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(547 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)