Brian May: Another World. (2022 Re-Issue). Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The chance to reflect upon an offering by an artist years after it was first tentatively produced, after it had its velvet cover removed in a flurry of bright lights, headlines, and hoped for champagne corks popping in delight at the spirit of human conscious standing proudly on the pedestal, is one that arguably must be taken with great sincerity, and with pathos deeply prescribed; for few in time retain the idea of masterpiece, for as opinions change, shift, and alter, so too will the sound be revised, the story behind it taking on a less or more significance.

Brian May: Another World. (2022 Re-Issue). Album Review. full post

(522 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Adam Scovell: Nettles. Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It is heartening to see a talented young writer who was unafraid of taking the time to pay their dues and take the next logical step in their journey as a dispenser of words and ideas; it is enriching when they reveal what you always suspected, what you hoped and dreamed of them, that they are a connoisseur of the art, knowledgeable, experienced, and willing to place their soul between each word, each deliberated sentenced chewed over, given room to be digested, willing to be stung by their own reaction, and ready to soothe the reader as they fall head first into a narrative weaved from possible suffering.

Adam Scovell: Nettles. Book Review. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Sarah Markey: Leaving Lurgangreen. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Adventure is within the soul, it is innate to the species, it is peculiar to the individual, and almost always the first step that leads to a newfound sense of independence being framed and saluted by others along the way; it might stir the soul, it could be one that is drips with anxiety, but in due course it will be remembered as a tender moment between mind and matter.

Sarah Markey: Leaving Lurgangreen. Album Review. full post

(401 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Inside No.9: Merrily, Merrily. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, Diane Moran, Patrice Naiambana.

A reunion, of sorts, and one that perhaps many thought might never occur, but it should never have been in doubt that Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, and Mark Gatiss, the delightful acting team behind The League Of Gentlemen, would one day be seen together in the same scenes, and providing a deeply satisfying look at the darker side of life.

Inside No.9: Merrily, Merrily. Television Review. full post

(418 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Doctor Who – Unbound: Doctor of War 1: Genesis. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Colin Baker, Tom Baker, Geoffrey Beevers, Sasha Behar, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nicholas Briggs, Nicola Bryant, Karen Bryson, Seán Carlsen, David Holt, Georgia Mackenzie, Sadie Miller, Christopher Naylor, Rebecca Wright, Rick Warden.

What If?, undoubtedly two of the greatest combined words in the history of language. Where would humanity be without the ability to question alternative history, of being able to conjecture the ways in which Time could be altered, changed, drastically distorted from the moment we understand. If Time and history can be transformed on the single decision taken, so then can we use our imaginations to foresee the outcome of other potential times when our own world’s future can hang in the balance.

Doctor Who – Unbound: Doctor of War 1: Genesis. Audio Drama Review. full post

(729 words, estimated 2:55 mins reading time)

Jill Jackson: Yours Aye. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Where others may feel the small drops of rain on a spring day, the sensitive feel the lashing of a hurricane in autumn; this is the love and the penance that the complex emotional readers find when they are presented with an overload of sensation, when they are granted access to an innermost desire or sometimes passing thought, the rain is not an inconvenience, it is a flood of reaction that is yours to own completely. There is the rub, to answer in the positive when examined, Yours Aye.

Jill Jackson: Yours Aye. Album Review. full post

(401 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Meeton, Katherine Parkinson, Kris Marshall, Kevin Bishop, Johnny Vegas, Mandeep Dhillon, Craig Parkinson, Pippa Heywood, Alice Lowe, June Watson, Steve Oram, Jarred Christmas, Lloyd Griffith, Steve Brody, Norma Cohen, Tina Gray, Chris Willoughby.

The character of the British psyche is such that one of the often-repeated observations of them is that they suffer under the almost back-breaking and chronic apprehension, that they are, until overwhelmingly pushed, passive, practising the art of not wanting to cause a scene, almost aloof, arrogant in their perpetual standoffishness, and generally, cripplingly reserved.

Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break. Film Review. full post

(507 words, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

Dana Fuchs: Borrowed Time. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

No matter where you go in life, there is always a Wildwood.

Such a place on the map goes by many names, some archaic and stubborn, some a little brighter, but no less conservative in its outlook, and the person with emotional dreams, with a different outlook on life, will always find a way to leave it…dreams are always on Borrowed Time, and if you don’t escape the Wildwood when the call comes, how can you ever hope to return with ideas on how to change it for the better.

Dana Fuchs: Borrowed Time. Album Review. full post

(476 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Kit Derrick: Hope Is A Six Letter Word. Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The world of the solitary writer/novelist has been undercut and arguably abused in recent years. No longer celebrated by mass readership as thinkers and as people willing to scratch under the surface of observation, the artistry of the dispenser of words, wisdom, and wit has been arguably reduced to that of entertainer, a person to whom it seems is writing for a hobby; or at least that is how some sections of society and unfavourable book forums react.

Kit Derrick: Hope Is A Six Letter Word. Book Review. full post

(472 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Legend Of The Sea Devils. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, John Bishop, Simon Carew, Crystal Yu, Marlowe Chan-Reeves, Arthur Lee, Nadia Albina, Jon Davey, Chester Durrant, Craige Els, Mickey Lewis, David Tse.

Nobody ever wants a disappointing end, but in life arguably we must make the most of the final reflection offered us, and whilst we may prefer a reward before the last gasp adventure, quite often it is sadness, perhaps melancholy, and certainly the unavoidable grief that haunts our last and most private thoughts.

Doctor Who: Legend Of The Sea Devils. Television Review. full post

(639 words, estimated 2:33 mins reading time)