David Neville King, Ginger McCain. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Current events produces meaning, history creates art, and in a city where the two are often seen hand in hand, art and meaning are to be heralded as they allow the artist to truly appreciate the fluid nature of capture a scene and unveiling it for an audience who will gaze upon its beauty with pride and awe, and then go searching for the meaning underneath, and whilst such focuses of attention are always subject to personal interpretation, there can be no doubting the swagger, the sense of impenetrability that comes with certain times that evoke a sense of charm, of art in motion.

David Neville King, Ginger McCain. Single Review. full post

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

David Neville King, Black And Blue. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

We are urged to ride the punches doled out by life, gas-lighters, and psychopaths alike out as a mark of growth, of tolerance, that turning the other cheek is a noble expression of understanding, but sometimes what is frustratingly endured only leads to us being beaten Black And Blue, that the bruises of the experience never truly disappear, they just fade until we are only reminded of them when we next receive a knock on the same spot and despite the bandages we place upon them, the prayers and sympathies alike, it is inevitable that we will always find those bruises catching us unawares, that they are there as a permanent reminder of what we endured.

David Neville King, Black And Blue. Single Review. full post

(439 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Bryan Adams, So Happy It Hurts. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Happiness is a state of mind, in much the same way that others urge others to smile more and frown less, perhaps out of concern, more likely out of control, to see the world as a place where all you can do is be happy is to arguably lower one’s guard, to feel secure when the truth is at any given moment life can give way to grief, to feel the kind of syndrome where it causes one to ponder that the measure of survival like any creature has been replaced with unnatural continual contentment.

Bryan Adams, So Happy It Hurts. Album Review. full post

(484 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

John Chi, River Of Marigolds. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is time that we admitted it to ourselves and the wider world, that everyone has only the vaguest understanding of what is happening, that the vast majority are guessing what comes next, and that it takes a hardy and unblinkered soul to assess any truth in such a way that their art speaks volumes and eases its way into the soul of anyone whose mind is not for rent, but who can see through the bleak misgivings of unfolding events and offer in return a sense of awareness and hope through persuasive means.

John Chi, River Of Marigolds. Album Review. full post

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

Miriam Margoyles, This Much Is True. Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Fearless, just a word, one that suggests the being of the indomitable, the daring, and the one that sums up the character, the very essence of individuality of Miriam Margoyles with a smile, with a beaming audible chortle for all who have taken the grand lady of theatre, of television, and cinema, for all that she displays.

Miriam Margoyles, This Much Is True. Book Review. full post

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

Old. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Woolf, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliott, Alexa Swinton, Gustaf Hammarsten, Kathleen Chalfant, Francesca Eastwood, Nolan River, Luca Faustino Rodriguez, Kailen Jude, M. Night Shyamalan, Matthew Shear, Daniel Ison, Jeffrey Holsman, Deidra Ciolko, Margaux Da Silva, John Twohy.

Growing old is a burden to our youth, and one that comes with worry, problems, afflictions, and escalating medical disorders, but thankfully, and if we are fortunate to survive the passage of time, is one that we have years to prepare for.

Old. Film Review. full post

(587 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Michael Weston King, The Struggle. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The hardest thing of all is to admit that The Struggle is real, that each step we take can feel, on the worst of days, as if we are treading with slow grind consistency in a swimming pool covered in solidifying lava and without a hope of finding a way to be released from our torment…and yet, if we reach out, if we find the trust in the hand offered, and the honesty within to show our understanding then time finds a way to make the demand on soul something to sing about, to make the fight worthwhile.

Michael Weston King, The Struggle. Album Review. full post

(537 words, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

Stella Diana, Nothing To Expect. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

We might as well all face the facts that we are drawn inexplicably to the enigmatic darkness, to the shadow that refuses to bend to the light but which entices upon the same energy, which acts as a black hole on the emotions, extracting and enticing the soul to love the poster “bad boy”, the “femme fatale”, to rage alongside the music that makes the heart beat faster rather than the type that soothes and places the muscle under a texture of forgiveness and satisfied regulation…we love the darkness, we crave for it in moments of happiness, we embrace it when the wind turns and we feel the chill of another life impinge upon our own; darkness is what we demand when there is Nothing To Expect.

Stella Diana, Nothing To Expect. Album Review. full post

(410 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Pam And Tommy. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Lily James. Sebastian Stan, Seth Rogan, Nick Offerman, Pepi Sonuga, Taylor Schilling, Fred Hechinger, Paul Ben-Victor, Mozhan Marnò, Adam Ray, Iker Amaya, Chris Mann, Andrew Dice Clay, Paul Guzman, Don Harvey, Larry Brown, Mike Seely.

There is no greater story of fiction than that which is housed in fact.

Pam And Tommy. Television Review. full post

(620 words, estimated 2:29 mins reading time)

Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Well, Thomas Cocquerel, Holland Roden, Indya Moore, Carlito Olivero, Matt Esof, Jamie-Lee Money, Wayne Harrison, Lucy Newman-Williams, Isabelle Fuhrman, James Frain.

A sequel to a surprise cinematic hit does not always guarantee further success. In an age of marketing paranoia, where every precaution is taken to ensure that the box office does not bomb under the weight of expectancy, under the rampant lights of cost effectiveness and a post-Covid world, to find that a sequel that is worthy of the limited budget offered, one in which every last cent and dime, pound and pence has projected the idea from the page to screen without missing a heartbeat, is to find solace in recognition, in admiring the art with pride.

Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions. Film Review. full post

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