The Eternals. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harrington, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Ma Dong-Seok, Harish Patel, Bill Skarsgård, Haaz Sleiman, Esai Daniel Cross, Harry Styles, Alan Scott, Patton Oswalt.

The powers that be behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe should be congratulated and praised for what they have achieved by bringing more than the big hitters of their graphic novel range to the screens.

The Eternals. Film Review. full post

(577 words, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Cal Ruddy, The Edenhurst Session. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The essence of art is in the shrouded mystery that precedes the reveal, for until it makes itself public, till it is announced with either flourish and fanfare, or tentatively, shyly with as much belief but without the certainty of reception, it is an enigma that heeds only to the performer’s mind, the imagination that seeks release from the shadow, but also is content to hide a while, almost dictate the timing of its release and away from the will of the artist at large; a session released with glee.

Cal Ruddy, The Edenhurst Session. E.P. Review. full post

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

Oui Plastique, Fraternity Of Strangers. Album Listen.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Sometimes the brother and sisterhood that you felt safe within fails to show up, occasionally the sense of being cut adrift by those you considered family is so overwhelming that you question your feelings, your reality, the years you have put in and the ear you always offered them; so much so, that the Fraternity Of Strangers will become the company in which you will be more welcome at, more in tune with from the get go.

Oui Plastique, Fraternity Of Strangers. Album Listen. full post

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

Dymytry, Revolt. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Revolt, not so much an instruction passed down from history, but a demand when faced with on-going, never relenting, tyranny; it is the mandate of all peoples to scream it from the top of their voices at their governments, at their leaders, the oppressors, the tinpot dictator and autocrat alike, that the human spirit has a voice, that it can be heard, and it must delivered with righteous anger, with a growl of discontent that can at any moment become a burning flame on the lawns of the so called masters.

Dymytry, Revolt. Album Review. full post

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

A Quiet Place Part II. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy, John Krasinski, Djimon Hounsou, Okieriete Onaodowan, Scoot McNairy.

Step lightly upon this Earth, for in the shadows lay those waiting for our footsteps to falter and for us to cry out in pain, and they will tear us apart.

If A Quiet Place was one of the surprise, and deserving hits of the last decade, then its sequel was almost a sure gone conclusion; it just demanded the continued involvement of John Krasinski, and in A Quiet Place Part II, the same racked up tension, of delivery without dialogue in some of its more observed and focused scenes, is key and astutely pursued.

A Quiet Place Part II. Film Review. full post

(456 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Steve Vai, Inviolate. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There is no greater agency that does you harm than that of inaction and listening to those thoughts you cannot name. In silence we wound ourselves, we seek the solace of the shadow and see harm as a way of life, of being caught in the crossfire of personal responsive violence towards our own soul, and the target placed on our back by the spoiled view, of the attack by the contaminated disposition.

Steve Vai, Inviolate. Album Review. full post

(433 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Ben Sures, The Story That Lived Here. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The mind is more than just an organic machine residing in a structured collection of a bag of bones, it is the home of all our tales, the holding place for all the anecdotes, the comfortable legends in which we revel. The fictions that justify our actions, the rumours unfound and the narratives to the silent film of our existence, the mind is the safe in which The Story That Lived Here can be relived, explored, added to without anyone knowing that the script had been altered to make us look more of the hero than the villain.

Ben Sures, The Story That Lived Here. Album Review. full post

(461 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

The Suns, Immaterial Days. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The hope of a New Year can often be filled with expectation that is derived from fighting the anxiety of the one that is passing by, that our projection is one that can find us trapped in the same old routine, the same passing fears, the orgy of resolutions laid waste, fallen soldiers on the mound of good intentions and one that can seem to find the future, the tomorrows of our future possibility rather than days which seem immaterial.

The Suns, Immaterial Days. Single Review. full post

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

American Rust. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jeff Daniels, Maura Tierney, David Alvarez, Bill Camp, Julia Mayorga, Alex Neustaedter, Mark Pellegrino, Rob Yang, Williams Apps, Emily Davis, Dallas Roberts, Namir Smallwood, Zenzi Williams, Jim True-Frost, Jon Collin Barclay, Caitlin Houlahan, Gordon Clapp, Clea Lewis, Federico Rodriguez, Bill Laing, Guy Boyd, Nicole Chanel Williams, Brittany Bellizeare, Emily Donahoe, Joanne Tucker, Riley Baron, Caitlin Cavannaugh, Jeremy Denzlinger, Brendan Burke, Rick Dutrow.

The United States of America was built on foundations that are arguably now struggling to hold up the overburdened and often shoddy structures that have come to dominate its landscape.

American Rust. Television Review. full post

(580 words, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)

Eric Gales, Crown. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

A personal truth revealed is a Crown restored, and a series of introspective declarations are the jewels that sit atop and give that crown its definition, its shape, the depth of feeling, not for atonement, but of apology to the soul; for burdened is the head that wears the crown, and in honesty the feeling of integrity relieves the pain upon the wearer, the possessor of the polished metal garland is redeemed, and the soul is lightened.

Eric Gales, Crown. Album Review. full post

(585 words, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)