Manic Street Preachers, The Ultra Vivid Lament. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

We are living in a time where the expression of grief is either firmly encouraged or damned as being self-interested, almost self-seeking, and there seems to be no middle ground between those who understand the empathy required to show someone you care enough to allow them the time and space needed to be able to go beyond the initial stages of hurt, and those who will do anything to ridicule and inflict further embarrassment on those willing to place their heart, not only on their sleeve, but in the glare of the intense judgement available of those with the loudest voices.

Manic Street Preachers, The Ultra Vivid Lament. Album Review. full post

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

Kacey Musgraves, Star-Crossed. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

To expect an artist to produce the same material time and again shows that find the process of individual evolution is beyond you, for whilst art has been reduced to an entertainment rather than attainment, we must remember that in the end the art has been only loaned to us, we are the ones who benefit from the process, but the overall canon of work belongs solely to the artist; it is their generosity and need that sees it come to life in the minds of those seeking illumination.

Kacey Musgraves, Star-Crossed. Album Review. full post

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

Endeavour: Striker. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Sean Rigby, Julian Moore-Cook, Gabriel Tierney, Caroline O’Neil, Mia McCallum, Angus Yellowlees, Andrew Havill, Harriet Thorpe, James Bradshaw, Abigail Thaw, Anton Lesser, John Hollingworth, Joseph Millson, Eleanor Fanyinka, Elliot Levey, Sara Vickers, Roxanne Palmer, Lewis MacLeod, Ruth Bradley, Jacinta Mulcahy, Killian Coyle, Colum Convey, Evalina Järrebring, Tom Spink.

Endeavour: Striker. Television Review. full post

(543 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

Marillion, Fugazi. Box Set Album Review. (2021).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

A collector never stops finding new ways to add to their bulging corpus, the body of work or the musical exchange of information which sheds lights and offers illumination to how the world turns for them; by fair means, or sometimes foul and once illegal, they find solace in being able to place another version of what they consider beauty on a pedestal and let the spirit of their find fill their soul beyond measure.

Marillion, Fugazi. Box Set Album Review. (2021). full post

(547 words, 1 image, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

The Stranglers, Dark Matters. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There are times when history, when events that rock the world, overtakes us and puts loss into meaning. The listener finds the moment of a new release perhaps by a group, a much-loved entertainer, both a thrill, a moment of seismic beauty, and one that is shrouded by the memory of what was once giant built of granite, now reduced to serve as a signpost that instructs the audiophile and the fan that childhood and forever teenage rebellion has reached its end.

The Stranglers, Dark Matters. Album Review. full post

(543 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

Rosenblume, Rosenblume. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision 9/10

It seems that there are names that circle the arts world for such a long time that the listener, the watcher of all things that have beauty attached to their soul, becomes attached to their output, gets used to the smile of groove that comes their way, and, certainly in the case of local music where you might have had the privilege of attending a moment in time where they graced the stage and delivered early musings and collected passions to come, it can come as a shock when you realise just how great they have been and have yet to deliver that debut album which you have been keenly waiting for.

Rosenblume, Rosenblume. Album Review. full post

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

It’s Karma It’s Cool, Coffee Cup Circles. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Not everyone deserves to be visited by another’s interpretation of Karma, sometimes what is wished upon another human being is just sly vengeance for a slight imagined, revenge in the guise of spiritual punishment for one person not getting their own way; however It’s Karma It’s Cool is a different matter entirely, everyone should get this, all should feel the karmic attraction come their way, and in the addictive new single by the Lincolnshire band, the superb sounding Coffee Cup Circles, Karma doesn’t come to bite the listener on the nether region, it comes to add to the delight of the day.

It’s Karma It’s Cool, Coffee Cup Circles. Single Review. full post

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

Melissa Etheridge, One Way Out. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Nothing is ever truly lost or swept aside, nothing is forgotten, only emotions and retrospective can make a difference to that which was placed in drawers, locked in steel containers, or placed in a box that was securely hidden from view. The sense of release when one looks back at those artistic moments which were maybe too big to contemplate at the time, is second only to making sure that the One Way Out for them is to allow the light of day to bring the beauty, the sheer force of nature attached to them, out into the open, and be celebrated.

Melissa Etheridge, One Way Out. Album Review. full post

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

Cara, Grounded. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Why stand in the shadows of someone else’s dreams when you can be rooted, Grounded, by respect of being unique; even in a group, a large gathering delivering art, it is possible to see the experience as being something matchless, distinctive, exceptionally rare and powerful.

To be grounded is an act of defiance in a world that only wants to see excess, to witness fame and offer a sense of misguided hope that a certain listener or viewer can have some kind of life that they deem so impressive that they would almost give their soul away cheaply just to be able to attend a star-studded party in the hope they get recognised.

Cara, Grounded. Album Review. full post

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

Nia Shea: These Are The Words I Shout At The Moon. Poetry Collection Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We will come to regret the day when we deny the individual the freedom to feel.

We have become consumed by the idea that to be able to make our position clear must mean we are seeking confrontation, and perhaps in a way we have, for in a world that finds ever more ingenious ways to make us believe we are being heard, only to find out that we have been ignored, or worse, offered platitudes in the form of verbal bromide, being unable to make peace through the art of flowing anger is to stunt the growth of anyone with a soul, anyone with passion.

Nia Shea: These Are The Words I Shout At The Moon. Poetry Collection Review. full post

(503 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)