Troy Redfern, The Fire Cosmic. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The Cosmos is on fire, and somewhere on Earth there are those that can hear the heartbeat of the Universe crying out to be noticed, to take heed of the charm and the rhythm provided by the fireworks of inspiration that come when we see stars explode and the heavens show us signs and portents.

The Fire Cosmic, the appreciation that the universe holds more than we can imagine, is the way the artist shows that they have been listening, taking heed of the winds that blow through the strains of creation, and if the fan or the potential recipient of the muse driven music can also be inspired, then the Cosmos has done its work, with majesty, with chaos turned to beauty.

Troy Redfern, The Fire Cosmic. Album Review. full post

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

Electronomicon, The Age Of Lies. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

For a concept album to exist, let alone grab you and take you on seismic journey which transgresses time and the human experience, it must have insight, it should make the listener believe in the event, the longing, perhaps the sense of hopelessness and rage that is examined in others that have paved the way, and above all, it has no choice but to be truthful to the universal suffering it is examining.

Electronomicon, The Age Of Lies. Album Review. full post

(458 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Malcolm Holcombe, Tricks Of The Trade. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Don’t ask someone to teach you the tricks of the trade, if you are not going to learn the hard lessons that trade is willing to demand of you.

However, life itself is more than willing to be a demanding teacher, you may have been round the block more than a few hundred times, hopefully scratched more than the surface of your chosen pastime, genre or love, and yet, indisputably, unarguably, the Tricks of the Trade evade us, for we are always presented with a chance to learn a new part to the machine we have tied ourselves to, or maybe the moment to realise that we are free to consciously admit that the surprise of an unexpected treasure that has been around for so long and yet we have only just taken the ribbons of pleasure off.

Malcolm Holcombe, Tricks Of The Trade. Album Review. full post

(446 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Krissy Matthews, Pizza Man Blues. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

When a string on the violin of time snaps, and you don’t have another to hand, you either adapt, be grateful that that you other strings to use to your advantage and create something unexpected, or you allow circumstance to dictate and snatch at the certainty of passion, leaving you with faded memories and hopes. When the string breaks, you don’t give up, you play on and confound those that wish to see you fail.

Krissy Matthews, Pizza Man Blues. Album Review. full post

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

Kete Bowers, Paper Ships. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The intricacy of creating a series of Paper Ships that will float downstream and survive, indeed that will install hope, colour and pleasure in those that line the passage of water between release and embarkation, is all down to the design, the seaworthiness, and the captain who steers the gathering ships to the harbour of the well-received and the honourable.

Kete Bowers, Paper Ships. Album Review. full post

(344 words, estimated 1:23 mins reading time)

Joe Bonamassa, Notches. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

If only we could realise sooner that life is not about the riches or the acquisition of possessions, but that it is about the journey, the way we could leave Notches on the walking stick fashioned from the branch of an oak tree to remind ourselves of the way we have lived then perhaps maybe we would stand a better chance of being remembered fondly by the generations to come, by those that will judge us harshly for the slashes and constant nicks we have left on the planet.

Joe Bonamassa, Notches. Single Review. full post

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

Paul Holden, Help Me Anytime You Want. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

To show the reveal in the first act could be considered risky in theatre, after all where can the great director and the cast take you when you already have been told where the lead character will be taken, and why they are important to the narrative.

The narrative can be altered though, the reveal when shown early can lead to greater expectancy than first believed, and when given the respect it is due, can make the protagonist more than a hero, more than just inspiration, it can be the moment of revelation.

Paul Holden, Help Me Anytime You Want. Single Review. full post

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

Mark Sebastian D’Lacey, Gypsy Soul. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

To possess a gypsy’s soul within reach of your beating heart is to understand that emotion, the free spirit, and the individual is what separates the straight jacket ties of the conformed traditional from the beauty of freedom and unpredictable independence.

The emotional pull of the life of the gypsy is not for everyone, some will deny its existence, some will vary between the romance and the uncomfortable truth of agreed orthodox behaviour, and some, no matter how hard they persist, will never be able to give in to the pull of the belief because they are terrified of being labelled part of the counterculture.

Mark Sebastian D’Lacey, Gypsy Soul. E.P. Review. full post

(397 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Henry Bateman, A Ghost Inside. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is not beyond the realms of thought that we can look upon ourselves at this time as the children of fallen expectation, the high hopes we cherished, the plans we made, are being unravelled by A Ghost Inside the machine, and it is the spectre of our misdeeds, our failures to act in a responsible manner towards the place we call home, the continual cycle of abuse we visit from one generation to the next; it is no wonder that in the end the ghosts come back to haunt us and urge us to listen more and speak less.

Henry Bateman, A Ghost Inside. Album Review. full post

(393 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Fargo (Series 4). Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Chris Rock, Jessie Buckley, Jason Schwartzman, Ben Whishaw, Jack Huston, Salvatore Esposito, E’myri Crutchfield, Andrew Bird, Jeremie Harris, Matthew Elam, Corey Hendrix, James Vincent Acquaroli, Gaetano Bruno, Stephen Spencer, Karen Aldridge, Glynn Turman, Timothy Olyphant, Kelsey Asbille, Rodney L. Jones, Rodney L. Jones, Nadia Simms, Tommaso Ragno, Torrey Hanson, Will Clinger, Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel, Sean Firtunato, Evan Mulrooney, Bokeem Woodbine, Brad Mann.

Fargo (Series 4). Television Review. full post

(492 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)