Matt McManamon, Scally Folk. Album Listen.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Outside of Liverpool, there are few towns and cities within the British Isles that appear to have engrained themselves so much on the artistic community, the singers, the musicians, the poets, writers, and playwrights.

London has its moments with groups such as Madness, a band of brothers who embody the London vibe and belief, but Liverpool, the city fed daily by the ebb and flow of the Mersey, that is the place where art takes on a different meaning, it is the place where the soul of the city emerges into every avenue where a word is written, where the sound of violin can emulate and evoke the imagery of the city; and where artists and their audiences revel in their uniqueness.

Matt McManamon, Scally Folk. Album Listen. full post

(515 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

UV-TV. Always Something. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Inspiration often comes from the sustained darkest moments we endure in life and not from the vagarious of fleeting joy and moments of stolen passion we are granted by fate or the gods. The love song is a by-product of regret and jealousy, the tempered lines of illumination are driven by having suffered and not wanting others to fall into the same sense of despair, and the exuberant declaration of peace that is roundly welcomed with flashes of over-the-top behaviour, are born out the memory that the innocent were amongst those that will not see another dawn smile upon them.

UV-TV. Always Something. Album Review. full post

(368 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Joe Bonamassa, Now Serving: Royal Tea Live From The Ryman. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Joe Bonamassa has always cared, that is a given, a fact, an indisputable truth to which the musician has presented time and time again since he first brought his instinct, the impulse, and the love, to the Blues as a young performer. It is quite understandable that, with a few exceptions, Blues was creaking under the pressure of the weight of its own immense, and powerful past, and was in danger of leaving the turn of the century music lovers stranded in a place where the genre was of little value to the younger crowd, or worse, disappearing altogether, only to be looked upon as a vague memory, a sepia tinged recollection of how great, how captivating, the music was.

Joe Bonamassa, Now Serving: Royal Tea Live From The Ryman. Album Review. full post

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

Gary Numan, Intruder. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The worst of intruders are those that gain access to what we believe is the most secure and personal belongings we own, our own dark thoughts, our altered memories that plague us, that worm into the mind when it is running on dormant, and which send our own belief, our presence of self, whirling, spinning, until we catch the Intruder and make it sing our song, loudly, with passion, with empathy.

Gary Numan, Intruder. Album Review. full post

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

Rambo: Last Blood. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Adriana Barraza, Yvette Monreal, Joaquin Cosio, Jessica Madsen, Oscar Jaenada, Fenessa Pineda, Marco de la O, Alvaro Flores, Ursula Murayama, Cathy Pulido, Tick Zingale, Manuel Uriza.

Rambo: Last Blood. Film Review. full post

(606 words, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

Death Of Me. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Maggie Q, Luke Hemsworth, Alex Essoe, Kat Ingkarat, Kelly B. Jones, Caledonia Burr, Chatchawai Kamonsakpitak, Sahapoom Totrungsup, Tanapath Singamrath, Oliver Paul Varry, Saengkham Chanthawong, Irada Ritsira, Tannapat Sirimat, Katria Louise Reed, Somjai Hmanbut, Pivanit Ambavat, Panapat Chankasemmima, Jidapa Suwet-Ekkul, Michael S. New, Santiphap Tubnguen, Rapeepat Phromanumet, Bryan Michael Rilinger, Pissinee Raksakul.

Death Of Me. Film Review. full post

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

Doctor Who: Ravagers. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Camilla Beeput, Clare Corbett, Ben Lee, Anjella MacKintosh, Jayne McKenna, Jamie Parker, Dan Starkey.

Space and Time, there is more than enough for all the incarnations of the Doctor from Gallifrey to inhabit, and for the most part they have with honour thanks to the B.B.C. reinstalling their faith in the series in 2005, and to the architects of audio drama, Big Finish as they made it their mission to continue providing for the fans the stories, the tales of suspense, of the Doctor, the companions, and enemies such as Daleks and foes such as The Master.

Doctor Who: Ravagers. Audio Drama Review. full post

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

When Another Dragon Roars (2021). Theatre/Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Lucy Fiori, Austin Mitchell Hewitt.

Theatre is important for the development of younger minds; it allows the child or pre-teen to be immersed into a world where they can interact and understand their emotions in a way that quite often television and film cannot convey because of the system being a one-way flow of information.

When Another Dragon Roars (2021). Theatre/Film Review. full post

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

Happily. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Kerry Bishe, Joel McHale, Al Madrigal, Natalie Zea, Paul Scheer Billie Wolff, Stephen Root, Natalie Morales, Jon Daly, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Shannon Woodward, Charlyne Yi, Brecklin Meyer, Brea Grant.

Of all the emotions that humans suffer, jealousy is arguably one of the worst, it brings out a certain vileness, a baseness of feeling which can lead to unpleasantness, contempt, and in the end the destruction of friendships and love through a lowness of action that is on par with despicability.

Happily. Film Review. full post

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

Longstay, Heading Back (To Miss You). Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The last year has tested the resolve of us all; to keep going, to find peace in the eye of the storm, to find ways to remain above the rising water of concern and fury, to continue to find ways to keep the soul calm, but most of all to refuse to revisit old situations or people that we know caused us mental anguish in the past. We can go back to another place, but we must keep a tight rein on the emotions that forced us to leave, we have an obligation to be aware that what we have lived through of late does mean our heart has to overlook all that we escaped and return to it with open arms.

Longstay, Heading Back (To Miss You). Single Review. full post

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