Jessica Luise, Nice Try. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

We are urged to try, and if we should fail, to try again, the experience somehow making us more immune to the sense of impending defeat or bitter loss that we feel in our hearts. Like Robert the Bruce, the sense of history weighs upon us by observing the courage of one who inspires with their actions and fortitude, and the oohs and ahhs of those behind us who appreciate the attempt but never quite understand the anxiety and pressure of wanting to believe that a Nice Try should count for something more than pity.

Jessica Luise, Nice Try. Single Review. full post

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

One Way To Denmark. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Rafe Spall, Darren Evans, Elis James, Joel Fry, Martin Frisley Ammitsbol, Thomas W. Gabrielsson, Benedikte Hansen, Vicktoria Noell Ingberg, Jeanette Lindbaek, Simone Lykke, Steve Speirs, Benny Botchiaer Thomsen, Maylenah Carmen Angellina Wiliemsborg, Tim Woodward.

It is tempting at times to believe Government rather than Time and fate deal the cruellest hands when it comes to the way the ordinary person is dealt as if they have no right to expect decency or even just a quiet unassuming life, that the conspiracy of action is just that, kick a person when they are down and with that tough love they will raise themselves out of the situation they have been placed in, as if by magic, their lives will be restored, that growth and strength comes from being treated abysmally.

One Way To Denmark. Film Review. full post

(601 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)

Centigrade. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 3/10

Cast: Genesis Rodriguez, Vincent Piazza, Mavis Simpson-Ernst.

There is no such thing as an unimportant human story, just uninterested people who refuse to delve out of their comfort zone and place themselves into the shoes, the experiences of another person.

Centigrade. Film Review. full post

(514 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Pete McClelland, The Way Back To You. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The Way Back To You is one that the adventurer and the lover will often talk passionately of, but rarely undertake, knowing full well that what lies in wait is more than just temptation or the rekindling of a former affection, but also regret, one steeped perhaps in loss and recriminations; and it is in the end only the seeker of forgiveness, of the story teller, and the poet, that The Way Back To You becomes apparent, it is one of open ended compassion, of acceptance, a few fruitful lines in which to woo life and love as equal partners.

Pete McClelland, The Way Back To You. Album Review. full post

(376 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Richard Haswell, With The Changing Light. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

With The Changing Light, we see things in a way that either more appealing, or at least different, our perspective altered to the point where the dusk is illuminating, where the ruby brightness is blinding, where the transformation is to embraced.

Following up from his 2017 album Lamp Black, the Edinburgh based musician Richard Haswell returns to the fore to deliver an album that, whilst written and recorded during the ensuing social health storm of 2020, actually finds the space to ensue and proactively promote a sense of freedom, an embracing of frank expression. It is to this beauty in which the sound encompasses with inquisitive non-conformity, a burst of energy full of candour and colour.

Richard Haswell, With The Changing Light. Album Review. full post

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

Tailgate. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Jeroen Spitzenberger, Anniek Pheifer, Roosmarijn van der Hoek, Liz Vergeer, Willem de Wolf, Truss te Selle, Hubert Fermin, Tim Linde, Peter Blankenstein.

It comes as no surprise that the world is far angrier place than it has been for decades. However, it is not necessarily all down to the governments of the world refusing to put their houses in order and sue for peace at all costs; we, as individuals, must also bear the brunt of responsibility, for our actions have become dominated by the outraged and the uncompromising activists seeking to further their personal agenda, it is the damnation of the wrathful with no cause to justify happiness for others and the bully and the impatient who inspires rage in others that should seek forgiveness for making the world a less than tolerant and easy place to live.

Tailgate. Film Review. full post

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

Peach & Quiet, Just Beyond The Shine. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Even in the midst of dark times, it seems that poetry and poetic feeling are easy targets for others to decry, to shame it somehow as an expression of the uncomplicated and the effortless, to suggest that the tones meant to deliver comfort in extraordinary times are shallow, eager to please and drowning in their own contented juices. Such talk is not just a heresy against communication, it is an illustration of contempt for anyone daring to think of anything other toeing the perceived line, that the artist means nothing in a world of sour grapes and misinformation.

Peach & Quiet, Just Beyond The Shine. Album Review. full post

(376 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Marionette. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Thekla Reuten, Elijah Wolf, Emun Elliott, Sam Hazeldine, Dawn Steele, Rebecca Front, Bill Paterson, Peter Mullan, Pearl Chanda, Brigitte Urhausen, Luc Feit, Martin Donaghy, Craig McDonald-Kelly, Elisabet Johannesdottir, John Scougall, Jochum ten Haaf, Matilda Gordon, Marnie Baxter, Geoffrey Newland, Rene van Asten, Kern Falconer, Julian Nest, Joseph Black.

The nature of free will has been mulled over in cinema far more times than we arguably need have seen, so much so that the idea of Schrodinger’s Cat has moved on from paradox to the investigation into the psyche of the participant involved, the analysis of their answer attempting to reveal more than they might care to admit.

Marionette. Film Review. full post

(531 words, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

David Neville King, Childhood Soul. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The yearning to be our own master is such that we look forward to the day when we become able to make our own decisions without considering other people’s opinions or advice; and yet we lose something vitally important in our rush to leave behind our Childhood Soul, we losethe belief in the small details, we forgo the chance to revel in having nothing more complex to choose than what breakfast cereal we wish to delve into or what superhero we want to wear on our underwear.

David Neville King, Childhood Soul. Single Review. full post

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

Uncle Vanya. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Roger Allam, Richard Armitage, Anna Calder-Marshall, Rosalind Eleazer, Toby Jones, Dearbhla Molloy, Aimee Lou Wood, Peter Wright.

The annoyance of life is such that it only takes one diversion in the perceived day to day normality to throw us from the gentle walk to oblivion and into the realm of unfettered chaos.

Uncle Vanya. Television Review. full post

(608 words, estimated 2:26 mins reading time)