Almost Autumn, Grow. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Summer’s over, the fascination with stifling heat and waves lapping at the feet can give way to the time and pleasure that of Almost Autumn, for whilst spring spells earthly renewal and the outlook of a year to come, it is in those days of autumn that we find a greater hope, that all that must be will come again once more, that the leaves show their full range of colour, that the light from a different angle in the sky gladdens the heart and sky, for what is better than residing in the heart of autumn than knowing it has so much to offer the world in terms of growth and beauty.

Almost Autumn, Grow. E.P. Review. full post

(359 words, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

The First Memory I Hold.

There are others,

I am sure,

That if I put my mind to it, if

I allowed myself to put under

and

Have my mind probed,

Mined of coal, the hope of diamonds

Springing

Eternal, I would dismiss them,

For my first memory is

One of exclusion,

Watching a blank-faced nursery school teacher

Explain to my despairing

Mother that they had no room

For a boy

Like me.

Ian D. Hall 2020

The First Memory I Hold. full post

(75 words, estimated 18 secs reading time)

Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Natalie Dormer, Daniel Zovatto, Nathan Lane, Kerry Bishe, Adriana Barraza, Jessica Garza, Michael Gladis, Jonathan Nieves, Rory Kinnear, Dominic Sherwood, Julian Hilliard, Santino Barnard, Sebastian Chacon, Adam Rodriguez, Hudson West, Amy Madigan, Thomas Kretschmann, Kyle McArthur, Piper Perabo, Adam Rocha, Lin Shaye, Brent Spiner, Stephanie Arcila, Scott Beehner, Christine Estabrook, Lorenza Izzo, Rod McLachlan, David Figlioli, Brad Garrett, Ethan Peck, Richard Kind.

Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels. Television Review. full post

(534 words, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Longstay, The Quarantine Sessions. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is well and good that some who call themselves influencers find even more ways to talk down to the multitude when it comes to the idea of motivation, that their way is the only way to feel a crushing happiness in times when the world has changed inexplicably to one that has become almost unrecognisable, a shadow, an earthly path that has become crowded with brambles and weeds.

Longstay, The Quarantine Sessions. Album Review. full post

(423 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

The Suns, Everything’s Coming Up Roses. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

A tribute does not always go hand in hand with respect, at best a moment recaptured can glow like the sun in the sky without a single cloud obscuring it, bright, worshipful, praiseworthy from all concerned, and then there are the times when it comes as crass, irresponsible, censured by parties and public alike. Tribute and respect though is an honour to which Liverpool’s The Suns hold deep in their souls, and when it comes to one of the city’s own, when it comes to the deep beauty that Colin Vearncombe provided in his guise of Black.

The Suns, Everything’s Coming Up Roses. Single Review. full post

(352 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

A Room With Some Sort Of View.

A comfortable prison, I have all

I have in two rooms, staring

back at me, pulling me in

to different worlds

and dreams, an art filled life

but one

that I fear returning from.

For the jungles that tigers

roam and stalk

their prey at night

and the Martians

crashing into the common

near Woking Station,

holds less alarm and sense

of trepidation

than knowing I am a prisoner

of my own making.

too institutionalised

A Room With Some Sort Of View. full post

(86 words, estimated 21 secs reading time)

Only Child, Sound E.P. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Sound, it is important, it is vital for communication and the way we appreciate the message being offered to us; and whilst silence can speak volumes, it has been too much in evidence during 2020, silence has reigned, silence has kept us from being human, from being us.

Only Child, Sound E.P. E.P. Review. full post

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

Voodoo Six, Simulation Game. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We never truly know who is watching our every move, who is beating the drum behind the scenes in our favour, or even those critically and actively finding ways to make our name slip gently into the arena of giants, all we can hope for is that it is for real, that the backing is one of truth and certainty and not some sort of hoax, pre-arranged and one that is in the back pocket of those that see life as an amusement to visit on the hopeful, that the Simulation Game is not one controlled by the liars, the thieves and the morally bankrupt.

Voodoo Six, Simulation Game. Album Review. full post

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

Kenneth J. Nash, For Sarah. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Sometimes you don’t need to have read a thousand-page novel to understand just how complex the life of the writer is, and how they are striving to illuminate the life of sadness, of melancholic love. Occasionally a string of carefully laid out vignettes will achieve the same aim, signed, sealed, and delivered with open heart, For Sarah, for all that feel the time to heal when tragedy or adversity, strikes at the very centre of our world.

Kenneth J. Nash, For Sarah. Album Review. full post

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

The Kitchen. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson, James Badge Dale, Brian d’Arcy James, Jeremy Bobb, Margo Martindale, Bill Camp, Common, E.J. Bonilla, Myk Watford, Wayne Duvall, Pamela Dunlop, John Sharian, Brian Tarantina, Will Swenson, Annabella Sciorra, Bernie McInerney, Sharon Washington, Matt Helm, Angus O’Brien, Ciaran O’Reilly, Nicholas Zoto, Maren Heary, Stephen Singer, Tatienne Hendricks-Tellefsen, Jordan Gelber, Brandon Uranowitz, Bernie Rachell, Tina Benko, Susan Blommaert, George Riddle, Tom Patrick Stephens, Ann McDonough, Joseph Russo.

The Kitchen. Film Review. full post

(664 words, estimated 2:39 mins reading time)