The War Master: Only The Good. Series One. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Derek Jacobi, Jonny Green, Nicholas Briggs, Rachel Atkins, Jonathan Bailey, Hannah Barker, Robert Daws, Jacob Dudman, Mark Elstob, Nerys Hughes, Jacqueline King, Deidre Mullins.

What is a hero without their counterpoint, after all they come from the same stock, the same blood runs through their veins, it is only reasonable to assume that without the supposed hero running through their lives, that they too have adventures in which are just as remarkable, just as defining as those we come to seek from the protagonist we hope will save the day, and perhaps our souls at the same time.

The War Master: Only The Good. Series One. Audio Drama Review. full post

(654 words, estimated 2:37 mins reading time)

Pressgang Mutiny, Across the Western Ocean. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

We are driven by sound every day, whether in the form of industry or of nature, we cannot escape it, for in silence they say comes peace, and yet for many silence isn’t golden, it is the anathema that fills all time, from ship to shore, from coast to shining coast and Across the Western Ocean, we need sound, we need to feel that there is more to life than the suppression of the resonating hum which guides us onwards.

Pressgang Mutiny, Across the Western Ocean. Album Review. full post

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

Zoe Graham, Gradual Move. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Yesterday and tomorrow might seem like times that we can do nothing about, however if we refuse to acknowledge their existence, if we deny that thy have baring on the moment, then it stands to reason that they will inevitably find ways to hurt the present, the Gradual Move of human existence that lives between the tick and the tock.

Zoe Graham, Gradual Move. E.P. Review. full post

(333 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Jefferson Starship, Mother Of The Sun. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

New life is constantly being breathed into existence, not where it is expected, but where it is required most. In a time of uncertainty, in a period of unrest and upheaval, it is perhaps uniquely human to wonder where we stand, where we as a species have gone wrong, and whilst the answer remains in the realm of unchecked consumerism and want, the blame can also be placed at the way we treat our souls as if they are items for sale rather than to be nourished.

Jefferson Starship, Mother Of The Sun. E.P. Review. full post

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

Oh Susanna, Sleepy Little Sailor. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision * * * *

Melancholy is the appreciation of art that you cannot allow your heart to feel, that you immerse yourself into the Kitchen Sink drama because your soul will not take comedy seriously, the love of Blues and the sadness of stirring string symphonies is there because Jazz has no meaning except for those willing to dance and delight in perpetual joy.

Oh Susanna, Sleepy Little Sailor. Album Review. full post

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

Roachford, Twice In A Lifetime. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Eventually you reach a point in life where satisfaction, pride, and the sense of achievement collide, where you realise that all there was that went before was just a prelude, one obviously of learning, of adaption, and hopefully of fine tuning and fun. To find that feeling in your heart and soul once is a gift, to recognise it a second time is embrace the knowledge that you have always been able to hold fast to the dream of endurance, patience and survival; that Twice In A Lifetime is a freedom of expression granted to so few.

Roachford, Twice In A Lifetime. Album Review. full post

(476 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

The Diary Of River Song: Series Seven. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Alex Kingston, Charles Armstrong, Annette Badland, Timothy Blore, Aurora Burghart, Annabelle Dowler, Daniel Easton, Jaye Griffiths, Clive Hayward, Paul Heath, Janet Henfrey, Glen McCready, Wanda Opalinska, David Rintoul, Issy Van Randwyck, Robert Whitelock.

A life without seeing the Doctor, it is a dream of many, to avoid the consultation rooms, to sidestep having to sit next to the person with the queasy cough from spluttering their germs over you, to steer clear of the condescending questions that ask everything except how you truly are; the truth though is that at some point we need the Doctor, we understand that a niggle today can be a serious condition tomorrow.

The Diary Of River Song: Series Seven. Audio Drama Review. full post

(469 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Jack Spann, Jesus Of New Orleans. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Where to begin, it is the story of redemption and peace, sinners absolved, of preaching harmony and love for your neighbour and urging disdain for the material and for the unholy…but that was such a long time ago, a different time, a different place, and without ever wishing to deal with the idea of conjuring up the practise of blasphemy, the teachings of a prophet can surely have no place in rock and roll, but the wisdom of the Jesus of New Orleans can, and will have your feet willing to do more than walk on water, it will have them dancing as if they had been charged up by a mortal god.

Jack Spann, Jesus Of New Orleans. Single Review. full post

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

The Diary Of River Song: Series Six. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Alex Kingston, Claudia Grant, Jamie Glover, Jemma Powell, Ralph Watson, Christopher Benjamin, Owen Aaronovitch, Guy Adams, Samuel Clemens, John Paul Connolly, Edward Dede, Kathryn Dysdale, Nicholas Goh, Lizzie Stables, Dan Starkey, Mandi Symonds, Milly Thomas, Clive Wood, Angus Wright, David Bradley.

The problem with time travel is you never quite know where you are going to land in someone else’s story. Land after the climatic event, or even during, and you can be of a help, you can even tell those around you who you are, but land a day or two before, appear out of thin air and you have to live a lie, do you let history play out, or do you save one person, save a village, from the disaster that is about to befall them.

The Diary Of River Song: Series Six. Audio Drama Review. full post

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

Pottery, Welcome To Bobby’s Motel. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The clay and the potter are only part of the deal in which the object you come to know, to love, is created. The whole process is born of Time, of failure, of passing trends, and ultimately persistence, the sense that determination to see the image that has filled your creative urge will see the moment beyond the fires in the kiln, that the design, the conception and foundation of your art will stand in splendour for all to see in an art gallery in an exotic land, or even in a lobby of an homely establishment, one that might have a neon sign above the reception desk proclaiming the legend, Welcome To Bobby’s Motel.

Pottery, Welcome To Bobby’s Motel. Album Review. full post

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