Braids, Shadow Offering. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The mealy-mouthed, holier-than-thou and hypocritical all have the same basic characteristics woven into their D.N.A., the advice they want to spread, with or without being asked, is quite often shrouded in a Shadow Offering, a contribution from the empty can, the verbal donation from the pulpit of their choice, looking down upon their idea of the wretched and in need. The darkness in which they preach coming from a place of insecurity, of envy, and one in which the brave and the soulful have to join forces to keep the others at bay.

Braids, Shadow Offering. Album Review. full post

(416 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Van Der Valk: Love In Amsterdam. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Marc Warren, Maimie McCoy, Luke Allen-Gale, Elliot Barnes-Worrell, Darrell D’Silva, Emma Fielding, Frances Grey, Daniel Lapiane, Stephanie Leonidas, Vineeta Rishi, Frieda Barnhard, Kees Boot, Reinout Bussemaker, Malou Gorter, Hugo Haenen, Markoesa Hamer, Alex Hendrickx, Mike Libabon, Victor Low, Arian Nik, Ilse Ott, Peter van Heeringen, Hylke Sprundel, Danny Westerweel, Fruzsina Nagy, Nick Vorsselman.

A name is important, a name earned and one that implies trust, a certain expectation, dependence on a faith installed in a previous age, and is one that should not be revisited unless the situation is absolutely right for fear of tarnishing a memory, of destroying an image of what that name actually and irrevocably stood for.

Van Der Valk: Love In Amsterdam. Television Review. full post

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

Mike Batt, The Penultimate Collection. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The artist who can appeal to all ages and all tastes is quite rightfully to be lauded, revered for their generous influence, the mark of the person involved is not just one who sees their art progress but evolve, so that they capture the heart of the child, and then the imagination of the adult in later years; the spanning of time creating an oasis of beauty that never seems to fade, never runs out of charm and sheer depth of skill.

Mike Batt, The Penultimate Collection. Album Review. full post

(499 words, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

The Lovely Eggs, I Am Moron. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

In the very darkest of hours, what is needed as much as compassion, is a particular type of humour, is the ability to combine anger, wit and resolution that brings the darkest times and those that brought them to the population’s door to account. A country, a world, that sees satire as misplaced juvenile comedy is missing the point, for without satire, without the strength of purpose that such moments bring, the world which happily listens to the words of those who utter such imbecilic declarations as if they were gospel, deserve to have a derogatory title stamped upon their heads forever.

The Lovely Eggs, I Am Moron. Album Review. full post

(417 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Abi Rose Kelly, Polaroids & Violence. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A snapshot is just a fragment of time to which we should have no reference in which to base an opinion, and yet that brief microsecond is all that is needed in some cases for some to judge and speculate wildly, as if we were all in command of deciding someone’s fate or determining the status or strength of a relationship.

Abi Rose Kelly, Polaroids & Violence. Single Review. full post

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

Terence Blacker, Playing For Time. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

To step back from the rush and haste of the world, even when it has been forced to re-evaluate its principles and the price it is willing to pay for the appearance of progress, is to be seen as Playing For Time, the imagery of hesitation, of uncertainty in the realm of expectation and demand galloping over the horizon as if to suggest that someone else will step in and claim the glory of what is rightfully belongs to the artist who wavered too long in their final delivery.

Terence Blacker, Playing For Time. Album Review. full post

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

MA. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, McKaley Miller, Cory Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, Dante Brown, Tanyell Waivers, Dominic Burgess, Heather Marie Pate, Tate Taylor, Luke Evans, Margaret Fegan, Missi Pyle, Allison Janney, Kyanna Simone Simpson, Andrew Matthew Welch.

Revenge is a peculiar dish, one that as the saying goes you must be prepared to dig two graves for, or at least understand that you have to share the plate and all the trimmings that go with it if you want to receive the momentary glimpse of satisfaction that is on offer.

MA. Film Review. full post

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

Carus Thompson, Shakespeare Avenue. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Reflecting on your family history is for many a journey that is not satisfied until you have walked the same path, undertaken the same trials and tribulations that was demanded upon of them. The route may appear different, time has a way of making even the greenest valley become littered with weeds and the tangle of roots ready to catch your determined feet, and yet we continue to amaze others, as well ourselves, by honouring the path to the point where the music we hear along the way becomes a theme tune to ours, and those who walked before us, life.

Carus Thompson, Shakespeare Avenue. Album Review. full post

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

Joe Bonamassa, A Conversation With Alice. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Such is the modern way of dealing with a problem that we immediately rush headlong into panic mode when we hear the word conversation or own flight or fight response ill-equipped to deal with someone’s alternate viewpoint, someone else’s demands on our time to which their words might demolish our own secure wall.

Joe Bonamassa, A Conversation With Alice. Single Review. full post

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

Rachael Dunn, Space Refugee. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is to how we are seen to deal with adversity that sets us apart from the perception others may have, and the surprise reality to which we hold ourselves to account; when the chips are down, when we feel as though there is nothing to do but hide in our shell till the worst is over, all that matters is that we can, or even appear to be able to, hold our head up high and say I am not cowed by the system, I am a Space Refugee with battles fought and won behind me.

Rachael Dunn, Space Refugee. Single Review. full post

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