Barry Briercliffe, Peculiar. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is nothing wrong with being peculiar, only in the eyes of the ordinary and the dull is the word used in such derogatory terms, it implies that to have a quirk that cannot be knocked back into the shape that society demands to feel that everything is normal, is to be concerned about, wary of, even scared of, because to the many peculiar means strange, whereas to the individual, to the distinctively eccentric, it is a special kind of uniqueness that should be protected at all costs.

Barry Briercliffe, Peculiar. Single Review. full post

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

They Were Heroes.

My Grandfather fought an Evil,

as all who lived in dark times

swore to do, that came

with shiny jackboots

and a list of names to shoot

should they get past Dover.

One Great Grandfather was the chief

stoker on the ship that took the King

to the edge of freedom

as the world declared

no more, no more lists,

no more boots kicking down the door.

Another of that generation

defied the bombs

that flew over Birmingham,

They Were Heroes. full post

(217 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

John Cee Stannard, Folk Roots Revisited. Album Review.

When a modest and decent person leaves this life it is always with sadness, there may be joy in the memory of what they have left behind, the art perhaps they have created living on, collecting new fans, making new friends each subsequent nudge and praise in the right direction, but it doesn’t stop the hurt, the loss of having had something so beautiful, wholesome and uniquely fascinating that their spirit seems to have somehow find a way to inhabit your thinking, then you know that they were special, that you may be able to revisit their roots, but you will miss out on their future, all that could have been.

John Cee Stannard, Folk Roots Revisited. Album Review. full post

(467 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

The Slow Readers Club, The Joy Of The Return. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The news of a return can fill you with much needed hope, it can bring relief, gleaming positivity, and no matter what the situation, the right person or idea appearing on the horizon can be seen as a sign that life will begin again.

The Slow Readers Club, The Joy Of The Return. Album Review. full post

(401 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

The Twilight Zone: A Traveler. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Steven Yeun, Marika Sila, Patrick Gallagher, Eric Keenleyside, Andrew Kavadas, Gail Maurice, Greg Kinnear, Jordan Peele, Jill Teed, Babak A. Motamed, Adam Stafford, Tanja Dixon-Warren, June B. Wilde, Trevor Lerner.

For anyone who has spent time on the road, back packing round Europe in their gap year, or the more adventurous type who see the Americas and the lands of the East a more defining pull, there will always come a time when you walk into a new town or village, when you get off the bus and stare at your surroundings, there will always one person who views you with suspicion, something in their gut tells them that you are not who you say your are.

The Twilight Zone: A Traveler. Television Review. full post

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

Overlord. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Pilou Asbaek, Mathilde Ollivier, John Magaro, Bokeem Woodbine, Iain De Caestecker, Dominic Applewhite, Gianny Taufer, Jacob Anderson, Erich Redman, Patrick Brammall, Mark McKenna.

The horrors of World War Two remain indelibly stamped, seared with painful fire of innate memory on Europe’s collective conscious and the world’s shame. There is no escaping the suffering, the revulsion, and history has shown us that if we start to forget what terrible crimes were committed, what possible actions could have been implemented in the name of furthering the Nazi ideology, then as is forever noted, we are in danger of repeating them and going deeper into the minds of evil.

Overlord. Film Review. full post

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

Marvel: Secret Invasion. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If there is any particular story arc from the house of Marvel comics that is ripe for cinematic adaption, then arguably the one that has surely the most potential is the Secret Invasion storyline that ran across various comic book character’s titles and in its own pages.

As with the epic nature of the Infinity Gauntlet saga that surrounded itself over the first phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Secret Invasion gives the sense of security that will come from the pursuit of an overriding storyline that can bring in new characters to the fore, and take those that have already got their slots conformed in upcoming television series to another level.

Marvel: Secret Invasion. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(522 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Free Form Jazz (In My Mind).

It was meant, and taken

with absolute kindness,

an observation handed to the recipient

as one would offer a Raspberry Ripple

ice cream to a sweating man as he

patiently waited for a glass of water

brought by slow camel from the Sahara.

I smiled as my friend spoke down the phone

on his birthday, as he handed me the verbal

compliment with sincerity. I always imagined

that living in your head, old pal,

was like watching four classically trained

Free Form Jazz (In My Mind). full post

(152 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)

John Jenkins, Jackson’s Farm. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The songs we sing to ourselves when we find ourselves contemplating life, its boundless mystery, its significant wonder, and the times when we feel that the melancholic joy threatens to engulf us, those are the moments in which we look upon at whatever time they appear as the guiding lights, the soliloquys from the comfort of the idyll of the front porch.

It is from the front porch that John Jenkins has seen the orange light that swings as the breeze hits the Wirral coast, that catches the waves upon the River Mersey as sends the flurry and the strength into the sound of every artist that lives either side of the great unitor.

John Jenkins, Jackson’s Farm. Single Review. full post

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

Soul Asylum, Hurry Up And Wait. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

You can take all the time you want as you allow the thoughts of life to guide you in the direction you believe you should be taking, however, sometimes you have to grasp the initiative and the incentive and really learn patience, to master the ideal situation presented to you and pass the lesson on, to Hurry Up And Wait is not a double standard, it is an essential way of living.

Soul Asylum, Hurry Up And Wait. Album Review. full post

(433 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)