Jack Blackman, Nearly Man. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

There are times when you are searching for your roots where it might become possible to miss the lush garden that has been carefully cultivated for you; like a life that has been packaged, presented and adorned, you focus on the rough edges because everything else just looks too neat. The wildness of existence becomes alluring and the energy expended becomes more of a thrill than would arguably be necessary. Looking for the whole rather than the Nearly Man is the persuasive answer.

Jack Blackman, Nearly Man. Album Review. full post

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

Quiet Now, Do Not Let Me Mourn You Today.

May I ask a favour,

one that might upset you

as it upsets me;

just for one day,

on our anniversary,

do I have to mourn you?

 

Would it be O.K.

that today

on the day we remember

twenty-one years together,

that you allow me to grieve for you

without breaking my heart?

 

Our time was brief,

I knew of you for ten minutes,

before that I had never

heard your name;

yet somehow you have stayed

Quiet Now, Do Not Let Me Mourn You Today. full post

(200 words, estimated 48 secs reading time)

Spine, Theatre Review. Playhouse Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Rosie Wyatt.

It is the mantra of the age, everything has its price and everything is for sale. This diabolical hymn somehow has managed to include the voice of the angry teenager and the most ingenious of weapons, the written word, it somehow had diminished both to the same level of inconsequence, of being nothing more than the leftover in the three for a fiver bin or the silenced dream of the less than irritated willing to put on a tie and a suit and become a nodding dog filled with false outrage.

Spine, Theatre Review. Playhouse Studio, Liverpool. full post

(459 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

John Cee Stannard, It’s Christmas Time. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The dread of Christmas seems to come earlier every year, the small step of commercialism sneaking a peek into the wallets of the many who cannot afford it, to the tiring spectacle of it being so demanding, the forced smile on the face of the wary and without it letting up for a single minute and should you complain, should you point out the obvious, you become a pariah, a figure of damnation that is shunned and called out for all sorts by parents, friend and society alike.

John Cee Stannard, It’s Christmas Time. E.P. Review. full post

(429 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Buckle Tongue, All At Peace. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Peace is only achievable when there is nobody around to add to the noise, quiet, the lack of substance in the air is an illusion to the ears, for surely where humanity stands there must be a sound, for why else would our heart stir, why would it cause a commotion and beat with frightening regularity when the prospect of something illuminating comes along; when something stirs in the forest of reclusive Metal, all the world should hear.

Buckle Tongue, All At Peace. Single Review. full post

(403 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

I Hate Marmite.

I hate Marmite,

however,

I defend your right to go to war

over it being withdrawn

from clean and enticing

shelves, with best before date

showing on the label,

to get agitated

and forced fed

as your mid-morning

mouth becomes the graveyard

of quick and easy snacks.

Remember, this is but the first shot

in the Marmite war, the skirmish

in the desert, the aisle of plenty

now bare, those that lived through

rationing know how to tighten

their belts by a couple of notches,

I Hate Marmite. full post

(117 words, estimated 28 secs reading time)

Glenn Hughes, Resonate. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Eventually you will climb back into the chair that you were blown from, exhausted, scraping at the floor like a mountaineer ascending Everest, knuckles white and fingers cracked from the exposure of high velocity winds that emanated from the speakers and the soul driven on by the calling of standing atop of the tallest peak down upon the wreckage, the fight of other’s albums trailing in the wake just to reach camp one and their insistence on taking a breather every few minutes. Eventually you will sit back in the replaced chair and take back the feeling that comes from such an experience, that to sit in the majesty of the sound, to feel the Resonate and the reverb continue to vibrate in your bones; that is the feeling of being alive.

Glenn Hughes, Resonate. Album Review. full post

(430 words, 1 image, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

The Lonely Polar Bear, 45. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The shotgun response, the smell of cordite and the taste of vinyl hanging in the air, both delivered by the bang, by the initial thump of interest and the cackle of smoke hopefully left behind as they approach their targets. The 45 can be both lethal weapon and defender of the faith, of those that huddle behind it lapping up the possible devastation or those that live for the next note; either can stop the heart, either can make you regret past opinions and once held beliefs, only the vinyl 45 can hold hope when listened to all the way through.

The Lonely Polar Bear, 45. Single Review. full post

(363 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Dalton Deschain & The Travelling Show, Roberta E.P. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Defiance is a key ingredient to staying alive, of being the unregulated thorn in the side of all who wish to control, manipulate or bog you down with their version of life, one that does not suit you but you are expected to play within their rules and desires. Defiance is the key to Dalton Deschain & The Travelling Show’s glorious Roberta E.P., an animated anti folk package that lovingly assaults the mind with its dramatic flair whilst caressing the ears with the touch of silk of lyrical vibe and assurance.

Dalton Deschain & The Travelling Show, Roberta E.P. E.P. Review. full post

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

The Mongrel Of Tamar.

The sound of Plymouth

yet most assuredly Cornish,

beautiful Tamar

sparkling life past the Devil’s eyes.

The home of my great grandparents,

Apple orchard innocence

hugging the cliffs of Saltash

and to the east I see a different land

one where the white cross holds

no fear against the Devil.

Cornish heart, Midland’s mindset

wrapped up in the allusion

of Maple leaf and Bicester youth; Tamar

has my soul,

as soft as the touch of a woman’s hand

upon my beating chest.

 

The Mongrel Of Tamar. full post

(89 words, estimated 21 secs reading time)