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The Cuckoo. Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jill Halfpenny, Lee Ingleby, Claire Goose, Freya Hannan-Mills, Marjorie Yates, Barry John Kinsella, Colleen Keogh, Maeve Fitzgerald.

We allow people into our lives on the unspoken rule that they will not harm us, that once they cross the threshold of our home they are subject to a premise of decency and courtesy; and if we require them to leave because a tension has become unbearable then they do so with a timely departure lest their welcome turn irrevocably broken.

The Cuckoo. Television Drama Review. full post

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

Godzilla X Kong. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8/10

Cast: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Fearns, Fala Chen, Rachel House, Ron Smyck, Chantelle Jamieson, Greg Hatton, Kevin Copeland, Tess Dobré, Tim Carroll, Anthony Brandon Wong, Sophia Emberson-Bain, Chika Ikogwe.

There is no doubt of the immensity of love that is felt worldwide for two of the biggest stars of the creature feature films of the last one hundred years, and whilst the audience may flock for a new gothic version of Dracula, the fact that the Japanese art, aided and enhanced to the blockbuster budgets afforded it by Hollywood, of Kaiju is always at the forefront of the genre thanks to the brilliance and appearance of Godzilla and the foresight of American filmmaker Merian C. Cooper, the eighth wonder of the world, King Kong.

Godzilla X Kong. Film Review. full post

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

Katarina Pejak: Pearls On A String. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We covet the strangest of rarities in our pursuit of beauty, we adorn our skin with gems but often our hearts and souls go without such finesse; such is the skewed way we consider wealth we would rather glorify gold and silver as a mark of our good fortune and populace than ever offer merit to that which may have come from a more unexpected place, which to some could be an irritant, but which holds an artist’s eye with a fonder, more alluring sense of style, and whilst Gold may ravish, it is Pearls On A String that highlights sensuality and natural instinctive charm.

Katarina Pejak: Pearls On A String. Album Review. full post

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

Passenger. Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Wunmi Mosaku, David Threlfall, Rowan Robison, Barry Sloane, Natalie Gavin, Matilda Freeman, Ella Bruccoleri, Daniel Ryan, Jack James Ryan, Adian Nik, Sophie Ellicott, Hubert Hanowisz, Luke Ayres, Debbie Rush, Sean Gilder, Nico Mirallegro, Shelley Williams, Clare Burt, Gemma Wardle, Anna Tymoshenko, Neil Sandland, Shervin Alenabi, Terri-Ann Brumby, Ray Castleton, Synnove Karlsen, Harry Egan, Tom Lister, Karen Henthorn, Michael Hodgson, Richard McIver, Pam Shaw, Andrew Readman, Alexandra Hannant, Lisa Allen, Natalie Grady, Nadia Albuna, David Atkins, Elijah Braik, Kirsty Hoiles, Narinder Samra, Alejandra Becelar Pereira.

Passenger. Television Drama Review. full post

(502 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Gun: Hombres. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

A thousand Harley Davidsons roaring in unison as they escort a squadron of Spitfires as they prepare to take off could only dream of capturing the elegance of cylinders being fired as fiery and significant Scottish rock band Gun once more appear before the listener as the Hombres to whom the sound is always in capable hands, in souls ready for action, in minds attuned to the fight ahead.

Gun: Hombres. Album Review. full post

(342 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

Session A9: The Magic Roundabout. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

To Generation X, their childhood was arguably one of the weird and wonderful as television programmes especially that were geared towards their mindset were often trippy and alluded to a sense of the pursuit which would not be tolerated in any other time; and one in particular springs to mind as the former winners of the Scottish Traditional Music Awards ‘Best Live Act’ attest to the heavens their splendid new album, and the lively, animated, passion that expands from within.

Session A9: The Magic Roundabout. Album Review. full post

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

Feeder: Black/Red. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The pilgrimage has become a word more associated with its religious connections, with its sense of selflessness and devotion to a God so engrained that you are willing to put the body through torment just to prove your commitment; and yet there is no need to head to Canterbury for a selection of tales that showcase support, to attachment, and an enthusiasm, perhaps all that is needed is the road to Newport, and rather than accompany Chaucer’s muses, we instead find ourselves as escorts to Grant Nicholas and Taka Hirose of Feeder.

Feeder: Black/Red. Album Review. full post

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

John Jenkins: Bury Myself In The Sand. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We no longer think of the album before us as the finished article, that everything we hear was all that was recorded in the studio at the time the artist spent pouring blood and sweat in the name of releasing their soul; for there are always extras, cuts to the recording, extended takes which often give rise to questions from the listener, and then the tracks that could not be found a home at the time but which later are revealed in a golden hue, in celebration of the artist’s will.

John Jenkins: Bury Myself In The Sand. Single Review. full post

(443 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Blueblut: Lutebulb. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

We can wait all our lives for that one jazz album to match our own infectious energy, and when it finally arrives, we are either unprepared for the sheer scope of the imagination utilised, or we become struck by awe at the momentous audacity taken in producing the unsuspected brilliance.

There is no halfway measure when it comes to Jazz, and in a flash of cool and deliberately paced musicianship of the Viennese trio Blueblut, that experimental drive pounds at the heart and the mind as if being on a ride through a kaleidoscope of colours and sounds that leave the listener dizzy and panting, straining on a leash for more.

Blueblut: Lutebulb. Album Review. full post

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

Pete Morton: Fair Freedom. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

A Golden Thread once pulled would often suggest a loom industriously working to create perhaps the fabled fleece that Greek antiquity held in admiration and coveted appreciation.

It seems as though Pete Morton has been on his own journey, an expedition that has seen the superb lyric writer step back into the shadows and become of sorts an observer of humanity, and in the four years since A Golden Thread was released, there has been an explosion of human activity, of partial societal immobility and a tension that has not been felt bubbling under the skin for a couple of generations. Pete Morton has obviously watched it all unfold, and in his own indomitable style has returned from the shadows and turned on the light for the listener to witness the picture of Fair Freedom that we so deserve.

Pete Morton: Fair Freedom. Album Review. full post

(340 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)