What do a gay man in a wheelchair, a young musician with delusions of grandeur and a male prostitute with a B.A. in Sociology have in common? They’re all going to Edinburgh this summer with two new plays written by young Liverpool-based playwrights. However before the Edinburgh Fringe has the chance to savour the two plays, the Unity Theatre in Liverpool will be previewing them on July 26th.
Monthly Archives: July 2014
Manic Street Preachers, Futurology. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
If the early part of The Manic Street Preacher’s career was an abundance of the brutal thought wrapped up in the assurance of a protection from four lads from South Wales then as the group have got older, as the more the world feels more insane and the feeling of being abandoned becomes more prevalent day by day, the more The Manic Street Preachers are needed to offer a light on the insidious, on the corrupt and corruptible and the need to understand that to feel angry is not just a feeling it is a right.
Chicago, Chicago XXXVI. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *
Creatively Chicago were one of the finest bands to have ever come out of America, they rank up there with absolute greats and their blockbuster of an album which they wrecorded live Chicagio at Carnegie Hall still rates as one of the finest pieces of music ever captured in the rawness of the stage show. Yet time moves on, the slight off putting stale, fragrant-less aroma comes out every now and then as you listen intently to the ensembles latest release Chicago XXXVI.
How To Train Your Dragon 2, Film Review. Odeon Cinema, Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, Kristin Wiig, Djimon Hounsou, Kit Harrington, Kieron Elliott, Philip McGrade, Andrew Ableson, Gideon Emery, Simon Kassianides, Randy Thom.
There are many films that at the end of the screening you wonder exactly why they are advertised as being for children, why the family, which all when and good as you want the next generation of film lovers to have had great experiences like this rather being baby sat by a games console, has to be involved; for some films are truly made for everybody to enjoy and yet advertisers insist on placing some films in to ready-made box.
Justice League: Volume Three, The Throne of Atlantis. Graphic Novel Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 71/2/10
There is no dispute to what the New 52 series has done for D.C. Comics. It has made even the most dedicated fan of Marvel and the independent Graphic Novel publishers fall in love for the re-branding of one of the comic industries’ big two. Where at one time, with the absolute exception of Batman, the very possible concession to Wonder Woman and certainly in America, the absolute mainstay of the franchise Superman, there was never really anything for a lover of the comic book to latch on to and take to their heart.
Me And Deboe, Here They Come. E.P. Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 91/2/10
There are times in life when you really feel honoured…beyond that, grateful, to have heard a set of songs by a band or an artist in which the long nights caress the furrowed brow and handles the inner music beast with the soft click of the finger. That ambient caress is never far away when it comes to ME and Deboe, yet they also manage to tune you into a different direction in life, the mere taste of a song can cause the heart to gain momentum, give it the energy to face a new dawn and ultimately make you relieved that music chose to infiltrate your soul.
F.I.F.A. World Cup 2014. Brazil V Columbia: Match Report.
Originally published by Ace Magazine July 2014.
Some teams are born great, others achieve greatness and some actually grind out a result which wasn’t befitting of their glorious past but managed to do the job anyway.
Brazil, with the odd moment of joy in five games of football at this particular World Cup, have flattered themselves and have arguably been fortunate not to lose against Mexico, Chile and now by far the most attractive team to watch from both American continents, the auspicious and skilful Columbians. For many fans of the Brazilian game and there are millions upon millions outside the South Americas, the name of the past are what they have thrived upon.
Kilmara, Love Songs And Other Nightmares. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There is always something that keeps even the sturdiest and happy go lucky minds awake during the hours of darkness, whether it the constant thought of repression, misplaced anger, guilt or unremitting sorrow, nightmares find a way into the deepest recesses and have an annoying habit of making you pay whilst you sleep as you do when you are awake.
What keeps them at bay can be just the knowledge that somewhere somebody truly loves you for whatever you and whatever you have done, tenderness and darkness so compatible, so alluring and cautious that it can only be described as Love Songs and Other Nightmares.
The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Robert Gustafsson, Iwar Wiklander, David Wiberg, Mia Skäringer, Jens Hultén, Bianca Cruzeiro, Alan Ford, Sven Lönn, David Shackleton, Georg Nikoloff, Simon Säppenen, Manuel Dubra, Cory Peterson, Kerry Shale, Philip Rosch, Keith Chanter, Patrik Karlson, Johan Rheborg, Donald Högberg, Alfred Svensson, Eiffel Mattsson, Guhn Andersson, Sibylle Bernardin, Ola Björkman, Ralph Carlsson, Richard Cunningham, Gustav Deinoff, Alexandra Gallusz, Pernilla Göst, James Fred Harkins Jr., Gunilla Jansson, Alexander Karlsson, Tzvet Lazar, Koldo Losada, Lateef Lovejoy, Mikael Melle, Sergej Merkusjev, Miglen Mirtchev, Valter Nilsson, Sigitas Rackys, Anders Sanzén, Scott Alexander Young.
Go Fiasco, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 81/2/10
Go Fiasco, Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. July 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.