Rarely off the road since the passing of Ian Dury in 2000, there’s no doubting that among the most lovable, cocky, funny, schoolboy-rude and artful characters from the punk generation are The Blockheads. Now that school boy charm is coming back to Liverpool as The Blockheads come to Eric’s on Friday 13th December.
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Nebraska, Film Review. F.A.C.T Cinema, Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Stacy Keach, Bob Odenkirk, Mary Louise Wilson, Missy Doty, Angela McEwan, Rance Howard, Devin Ratray, Roger Stuckwisch, Tim Driscoll, Glendora Stitt, Elizabeth Moore, Kevin Kunkel, Dennis McCoig, Ronald Vosta, John Reynolds, Jeffrey Yosten, Neal Freudenburg, Eula Freudenburg, Ray Stevens, Lois Nemec, Francisco Mendez, Jose Munoz, Catherine Rae Schutz, Terry Lotrous, Dennis McCave.
If the latter part of 2013 has anything to show for it then the quality of films that have come out in the last six months have been exemplary. None so less as the Alexander Payne film Nebraska.
A St. Malo Serenade
The sun set over the busy St. Malo street
allowing the shadows
of the dead time
to capture the memories of all who walked along the
cobbled pavements and to make the
haze of
childhood recollection seem infertile and bitterly cold.
The group of English, the ragtag of German, the abundance of French
badly spoken questions, bitter rivalries without the understanding
or the compassion needed to be better than they were.
The shouts and hails from vendors, a bull whip on offer,
money parted his wallet, fawned over by
Also Eden, Redacted. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
There is nothing like an album to remind you of many truths that you may hold dear in your short life. When the subtle combination of music and lyrical splendour is able to shake the lethargy that had been creeping in to your existence, of perhaps even a first love, then you know that truth you had held onto for so long and with a vice like grip is absolutely right.
Nina Ferro, Into The Light. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There is no doubting the honest sincerity and vocal intensity that Nina Ferro gives in her latest album Into the Light. The heartfelt plea, the authenticity that surrounds the vocals supplied by a selection of musicians who seem to have fallen completely under the spell of the quite remarkable vocals and play as if that spell will never be broken is more than enough to make sure that this album is regarded with high esteem amongst jazz, rhythm and blues enthusiasts.
Pool (No Water), Theatre Review. Stanley Theatre, University of Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Dominic Davies, Jacob Lowman, Iona Campbell, Madeline Smart, Charlotte Parson, Bryony Holloway.
It can be argued that it takes immense courage or character of spirit to take on the writing of Mark Ravenhill, especially his play Pool (No Water) which speaks volumes of how art and artists are a breed that need constant nurturing. The work though leaves so much to the interpretation of the brave director who has made it their life’s mission to try and go through the entangled genius and come up with something that tears at the mind and catches the emotions of the audience at their peak.
Barry Briercliffe, Life On Repeat. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It is almost criminal, worthy of the full weight of the law being thrown against you, to let such an exciting musician such as Liverpool’s Barry Briercliffe to go so long without releasing an abundance of music that not only sounds terrific but also captures the rich goodness of the man and his guitar.
The Christians, Speed Of Life. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Heaven forbid the day when there is too much great music being produced that you find you cannot keep up with it all. Making time for an album should be savoured, it should want to be played at the right moment, not when fashion dictates. In that moment occasionally a beautiful album may slip through the net, not because you have forgotten but because the time never felt quite right in which to slip into the words of someone so talented a song writer.
The Hitchhikers Guide To Fazakerley, Theatre Review. Royal Court, Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Lynne Francis, Lindzi Germain, Jack Rigby, Angela Simms, Michael Starke, Charlotte Dalton, Stephanie Miles, Emily Trebicki.
Every science fiction story needs a hero, a man willing to put his life on the line in order to save the world and by doing so redeem his soul, a man who handles himself with courage, moral fortitude, bravery in the face of oppression…and a Tardis inspired wheelie Bin. It’s the festive season but not as we know it.
Narnia’s Lost Poet: The Secret Lives And Loves Of C.S. Lewis, Television Review. B.B.C. Four.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Clive Staples Lewis was man who was driven by love and loss. The writer of many books, papers and poetry, the man who bought to life the world of Narnia, of Aslan and a flickering lamppost that marked the end of the wardrobe and the beginnings of a series of children’s stories that dominated the world of English fantasy literature alongside his Oxford University friend J.R.R. Tolkien.