…and the giant Redwood had to go,
downsized
in perspective
for everybody agreed
it was not fair
in this modern fast paced
world,
they would not live to see it
reach
its full potential.
Ian D. Hall 2017
Author Archives: admin
Paul Carrack, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017).
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Liverpool will always welcome back those who make the point, who express the truth of their love for the city; it can only ever hoped that such sentiment is always given and not neglected like other cities that turn their back on you. It is a sentiment that it is articulated with musical brilliance by Paul Carrack, a genuine man, a special musician, and one who understands just how much the city relishes in seeing its heroes on the stage.
Thunder, Rip It Up. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Rip It Up, tear the contracts of our lives apart, into a thousand pieces which in a light breeze dance like butterflies and fall like memories, Rip It Up, start again from scratch and in the blink of an eye you would find yourself in the midst of a revolution between the ears for the mind would argue what came before will always smash the modern apart.
Brothers Of Mine, The Answer. Single Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Search long enough and you will find many answers, many truths in which the soul can hold onto and whisper to itself in the shadows that life has a way of persevering, that it can and must be ready for the moment when all that went before was just a prelude, a subtle introduction to the next stage of life. It is a tantalising prospect that we can grow enough and wise enough to see it flourish whilst we still breath freely and with youthful vigour.
Loving, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Will Dalton, Terri Abney, Alano Miller, Chris Greene, Christopher Mann, Mike Shiflett, Lance lemon, Marton Csokas, Bill Camp, David Jensen, Andrene Ward-Hammond, Nick Kroll, Jon Bass, Michael Shannon.
Blow Back.
Blow back,
a sliver of space between us
as you push the ghost,
the whispered phantom
between my teeth
and I chew down upon its non-corporeal ridges
and mull over the deep intensity to come.
Blow back,
I see your eyes my love,
I see your eyes, blazing fury,
“You bring out the best in me you know”,
you tell me, erotically spilling secrets
that you kept hidden from the darkness;
now over tinsel toned music, the waft
of a Tori Amos song, you divulge them,
Prevenge, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10
Cast: Alice Lowe, Jo Hartley, Kayvan Novak, Gemma Whelen, Kate Dickie, Tom Davis, Dan Renton, Eileen Davies, Tom Meeten, Mike Wozniak, Sara Dee, Grace Calder, Marc Bessant, Leila Hoffman, Delia Moon, Jaqueline Wright, David Puckridge, Elen Rattenbury.
The happiness in pregnancy can sometimes be overshadowed by emotions that in others could be seen as causes for concern, for some it is a joy, for others it can be the start of a nightmare, a march down a road in which nobody is safe; especially not the male population to whom a single wrong word or accidental view point can see them metaphorically beaten.
Fences, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Denzil Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, Saniyya Sidney.
Pittsburgh is not a place the traveller normally finds themselves in when they go to the United States of America, a city that was largely forgotten outside of its sporting achievements before and after World War Two, a city built on steel and coke, iron and cobalt, many to whom the atmosphere of the city was enough to seek out on their adventures, perhaps more convivial places of interest. It is a shame for Pittsburgh is by far one of the most interesting and vibrant cities in North America and its people are, along with New York, perhaps the most down to Earth you could ever meet.
The Day Himmler Came To Stoke.
The day Himmler came to Stoke,
to express his views and pull up a chair
in the centre of Hanley town centre,
was a day in which we should remember,
February 2017, ferret like face, swivelling eyes,
and ideas in his head that would
make his party, modern S.S.
clap and cheer and spread their venom with cheer,
some demurely suggesting that whilst he is extreme
he is speaking their language, that they believe in him;
now,
I’d expect it of the crew cut little islander, one race
Ash Wilson, Broken Machine. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It is how you view the world that allows you to make art, if your sense of sight is obscured, if it is permanently finding ways to conceal some of the beauty that resides in even the dark shadows then your mind is not willing to be open, not wishing to take on the new and the exciting. Everything fresh should be given time, should be allowed the grace to be heard or felt as if it is the same experience as seeing a shooting star ride the heavens for the first time; without this sense of wonder we are doomed to be nothing more than scrap, humanity wasted, the archetypical Broken Machine.