Author Archives: admin

Cobain: Montage Of Heck, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Too many modern Rock and music documentaries live in the moment; they are stifled by the effects of the past and constricted by image. The opposite is perhaps arguably true of the biopic, one that in many ways glamorises the person involved, certain areas of life, of thoughts and deeds airbrushed out, spoken as if acting as a token, a memento in which the picture doesn’t want to go down a certain route but invites the viewer to do it on their own but no staging post of reference to the impact on other significant lives.

Cobain: Montage Of Heck, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(634 words, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)

Morrison’s Lover.

…And all you wanted more than life

was to say you had slept with Jim Morrison,

it didn’t matter where or how, you just wanted that infamy,

the fame and glory, the smile of pleasure

the ring of tears when the camera pointed at you dressed in black

at the poet’s graveside, grieving but with a story to tell…

lots of stories to tell and not all of them yours to share.

 

You brushed hair in a certain style before I came round

knocking on the red wooden door, the only thing that

Morrison’s Lover. full post

(393 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Kevin Critchley, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Time is both cruel and unusual, as well being the well thought of great healer. It asks so much of us and in many ways offers so little in return. To be able to find time to watch all the great bands that come your way, that visit your nearest venue is an almost an impossible ask; to follow round every possible staging post one of the great young acts that the city has nurtured over the last few years is sadly unworkable in the modern age, to do deprives your attention from others, just as deserving, just as enjoyable, and yet when Kevin Critchley comes on stage, Time does its best to hold back the constant ticking.

Kevin Critchley, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(483 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Jenny Strand, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

In recent years Norway has given so much to Liverpool’s present musical heritage that it is almost becoming a true tradition to be able to walk into any venue in the wider city and hear the flowing tones of the Nordic ability for storytelling transformed into epic song played, and fully appreciated.

It is the long standing convention that people of Scandinavia have their culture and their physical geography to thank for that, like Britain, of Europe but not immersed fully into the characteristics of their land locked neighbours further south or the mysterious tales that come from Mediterranean culture. With the addition of Jenny Strand to that heritage, the future has yet more reason to be hopeful.

Jenny Strand, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(434 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

The Hazel Empire, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A certain combined wisdom can come together when like-minded people are in sync, inspiration can strike and the effect is not only tangible but far-reaching.

For The Hazel Empire, inspiration and wisdom go hand in hand with musical enjoyment and like all flourishing Empires, the seeds of knowledge cast their net wide and more people find themselves drawn to the apparent mysticism contained within.

The Hazel Empire, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

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

Nadjia, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Truer words are rarely spoken at any gig. The visiting band might say at some point how much they love a particular town or city, they might perhaps, and with great sincerity attached to their name, say that the audience has been the best on the tour, after all one gig in arguably ten is going to be right. However, when Nadjia sings inside the Parr Street’s Studio 2 about Time not being a creature to be tamed, the truth of existence is placed naked before the world, that the time between the tick and tock might be kind, it might treat you well, but it will still ravage your very soul in the end.

Nadjia, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(539 words, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

The Senseless Death Of Another Fallen Umbrella.

We are gathered here today

to mourn the passing of yet another fallen hero

selfishly abandoned on Britain’s streets.

The carcass of the picked open raven coloured cover

that provides, at best mediocre shelter, but to whom so many

of us gathered round the pavement of our beloved city,

a natural habitat and environment for it to flourish

and thrive in,

are thankful to be seen with, to use as a weapon

as we hold it far too low and are able to pluck the eyes

The Senseless Death Of Another Fallen Umbrella. full post

(253 words, estimated 1:01 mins reading time)

Steve Thompson & The Incidents, Rainbows & Arrows. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Arguably there was a period of time when very little mattered music wise to some, the odd breakthrough artist such as Tori Amos, for some the battle for the so called soul of Brit-Pop between Oasis and Blur, a battle that seemed dog-eared and tired when compared to listening to the lyrical genius that lay in the words provided by Jarvis Cocker and Pulp and in others it seemed like the bland had taken over the musical asylum. The only way forward for some music lovers was to search beyond the offerings or to head back into safer waters and listen to what had come before.

Steve Thompson & The Incidents, Rainbows & Arrows. Album Review. full post

(390 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Nicola Hardman, Little Fish. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Every good song needs a hook in which to draw the listener in with. Some have them placed so discreetly that it might not be until a couple of days later as you find yourself working in the garden or preparing a late night supper that the hook becomes apparent. Others have you at the very start, they tingle with energy, they are demanding in their instant appeal and have something so catchy about them that you cannot help but listen to them.

Nicola Hardman, Little Fish. Single Review. full post

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

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Postscript, An Interview With Anthony Proctor.

The British Pantomime it seems is not just for Christmas, it is possible to have this truly British theatrical institution played all year round, or at least at seminal moments in the yearly calendar at least. In recent years the theatre night in which the whole family can enjoy has taken on greater resonance, especially over the Easter or spring bank holidays.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Postscript, An Interview With Anthony Proctor. full post

(2009 words, estimated 8:02 mins reading time)