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World Cup 2014: Ivory Coast V Japan. Match Report

First published by Ace Magazine, June 2014.

Until the legendary Didier Drogba came off the bench, The Ivory Coast never truly looked like breaking sweat, let alone scoring. Yet something changed in the space of two minutes, something astonishing happened, The Ivory Coast suddenly turned on the heat, the drums in the stands, so long a sound to terrify even the most seasoned of explorers to the dark-continent, became louder, deafening and thunderous and matched the intensity in which Cheick Tioté, Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré had wanted their team to play.

World Cup 2014: Ivory Coast V Japan. Match Report full post

(946 words, estimated 3:47 mins reading time)

The Royal Southern Brotherhood, Heartsoulblood. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

No limits, that’s all you can ever truly hope for in life. To be able to live with the knowledge that all that you have done is all that you could physically do; that there was no quarter given, no hidden page left unread and sequel available as every possible plot point and character development had been written in to the life story. Records and music is like that also, except that where the blood sweat and tears of one album runs deep into the furthest recess of the heart, there is always room for more of the same, or even a deviation from the artistic norm, of a second “difficult” album.

The Royal Southern Brotherhood, Heartsoulblood. Album Review. full post

(493 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Tomb Ship. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish Productions.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Eve Karpf, Amy Ewbank, James Hayward, Jonathan Forbes, Ben Porter, Phil Mulryne, Francesca Hunt.

It is worth remembering that Big Finish have been producing Doctor Who audio dramas now for almost 15 years, nearly 200 separate adventures in the main canon as well as the plethora of spin offs involving the very best of companions, so occasionally you listen to a story, in this case Tomb Ship, and you nod your head with great understanding that it didn’t just miss the mark, it hit the larger target next to it and disturbed all the arrows that seemed firmly in place.

Doctor Who: Tomb Ship. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish Productions. full post

(480 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Fargo: A Fox, A Rabbit And A Cabbage. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, Martin Freeman, Bob Odenkirk, Keith Carradine, Joey King, Susan Park, Stephen Root, Helena Mattsson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Lorne Cardinal, Jennifer Copping, Jade Davis.

When the Devil makes the most of the innocuous then you know it’s time to be really terrified.

Fargo: A Fox, A Rabbit And A Cabbage. Television Review. full post

(458 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Justice League, Volume Two: The Villain’s Journey. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Whatever they were paying Geoff Johns at D.C. Comics, to be honest it really was not enough. Almost single handed, (when isn’t writing a single handed occupation unless it involves film scripts and American television comedy?) he revitalised, what was in the eyes of many a dying flag ship, the crumbling dust of an empire that had been ground seemingly apart by Marvel’s prodigious output and the emergence of some true independent greats. Whether Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Terminator, Locke & Key or any other superbly written graphic art novel, D.C. seemed to be only holding together in part due to the bankability of its greatest creation, Batman.

Justice League, Volume Two: The Villain’s Journey. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(619 words, estimated 2:29 mins reading time)

F.I.F.A. World Cup 2014: Mexico V Cameroon. Match Report.

Originally published by Ace Magazine online June 2014.

Unless something unimaginable happens, Brazil will qualify out of Group A with room to spare. On the basis of the first round of matches to be played, Brazil will qualify; but they won’t have made any friends outside of the confines of the homes, cities, towns and minds of the Brazilian nation. Mexico on the other hand, you can but hope make it at least into the round of 16 for their dogged determination and utter refusal to sink to the depths that they saw happen in the previous day’s game.

F.I.F.A. World Cup 2014: Mexico V Cameroon. Match Report. full post

(1207 words, estimated 4:50 mins reading time)

Do U Want To Stay Asleep?

Do you want to stay asleep

In your somnabulary life

While you are sleeping

You are turning into stone

Petrifying

 

But it only happens if you let it

 

And you let it

Long before

Your hair turned grey

When you started complaining

About the yoofs

In gravity-defying

Low slung jeans

Text speak

And all music released

Since U Can’t Touch This

 

You get so annoyed

When you recall

Your comedian son

With his

‘Stop! Hammer Time’

Do U Want To Stay Asleep? full post

(223 words, estimated 54 secs reading time)

2014 World Cup: Brazil V Croatia, Match Report.

First published by Ace Magazine online, June 2014.

One game in of this 2014 World Cup and already there will be cynics of F.I.F.A. who might teasingly suggest that the straight line drawn by the Japanese official to mark out the 10 yards for Croatia to stand behind for a free kick was one of the very few acts in the game that didn’t have the whiff of something crooked about it.

2014 World Cup: Brazil V Croatia, Match Report. full post

(1795 words, estimated 7:11 mins reading time)

Jules Carter Trio, Done Misbehaving. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If you think you don’t like the Blues, if the thought of a century worth of music is not for you and that Robert Johnson is just a name that holds no fascination then the best thing to do would be to start at the beginning of Jules Carter Trio’s album, Done Misbehaving, and throwing every single odd piece of prejudice out of the window and fall in love with a set of songs that just cry out for attention.

Jules Carter Trio, Done Misbehaving. Album Review. full post

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

Pulp: A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets. Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Nick Banks, Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Richard Hawley, Steve Mackey, Mark Webber, The People of Sheffield.

Despite their best efforts, there was more to British music other than Blur and Oasis in the mid-1990s. The hyped up Brit-Pop phenomenon that saw British music on the crest of a wave built up by hope, a certain amount of propaganda and teenage excitement rather than idealism and realism would soon come tumbling down and thankfully since around 2003, music has gained a perspective, even the enjoyment of discovery again.

Pulp: A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets. Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(662 words, estimated 2:39 mins reading time)