Author Archives: admin

All Time England World Cup Squad: 1982-2010.

Originally published by Ace Magazine Liverpool June 2014.

 

When supporting England, the feeling between despondency and elation is sometimes so blurred that you can go from one World Cup competition having crashed out in the second round (1982) but feeling optimistic about the future to then getting so close that the air of expectation hangs round every football fan you meet like a bad smell in summer time (1990). There never has been a real mix of consistency, no real so called Golden Generation, except for what the Fleet Street media like to impose upon the thoughts of the fans that for years have doggedly followed the national team exploits (or lack of them).

All Time England World Cup Squad: 1982-2010. full post

(1513 words, estimated 6:03 mins reading time)

Daniel, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Philip Shaun McGuinness, Wesley Wharton, Nick Crosbie.

It does take someone with extreme passion and an undeniable knowledge of certain genres in which the call change the way they are perceived, to make more relevant to modern society, speaks loudest. The latest film which stared Australian actor Russell Crowe, the much talked about Noah, is one example, perhaps poor one, of a story that in The Bible was, even for the atheist, is one that can be a stirring read. Natasia Hodge, musician, actor, singer, director and soon to be company head of B Tales, takes the story of Daniel from the Old Testament, and unlike Noah, delivers a fine piece of work in which, thanks to the excellent cast and the sublime writing of Laura-Kate Barrows and some clever effects and excellent additional music, is itself just as stirring as the Biblical text laid down.

Daniel, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(514 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Aquaman: Death Of A King, Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The fourth volume in D.C Comics excellent revival of Aquaman brings all the facets together as if the running of a thousand taps had finally found a deep crevice in which to conjoin and multiply in. By bringing all these together and with the exceptional writing and artistry of all involved, it should be noted that Aquaman, the stuff of much unnecessary hilarity due to the poor nature and lack of respect shown the individual in the past; is arguably one of the most interest characterisations in the last 40 years of publications by D.C.

Aquaman: Death Of A King, Graphic Novel Review. full post

(548 words, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Scattered Records (A Bedroom In Bicester).

How many times does the opportunity arise

in which you can visit the ghosts

and smile with relief as a tear gently rolls down your cheek?

A bedroom door hides many a secret from the world,

the stolen, lengthy, beautiful snog with a girlfriend, heavy petting banned

in the local swimming pool, but a delight worth risking

when she cycles

over to see you from Wendlebury one summer’s day

in ‘85 and music from a band worth loving plays, crackles, skips

like my heart as she leans in again,

Scattered Records (A Bedroom In Bicester). full post

(670 words, estimated 2:41 mins reading time)

Uriah Heep, Outsider. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Regardless of when you may have first come across Uriah Heep, it is an argument worth having that they have been unfortunately been forgotten by many as one of the pioneers of British Heavy Rock and part of The Progressive movement.

Influential on many and yet the popularity of Mick Box’s band has never really attained, especially in later years the popularity they so deserved aside from having many totally enamoured with a couple of early 1970s albums including the superb Salisbury.  Whether the latest release by Uriah Heep, the elegant sounding Outsider, can change that perhaps remains to be seen but in a world that allows certain acts that have gone on reality television shows to garner a following, then surely Uriah Heep can have another sojourn in the unknown world of popular Rock music.

Uriah Heep, Outsider. Album Review. full post

(464 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Subusiso Mamba, Tonderai Munyevu.

How far would you go to survive in a regime that treats you worse than a cockroach; that demands total obedience of your every waking hour and who can control every moment you make, only reluctantly allowing you to live your life as a free member of society once they have humiliated you enough. The mark of oppression stamped across a nation and deeply into the faces of those who are its citizens.

Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(467 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

The Voice In My Head.

The voice in my head

From waking to sleeping

Flowing around me

Keeping me safely floating

Holds me above the dark below

 

The voice of you

Flowing through me

When I am calm

Holds me up

As I float in living water

That dissolved a mountain

 

I’ll hear your voice

In my head and in my heart

When all my sadness

Is washed away

In sweet sunlit water

Rippling in the wishing well.

 

Dr. Erica Wright 2014.

The Voice In My Head. full post

(82 words, estimated 20 secs reading time)

Vintage Blue, No Going Back. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Chicago just happens to be one of the great American cities, full of wonder, a sense of heritage and iconoclasm having been showered upon it as one of the Great Lakes feeds its natural hunger and gives the city its cold stirring breath in winter and baked beautiful days in summer. It has been the resting place of American Mob culture, of iconic films and even more iconic bands, for example the truly distinguished band that bares the cities name. To the North Canada, to the East New York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Boston and nothing rivals it as hub of industry and humanity till you reach the southern shores of the country. It is truly a remarkable city. From out of that place in which Lake Michigan freezes and drives an icy blast comes a smashing new band, Vintage Blue, and their album No Going Back.

Vintage Blue, No Going Back. Album Review. full post

(514 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Fargo: The Heap. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, Martin Freeman, Bob Odenlirk, Keith Carradine, Joey King, Kate Walsh, Russell Harvard, Tom Musgrave, Stephen Root, Helena Mattsson, Julie Ann Emery, Rachel Blanchard, Susan Park, Gary Valentine, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Marty Antonini, Liam Green, Atticus Dean Mitchell, Leslie Maynes, James D. Hopkin, Christopher Rosamond, Dan Redican, Richard Sherry, Jade Davis, Carrie Coak, Jennifer Copping, Dayle Krall, Barkhad Abdirahman.  

Fargo: The Heap. Television Review. full post

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

Jack White, Lazaretto. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

It can’t be a coincidence, no matter how good The White Stripes were, and they were rather first-rate for the vast majority of songs that they produced, that Jack White has just got better and better as a musician and lyric writer since those long gone halcyon days. His latest solo album, Lazaretto, is one of such quality that it is hard to ignore. The American Rock/Country/Celtic vibe hybrid is a fascinating delve into the mind of one of America’s real musical icons of the last 15 years that at times you have to wonder if the man will ever bother writing an autobiography, for everything you think you want to know is played out in the lyrics of his enormous body of work.

Jack White, Lazaretto. Album Review. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)