Author Archives: admin

The Treatment, Running With The Dogs. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cambridge in the annals of music is not always noted for its association with the heavier side of Rock. The city which stands beside Oxford as the powerhouses and symbols of the English University system is more at home with being the birthplace of Progressive Rock giants Pink Floyd and of the late Syd Barrett, pop icons such as Olivia Newton John and the formation of Katrina and The Waves also feature heavily in the thoughts of those trying to work out how musically the city’s heritage is interwoven with the rest of the country.

The Treatment, Running With The Dogs. Album Review. full post

(428 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

ME and Deboe, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Just knowing that somewhere in the darkened hall of Zanzibar, the two women who make up the superb ME and Deboe, Mercy Elise and Sarah Deboe, are mentally going through the notes of the songs that are going to perform is enough to send the shiver of musical anticipation rushing through the veins and capillaries, the sense of the thrill to come running up and down your spine and the sliver of expectation to go into meltdown.

ME and Deboe, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. full post

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

Arms And Hearts, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

In a night of music that the was refreshingly made up of a majority of female artists, the early part of the evening at Zanzibar did have one male act that was able by sheer force of will and overflowing talent stand at least on a level par with the acts that bookended them. With the likes of ME and Deboe performing in the venue, the very cool Arms and Hearts couldn’t have had a tougher competition if the superb Norwegian contingent of female artists that have made Liverpool their home had also got up onstage and blended their Nordic magic in a tribute to all things Northern Europe.

Arms And Hearts, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. full post

(431 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Shannen Bamford, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Shannen Bamford’s E.P., Paper Planes, was one of the surprise wonders of 2013. The intensity in which she put together a cracking set of songs was gently effective and musically comfortable, a real find.

Shannen Bamford, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. full post

(346 words, estimated 1:23 mins reading time)

Kate Hazeldine, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is nothing better than a good first impression, especially live as opposed to the world of recorded music. Studio time, whilst being very precious and expensive also affords the slight luxury of being able to go over a slight mistake, a small error in delivery, the pause where there shouldn’t be any and to make sure that the next take is vastly superior. Live and in the raw, the full glare of house lights piercing through otherwise darkness and fixated upon the artist is enough to give anyone the wobbles, however there are no second chances upon the stage. For Kate Hazeldine, the only reason why second chances don’t exist in that environment is because she doesn’t need them.

Kate Hazeldine, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. full post

(374 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Tori Amos, Under The Pink. 20th Anniversary Retrospective.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Just 18 months after releasing her debut album Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos stamped her authority on her music direction by releasing the superb Under The Pink.  Gone were the days Y Kant Tori Read forever, this was 100 per cent what the talented musician was all about, trailblazing, confessional, confrontational but with that alluring feminine smile paving the way before slamming the piano with full heart and lyrics that were designed to make you thing as well as enjoy. The musical personification of poets Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton but with even bigger welcoming attitude and an allure that got beneath the skin of the subject she wrote about.

Tori Amos, Under The Pink. 20th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(966 words, estimated 3:52 mins reading time)

The Judgement Of Hakim, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Nick Birkinshaw.

Supported by Mark Lea, Hannah Plant, Jack Cooper, Warren Tutt, Joe Ball, Thoma Galashan, Jake Barrowcliffe, Michael Coumas, Bethany Sprontson, Jade Thomson, Ewan Pollitt, Jamie Barton, Sam Williams.

If you keep your wits about you, you will not be harmed. If you keep the information that you hold to yourself and don’t give into the piercing stare, the charm and easy smile of the interrogator then you will have avoided The Judgement of Hakim. Find yourself in left wing book shop, too late, he knows and you’re on a list, read right wing literature, he knows and you’re on a list, buy a certain food, on a list, in fact anything you do in life is listed and what you hold as freedom is just purely an illusion but vital to the trade of the interrogator.

The Judgement Of Hakim, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Midsomer Murders, Wild Harvest. Television Review, I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast Neil Dudgeon, Gwilym Lee, Fiona Dolman, Tazmin Malleson, Arabella Weir, Sharon Small, Clive Wood, Mark Elliott, Lucinda Dryzek, Tyger Drew-Honey, Hayley Mills, Matt Kennard, Catherine Bailey, Lucy Akhurst, Neil McCaul.

Too many cooks can spoil the broth, or at least, make it inedible due to the nature of the toxic substance found lurking within its fatal ingredients. For the residents of Midsomer Wyvern and especially those who work under dictatorial chef Ruth Cameron at Wyvern House, life is about to get a little hotter in the kitchen.

Midsomer Murders, Wild Harvest. Television Review, I.T.V. full post

(472 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Blake’s 7: The Liberator Chronicles. Counterfeit. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Gareth Thomas, Paul Darrow.

A story that didn’t involve the commanding tones of Gareth Thomas as the Captain of The Liberator, Rog Blake, would seem to be as surprising as leaving out the main character of the television series for virtually all of its final series. Thankfully the people behind Big Finish audio dramas are the best in the business when it comes to getting old favourites to reprise their renowned and celebrated roles and in the episode Counterfeit, audiences once again get the chance to sample the delights of Gareth Thomas as the determined rogue turned freedom fighter in the final story in the box set of Season One of Blake’s 7: The Liberator Chronicles.

Blake’s 7: The Liberator Chronicles. Counterfeit. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(494 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Transatlantic, Kaleidoscope. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Following on from the acclaimed album The Whirlwind, the four members of Transatlantic, Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Roine Stolt and Pete Trewavas, have once again got together to produce something that is so compelling, so like the Progressive Rock of old and yet new, exciting and in the case of two of the longer tracks, daring musical storytelling.

Transatlantic, Kaleidoscope. Album Review. full post

(587 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)