Author Archives: admin

Giant Drag, Waking Up Is Hard To Do. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

In a rare bout of musical honesty Annie Hardy of L.A. rock outfit Giant Drag has put herself through a seven year hell in making what has become a really decent and heart felt album full of pathos, catchy tunes but with an element that many would shy away from, namely the look hard look at what she has gone through in her life, especially the last few years which has seen prescription drug addiction and others around her having mental health issues and the final over riding result is the excellent album Waking Up Is Hard To Do.

Giant Drag, Waking Up Is Hard To Do. Album Review. full post

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

Andy Wright And Marillion. 9:30 To Filmore – Photographic Memories (USA & Canada 2012.) Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

When it comes to capturing the essence of a band, the off guard moments when they are relaxing and allowed that precious few moments when they can naturally be themselves without the flash of thousand cameras going off in their direction, picking up every detail of a gig or concert there are surprisingly few real life moments of enjoyment that get past the magazine editors doors. Unless it is of a drunken night or of a clandestine meeting, no one really gets it apart from the fans themselves.

Andy Wright And Marillion. 9:30 To Filmore – Photographic Memories (USA & Canada 2012.) Book Review. full post

(761 words, estimated 3:03 mins reading time)

Black Mirror, The Waldo Moment. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Daniel Rigby, Chloe Pirrie, Jason Flemyng, Christina Chong, Pip Torrens, David Ajala, Amber Anderson, Kenneth Collard, Ed Gaughan, Tobias Menzies, Abigail Thaw.

Be careful what you wish for, it’s been an underlying theme for Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror series. Whether it has been Hayley Atwell desiring to have one last moment with her husband who has been killed or the nightmarish and positively dystopian longing of perpetual retribution and televised public backlash for a heinous crime, the future has been a possibility; and decidedly and chillingly achievable.

Black Mirror, The Waldo Moment. Television Review. full post

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

Dancing On The Edge, Episode Five. Television Review. B.B.C. 2.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, Janet Montgomery, Angel Coulby, Jacqueline Bisset, Joanna Vanderham, Anthony Head, Jenna-Louise Coleman, John Goodman, Mel Smith, Allan Corduner, Mike Brett, Oroh Angiama, Jane Asher, Jamie Crew, Trevor Edwards, Austin Hardiman, Tom Hughes, Cosimo Keita, Neville Malcolm, Wunmi Mosaku, Jay Phelps, Caroline Quentin, Miles Richardson, Chris Storr, Steve Williamson.

With Louis Lester on the run and the options and choices he has being reduced by the minute, it seems that the conviction of murder that has been placed around his head is nearly as in place as the noose or the great jazz notes that he and the band have produced for this scintillating and keenly written Stephen Polokoff drama.

Dancing On The Edge, Episode Five. Television Review. B.B.C. 2. full post

(516 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Justin Hayward, Spirits Of The Western Sky. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is no comparison readily available to the voice that made The Moody Blues one of the finest bands to ever come out of Britain. In Justin Hayward the talent he possesses is phenomenal, a real delight in a world that can seem cynical of a person still recording good quality music after nearly fifty years. That musical talent is yet again laid bare for listeners to revel in and take an hour or two out their ever-increasing busy and demanding lives in his first solo album since 1996, the exquisite and beautiful Spirits of the Western Sky.

Justin Hayward, Spirits Of The Western Sky. Album Review. full post

(388 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

Is There Anybody There?, Theatre Review. Lantern Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Francis Williamson, Marry Hyam, Kathy Upfold, Steven Hill, Michelle Potts.

There are some things that should not be messed around with, mixing the grape and the grain, the electricity meter, the dark and mystifying occult and four women whose lives are more entangled than they have ever believed. So all human life and a little bit more is all on show for John Evans’ play Is There Anybody There? and the answers are there for all to see like a man’s ashes on a otherwise clean carpet.

Is There Anybody There?, Theatre Review. Lantern Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(353 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, Spaceport Fear. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish 170.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford, Ronald Pickup, Isabel Fay, Gwilym Lee, Beth Chalmers, Adrian MacKinder, John Banks, Barnaby Edwards.

The close confinement and stark corridors are the magical ingredients that gleam through some of the best Doctor Who stories in its 50 years thrilling and scaring viewers and listeners alike. Add in a monster that’s unseen for the best part of the tale, mix in the unfamiliar sound of the alien chasing down the human population and a charismatic leader hell bent on trying to keep two sets people apart with him controlling them and you have the makings of a tantalising story by William Gallager called Spaceport Fear.

Doctor Who, Spaceport Fear. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish 170. full post

(522 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Ripper Street, What Use Our Work. Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring, Lucy Cohu, David Dawson, Ruta Gudmintas, Rebecca Grimes, Linal Haft, Amanda Hale, Charlene McKenna, Kristian Nairn, David Oakes, Clive Russell.

The final episode of Ripper Street, What Use Our Work, made sure the Victorian crime drama finished on a stunning high. With Chief Inspector Fred Abberline, portrayed by Clive Russell, so sure that he has finally caught the infamous Jack the Ripper that he is blinded by unreason, unsound evidence and professional grief to see that Captain Homer Jackson was innocent of the brutal murders that stalked London’s Whitechapel in 1888.

Ripper Street, What Use Our Work. Television Review. B.B.C. Television. full post

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

A Reflection On Your Thoughts…

Is it just merely a light that once dazzled now that fades

Or is the beauty that once was depicted in original portraits

That resides in your house of empty rooms, now vacant of ever feeling

The subtle despair of a memory that parades

Throughout your unblemished and unfulfilled and uptight straight

Mind. No I don’t mind! You carry on stealing

And hammering in those nails of self-doubt and interest bearing,

Ever increasing moments of self-loathing.

You can’t hate me anymore than I do

And yet even in the darkness I know it’s true and I find myself caring

A Reflection On Your Thoughts… full post

(190 words, estimated 46 secs reading time)

Tim Kingham, Comic Reflections & Cosmic Truths. Poetry Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Poetry in Liverpool and its surrounding areas has had a huge mountain to climb in terms of ever trying to match what went before it after the Second World War and the arrival of the beat poetry that influenced a generation of poetry lovers in Merseyside and beyond. The names of Brian Patten, Adrian Henri and Roger McGough are forever entwined with that time and any promising composer of words has the knowledge that they have an almost near impossible task infront of them. There are a number of poets in Liverpool today who can fill any void left and amongst them is the Wirral’s Tim Kingham.

Tim Kingham, Comic Reflections & Cosmic Truths. Poetry Review. full post

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