Author Archives: admin

Heaven’s Basement, Filthy Empire. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

After two stunning E.P.’s it was only a matter of time before Heaven’s Basement released a debut album that matched the ferocity and desire that their presence on the rock scene demanded. That time has come and the obliterating and karmic ear assaulting result is the fantastic Filthy Empire.

Despite publicised line-up changes the transition between E.P. releases and this new album, it seems to have been an easy one and certainly the lead vocals appear to be in good hands in Aaron Buchanan as he rages, thunders and fumes against lots of humanity’s wrongs and ills.

Heaven’s Basement, Filthy Empire. Album Review. full post

(348 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Titus Andronicus, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * ½

Cast: Sam Liu, Lauren Fitzpatrick, Karl Falconer, Jason Carragher, Alexander Bollands, Lowell Carragher, Russell Carragher, Matilda Swinney, Alexandra Walker, Siobhan Crinson, Sam Wright, Aimee Marnell, Elena Stephenson, Agata Jarosz, Con O’Neill, Justine Williams, Laura Ryan, Sarah Dwyer.

Titus Andronicus, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(413 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Dancing On The Edge, Episode Two. Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, Janet Montgomery, Angel Coulby, Sam Troughton, 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, Emily Joyce.

 

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

(503 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Richard III: The King In The Car Park, Television Review. Channel 4.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A monster who died at the hands of the Tudor dynasty and whose reputation was further sullied by a playwright from Stratford in the greatest piece of political spin or a misunderstood, kind and benevolent man who was wrongly usurped by Henry VII. Whatever the point or stance you take on it there was something compelling about the programme Richard III: The King in the Car Park and the woman who it seems had spent most of her life trying to find the man that history had demonised.

Richard III: The King In The Car Park, Television Review. Channel 4. full post

(358 words, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Dancing On The Edge, Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, Janet Montgomery, Angel Coulby, Sam Troughton, 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.

 

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

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

Ripper Street, Tournament Of Shadows. Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, Justin Avoth, Jonathan Barnwell, Lucy Cohu, Peter Ferninando, Amanda Hale, Michael McElhatton, Clive Russell, Derek Riddell.

 

The sixth instalment of the series Ripper Street, Tournament of Shadows, was one in which secrets were revealed, the memories of a turn of the 20th Century crime classic, a great historical backdrop was used, unfortunately sparingly and in the end had the awkward feel of an episode that would have been better had it been allowed to go in one direction rather than the three or four strands it tried to follow.

Ripper Street, Tournament Of Shadows. Television Review. B.B.C. Television. full post

(477 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Supplement, An Interview With Luke Moore.

In a city dominated by musicians who were either born within reach of the lifeblood that feeds the city, The River Mersey, or those that came to Liverpool to study at L.I.P.A. or any other of the institutions that makes Liverpool the cultural hub of the country, too come across a man from Stechford in Birmingham who has become part of the music scene is a thrill.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Supplement, An Interview With Luke Moore. full post

(1939 words, estimated 7:45 mins reading time)

A Poet Found On The Co-op Shelf.

The woman looked at me and with scorn in her voice said out loud

“You say you are a writer, yet you say you were bought up in Birmingham,

Ha…it’s brought not bought you fool.” She sounded angry and proud

And I just smiled with a glint in my eyes as I tried to explain I was found next to a dram

…Well a bottle really of finest malt and a packet of 20 Silk Cut fags

Which lay on the shelf of the local Co-op on aisle three.

The people who bought me had had their own shopping bags

A Poet Found On The Co-op Shelf. full post

(426 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Roger McGough Thrills The Playhouse Theatre With Poetic Licence.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Very few poets can hold an audience’s attention in the same vein as Roger McGough. Even when he comes home to his native Liverpool, the crowds flock to see him in a similar way that you might expect to see pop stars that would find themselves surrounded by an adoring public, desperate just for a song or two. The crowds that make up the Playhouse Theatre are more discerning than the sight of those baying for blood from the latest protégé to come off the musical television conveyor belt and for an hour and a half, Roger McGough had all of them all spellbound in poetic glee.

Roger McGough Thrills The Playhouse Theatre With Poetic Licence. full post

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

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Saturday Supplement, An Interview With Carrianne Hayden.

Carrianne Hayden is one of the many musicians/actors that have made Liverpool their home after finishing at L.I.P.A. She has contributed to the ever burgeoning and diverse music scene in Liverpool and has a distinctive voice that has the ability to send appreciative shivers up and down the spine as each note she plays grabs the listener in ways they never thought of.

Hailing from the Worcestershire town of Bewdley, Carrianne spent time abroad recently in which to stock of what she had achieved and where she was going musically. Now back in Liverpool it seems there is no stopping this talented and friendly musician. I was able to catch up with her at the University of Liverpool radio station as she prepared to perform a number of songs including the incredible Run Rabbit Run.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Saturday Supplement, An Interview With Carrianne Hayden. full post

(1326 words, estimated 5:18 mins reading time)