The Offspring, Days Go By. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. June 28th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ***

Days Go By is the new album by American Punk Rock band The Offspring and never has an album title felt more apt in terms of how long fans of a group may have felt for its delivery.

This ninth studio album by the band has been creeping and crawling along and was in danger of becoming out of date by the time it finally hit the general public. Patience is sometimes its own reward, especially in music and the pay offs in what the audience hears can be worth every moment, every single agonising second between one album and the next.

The Offspring, Days Go By. Album Review. full post

(360 words, 1 image, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Levellers, Static On The Airwaves. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. June 29th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

After nearly 25 years making some rather excellent music, the latest album by the Levellers, Static On The Airwaves, still manages to raise the expectations that somewhere there are groups that still connect with their core audience and create music that not only coaxes the listener to enjoy but also actively want to spread around their friends and say see, “This is what I’m talking about, this is what’s wrong”.

Levellers, Static On The Airwaves. Album Review. full post

(520 words, 1 image, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Linkin Park, Living Things. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media June 29th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ***

Linkin Park have a lot to be proud of as a band, for a start they broke the existing mould that was almost fused and set in stone between understated yet loud rap and good accessible rock and continued to make records that developed the idea of personal anguish without going down some doom laden ego-trip.

Linkin Park, Living Things. Album Review. full post

(376 words, 1 image, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Dominic Crane, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Birmingham.

Dominic Crane, Picture from Allgigs.co.uk.

Originally published by L.S. Media. July 1st 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

There is something to be said for the moment where you realise that a performer of glorious musical intelligence is playing his heart out in front of you. That moment is magnified when as a music lover, no matter the genre, you are sure that what you are seeing before you is one of the most unlikely best support acts you are likely to hear in any year.

Dominic Crane, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Birmingham. full post

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

Mike And The Mechanics, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Birmingham.

Mike Rutherford at the o2 Academy, Birmingham. Picture by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. July 1st 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Mike Rutherford really needs no introduction, certainly not to the extremely fascinated and focused crowd at the o2 Academy in Birmingham who roared in vocal appreciation at the man responsible for many of Genesis’s hits over the years, and who managed to juggle his side project Mike and the Mechanics with such musical aplomb.

Mike And The Mechanics, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Birmingham. full post

(434 words, 1 image, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Route 22, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Chris Blythyn, lead singer with Route 22. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media.L.S. Media Rating ****

Wirral band Route 22 have all the right attributes and dedication to succeed, what is more impressive is the way, that on a night of supporting the supports at the o2 Academy, Liverpool, the four members of the band did it in front of an audience that had already spent their energy watching the previous group on offer and were now resting away from the stage.

Route 22, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(334 words, 1 image, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

The Sub Zeros, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Katie Lochhead from The Sub Zeros. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. July 8th 2012.L.S. Media Rating *****

Like Mercury Midnight and The Guardians before them, The Sub Zeros are a band that has something more to them than first meets the eye.

Fronted by the very fabulous Katie Lochhead on bass and vocals, The Sub Zeros took the o2 Academy, Liverpool by storm and left at the end of their set with heads held high and with the knowledge that there were a lot of converts to their incredible sound.

The Sub Zeros, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(371 words, 1 image, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Doctor Who,The Oseidon Adventure, Big Finish Audio Play 1.06.

Originally published by L.S. Media. July 8th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Geoffrey Beevers, Michael Cochrane, Dan Starkey, John Banks.

Just who do you trust when you cannot even tell your enemies from those that look and act like your deadliest foes!

The second part of Alan Barnes’ story involving the Doctor’s adversary and fellow Time lord, The Master has one of those wonderful plays on words that ingratiates you into the story long before the end credits. Titled The Oseidon Adventure, (think of the 1970’s disaster film The Poseidon Adventure) the action follows on The Trail of the White Worm and the pace, the tempo and overall enjoyment of the writing picks up a notch from the semi lacklustre affair of the previous episode.

Doctor Who,The Oseidon Adventure, Big Finish Audio Play 1.06. full post

(503 words, 1 image, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Butcher Of Brisbane. Big Finish Audio Play 161.

Originally published on L.S. Media. July 9th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton, Angus Wright, Rupert Frazer, Felicity Duncan, Daniel Weyman, Daisy Ashford, John Banks, Alex Mallinson.

There are Doctor Who villains who pop up as regular as clockwork, their participation in any adventure much looked forward to and anticipated with the outlook of childhood glee. There are then those who come along every so often, sometimes they contribute greatly to the overall story but you don’t miss them as much, and then there are those that only appear the once, their backstory hinted at but the writers of Doctor Who never revisit them. The listener is devoid of any further knowledge of the foe the Doctor has faced.

Doctor Who, The Butcher Of Brisbane. Big Finish Audio Play 161. full post

(589 words, 1 image, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Patti Smith, Banga. Album Review.

  • Originally published by L.S. Media. July 9th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

There is no doubting the sincerity in Patti Smith, a woman of true artistic worth who performs music as if she were a female version of Allan Ginsberg or Jim Morrison. A true poet who happens to produce great music as if it was considered to be a mortal sin to be someone who can produce art in many fields, if it was, do you think someone like Patti Smith would care? She would shrug her shoulders and go out produce something of absolute genius such as her latest album, Banga.

Patti Smith, Banga. Album Review. full post

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