Rachel Croft, Deep Water. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When we are in Deep Water, we either learn how to swim and enjoy the freedom provided to us, or we hope that there is nothing lurking in the seemingly bottomless watery cavern beneath our kicking feet. Such is the fascination of the hidden depths, that it is no wonder we gravitate towards it when life becomes mundane, when we feel we can take on the stronger currents; for to survive Deep Water we must overcome the fear that it will drag us down to a place where we cannot get back to the safety, the senselessness of the shallow end of life.

Rachel Croft, Deep Water. Single Review. full post

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

The Landfill.

Take me to the landfill

and leave me there

to be torn apart by the razor

sharp beak of the seagulls;

savagely squawking as they fight

for the morsels

and the remains of sweetmeats.

Place me on a pyre

of my efforts and strike a match

underneath the kindling

doused in petrol and regret,

and leave me to burn

as my body melts away

to smoke

and the black circles drifting

in the wind….

The Landfill. full post

(116 words, estimated 28 secs reading time)

The War Master: Anti-Genesis. Series Four. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Derek Jacobi, Mark Gatiss, Sean Carlsen, Nicholas Briggs, Zaraah Abrahams, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Vokash Bhai, Daniel Brocklebank, Richard Clifford, Ben Crystal, Christopher Harper, Will Kirk, Jordan Renzo, Gavin Swift, Franchi Webb.

To defeat a Master, you have to find someone of equal stature and terrifyingly frenetic mind; after all, no matter how many times The Doctor seems to vanquish his old friend and best enemy, somehow, no matter the incarnation, they always seem to fall short of complete victory.

The War Master: Anti-Genesis. Series Four. Audio Drama Review. full post

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

The Goldfinch. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Oakes Fegley, Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman, Jeffrey Wright, Luke Wilson, Sarah Paulson, Willa Fitzgerald, Finn Wolfhard, Aneurin Barnard, Ashleigh Cummings, Aimee Laurence, Robert Joy, Boyd Gaines, Carley Connors, Hailey Wist, Denis O’Hare.

Obsession is often born out of desire to recapture something that was once lost, something precious that Time and circumstances dictated that we have taken, robbed, from us. We have it within us to use the idea of want as an excuse to see a painting, a book, a person, and wish to see it our purpose to own it or them, that we seek out the beautiful because we somehow believe it completes us, or at least makes us look different in the eyes of others as they see us with the object of our fascination and that of our preoccupation.

The Goldfinch. Film Review. full post

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

The Coronas, True Love Waits. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When you find yourself derailed by a moment in time to which you might share a common name, you can either surrender to it and lose track or you can stand against the force of the spiteful wind and patiently understand that it is nothing personal, that True Love Waits for you in all respects.

The Coronas, True Love Waits. Album Review. full post

(394 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

The War Master: The Rage Of The Time Lords. Series Three. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Derek Jacobi, Paul McGann, Mina Anwar, Taj Atwal, Paul Clayton, Lu Corfield, Su Douglas, Youssef Kerkour, James MacCallum, Shvorne Marks, Ricky Nixon, Katherine Pearce, Laura Riseborough, Aniela Lauren Smith, Liz Sutherland, Dominic Thorburn.

If you are always holding out for a hero, then there is more than a chance you will be disappointed, for heroes, should they exist, don’t work to a timetable, of scheduled appointments, they arrive only when the time is right, when space and chaos demands their presence.

The War Master: The Rage Of The Time Lords. Series Three. Audio Drama Review. full post

(488 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Luce. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Octavia Spencer, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Norbert Leo Butz, Andrea Bang, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Astro, Omar Shariff Brunson Jr., Noah Gaynor, Amanda Troyer, Christopher Mann, Hannah Cabell, Liza J. Bennett.

The relationship between teacher and student is one that is precariously balanced, too much expectation and it can damage the social standing of the pupil in question, the precious psyche that comes from peer pressure as they grow to resent the one seemingly being favoured; too little input and the feeling of unworthiness hits home like a hammer on wood, the splinters and cracks are there forever.

Luce. Film Review. full post

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

The War Master: The Master Of Callous. Series Two. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Derek Jacobi, Silas Carson, Pippa Haywood, Maeve Bluebell Wells, Samantha Beart, Angela Bruce, Richard Earl, Barnaby Edwards, Tom Forrister, Simon Ludders, David Menkin, Kai Owen, Wilf Scolding, Joe Shire.

It is a falsehood of our times that we are force-fed, almost as doctrine, as a mantra of deceitful moment of hope, that good people win in the end, that the lies of the social anarchist who pulls down walls whilst standing on the side-lines, acting in their own self-interest whilst orchestrating the ritual desecration of the soul of the good, will eventually be punished, subjected to an eternity of suffering for the wrongs that have been committed, is nothing more than a substantial, and cunning, lie.

The War Master: The Master Of Callous. Series Two. Audio Drama Review. full post

(559 words, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

The Hellfire Club, A Different Song. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Smile broadly for the cameras above the red door, have the hatcheck boy take your coat and be escorted to your table of choice by one of the many hosts and hostesses who will provide you with the menu of originality and musical entertainment at no cost except to acknowledge the existence of The Hellfire Club and the chance to hear, for the passing of a crisp note baring a notable person’s face, A Different Song in progress.

The Hellfire Club, A Different Song. Album Review. full post

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

The Jayhawks, XOXO. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Evolving does not mean betraying what you once were, and yet it seems for the multitude that it is an act of infidelity, of disloyalty to those that first lifted you up beyond the levels of obscurity, you have changed, grown, adapted to new thoughts and passions, however, for some you should be grateful to be at a place where you are loved for what you were, not what you can be.

The Jayhawks, XOXO. Album Review. full post

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