The Goes Wrong Show: The Pilot (Not The Pilot. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Bryony Corrigan, Dave Hearn, Nancy Zamit, Chris Leask, Henry Lewis, Charlie Russell, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields.

Audiences have become too used to the idea of historical inaccuracies being part of a plot line, so much so that we no longer question them with the same level of interrogation as we used to. They are presented as adding texture to the story, vital to portray the themes in a certain light and to perhaps highlight a certain character’s involvement in the tale to a greater effect that was played out in real life.

The Goes Wrong Show: The Pilot (Not The Pilot. Television Review. full post

(422 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Martyn Joseph, Days Of Decision: A Tribute To Phil Ochs. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are many way to look at a cover song, the honourable mention in which the nod of a head is made at the behest of acknowledging inspiration and immortality once held, the chance for the performer to give their album a lift and to perhaps draw in a different audience in which their bank balances might take a kindly boost. What is more rare is the sense of duty, the timeless grace in which a musician who exemplifies the discerning craft and beauty to which another soul has moved along, and in which now must be reiterated because the times, the Days Of Decision, are upon us.

Martyn Joseph, Days Of Decision: A Tribute To Phil Ochs. Album Review. full post

(439 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Dispel, Lore. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The concept album is one that never seems to lose its power to enthral and entertain, yet it does find itself in a position that in modern times is lost to audiences who seek the immediate rather than the tradition of the slow reveal. It may only be experience which stops Lore from taking a more direct, physical aspect on today’s times, but there is also the element of the fantastical, the extraordinary and the epic that many now dismiss as being irrelevant, as being unconnected to the era of what seems to have thrust upon us via austerity and being neglected.

Dispel, Lore. Album Review. full post

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

The Who, WHO. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The world moves on, and there would be those who see bands such as The Who as an anathema, a curse on the modern day sentiment to which the atmosphere, the standards and the times reflect a new generation’s different belief; and yet we have to surely acknowledge that in many ways the world, its path of political discourse and absurdity, has meant that we are still fighting the same battles that took shape over fifty years ago.

The Who, WHO. Album Review. full post

(525 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

Shyyne, Go Your Own Way. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Go Your Own Way, it can either be words of encouragement, filled with hope, dipped in optimism, or words placed in anger in which to dismiss, to cause derision by those with an agenda to fulfil. Yet, in a world dominated by such words of anger, to find a band willing to utilise them with humour, with the expression of Black Country dominance and the backdrop of musical history behind them; it is no wonder then that Shyyne- the enthralling four-piece from Wolverhampton, have done exactly that, gone their own way and lit a path for others now to follow.

Shyyne, Go Your Own Way. Single Review. full post

(310 words, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)

Greta. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Chloe Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Jane Perry, Jeff Hiller, Parker Sawyers, Brandon Lee Sears, Arthur Lee, Rosa Escoda, Jessica Preddy, Thaddeus Daniels, Raven Dauda, Colm Feore, Zawe Ashton, Nagisa Morimoto, Navi Dhanoa, Elisa Berkley, Stephen Rea.

We befriend people in many ways, sometimes we find ourselves with a group of people based on need, desire, or common interests, we keep those people with us, the shared history becoming a tight bond, a hopefully long lasting and mutual love that sees goals accomplished and tears wiped away by a considerate mate, a pal to whom has your best interests at heart.

Greta. Film Review. full post

(502 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Dan Dare: Reign Of Robots. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Ed Stoppard, Geoff McGivern, Heide Reed, Raad Rawi, Michael Cochrane, Amy Humphreys, Dianne Weller, George Bryan.

Dan Dare, the name for adults of a certain age which evokes memories that have never been allowed to fade, to be allowed to slip into the murky waters of the unreliable adaptation without a fight and for whom, with sadness, means arguably nothing to a generation or two that has moved on, tired of the escapism provided by the weekly comic strip and the collections turned to clutter in their rooms.

Dan Dare: Reign Of Robots. Audio Drama Review. full post

(638 words, estimated 2:33 mins reading time)

Mr. Smith Receives His Knighthood (On The Back Of Thousands Of Deaths).

I can only presume

that your mother is proud

of you, as you smile for the camera

and step on the backs

of the dead

and the dying,

of the poor

and suffering

you “helped set free”.

Look Ma, you cry,

remembering only to punch

the air, (thinking of the faces

of those you deem reckless,

at best,

unspeakable

detestable

thin skinned and lazy,

is your true assessment),

remembering to punch the air

Mr. Smith Receives His Knighthood (On The Back Of Thousands Of Deaths). full post

(117 words, estimated 28 secs reading time)

Beans On Toast, The Inevitable Train Wreck. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Optimism is just an emotion that fools people into believing that everything will be alright, that their lives will eventually mean something, or so some people would have you consider, for they are the ones who also say that to be realistic is to behave miserably, that The Inevitable Train Wreck is self-induced, that the criticism we face is earned because we don’t smile open mouthed and nod furiously to every encounter.

Beans On Toast, The Inevitable Train Wreck. Album Review. full post

(420 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Worzel Gummidge: The Green Man. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Mackenzie Crook, Steve Pemberton, Rosie Cavaliero, India Brown, Thierry Wickens, Zoe Wanamaker, Michael Palin, Francesca Mills, Lucy Montgomery, Colin Michael Carmichael, Gus Brown, Kiran Shah, Malik Ibheis.

The ways of the countryside, the laws that govern nature have become so bound up in a myth like status that for anyone who doesn’t step outside their concrete bubble from time to time and into the hands of The Green Man that shapes our lands, can be seen as missing out on an education in which surely improves the soul.

Worzel Gummidge: The Green Man. Television Review. full post

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