Cooped, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Aitor Basauri, Stephen Kreiss, Petra Massey, Toby Park.

Twenty glorious years in the making, and still the riotous laughter keeps coming, for Brighton-based theatre company Spymonkey; there is no sitting delicately on laurels, resting in the plumped up leather chair beside the roaring fire and passion of the audience, even returning to one of the foursome’s early successes means being match fit, confining themselves to the bird house until the pen sparks life once more.

Cooped, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Deep Dark River, King Of The Forest. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

An album that resonates in the part of the mind that deals with dreams, imagination and the race memory of what it was once to acknowledge the fables of our land, the legends and myths that come swarming out of the dense mist and catch hold of our words as they attempt to leave our cold mouths, is by its very nature one in which insists upon being taken seriously.

Deep Dark River, King Of The Forest. Album Review. full post

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

Chernobyl. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard, Jessie Buckley, Emily Watson, Paul Ritter, Adam Nagaitis, Sam Troughton, Robert Emms, Karl Davies, Con O’Neill, Adrian Rawlins, David Dencik, Barry Keoghan, Ralph Ineson, Mark Lewis Jones, Ron Cook, Donald Sumpter, Alex Fearns, Jamie Sives.

Chernobyl. Television Review. full post

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

Andrew Hesford, Gig Review. The Casa, Liverpool.

You can know someone for years and never truly gain insight into what they are capable of proving to the world until the one moment where the stage lights hits the spot where they stand, and all of a sudden the shadows melt away, they retreat to furthest corners of the mind and all that remains is an artist’s soul, a bright light in which you cannot but send messages to your nearest and fondly remembered that you wish they were there to enjoy the reveal.

Andrew Hesford, Gig Review. The Casa, Liverpool. full post

(418 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

John Chatterton, Gig Review. The Casa, Liverpool.

We play the hand we are dealt but for some there is always a way to seek a journey beyond the deck of possibilities, a chance not yet observed by many to keep performing at the table long after everyone else has cashed in their chips and hailed a taxi to their homes. For some the stimulation they continue to garner, to chase and embrace the fortune and the pot of creative bounty is enough to see the pair of deuces as a winning hand and the straight flush as a moment of beauty, of ignoring the glare and opening the mind to all the permutations possible.

John Chatterton, Gig Review. The Casa, Liverpool. full post

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

Eleanor Nelly, Gig Review. The Casa, Liverpool.

The relationship between a musician and the demands of society have always ebbed and flowed, a mass of appreciation that is given freely, but then one which is tempered, almost costing the artist the substantial amount of their soul; it is when the outside interference comes along that the musician may feel that they owe more than is necessary and that is the sadness which waylays, perhaps even destroys many a marvellous mind.

Eleanor Nelly, Gig Review. The Casa, Liverpool. full post

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

American Glutton, Fruit Will Rot. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The fruit itself never falls far from the tree, but the way we seek to exploit it, too many mouths all grasping for the same taste of sweetness, explains why we have come so close to ruining the future generations chances of entertaining the dreams of seeking purpose other than to attempt to repair the damage inflicted on the world, on humanity.

American Glutton, Fruit Will Rot. Album Review. full post

(369 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Dorothy Bird, Under Water. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are those fortunate souls to whom the world is a playground of aural stimulation, they are able to hear in the ether a sound denied to others, perhaps intentionally, for surely we are the conduits of our own reception, our internal antennas designed to pick up a signal which will be understood to either mean something personal or be used creatively to inspire others.

Dorothy Bird, Under Water. Single Review. full post

(364 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Jordan Rudess, Wired For Madness. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The curious mind left unchallenged and unstimulated is soon left to rust, an act of ignominy, one that is akin to neglect and dishonour. However, an inquisitive mind that is nurtured, encouraged and given the chance to explore will forever be found rummaging through the day to day with hope, Wired For Madness, hooked to the freedom that such gifts entail.

Jordan Rudess, Wired For Madness. Album Review. full post

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

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Ken Watanabe, Ziya Zhang, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, Aisha Hinds, O’Shea Jackson Jr., David Strathairn, Anthony Ramos, Elizabeth Ludlow, Jonathan Howard, CCH Pounder, Joe Morton, Randy Havens.

Rarely does a film’s main premise reflect so accurately the place in which the actor’s sit in relation to the story unfolding around them but then few films have the absolute fortune to have one of the greatest cinematic monsters of all time filling the screen with its gigantic legend sweeping all before it, and the power to hold an audience’s attention even when the camera looks deep into the eyes of the human participants who are in effect bit part players to the creation unleashed.

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. Film Review. full post

(542 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)