Twopence To Cross The Mersey, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Maria Lovelady, Eithne Browne, Christopher Jordan, Emma Dears, Jake Abraham, Tom Cawte, Roy Carruthers, Phil Hearne.

The taste of 1930s Britain so elegantly captured in Helen Forrester’s Twopence To Cross The Mersey is arguably more palpable, more authentic than any text book that might go on at length to describe the after effects of the Great Depression on those caught in its wake and the sacrifice many individuals had to face just to survive; it is genuine, touching, brutal and one that still pervades the modern era and the way its shapes politics today.

Twopence To Cross The Mersey, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Tony’s Last Tape, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Philip Bretherton.

A national treasure, the most dangerous man in Britain, a true orator, an elder statesman, a cult figure within the political establishment and one for whom the cause, no matter the size, was just and worth fighting for; a true leader of a party that feared him and yet his legacy has lasted longer than any of his fellow Government members or party followers; Tony Benn was arguably the most forward thinking member of Government and the opposition during his incredible tenure in the House of Commons and yet he left so much more to history than can be described adequately in a mere discussion, it needs to be recorded for posterity.

Tony’s Last Tape, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Changing Room, Names On A Wall. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Arguably Cornwall is a county that is only attached to England by two miles of land, a shared sense of love for the seas that surround the British Isles and the high water mark of the River Tamar. The people are proud of their heritage as being seen as part of a Celtic tribe and for many the county has for too long been asleep, like some land expanse dressed in the finery of the princess Sleeping Beauty, only now really starting to have its voice heard as national debate inscribes itself deep in the heart of memory and long forgotten secrets.

The Changing Room, Names On A Wall. E.P. Review. full post

(458 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Ewan McLennan And George Monbiot, Breaking The Spell Of Loneliness. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Humanity is at a tipping point; its ability to interact with each other, share ideals and ideas is on the verge of being only able to communicated via a short snappy message or intolerant, perhaps indecipherable text. As a species we have never been so connected, the whole world waits for the next communiqué with baited breath, yet we somehow have become lonely, lost and isolated in a sea of electronics and the floundering realisation that something drastically has gone wrong with society. It might take a generation to solve but somehow we need to be seen to be Breaking The Spell Of Loneliness.

Ewan McLennan And George Monbiot, Breaking The Spell Of Loneliness. Album Review. full post

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

Carol Fieldhouse, Linen. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Whilst it is quite right that the young have ambition and are granted every opportunity to fulfil their dreams, it should not be expected that those to whom 30 is but a distant dream be told to lay back and forget their own personal goals and silence the scream of desire and determination which comes from wanting to pursue their guiding aim in life. It make take time but everybody eventually should be able to say, should they wish too, they created something that will last beyond their time.

Carol Fieldhouse, Linen. Album Review. full post

(401 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

A Ballad Of A Gunslinger.

Somewhere in the desert lies a lonely man

the rattling of snakes and the whispering sand

his only escape from the heat,

that shakes his shooting hand.

Death is forever by his side,

as grizzled as a companion can be

with no end to the slaughter

that came at the Battle of Wounded Knee.

The Gunslinger, once the hero in this game,

now kills for money and peace in his brain,

his mind to savagery,

when he thinks of the men he has slain.

A Ballad Of A Gunslinger. full post

(201 words, estimated 48 secs reading time)

Anthropoid, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Toby Jones, Brian Caspe, Karel Hermánek Jr., Sara Arsteinova, Sean Mahon, Jan Hájek, Marcin Dorocinski, Alena Mihulová, Bill Milner, Charlotte Le Bon, Pavel Reznícek, Anna Geislerová, Justin Svoboda, Harry Lloyd, Václav Neuzil, Jiri Simek, Detlof Bothe, Jan Budar, Mish Boyko, David Bredin, Roman Zach, Sam Keeley, Alexander van der Groeben, Andrej Polak.

Anthropoid, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(482 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Blair Witch, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott, Valorie Curry, Corbin Reid, Wes Robinson.

Going down to the woods used to be such a peaceful, indeed a much anticipated past time, whole weekends would be spent deep in the interior, no other human, except for the hardy souls whose company you keep and whose tent erecting skills you knew would come in handy, would be anywhere near you for miles around and the closest scare you might receive is that of somebody warbling uncontrollably the theme to the Teddy Bear’s Picnic when the midnight bells rang out far into the distance. The woods were the best thing about camping, then along came The Blair Witch Project and all that changed.

Blair Witch, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

Safir Nòu, Groundless. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If your one of those people that cannot under any circumstances feel as though you have been hypnotised, that being pulled in a certain direction whilst the mind slowly is entranced and made to see beyond the limited boundaries imposed by yourself, it is entirely possible that you have been listening to the wrong kind of music or the dishonesty of life too much.

Safir Nòu, Groundless. Album Review. full post

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

John Chatterton, Rest In Place. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

To create poetry without a lyric is perhaps the hardest lesson to master; to place trust in each note without the guiding spectre a hand in which to offer anything like a suggestion, a hint or even a warning of the possible intimate nature of the song, is simply a thrill for the palate and makes the brain work overtime as it concocts its own special melody.

John Chatterton, Rest In Place. Single Review. full post

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