…If I had been born a girl,
would I put myself through the pain of later life
or given in to this drill like resonance that courses
through my spine, like a jack hammer gone mad
and which turns my sick to bile and my thoughts
to a looping insanity…
If I had been born a girl…
I would hope I would have even more compassion
than I hopefully am in possession of now,
and be able to forgive even those that are unforgivable in their actions
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10
All empires must eventually wither, contract, fade and die. It is perhaps the most human of all truths, which nothing can, or indeed should, last forever.
The days of empire should surely be beyond thought and yet in many minds it is as necessary as breathing, from business to the old empirical values of ownership, empire is nothing more than a control set upon from afar, the will of one people over another. It is a mindset that is perhaps eagerly captured in Bill Willingham’s ninth collection of stories in his Fables series, the stunning Sons of Empire.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10
Pedigree and genetics is possibly not the first phrase that might pop into your head first thing in the morning, unless of course you have been up all night worrying about your judgement at the latest round of Crufts. However, it a useful comment to remember when thinking of the sublime talent that lives and breathes with every sinew straining to break loose as you listen to the new E.P from Mo Evans, the scintillating and inspiring Spilled My Love.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, Brion James, Joe Turkel, Joanna Cassidy, James Hong, Morgan Paull, Kevin Thompson, John Edward Allen, Hv Pike, Kimiko Hiroshige, Bob Okazaki, Carolyn DeMirjian.
Classics never die, they may slowly start to rust away or fade into the obscurity afforded all things great and small, but like the Mona Lisa, Concorde or a 40 year old bottle of Balvenie, if someone is still thinking of them then like a replicant caught doing a Marilyn Monroe pose over a steam vent in a future New York City, then the image will remain forever.
…Like when the dog farts and stares round for the intruder,
you shift the smell of blame of on your own shortcomings and feverish intent,
on anything that moves within your eyesight and dress your lies in robes of fur
covering the brown stain that appears on your underpants with money well spent.
The Cowering Chihuahuas and possessive Terrier smells just as fragrant
as the keen eyed Labrador leading the blind astray
and yet all are equal to the roundworm that feeds under the skin with skewed slant
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Here We Go Again, the debut release from the impressive Jess and the Bandits, a group that many may have missed out hearing but one in which the spirit of adventure and willingness to shape the path ahead. Very much in the same vein that the likes of Alison Moyet who took under her control three decades before, and deliver songs in a controlled, female guile-expressive way but with the ability to capture the mood fully and dominate the proceedings.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Everybody needs a lifeline in their life. Whether it is the friend that will take a call at four in the morning when the ebb is at its lowest, the chance to shine when everything else has been denied to them or even just the possibility that a feeling of hope may be reciprocated and followed through, there should always be a lifeline for everybody.
There is still so much barbed wire surrounding the air between us,
gnarled and sharpened, it is only seen
when observed up close, through the flawed magnifying qualities
that a camera can capture on full zoom, or perhaps laid across
a piece of clear glass and seen through one eye, half closed, straining to scrutinise
the differences in opinion that has ensnared us, dangerously
and without feeling any empathy.
The barbed wire, svelt snake like, worm thin, scorpion sting,
is laid across mile upon mile of the territory marking out no man’s,
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Paul Carmichael, Chris Chapman, Thomas Williams, Siobhan Crinson, Adam Sheldon, Arron Hussein, Thomas Atkinson, Dan Haydock, Hannah Gill, Hevv Jamieson, Talulah Pritchard, Sarah Allen, Naomi Lambert, Sarah Moore, Louise Froggatt, James Keysell, Jack Mitchell, Philip Milor, Olivia Murphy, Steven Quinn, Martin Williams, Dan Broom, Kate Bleasdale, Connor Lawler, Sian Woods, Denise Webb, Angela Wilkins, Brittany Macrae, Simone Murphy, Lisa Symonds, Jackie Jones, Sam Liu, Lee Burnitt, Daniel Mugan, Dorcas Sebuyange, Anthony Scott, Rebecca Eve, Philip Laing, Caitlin Clough, Freya Balchin, Alison Philips, Aaron Kehoe, Jack Spencer, Rhea Little, Tasha Ryan, Thomas Whittaker, Jean Paul Marie, Jamie Peacock, Fleet Sumner, Stewart McDonald.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The way Britain was shaped can be seen as to come from many different factors and many differing races’ influences. To suggest otherwise, is at best folly, and at worst downright stupidity, it is the watchword of those who arguably set their agenda out with the clarity of a doughnut covered in barbed wire and with the jam replaced with the taste of bitter almonds. For whilst Britain is an island nation, its outlook and the way it absorbs other cultures, customs and artistic ethos is arguably amongst the most open in the world.