Would I dare believe they would contemplate
this cul de sac once more?
That I would be looking over my shoulder and listening on edge
for the sound of an alarm
and fear the general panic
of a population gripped in ice stone terror
and wondering just who
they would protect and survive.
Of course the idea the propagated
of hiding under doors is absurd,
it was only a practical way of burying the dead
and now they want us to learn D.I.Y. again
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The art of the confessional poem may be steeped in American post-war history but it takes a suitably British voice, one steeped in the absurdities of the over-flowing English eccentricity and way of life, to truly bring past declarations of admission seem suitably cool and full of understanding.
Not for Vinny Peculiar will you find the hidden message laden, the daring concealed communication that Sylvia Plath employed in Daddy, or the wasted and admirable qualities that Anne Sexton brought to mind, all Vinny Peculiar needs is the distant memory we all acquire, startling observational skills and the gift of putting exquisite poetry to song, all of which comes to fruition in the album Down The Bright Stream.
The Unity Theatre in Liverpool isn’t just a creative space for the use of local and touring theatre companies. Within its walls is another heartbeat, a twin spirit of occupation, a breathing fortitude of echoing guitar sounds, exotic drum and cello performed always by a commander of the bow, resides and has firmly taken root over the last few years. A gig here and there throughout the year, bookended by the abundance of theatre, but nevertheless important and the acoustic evenings they put on are fully looked forward to.
Arguably the centre of the Universe has to pass through Liverpool at some juncture; nothing else really can ever explain the abundance of musical talent that comes out of the city. Even those that have to live away from their beloved home still find that the passion for bringing new music into the world an overriding and natural part of the laws of attraction. Even for those based outside the sphere of arts in their daily life seek solace in it and for Karmamoi’s Joline Forshaw this is especially true.
If he is not yet dead
then perhaps he might be better off being so,
for the passage of time ticks slowly in his direction.
Comforting words as the fate of his future is decided
in crumbling office blocks and in the same dusty relics
of men who plot and call coup
in a world of insane potential
and irrational market forces deliverance.
These same market forces that made him God,
now turn and bite their master of illusion
hard and nip, drawing blood, it dribbles waywardly
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Jake Abraham, Eithne Browne, Roy Carruthers, Daniel Davies, Emma Dears, Brian Dodd, Christopher Jordan, Maria Lovelady.
There is a horrible sense of deja vu as one looks around closely in hidden doors and hears the sounds of families at war with themselves that the period known as the Great Depression, the 1930s stumbling block to world peace has been making itself at home for the last few years and nobody has truly noticed. Thankfully the true depths that the world groped around in the dark with during that time has not materialised again but only perhaps good fortune, rather than political reckoning has saved the type of scenes witnessed by the writer Helen Forrester as she grew up impoverished in a city that was fighting for grim survival and without even Twopence To Cross The Mersey.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas, Matthais Schoenaerts, Sam Riley, Ruth Wilson, Margot Robbie, Harriet Walter, Eileen Atkins, Lambert Wilson, Tom Schilling, Clare Holman, Deborah Findlay, Eric Godon, Simon Dutton, Diana Kent, Juliet Howland, Nicholas Chagrin.
As the 21st Century grumbles on and the further we move away from the period of time in which our grandparents gave up on almost everything except hope, the more the apathy to maintaining the struggle against oppression grows more weary. In some cases it is possible to hear some people state out loud, “Shouldn’t we forget all this now?” Yet stories from the Second World War continue to surface and perhaps none more startling in recent years than that of Irène Némirovsky and her posthumously published unfinished novel Suite Française.
With the odd exception, the world of Progressive Rock doesn’t feature too highly in the realms of Liverpool’s astonishing contribution to the world of music. There are elements, bands, even albums that go down that road, notably and arguably The Beatles opus Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is a tremendous foray into the genre but it still doesn’t get the airplay it deserves. There may be many reasons for it, but it doesn’t disguise the fact that there are many thousands of fans who clamber for any type of band delving into the unknown from Aigburth to Bootle and the surrounding, ever growing enclave that is Merseyside.
If it helps you classify me, then by all means tie
an armband with a yellow star around my biceps
and shoot me down with a ravenous bully boy glee upon
your myopic thousand yard stare, which in reality matches the
colour of your eyes as they glaze over as I answer your questions
as I think of the day when I will forgive you.
It will burn you alive and if it helps in your suffering,
I shall wear armbands all the way down my naked torso
There’s cloud everywhere
It clings to everything
Like chewing gum in your hair
Or glue upon your skin
There’s cloud everywhere
And it gets in everything
Like advertisements in your dreams
Or sand inside machines
Chemical war has been declared
But none of us are aware
Because the chemicals that fill the air
Are slowly destroying our minds
So I spent some time destroying
Some things I had created
I don’t know if I felt better
But I guess I felt different