Cal Ruddy, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool.

Cal Ruddy, Zanzibar, Liverpool. February 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To become a hero, to wallow just for a short while in deserved applause, the aspiring musician need not sell his soul to sit in the reflected glory of a highly profitable television programme, all they need to do is come through the possible agony of a live performance in front of friends and family in which some difficulties, otherwise known as real life, are met head on and beaten by sheer force of will and the demeanour of one born to succeed.

Cal Ruddy, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool. full post

(521 words, 1 image, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Ben Higgs, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool.

Ben Higgs at Zanzibar, February 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Watching the impressive Ben Higgs on stage is like witnessing the eclipse of the sun. You are aware of the potential that comes with the awe inspiring, you may have read accounts of it happening and taken in videos and short clips of the event, but it doesn’t prepare you for the sheer spectacle of strength that unfolds before you.

Ben Higgs, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool. full post

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

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Supplement, An Interview With Eithne Browne.

When it comes to history, the theatres in Liverpool are so entrenched, so immersed in the ‘pool of life, that when it comes to putting on a production that deals in part with the chronicle of the city, with the fabric of the people who have made the streets and buildings, the city, what it is today then that history somehow takes on a more meaningful and significant expression of artistic value.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Supplement, An Interview With Eithne Browne. full post

(1436 words, estimated 5:45 mins reading time)

Crossing The Lines (On The Day They Raided The Lomax)

Will they check the law courts and swab the dock for flour,

Come away happy, pose for pictures, wig arrested,

the lawyers all standing round being tested

and the chambers closed down in hours?

Will they go to go to the Golf course lunch for retired heads,

swab the tees for signs of powdered chalk

and entertain the local paper with absurdist talk

and have the private hospital closed for abuse of meds?

Will they roll up en masse at Parliament Hill

and with convenience in mind forget the hate crimes,

Crossing The Lines (On The Day They Raided The Lomax) full post

(278 words, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

Revolution Saints, Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The ancient civilisations such as the Greeks and Romans had words to defend the meaning of when supreme beings banded together to take on a foe that threatened their way of life. As with all things, poetic quality has been lost in translation over the corresponding centuries and now the only phrase that seems to justify the immensity of talent that comes in the shape of Revolution Saints and their superb eponymous debut album is one of a Titan’s fury, a divinity of rock elegance and soaring spirit.

Revolution Saints, Album Review. full post

(423 words, 1 image, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

North Of The Mind, Twisted World. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

The way the world is squeezing the creativity out of people as a whole, it’s always heartening to when you come across an album that may have taken a while to record, possibly because of many different factors but sounds as though each delicate step was thought out, processed with great care and attention. In the end, it is a testament to their inventiveness and never say die attitude.

North Of The Mind, Twisted World. Album Review. full post

(352 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

The Slow Death Of The Typewriter.

Who would be a poet, writer or scribe in the modern world?

How much more exciting and soul destroying

it must have been in days when Kerouac could slump over a typewriter

and bang his head in withdrawn frustration

on the polished and

desk.

The pile of A4 paper to his left , ever dwindling, never being pregnant with word

upon word, upon life sentence, instead cluttering up the floor

in a moon scarred landscape that defeats the purpose

The Slow Death Of The Typewriter. full post

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

Doctor Who: The Rani Elite. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Siobhan Redmond, Andrew Bone, Becky Wright, Mike Noble, Charlie Morton.

In the saddest of circumstances comes lightness, it just may take a while for the listener to see it for what it truly is.

When a much loved actor from a television programme passes on it can be hard to imagine anyone playing their character again. In the world of soap-operas they could, if they so desired perhaps get away with an actor coming in a year or two later having had facial surgery or recovering from a major operation. In others, the character would just be allowed to be retired and thought of with ceremonial fondness every now and then. In science fiction though, the sheer possibilities are endless and enjoyable.

Doctor Who: The Rani Elite. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(677 words, estimated 2:42 mins reading time)

The Musketeers, The Return. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Luke Pasqualino, Hugo Speer, Maimie McCoy, Linzie Cocker, Steve Evets, Alan Rothwell, Barney White, Miles Anderson, Marianne Oldham.

As history has proved time and time again, when the Musketeers are in a fight, it is all for one and one for all. Thankfully in the modern retelling of the classic story and arguably the best in over a hundred and ten years of film and television portrayals, it’s not every episode that has the clichéd signal of derring-do attached to it, the near fatalistic but ultimately triumphant cheer of the Musketeer’s motto shouted across the television as if the viewer would ever forget.

The Musketeers, The Return. Television Review. full post

(393 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

The Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season (PS4), Game Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating: 9.5 out of 10

The Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season is a third-person episodic adventure game available from retail stores and for download from the PlayStation Store for the PS4, PS3 and PS Vita. The makers, Telltale Games, have gradually become more popular with every game having developed the cult classic Sam and Max seasons to episodic games based upon such well known licensed properties as Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us with Telltale’s star rising upon every release which has led to Tales from the Borderlands, Minecraft: Story Mode and even Game of Thrones with certainly a bright future ahead.

The Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season (PS4), Game Review. full post

(3014 words, estimated 12:03 mins reading time)