Forthaven, Thorns. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

They are the symbol of the mocked and the scoffed at, they were alluded to as a punishment from God in the book of Genesis and they offer perhaps a more humid reflection on the way humanity treats its fellow man when they believe that imitation is not a sincere form of flattery but one that needs to be controlled and dispatched, to be held at arm’s length and to be kept within a prison of its own diabolical making. Thorns are there to remind us that whilst the going gets tough, the thorn can bite harder into the skin than any person who doesn’t understand or even want to try can ever do.

Forthaven, Thorns. E.P. Review. full post

(367 words, 1 image, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Postscript, An Interview With Marauder’s Theatre Company’s Danny Partington.

Many a student from Liverpool has found their way up to Edinburgh for the Fringe at one point or another, whether to support a show, to support a friend or just natural curiosity at just how expansive and overwhelmingly complex the entire planning of going from one show to another on a daily basis can be.

The Fringe though is arguably the one event in the year which is truly seen as remarkable and it is no small wonder that any student involved in drama or who has a keen interest in comedy should make their way to Scotland’s capital in search of broadening their horizons.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Postscript, An Interview With Marauder’s Theatre Company’s Danny Partington. full post

(1344 words, estimated 5:23 mins reading time)

Exclusion.

The first memory I retain,

not the ones handed down to me in black and white,

of going missing as my mother and nan

were shopping in Abingdon

and after going spare and wondering

how they were going to break the news

to my father, only to find me

giggling away to myself in the coal shed

that joined the house, having apparently walked

home alone…

…the memory I have that still hurts in my mind,

that has seared so much into the very fabric

Exclusion. full post

(380 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Against The Sky, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The year seems to be slowly ebbing away, the nights are getting darker and the absurdity of such inclement weather for the time of year is enough to install a sense of deprivation and foreboding for the winter ahead.

What Liverpool has though is the means to generate heat, warmth and an overpowering urge to shake off the blues as easily as making sure that Westminster undesirables are never able to find their way past the Mersey. That heat, that serious endeavour to keep new music coming through the ranks and the venues of the home of culture is what keeps the smiles on the faces across all sections and genres of music lovers in the city.

Against The Sky, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool. full post

(341 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

Skylights, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are moments you feel for a band, when the Gods distract the flow and even the tiniest interruption could make or break the moment of absolute clarity. Bands of immense stature have suffered it and some have even folded under the pressure on the day, the music never really capturing the intensity that came before it. Yet in amongst the darkness of perhaps seen negativity an illumination can appear and what follows is just as hard core, just as enjoyable to watch as before the mishap on stage occurs.

Skylights, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool. full post

(353 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

The Also Known As, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Everyone has a story to tell, to impart perhaps for the betterment or understanding of humanity’s place in the world and the ways that even the softest voice can change someone’s idea of what it means to achieve something extraordinary.

July may have ended on a bigger whimper than a child being offered a milkshake, fries and a juicy burger if it kept quiet all day, only to find that the parents had actually meant boiled cabbage and carrot water but in terms of young local bands finding their first steps into the creative, sometimes harsh but always nurturing, aspect of Liverpool music, July had been a God-send and as the month breathed its last The Zanzibar Club gave one more surprise in the collaboration series as The Also Known As played with minimum fuss and cool stance upon their stage.

The Also Known As, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool. full post

(386 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

Ripper Street: Whitechapel Terminus. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring, Charlene McKenna, Lydia Wilson, David Wilmot, Clive Russell, David Dawson, Josh O’ Connor, Louise Brealey, John Heffernan, Leanne Best, Francis Magee, Raymond Waring, Dermot Magennis, Kelly Campbell, Anton Giltrap, Andy Giltrap, Andy Gathergood, Mark Mooney, Tim Hibbard.

 

There are moments when the general public must wonder what goes on in between the ears of those in charge of the B.B.C. when they allow quality drama such as Ripper Street to be disavowed, to be treated to the point of shame that the makers must wonder what exactly they did wrong except bring in respectable audiences and the shuddering heads of yet another television expose into the world of drunken antics of the young and the restless takes their place in the schedules.

Ripper Street: Whitechapel Terminus. Television Review. full post

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

Weodmonath’s Harvest.

War is in the air but for now the year is content

to stretch out is tentacles

and feel the Northern sun warm the soul

and the days to become ones of bliss,

of harvesting the rewards

of bounty and the food

that will sustain the people under

Weodmonath’s care.

 

The gladiolus bloom everywhere

she looks and her charm, tempered by

anger of Solmanath’s revenge like fury

on her previous troubled psyche, is still…

 

Deep in the heart of her bosom though

Weodmonath’s Harvest. full post

(238 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Axiom Verge (PS4), Game Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Axiom Verge is a side scrolling action adventure platform game available for download from the PlayStation Store for the PS4 with a Vita version set to be released in the not too distant future. The game is inspired by not only the 8 bit, but also the 16 bit generation that actually began production 5 years prior to release as a side hobby project which is made all the more fascinating as it was developed from the ground up in every component of the game by an individual called Thomas Happ, rather than multiple team members.

Axiom Verge (PS4), Game Review. full post

(1823 words, 3 images, estimated 7:18 mins reading time)

Royal Southern Brotherhood, Don’t Look Back. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Looking back can play havoc on the mind, the peace and solitude ruined by reflection and deliberate thought on where you might have gone wrong. The angst of knowing that whilst you were right the pain it may have caused others gnawing at your breast and all the while the chasing of the tick that followed tock a constant reminder that the new beginning you have carved out for yourself is one that easily could become the same boggy rut.

Royal Southern Brotherhood, Don’t Look Back. Album Review. full post

(404 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)