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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Anthony Hopkins, Douglas Booth, Leo McHugh Carroll, Frank Langella, Dakota Goyo, Marton Csokas, Madison Davenport, Nick Nolte, Mark Margolis, Kevin Durand, Nolan Gross, Adam Griffith, Gavin Casalegno, Skylar Burke

It seems odd that it has taken this long to make a film about one of patriarchs and prophets of Judaism and Christianity when so many others have been touched upon in one way or another since the early days of cinema. For a film titled Noah it is going to be hard for many to get past the big elephant in the ark, as well as all the snakes and the odd Silverback Gorilla. It’s going to take willpower for some not to let a great story get in the way of something so old and too some so sacred.

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

(506 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Kalandra, Gig Review. L.I.P.A, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision 9/10

Whether you like your music to be organic, to have flowed from the streets that straddle the River Mersey in some age old ritual acknowledgement to the flower and testimony of Liverpool upbringing or to have had the chance to have been guided and nurtured to hone the craft of writing, what you cannot fail to miss is the passion that flows through each tempting note of either camp.

Kalandra, Gig Review. L.I.P.A, Liverpool. full post

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

All Change.

Reminding me

of temptation accompanying the draught of a

Trans-Pennine non-stop

 through Stalybridge Station, she drifted

 past.

 I stood still, watching the clock

 taunt my expected departure time;

 standing in line for a seat on the next one,

haunted by the

last.

Ian Miller  2014

Permanent link to this post (47 words, estimated 11 secs reading time)

Molotov Jukebox, Gig Review. The Kazimier, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The Kazimier could not have anticipated what lay in store. Elements of Gypsy Jazz and Swing backed by Latin beats with a thundering bass, Ska influenced guitar, Samba and Mariachi style trumpeting and what can only be describes as shredding violin combined to produce an awe inspiring sound that shook the rafters and the audience in equal measure. Molotov Jukebox’s long awaited L.P. Carnival Flower was released in the last week and if the second gig following the release at Liverpool’s Kazimier was anything to go by it will see the band soar to the heights they truly deserve. The album speaks for itself but where Molotov Jukebox shines is in the vibrant and electric energy they bring to their live performance ensuring fans will leave the venue short of breath and grinning from ear to ear.

Molotov Jukebox, Gig Review. The Kazimier, Liverpool. full post

(519 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

After What Comes Before. Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: David Cartwright, Sam Berrill, Alex Monk.

Not many evenings starts with three scientists arguing over the relative value of being able to extract the thought processes and the sometimes synaptic misfires in which hold the key to every person’s desires and ills. However Manic Chord Theatre, by intelligent word play and the same insane careful design attributed to the formation of random events that make life in the Universe possible, are able to show in 55 minutes just exactly what happens when you begin to think outside of the box in their play After What Comes Before.

After What Comes Before. Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Batman: Haunted Knight, Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It’s hard to imagine any superhero in the Marvel Universe having the same type of intrigue and fascination with Halloween as D.C. Comic’s biggest hero Batman does. Indeed across every spectrum and genre no other title perhaps lends itself more to the crazy upside world of the night than the Dark Knight.  In a collection of three different one shot Halloween special stories by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, under the one title of Batman: Haunted Knight, the complicated relationship he has with the day is one that captures the imagination but also the fixation, the near fixation he has in dealing with those who bring harm to Gotham City is at near psychosis levels.

Batman: Haunted Knight, Graphic Novel Review. full post

(495 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

John Bassett, Unearth. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

For a musician who creates the most beautiful sounding compositions with KingBathmat, the chance to really let go and release an album of his own work must have always been nagging at the back of his head and now John Bassett has the chance to impress completely with his debut album Unearth.

Impressed might be too strong a word to bandy around, it gives rise to the thought of confetti being thrown at a wedding or celebration or the first sight of fireworks that cling to the midnight sky high above Sydney as the clocks click over into a new year, perhaps captivated and enthralled would be better, for that is the feeling you get when listening to Unearth for the first and subsequent times.

John Bassett, Unearth. Album Review. full post

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

KynchinLay, Drink Me. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

For those of a certain disposition who still find music on the radio in which to drop everything and sit down in a mind boggled sigh of exultation, KynchinLay’s new E.P. Drink Me is a remembrance of days when the likes of Tommy Vance or the great John Peel would play magician and startle you with a set of songs so good that you just knew the world, despite its woes, would carry on. For surely the Universe would not destroy the planet just yet; especially when the vast majority haven’t had the pleasure of taking in one more amazing track.

KynchinLay, Drink Me. E.P. Review. full post

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

Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado, Too Many Roads. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There could well be Too Many Roads for a person to walk along, so many distractions; so many reasons in which the straight path you choose from A to B means that occasionally that deviation offered you goes untouched, unsighted and the pleasure unheard.

Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado, Too Many Roads. Album Review. full post

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

Doctor Who: White Ghosts. Big Finish Audio Review. 3.02.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Virginia Hey, Bethan Walker, Gbemisola Ikumelo, James Joyce.

What terrors are there in the dark? The imagination seizes upon the sparks of the obscured, the unseen threat waiting in the shadows to maim or do injury to and whilst we can turn on a light, make our way to a bright area in which to calm the nerves, what if the light brings the terror closer to your door? What if the light actually accelerates the peril and causes more destruction

Doctor Who: White Ghosts. Big Finish Audio Review. 3.02. full post

(407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)