Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It is the yin and yang of music, the great trying to be better in either form. For some bands, trying to capture the sound the studio has afforded them, the well polished, buffered and clean finished article that may have had months in the making can never be truly captured in its live form. The animal is too different, there can be no retakes, no second, third or fourth different tries to get the note just right, it is do or die on the night.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Roger Llewellyn.
Sherlock Holmes has long since retired and his greatest friend Dr. John Watson has died, quietly and without fuss, the way he always would. Thus begins the last tale of Victorian England’s finest detective, however, as with all great last tales, the memories and the vestige of a story that has captivated millions since Arthur Conan Doyle, is always worth re-telling from the person’s own perspective. So the history of Sherlock Holmes is captured by writer David Stuart Davies and the towering, looming presence of Roger Llewellyn.
First published by L.S. Media on January 25th 2012.
I admit my musical relationship with The Doors is not what it could have been. I didn’t appreciate the American band at all. The reason for this rather glib demonstration of lack of musical compatibility is down to a girl I used to date who had the most overpowering and dedicated crush on Jim Morrison. No not a crush, she lived, breathed and dreamt of him, not a problem, that didn’t bother me. It was being called Jim that got me down about the band…for the record my name is not Jim!
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Texas have been away for an eternity, the self-imposed hiatus that the group have kept to religiously looked like never ending and since 2005’s release of The Red Book, it looked as if the hiatus was going to end up as a permanent closure. One of the finest Scottish acts would be no more. Never doubt though, always believe that as long as a band have the willing then at some point they will come back together and make a near masterpiece that Di Vinci, Constable or Pitman would have been proud to take ownership of. Where The Red Book faded away, The Conversation never looks as if it could be stopped being talked about.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Dlugokecki may be a word that looks as if it is designed to trip you up in a big way. Like those playground bullies of your schooldays that hung about near the lockers and stuck their foot out as you passed them and then laughed themselves into apoplexy as you fought to get back up with some semblance of dignity. Thankfully the band that bears the name are nothing of the sort, they are pleasant, self- effacing and with a front man who looks as if he the sweetest guy in the world. The name may be hard to pronounce but the music they play rolls of the tongue like Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier stroking a free kick home with an easy elegance.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Although released a couple of years ago by Annie Soulshine, the album I Hate/Love My Brother seems to be only just doing the rounds here in the U.K. Like some phantom that wafts in and out of sight, to appear when you are least expecting it, it seems word of mouth keeps the album, at least on these shores going. It is a shame as the acoustic style of the pair, Annie and Felix, is quite beautiful and yet with that little hint of burning desire, the moment of anger, that worms its way through each song as if there is unfinished business needed to be resolved.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton, Anthony Howell, Abigail Thaw, Rachel Atkins, Catherine Grose, Kieran Bew, Stephen Critchlow.
Not everything gets recorded in time, somewhere along the line events get muddled, facts get lost in rumour and legend and gaps appear in history. These gaps, although maddening for academics that have to hazard a guess at what could have happened to certain individuals in antiquity are for writers of science fiction and historical dramas pure gold. The journey they can take people on makes for a fascinating story and in Paul Magrs tale of long forgotten Queens of pre-English History, the absorbing The Lady Of Mercia, Big Finish’s Doctor Who series does what the series does best, it gets deep down and dirty in the historical stories of Humankind.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There is something stirring in the deep heart of Sweden. Alongside Norway, Denmark and Finland, the music that is coming out those Nordic lands is becoming more and more relevant to how Europe and especially the U.K. is thinking about Pop/Rock/Metal. Not only is it relevant, it is extremely good and stunning to hear and Stockholm’s Rooni shows this new energy to be gaining more and more ground.
Liverpool Sound of Vision Rating 9/10
It doesn’t take long to fall in love, the barest of fleeting glimpses or sounds on a radio can be enough for anybody to start a life-times affair with the most defining of bands. Whether it is the intoxicating thought that the music supplied by The 286, is industrious, soul grabbing, slips you a crafty but loving wink in between each affectionate and amorous note or that it brings back so many memories of the only band to have ever tried anything as daring and eclectic as anything that one of Birmingham’s most favourite bands, E.L.O., ever conceived.
Rio Matchett for the last year has juggled the pressure of a second year of studying for her degree at the University of Liverpool and being President of a very successful Liverpool University Drama Society (L.U.D.S.). On the back of some incredible work by her, the amazing team she has had at her disposal, actors and back stage, L.U.D.S. has enjoyed great acclaim with the plays that have been produced which have included Jack Thorne’s Fanny and Faggot, Noel Coward’s Still Life and the tour de force that was Alan Bennett’s The History Boys.