The Common Tongues, Tether &Twine. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Brighton is famous for many things. It is full if history, a passion that burns brightly, the capital of gay culture in the U.K. , the comedian Max Miller, The Levellers, the filming of Oh, What A Lovely War! and the superb Brighton Rock  all reside in the very fabric in one of the most beautiful cities in the south coast of England. Arguably only Plymouth and Dover are more historic and only Bournemouth is more picturesque. All this wrapped up in one city, it’s no wonder that there is a vibe, a certain acceptance to be creative in the area and the band The Common Tongues enhance this reputation and with their E.P. Tether & Twine look set to add another notable notch to the bedpost of Brighton life.

The Common Tongues, Tether &Twine. E.P. Review. full post

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

Iron Man Three, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, Ty Simpkins, Paul Bettany, Ashley Hamilton, William Sadler, Miguel Ferrer, Shaun Toub, Mark Ruffalo.

Visually the third instalment of Iron Man sums up everything you would expect from the people who have changed the way in which to showcase big budget superhero films. Wonderfully filmed, the senses get rocked and moved beyond experience before and they set out a challenge to D.C. to come up with the goods that would finally see a clean and fair fight between the two superpowers of international comic books. Visually, the film is as near perfect as you can wish for and is perhaps only bettered by the mass ensemble of last year’s The Avengers.

Iron Man Three, Film Review. full post

(667 words, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

Endeavour, Home. Television Review. I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Anton Lesser, Sean Rigby, Chris Barnes, James Bradshaw, Sonya Cassidy, Nick Court, Louise Dylan, Jamie Glover, Richard Hawley, John Hollingsworth, Edmund Kingsley, Jack Laskey, Lloyd McGuire, Poppy Miller, Marilyn O’ Brien, Caroline O’ Neill, Lynda Rooke, Abigail Thaw, Paul Venables, Guy Williams, Clive Wood.

Endeavour, Home. Television Review. I.T.V. full post

(589 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Eddie Izzard, Comedy Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Eddie Izzard is one of Britain’s most loved comedians. He is also one of those exceptional people on the circuit that is loved just as much for his endeavours away from the stage as he is on it. From running marathons, to sending out a better image of the U.K. with his tolerance and acceptance of different cultures and his brave decision to come out as an action transvestite has only endeared him more to the public.

Eddie Izzard, Comedy Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool. full post

(512 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Leanne Robinson, Gig Review. Mello Mello, Liverpool Sound City 2013.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Leanne Robinson’s voice might still be resonating around the confines of Mello Mello for about a week after Sound City packs away its bags and heads off into the sunset with the glowing knowledge of a job well done. Such was the passion in which Ms. Robinson sang; the fever in her voice and the very cool and confident way in which she holds herself made this young woman a great asset to Sound City.

Leanne Robinson, Gig Review. Mello Mello, Liverpool Sound City 2013. full post

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

The Common Tongues, Gig Review. Mello Mello, Liverpool Sound City 2013.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is nothing common or ordinary about The Common Tongues. The Brighton band knows how to extend their reach and go beyond the normal boundaries that can be artificially enforced with a studio setting. If a band or artist can sound just as interesting, quirky and simply inspiring live as they can whilst mixers are around, the very machines that produce the sometimes, not always, contrived, then they must be worth checking out and telling people about in the pubs and clubs afterwards.

The Common Tongues, Gig Review. Mello Mello, Liverpool Sound City 2013. full post

(445 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Allie Bradley, Gig Review. Mello Mello, Liverpool Sound City 2013.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The Saturday of Liverpool Sound City is traditionally the time to get loose, to enjoy, hopefully, the sunshine and the music that can be found in every size of venue in the city, from the small to the extremely grand, is there to be taken in and take an enormous amount of pleasure in. Nowhere is this taken as seriously as at Mello Mello, a fine venue which has come close to forced closure due to the threat of increased rent but with the help of petitions and the good nature of the music lovers in the area the sounds continue. In Northern Ireland’s Allie Bradley, to all those that signed the petition and made a concerted effort of keeping the venue open, music lovers got their reward.

Allie Bradley, Gig Review. Mello Mello, Liverpool Sound City 2013. full post

(369 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Crimson Horror. Television Review. B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Dame Diana Rigg, Rachael Stirling, Neve McIntosh, Cartrin Stewart, Dan Starkey, Eve de Leon Allen, Kassius Carey Johnson, Brendan Patricks, Graham Turner, Olivia Vinall, Michelle Tate, Scott Stevenson, Jack Oliver Hudson.

The Crimson Horror, the type of tale that would make readers of Victorian melodrama and penny dreadful salivates with the expectation of a reader enjoying Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the first time, transpose this expectation to the type of Doctor Who-lite story, add a splash of immense acting royalty from Dame Diana Rigg and her superb daughter, the incredible Rachael Stirling and it becomes not just Doctor-lite but extra-lite, no additives, no fat, just a wonderful story that was edging on the macabre  that writer Mark Gatiss obviously enjoys.

Doctor Who, The Crimson Horror. Television Review. B.B.C. full post

(549 words, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Postscript, An Interview With Rob McGuffin.

Rob McGuffin has already had the urge to create music fully engrained into his being, a man whose previous band Kids With Lighters was very highly rated and it was with a sense of undisguised regret that the band were not able to go any further. However you cannot keep a good man down and the harder people try to, the harder they bounce back. Rob has spent the last few months fine tuning his set, creating new music and now with a great sense of timing has come back stronger and wiser and ready for another go at proving his music should be taken seriously.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Postscript, An Interview With Rob McGuffin. full post

(1150 words, estimated 4:36 mins reading time)

Roy Dahan, Gig Review. Brink, Liverpool Sound City 2013.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Such is the lure of Liverpool, its long standing reputation of being a port of call for any musician that wants to play in front of an appreciative audience, one that is open and receptive as long as you are sincere in the love of your craft and not just playing along till something else comes along. Such is that reputation that artists will literary travel thousands of miles just to play a half hour set.

Roy Dahan, Gig Review. Brink, Liverpool Sound City 2013. full post

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