Roddy Woomble, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

To watch Roddy Woomble on stage is to realise there are two different versions of the man who thrills so many people with his music. There is the one who is energetic and pumped full of adrenaline as part of the great Scottish band Idlewild, a man who throws himself into the action and who gives a charged performance that is exciting but also exhausting to watch. Then there is the man who gives off a relaxed air, a man in tune with his audience and the nature of his surroundings that he exudes class with air of solemnity. For the crowd at Leaf on Bold Street, on stage sat in a tranquil and cosy position was the latter and it was a gig that was just inspirational and powerfully uplifting.

Roddy Woomble, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

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

Pink Floyd, The Final Cut. 30th Anniversary Retrospective.

It seems slightly ironic that at a time when the Falklands debate rages once more between the U.K. and Argentinian Governments, an album that uses the conflict between the two countries as a focus for an anti-war message should be celebrating its 30th anniversary. It is almost with bitterness and a shaking of heads that Pink Floyd’s 1983 album The Final Cut should still resonate across the many thousands of miles between Buenos Aires and London. Even after the Falkland Islanders have had the unprecedented and historic vote in the last few weeks on where they see their future, the echoes of a conflict that was born in the spring of 1982 but had its genesis over a period of a couple of hundred years, still rages and the thoughts of the people caught between two ideologically opposed governments might in the end not matter.

Pink Floyd, The Final Cut. 30th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(1304 words, estimated 5:13 mins reading time)

Billy Bragg, Tooth And Nail. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

For the first time in five years, one of the beating hearts of musical radical social truth releases an album. Whilst Billy Bragg’s overt dynamism may have mellowed with age, the fire in conviction, the words he wants get across to those that sometimes won’t or can’t listen has never been more acute and on Tooth and Nail, he still uses the power of the ideas running through his head to great effect.

Billy Bragg, Tooth And Nail. Album Review. full post

(373 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

A Strange Wild Song, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound And Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Christopher Harrisson, Julian Spooner, Matthew Wells, Daniel Wilcox, Laila Woozeer.

There is a moment in A Strange Wild Song, a well written piece by Rhum and Clay, where the audience feels part of the action, the bombs being dropped from overhead planes that are falling around the near destroyed French village resonate and echo through 70 years and a couple of hundred miles and bring those in the auditorium face to face with one of the most inhuman parts of human history…and with one of the most interesting tales from World War Two.

A Strange Wild Song, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Perspectives: The Mystery of Agatha Christie. Television Review. I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There cannot be anyone more attached to the world of Agatha Christie on screen than the actor David Suchet. His involvement with the Queen of British Crime Fiction stretches back over 25 years as the detective Hercule Poirot and from the walk, the moustache and his demeanour, he is every little bit the Belgian who turns up to solve some of Agatha Christie’s most enduring and incredible stories.

Perspectives: The Mystery of Agatha Christie. Television Review. I.T.V. full post

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

Broadchurch, Episode Three. Television Review. I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Will Mellor, Arthur Darvill, David Bradley, Jonathon Bailey, Vicky McClure, Charlotte Beaumont, Joe Simms, Carolyn Pickles, Pauline Quirke.

The first line of enquiry is over for the detectives of Broadchurch. The man, the father of the murdered lad certainly had something to hide but it wasn’t the taking of his son’s life. It certainly would have been far too easy for Chris Chibnall to go down that route and have suspicion hang over Andrew Buchan’s character for the next few weeks.

Broadchurch, Episode Three. Television Review. I.T.V. full post

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

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Saturday Supplement, An Interview With Phil Cooper.

Sometimes talking to someone who has been on the other side of the music business for many years can be a little daunting. Someone whose pedigree of listening to music professionally for the best part of two decades stands before him and the knowledge that not only is he an entertainer but he is a man who adores music completely, in every shape and form.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Saturday Supplement, An Interview With Phil Cooper. full post

(1619 words, estimated 6:29 mins reading time)

Joe Bonamassa: An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House, Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

To capture someone in all their glory live can be a laborious and sometimes self sacrificing work, an effort of near epic proportions is needed by a lot of people to make sure that the magic that is heard is portrayed correctly and doesn’t become a fuzzy after thought in the listener’s minds. In Joe Bonamassa, there really is no need to ever question what the end result will sound like as his unique personality and guitar playing are always top quality and when the music is within the confines of the Vienna Opera House then it’s an experience to savour.

Joe Bonamassa: An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House, Album Review. full post

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

Amaranthe, The Nexus. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

They may be the best kept Metal secret that Sweden and Denmark has been able to keep under cover, especially from U.K. fans, in many years. The time though has come for Amaranthe to come of age and claim the crown of Nordic Metal Gods one and for all with their brand new arse kicking, Metal munching/pop infused release The Nexus.

Amaranthe, The Nexus. Album Review. full post

(383 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

Me And Deboe, E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is something tantalising about the way a musical duo can be in so in tune with each other, that when it’s done well it’s as close to perfection as you can expect it to be. American Folk act Simon and Garfunkel showed this from the very beginning of their career, Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke of Yazoo perfected in the 80s Electronic era as did the Eurythmics and the sensational Everything But The Girl. Even when the music is not coming from a natural duo such as Liverpool’s Ian McNabb and Ian Prowse or Mersey Wylie and Dave O’Grady, the music they generate, the feeling they inspire is nothing short of impressive.

Me And Deboe, E.P. Review. full post

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