Smashbomb

"I was involved with Homelife, but I was more of a session musician in a way as I wasn't involved in the writing of the music; I don't see it as my band. The core of the band was Paddy Steer and Tony Burnside, who'd both been in Yargo, and a musician called Simon King who was from London and had been in many bands. Computers had just reached that phase where you could do proper recordings on them. It wasn't Pro-Tools but you could do decent hard drive recordings. It was an interesting mix of people of varying age groups and genders, which made it very rich. There was a singer called Seaming To who'd appeared on records by Mr Scruff and she had this incredible octave range, and I played bass clarinet. It was like a digital orchestra and it felt a bit like Sly And The Family Stone and it crossed the jazz line as well. The whole album has the feel of some Mediterranean place that doesn't exist, and place to wallow in; it's very languid. It's Impressionist music that came from a terraced house in Manchester!"

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Human Remains and Mass Violence: Methodological Approaches

Jean-Marc Dreyfus and Elisabeth Anstett

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Book

This book outlines for the first time in a single volume the theoretical and methodological tools...

Noel Gallagher recommended Joshua Tree by U2 in Music (curated)

Joshua Tree by U2

1987 | Rock

8.9

(23 Ratings)

Album Favorite

"I just love the songs on this. I’m not into the whole religious aspect of the band but I’ve been a fan since I saw them on Top Of The Pops doing ‘Fire’. The reason that I picked this over Achtung Baby - which is one of my favourite U2 albums from my favourite period of U2 – is that it’s just a massive album for me. When I get time to have a quiet moment on my own, I could sit and play all the songs off this on an acoustic guitar for ages. They’re just great. You don’t like it? I don’t give a fuck! Everyone that I’ve ever known – EVER KNOWN – apart from my wife – hates them. Me and my wife love them. It wasn’t the reason we got married… But everyone else I have ever met from my earliest memory in Manchester to right now talking to you has gone, 'They are fucking shit. They are what’s wrong with music.' For me it’s about the songwriting. If I could write a song like ‘Running To Stand Still’ and ‘Nobody’s Home’ by Pink Floyd then I could die happy with never writing another song again."

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London Tube Map PRO

Navigation and Travel

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App

London Tube Map PRO is the ad free version of the original London Tube Map app with TfL (Transport...

TV Broke My Brain by Man Made

6.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Album

Rising Manchester three-piece Man Made will release their exceptional debut album TV Broke My Brain....

Normal by Homeless Gospel Choir

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Album

Derek Zanetti, also known as The Homeless Gospel Choir, is a protest singer, author and artist based...

The Encouragement Letters

Shanna Spence

9.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

WILLIAM CROMWELL, at age eleven, knows what it is like living with new changes. In 1865, Manchester,...

MG middle grade fiction historical fiction England Industrial Revolution

Sassy Brit (97 KP) rated Manchester Vice in Books

Jun 6, 2019

^^ Imagine you’re able to make contact with a serial killer, and before he dies he passes on his diary, which reveals the secret location of his murderous lair; all set up and ready to go. Then imagine, before you know what to do with this information, you discover your wife is having an affair with your annoying brother of whom you’ve never been close to. Of course, your wife’s not to blame, as lately you’ve not been a very attentive husband, but that could change with your brother out of the way, right? In fact, it’s the perfect solution. What could possibly go wrong with such a rock solid plan?

^^ This is what happens to the main character, Brad Sharpe, in Jack Strange’s Manchester Vice. Brad is often portrayed as a guy who contemplates what’s going on in his life, and seems to discover the answers to his own problems as he is telling us the story, yet, he fails to understand the blantly obvious staring at him in the face. As an example, in one scene he thinks there is a strong possibility his wife is having an affair with someone who lives in the same block of flats as his brother…. (At this point I’m throwing my hands up in the air and going, “Well, doh?”). Yep, see what I mean? So, when he finally cottons on (hallelujah) he’s on to his next get even scheme. I guess, Sharpe’s not as sharp as he likes to think!

^^ And what of the diary? This is a great addition to the story as it acts like a step-by-step manual to extract (or should I say extinguish?) anything he doesn’t like from his life. Yet there’s an even bigger twist in this story of revenge, and that’s how he keeps in close proximity with the police as a journalist reporting on the crime of this elusive serial killer. Himself.

^^ The ending did not disappoint, in fact, I kind of regretted that it ended at all and throughly enjoyed reading about Brad’s escapades, especially his reign of power and journalistic fame.

Overall: Manchester Vice is a story of betrayal, comeuppance, and rash decisions made from a rookie murderer bungling his way through one mistake after another. Jack Strange’s character Brad Sharpe has a fresh voice and his antics are both gruesome and downright comedic. I love the way he maintains a sense of right and wrong throughout, even though his morals are very different to most of ours. A fun, dark and fabulously disturbing, “Brit Grit” read.

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Sarah (7799 KP) created a post

Mar 22, 2019

Last night, I went to see Les Miserables at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. Unlike most people I know, I've never seen Les Mis on stage before and wasn't a particularly big fan of the film either, however I have to admit that after seeing it last night, I think I'm now a convert.

The stage production values, the sets and the costumes were very impressive. They managed to seamlessly coordinate a large screen with huge physical sets and the transition between the scenes was impressively smooth. The cast too were brilliant. There was nobody I recognised but they all had fantastic voices and put on a great performance.

My issue with the film was that is was overly long and drawn out and just didn't appeal, but the same can't be said for the show. Ths version was on for 3 hours plus a 15 min interval, which for me was just long enough. There's something about the music in this that makes it very rousing and entertaining and I wasn't bored, not even for a minute. It's a highly entertaining and almost emotional show, and would definitely recommend seeing it if you like musicals. It doesn't tour very often either so catch it while you can!

I'd give it an impressive 9/10