Steve Rudd page 10.

Steve Rudd has been writing for thisisUll.com for some time and has proved himself to be one of our most talented writers. Steve's contributions are listed below.. Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11.

Reviews, Books - The Shark Net by Robert Drewe Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Ok. So most movies, books or long-running TV-orientated soaps tend to dwell on the sunnier side of living in Austrailia. Am I right? Sure, there are instances of scandal now and again amidst the emotionally challenged sprawl of Ramsey Street, but nothing too shocking or Read more...

Album Reviews - Rob McCulloch - Thoughts Alone (Clockhouse) By Steve Rudd
	Rob hails from Bolton and sings and plays very much in the style of ex-Verve mainman - and solo singer-songwriter in his own right - Richard Ashcroft. Wistful tunes such as Taking Off With You, Take Me Whole and Doing You Wrong are beautifully conceived Read more...

CD Reviews - Halflight - Subside (EP/My First Records) By Steve Rudd
	Packed with the endearing purity of The Corrs' music, Half-Light's musings are poetic, mature and utterly captivating throughout these four tracks. Front woman Sarah Howells has long been renowned for her quality, truthfully extraordinary singing voice (having been the Read more...

Reviews, Books - Lost Horizon by James Hilton Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	This awesome tale of adventure and intrigue was first published in 1933 and still makes for a remarkable read, as four people are kidnapped in the Far-East and then somewhat inexplicably left stranded in a secluded Tibetan valley, an area that they soon come to know as Read more...

Single Reviews The Next Nine Years - You Live, I Learn (single/ Probation) By Steve Rudd
	Debut singles don't get much better than this double-A side belter from this kick-ass quartet. Lead track You Live, I Learn is ball-busting melodic rock, that sets a breakneck pace. Thankfully, all the guitars and lung-busting vocals are perfectly Read more...

Single Reviews The Concretes - Seems Fine (single/ EMI) By Steve Rudd
	If you want to feel refreshed and plain good about life, then it's imperative that Stockholm outfit The Concretes are checked out ASAP. Laying claim to almost as many band members as The Polyphonic Spree, there are eight of them, coolly fronted by sultry vocalist Victoria Bergsman. Read more...

Poetry - A Case of Silly String and Whatever Next By Steve Rudd
	Money is the root of all evil, A positive thought that's not shared is a waste. So what if I've got an inferiority complex? Insecurity is so simple to evade. If you give me a dollar I'll trade it for a book, Second hand glances deflect scathing good looks. Read more...

Reviews, Books - To the Poles Without a Beard by Catherine Hartley Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	This extraordinary woman was the first British woman to reach first the South Pole and then the North Pole (along with another lady called Fiona), and this is her story... Essentially an exquisite autobiography, this book starts out by chronicling Catherine's life - in brief - Read more...

Music Reviews - The Coal Porters at Pocklington Arts Centre - 15th November 04 By Steve Rudd
	Brandishing brilliant brushstrokes of Alison Krauss-creased Bluegrass music as it is meant to sound, this quintet in the Mojo-magazine-championed Coal Porters played to an almost sold-out venue in the small town of Pocklington on that one night of the week when most people prefer Read more...

Music Reviews - Ian McNabb at Fibbers, York - 4th November 04 By Steve Rudd
	Former Icicle Works frontman, Liverpudlian genius Ian McNabb has long been setting mid-sized venues alight with his talents since such band glory days. Ian is one of the hardest working and genuinely enthralling singer-songwriters in the UK and has released plenty of truly incredible Read more...

Reviews, Books - Touching the Void by Joe Simpson Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Autobiographical tales don't come much more nail-biting than this living nightmare, recalled by mountaineer Joe who was left for dead on a snow-riddled peak in Peru back in 1985. After getting into trouble on the 21,000 ft Siula Grande with friend Simon Yates Read more...

Single Reviews - Gomez - Sweet Virginia (single/ Virgin) By Steve Rudd
	The Gomez guys have long impressed the nation with their inspired ability to effectively fuse all manners of different musical genres together to form one thoroughly satisfying whole. Whether they're incorporating elements of heart-breaking blues, crafty jazz Read more...

Album Reviews - The Supatones - Unity Ave (Do The Dog) By Steve Rudd
	Living up to their name in the most impeccable manner imaginable, this Hull-based band releases its astonishing debut album with an accompanying, nationwide tour to promote the beauty. For the best part of November and the first half of December these Read more...

Single Reviews Camera - Hurt (single/ My Kung Fu) By Steve Rudd Release Date: 22nd November 2004.
	Think of all the anthemic rock bands that Wales has loudly and proudly produced over the years such as The Manics, The Stereophonics and The Alarm (to name just a few), and then think again, for here is a new quartet in the form of Camera that are hacking out a truly Read more...

Album Reviews - Tapewyrm Records Compilation - Segments Volume 1 (12-track album) By Steve Rudd
	Far from being just another compilation album of half-rate tracks by bands most people have never heard of, this Tapewyrm release provides the best opportunity imaginable for the listener to get to know the label's six acts a whole lot better. OK, so the bands aren't that well Read more...

Articles - Post-Organic Thrill: Cotton On, and Preserve the World By Steve Rudd

	A great many people profess to preferring the idea of buying organic, but - I wonder - how many of those people actually do go out of their way to ensure that they do buy organic in order to make that difference to both the physical world's wealth and the people who live in the world's health. The main organic Read more...

Reviews, Films - Collateral By Steve Rudd
	Starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, this rollercoasting thrill-ride is one of the coolest of action movies to have hit the screen in 2004, as Summer goes out to the dogs and the first pangs of Autumn strike the air. Tom, like his ex-wife Nicole Kidman, never seems to stop working Read more...

Reviews, Books - Sitting Up with the Dead by Pamela Petro Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	In the manic style of Bill Bryson, Pamela Petro gets in her car and heads out around America in search of exciting new people, places and - above else - fantastic stories. Confining her extensive travels to the Eastern side of North America and, in particular, the South-East states of Alabama, Georgia Read more...

Reviews, Books - Mick Ronson: The Spider with the Platinum Hair by Weird and Gilly Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Born and bred in Hull, Mick Ronson indeed did come from extremely humble beginnings to become one of Britain's most respected musicians and producers. Born in 1946, it was in the early seventies that Mick first became well known through his work with David Bowie, with ace guitarist Mick Read more...

Reviews, Films - Alien VS Predator By Steve Rudd
	Whoever came up with the bright idea of violently pitting Alien against Predator sure deserves a pat on the back and a raucous round of applause, for this big-budget movie scores on many levels. Whereas the bulk of the Alien franchise has long relied on atmospheric tension rather than all-out action Read more...

Album Reviews - - The Alarm Live in the Poppyfields (DVD/CD Dual Release/Snapper Music) By Steve Rudd
	In all honesty, I am totally addicted to - and utterly enthralled by - the music of Mike Peters. Mike, for those who might not know, is now - and has always been - the frontman and singing-songwriting genius for Welsh band The Alarm... a band set-up that Mike recently re-formed, with a Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Promise of Bruce Springsteen by Eric Alterman. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Brucie, we need you - and more than ever! A true rock 'n' roll star in every sense and then some, Bruce has had a truly staggering career in the music business, and even as we maniacally rush headlong into the 21st Century he is more popular than ever. This biography of Read more...

Reviews, Films - Open Water By Steve Rudd
	I really don't understand why this movie was ever made. Based on true events, this follows a couple of young lovers (Daniel Travis and blonde bombshell Blanchard Ryan) on a diving day-out as part of a vacation they're taking together. Before we know it, they've been stranded in the middle Read more...

Album Reviews - The Clauberg Opera - The Death of This City By Steve Rudd
	Yet another fantastically original Hull-based band to get hugely excited about, this young and thoroughly refreshing trio is not to be ignored... especially not with the type of manifesto that they are proudly presenting. In this invigorating instance they come armed Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Beach by Alex Garland Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Escape through travel works. Almost from the moment I boarded my flight, life in England became meaningless. Seat-belt signs lit up, problems switched off. Broken armrests took precedence over broken hearts. Before the hit movie there was the cult novel written by an unknown Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Body by Hanif Kureishi Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	I imagine that to participate in the world with curiosity and pleasure, to see the point of what is going on, you have to be young and uninformed. Do I want to participate? This is an incredibly compelling novel from Kent-born Hanif (who proves himself to be ever-the-philosopher) Read more...

Album Reviews - The 59 Violets - Prime Numbers By Steve Rudd
	First things first, a bit of vital number crunching: the debut album from North Lincolnshire's va-va-vooming 59 Violets four-piece is 40 minutes long and spread over 11 fantastic songs. Each and every track is moulded around some superb melodies, as these boys wield both the pop Read more...

Opinions - When Technology Takes Over By Steve Rudd
	Am I the only person left in Britain not to own a DVD player? For sure, I must be one of only a select number of people to be currently flogging the life out of their vintage VHS video recorders.. but I'm not all that bothered. At the end of the day, a movie is no different whether it is played in Read more...

Single Reviews Torso Horse - The Invisible Event (eight-track album/ Native) By Steve Rudd Release Date: Nov 1st 2004
	Over the past four years, Bridlington band Torso Horse has truly - and deservedly - dominated the Goth-Metal scene in East Yorkshire in style. This uncompromising eight-track release is their second album, and the eagerly anticipated follow-up to their rapturously Read more...

Single Reviews - Ox - Blood (mini-album/ Co-Pop) By Steve Rudd Release Date: November 1st 2004.
	Oh I do like to be beside the seaside when super-talented acoustic-based duos in the shape of Ox materialise from towns such as Brighton, as Ox band members in multi-instrumentalists Jim Oxborrow and John Etkin-Bell have. Jim sings, with his sensitive voice being Read more...

Single Reviews - Hoobastank - The Reason (Mercury) By Steve Rudd
	It's been almost impossible to avoid this radio-friendly tune over the past few weeks, as it has literally taken the world by storm. Over in the US it was the Number One airplay record for five weeks, before basking in the glory of being the Number Three most played track in Read more...

Poetry - Exhilaration Denied and Bulling Bone China By Steve Rudd
	Long division carries over the little things that add up On late railways across the USA Glue sniffers'll get stuck For words when they're sick Lumps in the throat tend to stick, to fit Read more...

Reviews, Books - Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Reaching the top of Everest is supposed to trigger a surge of intense elation; against long odds, afterall, I had just attained a goal I'd coveted since childhood. But the summit was really only the halfway point. Any impulse I might have felt toward self-congratulation Read more...

Reviews, Books - Down Under by Bill Bryson Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	As I write this review it is the height of British summertime, and as I'm staring outside the window at 8:30 PM it's almost black dark out there and pouring it down with rain. Which is - to extents - to be expected, given the UK's terminally unpredictable climate. No wonder Read more...

Reviews, Films - Saw By Steve Rudd
	As if there isn't enough sick and twisted violence out there in the real world as it is, there are hordes of film-makers that feel that violence is the essential ingredient to make a winning movie. To make their movie as violent as possible often seems their aim, Read more...

Single Reviews - Mansun - Slipping Away (EMI) By Steve Rudd
	Brace yourselves, for this is the last-ever single release from those loveable Chester-based boys. Sadly, they decided to call it a day whilst recording their fourth, as-yet-unreleased album. On the upside though, and to help die-hard fans get over the initial loss, Mansun are Read more...

CD Reviews - Khi (6-track Demo) By Steve Rudd
	This quartet's high-octane How Would I Know anthem might thematically speak of all the time that people tend to waste in life, during non-productive days that serve nobody and nothing. To the contrary, this hugely exciting Hull band (that has been on the go for some years now) most Read more...

Reviews, Books - Travels in a Strange State by Josie Dew Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	A man called Jonathan Raban once said, The only way to travel is to travel alone. It opens you up to the world. It puts you in the way of luck and chance. With such a sentiment Josie Dew whole-heartedly agrees, as do I. This fantastically written book Read more...

Reviews, Books - Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	All of us take pride and pleasure in the fact that we are unique, but I'm afraid that when all is said and done the police are right: it all comes down to fingerprints. Which, I presume, means that Sedaris (who is both a highly respected playwright and author) really Read more...

Album Reviews - The Composers - Evacuate London (8-track demo) By Steve Rudd
	Compose yourself, for the music on offer here from this East London-rooted band is most excellent. Opening track Evacuate London is a jingle-jangling shot of down-to-earth, lovelorn pop music of the highest caliber, with Dan Edelstyn leading the quintet Read more...