News

The prompt to write this news item was a mid morning conversation with Lol Cooper, ‘The Lol Cooper Band’ leader and director: about the seemingly rapid passage of time since the completion of the band’s last album ‘Soul to Sun’ as we pondered on just how long it had been since the album’s release. As… Read More

Lol Cooper Band – Album Review of Soul to Sun by Eamonn O’Neal, Journalist and BBC Radio Presenter Imagine the spirit of Stockport, the dream visions of Chaucer and the imagination of Game of Thrones encasing spectacular music and video production, and you start to get close to Soul to Sun. The Lol Cooper Band… Read More

I saw the show by the Lol Cooper Band in the New Mills Art Theatre. The strange thing is, although it was just a film – or more exactly, an ultra high resolution digital video projected onto the screen – I had the sensation they were really there in front of me. The live sections… Read More

Katherine Mansfield died a hundred years ago at The Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man, Fontainebleau, France, after running up a flight of stairs in high spirits following time spent with her husband John Middleton Murry paying her a visit. Perhaps it was over exertion in a frail body, ravaged by illness, or just… Read More

Twelfth Night 2023: continuing from a post about Geoff Mann, in to the here and now; twelve days of Christmas. As we move towards the close of 2022, in the first half of the present festive season with its bridging twelve days of Christmas, it seems appropriate to mention along with the poetic theme of… Read More

Now and again, over forty plus years, a musician would pass through Stockport’s Cavalier Studios, and leave their mark; not only by the music they made but by the raised level of their being; creating an ambiance of attraction for others hearing about them though not actually meeting in the flesh. Geoff Mann is one of… Read More

Neville Cardus was the chief music critic for the Manchester Guardian from 1927 to 1940. He had also been cricket correspondent for the news paper since 1919, and continued in this role, holding positions as a sports (cricket) and music journalist simultaneously. Like his literary hero Charles Dickens, he was prone to hyperbole in his… Read More

Difficult to define, yet not so if you see what you hear. The Lol Cooper Band evolved from Cavalier Recording Studios in Stockport over many years, which saw a number of musicians passing through the studio, who heard sounds in colour, we have one in the current LCB line up. This is where it  becomes… Read More

New Mills Art Theatre near the Derbyshire and Cheshire border, on the edge of the Peak District, is celebrating one hundred years of opening its doors as a two tier local venue. A production of Lionel Barts musical Oliver, based on the Charles Dickens 1838 novel of the same name is to be staged at… Read More

Before I officially joined the Lol Cooper Band, I was asked to master the final mixes for the then forthcoming release Poetry & Fairytales. I have mastered over 250 albums and singles over the years, but to the best of my knowledge this was the first recording by Lol I had the pleasure of fettling… Read More

Well what an emotive subject in the world of Pro-Audio.  For every Sound Engineer out there, there will be a different opinion as to which is ‘best’, as it’s far from cut and dry. Maybe it’s more of a spectrum – analogue this with a smattering of digital here, or perhaps all digital recording with… Read More

Poetry & Fairytales Steve Turton (drummer from Ian Toomey’s band) Poetry comments – Braddy’s poetry…divine and meaningful…one complex and impressive guy. Visually and sonically, this is a great trip. Spinning World – my favourite Bradder’s poem…well done buddy n blends in with Made for Girls beautifully. Packaging comments – First of all, the packaging is… Read More

  Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual effects/post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues (chroma range). The technique has been used heavily in many fields to remove a background from the subject of a photo or video – particularly the newscasting, motion picture and video game… Read More

In 1999, Paul Sinclair performed a gig at the Greyhound pub in Cheadle Hulme. Whilst there, he stumbled across a magazine which promoted local pubs and an article about the Stockport Karaoke League caught his eye. Paul featured in the magazine as an artist and ended up being approached by the editor of the magazine,… Read More

Certainly the most exciting and innovative release of 2018 is ‘Poetry & Fairytales’ by the Lol Cooper Band. You’ve probably not come across either, but it’s worth checking out both. ‘Poetry & Fairytales’ is a sumptuous, multi-media, progressive rock extravaganza; beautifully crafted and well delivered, the package contains a seventy-minute CD and an opulent (and… Read More

Hi, I’m Lol Cooper. If you are starting out on a new venture, there are usually a whole host of ground rules to consider. Certainly, building a studio from scratch will require research, knowledge, an understanding of the industry and purchase of equipment. You must consider premises and location, noise getting in and noise getting… Read More

Where the Cheshire plain is proffered eastward towards bordering counties, the distance opens out from peripheral Greater Manchester and the ground rises into the hill country of North West Derbyshire’s High Peak. From upper vantage points on the moorland plateau, the vista returns and looks westward as it stretches out across flatter lands. It extends… Read More