John Shand Posts

October 18, 2018 / Album Reviews - Archive

SONGS FROM A MIDNIGHT ROOM (ericabramham.com) 8/10 In 2017 Melbourne’s Erica Bramham set about writing a song a day, sustaining the project for an impressive 203 days. This double album contains some of the results. Working in a musical world where a fine mist obscures any lines between jazz, folk,…

October 14, 2018 / Album Reviews - Archive

QUE BOM (Alobar/Planet) 8/10 More than most idioms Brazilian music has a way of sucking non-Brazilian musicians into its rhythmic, harmonic, melodic and textural vortices – aided by the dominant mood being irrepressible optimism. Once it really gets under their skin they tend to be lost causes. When it comes…

October 13, 2018 / Concert Reviews - Archive

@ Django, September 27 8/10 You don’t need to spend a day in the family courts to know that love breeds as much anguish as joy: you just have to read poetry or listen to music. Julian Curwin and Jane Sheldon’s compositions specialise in love lost, love unrequited and love…