John Shand Posts

July 15, 2018 / Features - Archive

It was news that came from nowhere. Ladysmith Black Mambazo were on tour when they heard that someone from New York wished to meet their leader, Joseph Shabalala. That someone turned out to be Paul Simon, who, to their complete amazement, wanted to work with them. At the time, after…

July 14, 2018 / Theatre Reviews - Archive

Lennox Theatre, June 30 6/10 You see it in tantalising glimpses amid the dry ice, or peeking out from a nook in the mountain of furniture detritus: a pinched facial expression; a fluttering hand; a lost-girl voice; a furtive idea; a piece of self disembodied from the rest Aanisa Vylet’s…

July 11, 2018 / Album Reviews - Archive

DISTANT EARLY WARNING (Leaf) 8.5/10 Laurence Pike has said that his “goal is to get into a space where the music makes itself”, and no musician can have higher aspirations. That he reached this zone during a single day in a recording studio to make this album can be heard…