John Shand Posts

April 14, 2018 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Camelot Lounge, March 29 5.5/10 The dust fell from my ears. The cowboy album that had so excited me was just a recording, after all, and recordings can be manipulated as infinitely as the sun bakes the desert. While Sydney’s Dusty Ravens remain worthy of attention, they have some serious…

April 13, 2018 / Features - Archive

Try lumping Jeff Beck with Madonna, or putting Duran Duran in the same sentence as avant-gardist Laurie Anderson, or maybe David Bowie with Al Jarreau. Not only does Nile Rodgers have a way of doing that, but part of his secret is skipping sleep. Among the world’s most in-demand record…

April 11, 2018 / Album Reviews - Archive

BLOOD & BONE (joannawallfisch.com) 7/10 Joanna Wallfisch often puts a gloss upon her songs: a shiny surface on which the listener my safely glide over the lyrics’ emotional barbs and snags. The result is that much of her (admittedly uneven) work could easily be dismissed as merely pleasant, when in…