John Shand Posts

October 18, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

THE MANGO BALLOON VOLUME 4 (Romero/Newmarket) 9/10 Julian Curwin loves opening trap-doors between set-in-stone idioms and, in that sudden transfer of light and ideas, emancipating music from all slavishness to genre. Why he is not the most in-demand film composer in Australia – the world! – I don’t know, as…

October 16, 2017 / Concert Reviews - Archive

ICC Sydney Theatre, September 23 4.5/10 Too often child stars self-destruct. Not only has Tina Arena survived, she has maintained a career at a certain pitch of success for four decades, and on her own terms. No mean feat. The voice, of course, is the reason, and it remains a…

October 12, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

THE MUSICIAN (Concerd/Planet) 9.5/10 A couple of years ago I introduced – with some wariness – scores out of 10 with these reviews. The implication of the 9.5 score accompanying this one is not so much that the music consistently approaches perfection as that I can’t imagine that, as a…