John Shand | Music & Other Spheres Posts

January 29, 2019 / Theatre Reviews - Archive

Carriageworks, January 18 6.5/10 Everyone is addicted to something, whether smart-phones, religion, shopping or sex. In The Weekend assorted drugs and alcohol are the addictions of choice. First-time playwright Henrietta Baird is non-judgemental about this. Like the rest of us, her characters are just trying to cope. Lara is addicted…

January 27, 2019 / Theatre Reviews - Archive

Carriageworks, January 16 5.5/10 Ah, the dangers of improvisation. This was a stimulating idea, both dramatically and morally: a play about parole and rehabilitation, partially performed by ex-offenders, with audience participation in deciding whether an offender, Les (Les Wiggins) faces a future of freedom or a return to jail. The…

January 26, 2019 / Album Reviews - Archive

MUDANG ROCK (Fractal/Birdland) 9/10 Let no early notes foster expectations, because they’re sure to be dashed by music that keeps shifting shape and slithering out of reach. Initiated by guitarist Henry Kaiser, the project uses traditional Korean music to underpin seven improvisations. Kaiser assembled Sydney’s Simon Barker (the ultimate western…