John Shand | Music & Other Spheres Posts

October 2, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

ACOUSTIC CLASSICS II (Beeswing/Planet) 8.5/10 This is Richard Thompson in the raw. No distractions, interaction or grooves. Three years after the first Acoustic Classics comes this second volume of songs stripped back to the stings and caresses of his acoustic guitar and a voice that can variously sound as if…

September 30, 2017 / Concert Reviews - Archive

The Basement, September 12 8/10 This concert was rather like Ravi Coltrane’s career: slow to start; of growing interest; utterly enthralling. The opening pieces revealed little more than a well-knit band and the accepted virtuosity. But amid overly busy playing and emotionally opaque music the promise of more was already…

September 27, 2017 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Q Theatre, September 10 7/10 Remember going to a restaurant where the food is “foreign”, and then a morsel of this and a taste of that swiftly converts you? The Sydney World Music Chamber Orchestra might be like that for many ears, but its greatest asset is its sheer exoticism,…