John Shand | Music & Other Spheres Posts

May 27, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

NOT EVEN HAPPINESS (Spunk) 8.5/10 You can imagine Julie Byrnes having dreamt these songs, then awaking in the wee hours to hurriedly jot down them down. Her voice, mostly just riding on her own charming acoustic guitar, subtle electronics and Jake Falby’s restrained string arrangements, seems to float in an…

May 21, 2017 / Features - Archive

Robert Souter, one of the finest drummers Australia has ever produced, is gone. Rob always played the music rather than the drums, and did so with consummate taste and an utterly infectious sense of groove. I first heard and met Rob in 1974 in Canberra. He came through from Sydney…

May 20, 2017 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Django Bar, April 8 8/10 Nadya and Zoran’s 101 Candles Orkestra turned the Django Bar into a little crucible of multiculturalism; the Tavern at the End of Euroverse, if you will. Greeks, Anglos and Italians mingled and danced with Serbs and other Balkans, while the band was even more ethnically…