Community radio music directors often have an encyclopaedic knowledge of local music and an insatiable thirst to keep their ears ahead of the curve. So in this Tone Deaf series, the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (Amrap) invites music directors to highlight new Aussie tunes that you might have missed.
In this edition, Cam Durnsford from PBS FM in Melbourne contributes with a selection of tracks currently making their way to community radio through Amrap’s music distribution service ‘AirIt’.
Check out Cam’s selections below and if you’re a musician you can apply here to have your music distributed for free to community radio on Amrap’s AirIt.
Corin – ‘Void’
The second taste of Corin Ileto’s forthcoming Virtuality EP – her first for Melbourne label Wondercore Island – is another beguiling piece of formless electronica, paired with one of the most jaw-dropping videos I’ve seen in a good while. Sonically and visually there are echoes of Venezuelan uber-producer Arca and his frequent collaborator Jesse Kanda – Corin and visual artist Tristan Jalleh immersing us in a dystopia that isn’t a world away from our current lot.
Corin’s live performances betray her origins as a classically trained pianist and bring with them an intensity that you might not expect from a solo artist with a few synths and a sampler. There’s a physicality about it that is at once beautiful and brutal – much like the dark realm depicted in ‘Void’.
The Peep Tempel – ‘Totality’
Is there a better storyteller in Australian music than The Peep Tempel’s Blake Scott right now? I think not. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of the band’s third album Joy about six weeks ago and have not stopped listening to it since. The narrative world the band creates and the characters that occupy it have an uncanny familiarity about them; this, and the fact that the songs are just so fucking good makes every tune on the record feel like an instant classic.
That’s not to say they’re wheeling out the exact same formula as 2014’s breakthrough Tales here. Lead single ‘Rayguns’ says more about the dire state of our national psyche and global politics than it does about the minutiae of the domestic relationships that seem to be the plot device for many of The Peep Tempel’s songs, while ‘Totality’ ventures into more surreal waters (see what I did there) than we’ve encountered before.
Julia Jacklin – ‘Pool Party’
It’s hard to pick one track, but this opening cut from Sydney artist Julia Jacklin’s Don’t Let the Kids Win is a good contender for standout on an incredibly assured debut. Jacklin weaves elements of indie rock and alt-country into something that’s evocative of contemporaries like Angel Olsen or Sharon Van Etten, and yet entirely her own across the 11 tracks.
‘Pool Party’ is among the more plaintive moments. While Jacklin’s exquisite voice is obviously a major focus, the arrangements and production are also top notch.
Prequel – ‘Saints Ft. Cazeaux O.S.L.O.’
The first time I heard this I thought it was a Theo Parrish jam! The jazzy feel and the declaration of black pride wouldn’t be out of place in one of Detroit legend’s 12”s – no doubt Melbourne’s Prequel has a few of those in his collection. Taken from Freedom Jazz Dance Prequel’s second release for UK label Rhythm Section International, this one is guaranteed to get a heavy rinse on Melbourne dancefloors for the foreseeable future.
I remember the first time I heard LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Losing My Edge’ I went straight out and found out everything I could about all the artists James Murphy namechecks at the end. Thanks to Melbourne MC Cazeaux O.S.L.O.’s contribution, ‘Saints’ might have the same effect for many.
Wet Lips/Cable Ties – ‘Shame/Cut Me Down’
Two slices of vital garage punk from a couple of Melbourne’s current live favourites, lending life to the one of my favourite formats – the double A-side split 7”. Cable Ties debut 7” from earlier this year has already become the stuff of Discogs speculators – blink and you’ll miss this one too.
‘Shame’ kicks off with a buzzsaw SG sound that takes me to Brisbane ’76 with some killer three-part harmonies on the hook, while ‘Cut Me Down’ takes one of the Ties’ signature post-punk bass lines as an anchor for Jenny McKechnie’s wail and shred. Both cuts are a defiant middle-finger salute to the patriarchy – sadly, somehow still necessary in 2016.
friendships – ‘The Roof’
Heavy, heavy vibe from this stunning audiovisual duo. Much has been said about how artists draw inspiration from pain and suffering – though perhaps not often as directly as in this case. ‘The Roof’ has its genesis in friendships’ Misha Grace having a near-death experience after falling from a Brooklyn rooftop a few years back.
Thankfully she was OK, and friendships have only gotten better for the experience, with a triumphant set at Golden Plains and then the best Australian electronic album of the year in Nullarbor 1988-1989. Grace’s visuals are an essential component of what friendships do, and only serve to intensify Nic Brown’s dark take on jungle and techno (and other things besides) – if you haven’t yet, see them live as soon as you can.
