Community radio music directors often have an encyclopedic 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, Patty and Maddy Mac, presenters of 3PBS-FM’s Homebrew, contribute with a selection of tracks currently making their way to community radio through Amrap’s music distribution service ‘AirIt’.
Check out Patty and Maddy Mac’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.
This week’s 6 best Australian artists
Spiral Perm started out as two-piece psych-garage project between long time friends Ali E and Kate Koomen. They’ve since added bass player Rita Khayat into the mix, with wonderful results.
A great place to start is listening to their two-track EP from earlier this year. Recorded and mixed by John Guscott at Repatone Studios in late 2017, Just because you can’t see it (doesn’t mean it’s not there) included a track recorded straight to vinyl (‘Santa At NASA’). Well worth a listen. (Patty)
Oetha is a stunning trio from Melbourne made up of Indigenous MCs Lady Lash, Miss Hood and Dizzy Doolan. The group’s title stands for Our Earth This Hearts Acknowledges, and their debut single ‘Sista Girl’ is a solid slice of hip hop. Stylistically, it’s a perfect throwback to classic rap and hip hop (think NY Fly Girls) – so catchy and cruisey.
And then the lyrics deliver integral messages for the present, with shout-outs to the mummas, to all the tidda girls, to the queens who keep families together, to the sisters on the streets, single mums raising babies, and independent women taking on the world – ‘keep your head up’. This is an anthem. (Maddy)
While Melbourne regularly get its tires pumped up over the quality of the underground electronic scene, there is much to like about what’s coming out of Adelaide. Artists like Mic Mills, Arthur Miles and now a wonderful duo named Warren Raww.
The pair really impressed with Ross, their debut EP out through Manchester label Natural Sciences. Their new track ‘Wish U Well’ is the first taste of a second EP to be released later this year. (Patty)
Horizons is new single from Xavia, who was once part of sibling duo BrotherSister. Having moved to Alice Springs, Xavia’a music making has been informed by her new surroundings and its landscape. A stunning voice with a moving musical arrangement, at times reminding me of Ainslie Wills. Definitely one to watch. (Maddy)
Waak Waak Djungi – ‘Mother, I’m Going‘
Waak Waak Djungi is a 1997 project of Bobby Bunnungurr, Jimmy Djamunba and Peter Milaynga (d. 2007) – three Yolŋu songmen from Northeast Arnhem land – in collaboration with Victorian musician Peter Mumme.
While the original album, Crow Fire Dreaming, received only quiet appreciation (though it was well known in the Yolŋu region), a copy of the CD was found in the library of Melbourne community radio station 3RRR. The new album, Waak Waak ga Min Min, includes five contemporary versions of original album tracks, and one previously unreleased piece, ‘Gandi Bawong’.
Take a listen to the long jam ‘Mother I’m Going’, Jimmy’s tribute to Mother Earth. (Maddy)
Ghanian-Australian wunderkind Genesis Owusu is an artist on the rise. The Canberra-based rapper this year signed to the Niche Talent Agency, a roster that includes contemporaries like Sampa The Great.
There is something fresh and lucid about Genesis Owusu’s style. Perhaps it comes from having influences reaching far beyond his chosen genre. Just last year, at the ripe old age of 19, he teamed up with members of Hiatus Kaiyote to produce his breakout single ‘Sideways’. (Patty)
