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, Will Backler, Muisc Director of 6RTR FM in Perth, contributes with a selection of tracks currently making their way to community radio through Amrap’s music distribution service ‘AirIt’.
Check out Will’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.
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When she’s not busy fronting Melbourne collective 30/70, Allysha Joy can be find making her own unique brand of jazz infused hip-hop meets neo-soul. ‘Selfish’ sees her pairing a subtle boom-bap style beat with soulful keys and a smooth, groove-laden bassline in an interesting arrangement, showcasing not only her incredible vocal range, but also her skills as a musician and producer.
Sydney trio Retiree have been refining their take on synth-pop meets new wave sounds, coming to an apex with their latest single ‘Another Day’. Easing in with an understated beat, reverb-drenched synths and guitars, and vocalist Tori Holleman’s restrained, emotional vocals.
Lyrically channeling a stream of consciousness style, ‘Another Day’ eventually builds to a perfectly executed chorus, sure to cause impromptu sing-alongs wherever it is heard.
Kurushimi – ‘Yuruyaka na shi no ma no kanbi naru mezame’
What do you get when you combine elements of free jazz, metal, noise, ambient and prog? You get Sydney deconstructionist jazz outfit Kurushimi, of course.
Lifted from their incredible new album What Is Chaos, ‘Yuruyaka na shi no ma no kanbi naru mezame’ (try saying that fast three times in a row) is a more understated cut from the album, starting off as a drone piece with minimal double bass and brass building in intensity and climaxing in an organised cacophony of satisfying noise.
No Nomad – ‘Find Some Friends’
The latest group to emerge from Perth’s burgeoning neo-soul scene are young up-and-comers No Nomad, recently turning in their first single, ‘Find Some Friends’.
A track of two parts, the first half of the song is a sultry slow-jam before picking up the pace to upper tempo funked-out soul sounds, leaving us excited for what No Nomad release next.
BB & The Blips – ‘Materialist Girl’
Channelling the original punks of the mid-’70s are Sydney’s BB & The Blips, forming in 2017 and already delivering a blistering full-length in the form of Shame Job.
The latest single from it, ‘Materialist Girl’, is a perfectly executed raw and raucous tune featuring perfectly appropriate unpolished production, with vocalist BB singing an ode to feminist and social activist Selma James, who was involved with the occupation of the Church of the Holy Cross in London by sex workers in 1982.
After playing in a number of acts including Kučka and Injured Ninja, Perth’s Jake Steele underwent a transformation to become Tobacco Rat, with a mission to craft intricately constructed off-kilter club sounds, with an emphasis on complex, detailed sound design.
‘Unearth’ is his latest creation of twisted electronics, pairing industrial techno influenced percussion with a dubstep-style arrangement, chock-full of snarling synths and growling basslines, with some breakbeats thrown in for good measure.
Appropriately forming as a political protest band in our nation’s capital, Canberra-based four-piece Glitoris are here to call out inequality and societal norms that should no be normal.
Decidedly more sonically subdued than previous single ‘Split Hood’, ‘The Policy’ is a perfect self-help anthem for 2018, evolving from downtempo rock with vocal harmonies and pizzicato strings to an epic, full-blown symphonic crescendo.
While only her second single, Perth’s Jamilla makes a strong statement with ‘King’ – a delightful alternative R&B cut, with emotional keys, a slow-mo hip-hop beat, and a range of pitched vocal samples complimenting Jamilla’s stunning voice, and rounding out an exciting take on modern soul sounds.
