Tone Deaf and Amrap are continuing in 2024 to ask music directors or presenters at some of the finest community stations around Australia to share their best Australian music finds discovered on amrap.org.au.
If you haven’t got your music on Amrap, what are you waiting for? Community radio uses Amrap to source Australian music for airplay.
Anyone can discover all the great Australian music championed by community radio on the Community Radio Plus App, featuring the diverse range of community radio stations nationwide in one handy spot.
This week, Mick & Jules, hosts of The Tuckshop on Syndey’s 2SER-FM contribute a list of Australian music from community radio you should be listening to right now.
Mick’s Community Picks
Prepare to lose yourself in the immersive warmth of Brisbane’s Nice Biscuit who have just dropped their third album and this, the title track, is a perfect example of psych done right. There’s a tangible wistfulness to their sound and their recording style of splitting the instruments from the lyrics highlights the layers of musicality that lay the foundation for the dreaminess of [Billie] Star and [Grace] Cuell. It’s not just nice, it’s niiiiicceeee…
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DRMNGNOW has been releasing powerful cuts for over half a decade and is continually pushing the boundaries between dance, hip-hop, poetry, and powerful lyrics meant to awaken and empower. “Garra” means “now” in Yorta Yorta and is a callout to the precarious nature of our cultures and society in this divisive world, and the powerful lyrics juxtapose the self-produced menagerie of smooth sounds on this track. This, his third single of the year, comes after a three-year break, and his return has been a breath of hope and fresh air in a sea of uncertainty.
Close Counters – “ON THE MOVE” (ft. Tiana Khasi)
Melbourne’s Close Counters have been giving us killer grooves for years, but their new track, in collaboration with Brisbane’s Tiana Khasi, again shows their skill at working with up-and-coming hot Australian vocalists. (You need to also check out their 2021 track with Allysha Joy, “SPEAK IN TRUTH!”). As they move into a new phase after their mind-blowing album of last year, SOULACOASTER II, Close Counters are stepping up to the pinnacle of experimental dance grooves, disco cuts, and choice samples sure to get you moving, dancing and getting lost in the rhythm.
Lottie McLeod – “So Much Better”
The story of Lottie McLeod is still just beginning, but it is already full of heartache, heartbreak, and hope. The 18-year old from Brisbane learnt guitar from her sadly now-departed father and carries on his legacy by creating warm, beautifully written pop songs that showcase her natural skill at writing from her own experience but still relating to us all.
“So Much Better” is another brilliant step in her young career which has already seen her score the Billy Thorpe Scholarship Award courtesy of QMusic and Arts Queensland, that will lead towards her debut EP, Bug, in early 2025. This track adds more layers than ever, some soaring backing vocals, showing off a more upbeat rhythm and flexing her pop-rock chops to fill your soul. Jump into Lottie McLeod’s orbit now, because she is starting to soar.
Jules’ Community Picks
One of the highlights of BIGSOUND 2024, Western Sydney’s tiffi is just starting to turn people’s heads with her tightly coiled indie pop. Her recent EP, Cold Medicine, is stacked full of slickly written tracks like “poison” and “chemtrails,” and its bolshy closer “hell,” which sees tiffi ponder getting older over a clattering beat. It’s clever, it’s charismatic, and most importantly it’s a hell of a lot of fun.
Speaking of BIGSOUND, another artist that garnered more than a little attention was Sydney’s total tommy – who you might have once known by another artist moniker, Essie Holt. Gearing up for the release of her debut album, total tommy has dropped a string of singles throughout 2024, “Real” being one of the more recent cuts. “Don’t wake me up, it’s so real,” total tommy sings through shimmering curtains of guitars, fretting over a lost relationship. It’s urgent alt-rock with deep roots in ‘90s shoegaze, and it’s totally enthralling.
Those of us who grew up on a steady diet of The Smiths and The Cure will find a lot to like in the jangling polyrhythms of Naarm’s Radio Free Alice. The icy, pinballing guitars that open “Johnny” could have been carved straight from [Johnny] Marr’s guitar, relentlessly pushing along Noah Learmonth’s anxious vocals.
“Johnny” is a slice of their new EP Polyester, which follows their self-titled debut from 2023. The band have just finished an extensive tour of the UK/Europe, where you imagine they’ll find a bevy of fans to add to their growing legion of admirers back home.
