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, Matt Perrett, Music Director, 6RTR-FM, Perth contributes a list of Australian music from community radio you should be listening to right now.
Matt Perrett’s Community Picks
The Bures Band – “Caravan Land”
Embracing the seasonal turn to hot sunny day and warm night, West Australian folk-rock revivalists have released a new record, Fool Circle. One of the highlights is the effervescent “Caravan Land”, a dreamy, uptempo piece of cosmic Americana that builds on the band’s near-timeless sound with copper-toned jangly guitars, luscious four-part harmonies, and a never-ending groove.
No Nomad – “Watch Me Stumble (Ben Agüero Remix)”
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WA neo-soul and jazz outfit sextet have hit their stride this year with the release of Handstand. Their debut album sees the group sit in a joyfully groovy pocket that compliments vocalist Calncy Davidson’s melodies. Embracing the DIY spirit, the band enlisted Boorloo/Perth-based producer Ben Agüero to flip “Watch Me Stumble”, one of the album’s lead singles, into a tripsy footwork-inspired electronic cut that retains the jazzy core of the original while pushing it out into club land.
This debut single from Boorloo singer-songwriter Oakabella Mae has it all: lilting earworm vocal melodies, singularly intimate lyrics, folky, slow-burn build, sparse and elegant first chorus, to an outro adorned by a ripping guitar solo. A cherophobe is someone afraid of being happy; this song is not for cherophobes.
Brushtail & Tom Brown – “Happening”
Boorloo/Perth bedroom pop extraordinaires Brushtail and Tom Brown first collaborated on the release of Brown’s solo album My Holland Street Heart which was put out on Brushtail’s independent label Rockton Records. The collaboration sparked a drive to work on creating new music together, combining Brushtail’s production palette with Brown’s undeniable knack for melody and songwriting. “Happening” is the happy result of their teamwork; a jazzy DIY psych-pop cut from the duo’s EP of the same name.
Red Moon Cowboy – “A Town by the Sea”
WA-based rock group Red Moon Cowboy’s new single paints a picture of a dreamy world inspired by the environs of Kinjarling/Albany, the regional town the band grew up in. Gritty guitar riffs and razor-sharp arpeggios bolster this shoegaze-inspired cut into a tear-jerking stadium anthem that sounds as cathartic for the band as it is for a listener.
Web Rumors – “Cold Witches Cave”
’80s post-disco production and English trad folks are two sonic worlds many would consider leagues apart. For West Australian artist Web Rumors they make perfect bedfellows, as evidenced by her original electro-folk track from her latest album Travelling Circuits. The product of an English New Forest music residency, it draws on folk song material and re-harmonises it with a palette of proto-house drum machines, synthesisers, and Web Rumors’ entrancing lilting vocals.
Kankawa Nagarra – “Canning Basin Blues”
Recorded live near the home of the Walmatjarri Elder, teacher, human rights advocate, and environmental activist, “Canning Basin Blues” is a breathtakingly intimate look into the musical experience of Kankawa Nagarra. The track is from her latest album Wirlmarni and on paper would be a pretty dry recording; it’s Kankawa, her acoustic guitar and not much else. Nonetheless, this stripped-back, bluesy stomper is packed full of dynamism and gravitas and will have listeners hanging on to the Queen of the Bandaral Ngadu Delta’s every word.
This immaculate modern neo-soul is taken from Your Girl Pho’s debut album Fate So Wrong. The Boorloo/Perth-born songwriter, now based in Naarm/Melbourne, is backed by a virtuosic band on this universally relatable cut about perpetual lateness (literal and figurative), weaving a cavalier pop sensibility with a deliciously refined jazz sound.