Tone Deaf and Amrap are back in 2025, bringing you the best Australian music finds from community radio music directors and presenters.
Got music? Get it on Amrap – it’s how community stations find and play local artists. You can also hear the freshest tracks championed by community radio on the Community Radio Plus App, bringing stations from across the country into one place.
Amrap’s airplay tracking just got an upgrade. Airplay (formerly Airplay Search) is now in your Amrap artist account, giving artists who’ve uploaded music since November 1st, 2024, real-time airplay data powered by Music Recognition Technology (MRT) across the entire community radio network.
This week, Brooke Kymberly, who hosts Homebrew on PBS, selects their must-listen local tunes playing on community radio right now.
PBS Radio’s Brooke Kymberly Amrap Picks
Immy Owusu & Sensible J – “Doom Elevator”
A cut off their new collaborative EP Spiritual War, “Doom Elevator” is an apocalypse jam, perfectly capturing the valid stress response when the world spirals out of control. In Immy’s words, the song was inspired by “a dream where I was in a house collapsing around me, but I couldn’t get out because the house was my own body.” Immy and Sensible J bonded over a shared love of 1970s Zamrock, and the result of this musical friendship is an EP covering themes of injustice and the insanity of modern life, delivered [in] Immy’s idiosyncratic Afrodelik style: buoyant, spirited, and defiant.
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Naarm/Melbourne indie supergroup Dog Door continue to delight and surprise with their latest 4-track EP offering Put Me Right, showcasing the group’s shared songcraft, elevated by clever, homespun production. “No Hesitations” spotlights Tali’s timeless voice, and is a stellar example of the band’s knack for hooky, pop rock ear worms with a high
repeat value. Veterans of the local live circuit, Dog Door features musicians from sister bands Private Mountain, Tali & The Arms, and Muma Ganoush.
Australian-Indonesian community band Yarra Irama have just released their first original song “Touch On” alongside a creative DIY music video, which showcases the group’s infectious energy and community spirit.
McKimmie – “Car Buried in Snow”
What begins as a mellow, lo-fi pop song that ebbs and flows, unfolds into a surreal cinema moment – McKimmie’s haunting girl-next-door vocals echo against a tapestry of twinkling acoustic guitars and angular piano. “Car Buried in Snow” has this strangely specific, amnesia-like quality, which feels apt given the EP title, Jason Bourne. Whilst McKimmie’s 6-track offering contains homemade hits such as “Laney & Pop Song”, this song has my heart.
Finn Irregular – “Starlight” Feat. Jay Gabriel & Cazeaux O.S.L.O.
“Starlight” is the stunning leading single from Naarm-based producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Finn Irregular, off an upcoming album Flower Garden, out June 27th via Liminal Loop Records. A smooth yet hard-hitting neo-soul/R&B track, “Starlight” glows with colourful chords, cascading melodies, and soulful harmonies.
These queers are armed and ready to prescribe you a dose of mindful rock ‘n’ roll. “The one” is a taste from their impending album happy birthday, which offers fans of their self titled record a deeper insight into the band’s emotional inner world. Adorned in plate and chains, frontperson Stu soars over a frenzy of distorted guitars as the band surge into their thrashing wall of sound – a perfect storm for losing and/or finding yourself.
Here’s one for the instrumental jazz fans: a concoction of swirling synths and keys, guitars and affected saxophone. Dink are a jazz fusion four-piece from Eora/Sydney, inspired by the likes of Steely Dan, Yussef Dayes, BADBADNOTGOOD, Chick Corea, and Weather Report.
