As the Australian music scene begins to re-emerge from COVID-related lockdowns, community radio Music Directors and presenters from around the country have shone a light on the finest local talent doing the rounds today.
While many of us are adjusting to a new sense of normality after 2020, Australian musicians are still facing enormous limitations in working opportunities to support and sustain their careers. Exposure is more important than ever and ironically harder to come by in today’s media landscape.
The Australian Music Radio Airplay Project – best known as Amrap – offers Australian musicians a pathway to airplay to the many community stations who have long championed Australian music of all stripes. Providing exposure often before anyone else, community radio is a strong and unique network immune to passing trends.
In this Tone Deaf series, we’ll turn to the Music Directors and presenters at some of the amazing community stations from around the country and get their latest favourite Australian music discoveries from Amrap.
Matthew Perrett, Music Director at 6RTR-FM in Perth, continues this series with Australian music available on Amrap to help compile a playlist of the best homegrown tunes doing the rounds on community radio for you to sink your teeth into.
“RTRFM has always felt like a home for me. It seems almost cliche to say that about a community radio station but it’s the simplest way I can describe it.”
Perrett recently took over as Music Director of Perth’s 6RTR-FM, a station with a mission to source and present local culture and a crucial view on the incredible range of Australian music being produced all over the country. As Perrett explains:
“RTRFM has always felt like a home for me. It seems almost cliche to say that about a community radio station but it’s the simplest way I can describe it. Each day is fresh, holds new surprises and some incredibly deep, diverse and unique musical offerings – mostly from all our passionate volunteer presenters and DJs. Thumping braindance techno can give way to sensitive stripped back folk or buttery smooth neo-soul in the space of an hour (or even a single track). It’s one of the reasons I happily embrace each day at the station so heartily.
“This list is a love letter to RTR’s presenters, the music they play, the artists who make the tunes and Australian community radio as a whole. All of these tracks are some of my favourites I’ve heard around the station over the past month and can all be found on the Amrap website – check ‘em out!”
Check out ‘PRETTYB0YZ’ by Shady Nasty:
Eora Country/Sydney’s Shady Nasty consistently blur the lines between genres, smashing post-rock, hip-hop, metal and club leaning electronics into a condensed vignette of modern youth. PRETTYB0YZ’ echoes the internal pressure of the contemporary social landscape immaculately – frenetic, repetitive, immediate and intense.
Together, Naarm/Melbourne based Teether & Kuya Neil make future-focused rap informed by modern club styles like footwork, gqom and bass music. Hyper-modern production meets Teether’s nonchalant vocal delivery on ‘Lung’ – the result is four minutes of hazy hybrid R&B that blends contemporary sounds with experimental flourishes into a wonderful singular track.
Playful, slick, and visceral; the first single from the elusive Boorloo/Perth duo in three years is a welcome return to form. Combining the talents of two of WA’s most loved musicians, Josh Chan and Jack Arbuckle, ‘Lavenda”s synth driven slinky bounce dips, dives and twirls with an unpredictable groove that remains magnetic from start to finish.
Check out ‘Sounder’ by The Community Chest:
The Community Chest – ‘Sounder’
The 1973 Hammond Organ was voted the worst Hammond organ of all time – Borloo’s The Community Chest were naturally determined to write a song on one. Taking inspiration from the sounds of a sewing machine, 19th century American history and incorporating modern drum machines and instruments the beloved indie-pop group’s latest is a coasty keyboard driven jam and an instant local classic.
‘Delicate power pop’ isn’t a combination of words you’d frequently see together to describe music, however, that’s exactly what Borloo-based artist Tanaya Harper does on ‘Montreal’. Fragility, escapism, longing and recklessness ooze out of the tracks stripped back sonics – a wind down anthem that unpacks the beginning of the end of a relationship.
Ignoring RTRFM’s relationship with contemporary dance music would be silly – handily enough Borloo born, Naarm-based producer Consulate comes with the bassweight on this one. Militant percussion, a bone shaking bassline, smoked-out alien synth lines and trippy chopped up vocal snippets makeup ‘Spec 4’ – this one’s for the latest of nights (or the earliest of mornings).
Check out ‘Silk’ by Moktar:
Traditional Arabic percussion, abyss-deep sub-bass and an inimitable ear for emotionally stirring club sounds are what Naarm-based Egyptian-Australian producer brings to the table with this track from his debut EP – is an expansive and expressive exploration of techno and IDM through the lens of Arabic percussion and instrumentation.
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks – ‘Mountains of Wind & Rainbows’
Laidback, low-slung and deeply soulful; ‘Mountains of Wind & Rainbows’ showcases Emma Donovan & The Putbacks at their chilled out jam-band best. Jazzy undulations of melody flow throughout this cut taken from their stellar Under These Streets – it’s a track that very much lives up to its title.
