As the Australian music scene begins to enter a cautious state of normalcy following a few difficult years, 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 the new global environment after these last two years, 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’ve turned to the Music Directors and presenters at some of the amazing community stations from around the country to get their latest favourite Australian music discoveries from Amrap.
Matthew Perrett, Music Director of Perth’s RTRFM, kicks off the 2022 edition of 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.
Check out The Mackerels’ ‘To The Water’:
The Mackerels – ‘To The Water’
Jangly Boorloo/Perth five-piece The Mackerels are back with ‘To The Water’, a spacious excursion through undeniably Australian indie rock, and the epic standout moment off forthcoming debut album Driving Under.
Boorloo/Perth based new wave act Web Rumors (Em Burrows) returns in 2022 with ‘Heaven’, a deep pre-house dancefloor burner inspired by the New York club scene of the 1980s. It follows on from her 2021 sophomore LP New Tricks which featured the yearning synth-laden lead single ‘New Wave Heartache’ and disco-adjacent ‘Moving On’.
Check out Blood Knows’ ‘Bumblebee’:
Blood Knows returns with ‘Bumblebee’, bringing together influences from New York boogie and electro funk with lighthearted dead-pan vocals and a sensitive approach to classic electronic production – adds to an ever growing body of work from the self-produced act.
Following on from their politically charged last single ‘Call’, Downsyde drop ‘Winding Road’, their latest slice of street soul hip-hop, featuring vocalist Sam Nafie who appeared on the band’s previous single, ‘Odds’.
Check out Mal De Mer’s ‘Pray To You’:
Mal de Mer’s latest single from their upcoming sophomore EP is an interlocking dance between the drums, bass and piano underpins gritty guitar lines, floating synth swells, and jazz inspired interludes.
Perth/Boorloo bedroom producer and multi-instrumentalist Hector Morlet releases his neon, retro-laced single ‘Party…ahaha’ taking pop sensibilities and stereotypes from television intro songs and sing-song jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and morphing it into an irresistible earworm.
Check out Siobhan Cotchin’s ‘Tuscon’:
Intimate, world building alt-country from the Perth/Boorloo artist – centring around a narrator that is being held captive by their small-town mentality and backed by a wonderful neo-western soundtrack.
No Nomad – ‘I Get Scared (700 Feel Remix)’
An eclectic chopped and screwed re-imagining of No Nomad’s jazz sound into a new electronic vision by Sydney/Eora duo 700 Feel – a warped, twisted, and exciting take on the sic piece’s nu-jazz sound.
