Category: News

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Don Spencer Celebrates Big Milestones

As a kid growing up in a time before the Wiggles and Hi-5, Don Spencer created some of the first music I got excited about. I watched him religiously on Play School and Feathers, Fur, or Fins was a permanent fixture in my tape player. So I got a little bit teary watching this video commemorating Don’s latest career milestones. He’s now clocked up 60 years in the music business. His charity, Australian Children’s Music Foundation, is also celebrating its 20th birthday.

I wasn’t really aware of all the great work Don’s doing bringing music to children in schools, juvenile justice centres, and hospitals all over the country but gee it’s inspiring. What a legend!

If like me, watching this video has made you nostalgic for the good old days, or you want to introduce your kids to his incredible body of work, it’s all now available digitally.

“We are so grateful to work with Don Spencer, a trailblazer in children’s music, who has done so much in this field. We are thrilled to have his catalogue available via digital partners – making it even more widely accessible than before!” confirmed Natalie Waller, the head of ABC Music & Events.

So fire up your favourite streaming service and give “Bob the Kelpie” or “Please Don’t Call Me a Koala Bear” another listen!

Image used with permission from Revolutions per Minute

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

HALO Vocal Ensemble Announce Intimate Night Cat Show

Melbourne’s HALO Vocal Ensemble are back with a special show at The Night Cat on Saturday 23 April. If you don’t know HALO Vocal Ensemble, there’s no better time to familiarise yourself with their talents. These incredible vocalists put their stamp on RnB, soul, jazz, gospel, and hip hop classics. I’m talking tunes from Nina Simone, Chaka Khan, Outkast, and Destiny’s Child reinterpreted like only HALO Vocal Ensemble can.

Led by powerhouse vocalist Liona Tatafu, HALO Vocal Ensemble shows always feature a revolving roster of artists. With DJ MzRisk, Emma Volard, and Strictly D.T already announced, you can bet there’ll be a couple of surprise appearances as well. This clip from the Melbourne International Jazz Festival gives you just a little taste of what they can do.

HALO Vocal Ensemble sold-out shows at the Melbourne Music Week x Melbourne Museum Summer Plaza Series and Melbourne International Jazz Festival in 2021, so you can bet the remaining tickets for this April 23 show at The Night Cat won’t last long. Head to Moshtix to get yours.

Image used with permission from This Much Talent

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Roady4Roadies Supports Music Crews

The arts industry has really taken a hit over the last couple of years. Our favourite performers are the public face of the struggle, but spare a thought for the more than 22,500 crew members who’ve also been stripped of their livelihood during the pandemic. Roady4Roadies is an annual event that puts them in the spotlight, and it’s happening this May.

Roady4Roadies, organised by CrewCare, raises awareness of the critical role that music crew play in the industry we all love. It’s also a whole lot of fun with a neighbourhood walk, family activities, and live entertainment. I know how much you’ve also missed that.

“The pandemic has seen the loss of at least eight stadium events in Adelaide. Each of these events has meant the loss of 450 production crew roles, 600 stadium staff roles and more than 250 subcontractor roles at a minimum of one week’s equivalent work. Multiply that by 5 major cities and that is 20500 crew who lost two month’s work each year since 2020 at minimum,” explained Peter Darwin, a freelance site manager. These are just the stadium events let alone the 52 plus entertainment centre shows … The industry is very, very damaged.”

Profits from Roady4Roadies go directly to Support Act’s “Crew” Fund. The tickets, available from Moshtix, are a steal at just $20. Get yours for a Roady4Roadies event near you and show your support.

1 May 2022 – Palais Theatre, St Kilda (Melbourne event 11 am start)
1 May 2022 – Lake Monger Recreation Club, Wembley (Perth event 11 am start)
1 May 2022 – Coopers Stadium, Hindmarsh (Adelaide event 11:30am start)
1 May 2022 – The Salty Dog, Kingston Beach (Hobart event 11:30 am start)
7 May 2022 – The Triffid, Fortitude Valley (Brisbane event 11am start)
7 May 2022 – Darwin Entertainment Centre, Darwin City (11am start)
7 May 2022 – Victoria Theatre, Newcastle (11:30 am start)
7 May 2022 – Hard Rock Cafe, Sydney (midday start)

Image used with permission from Ferris Davies PRM

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Gareth Leach Back and Bold With “God’s Walking Out On Me”

Rock country outlaw Gareth Leach is back with a ballsy new single “God’s Walking Out On Me.” It’s unapologetically brash, with punk and rock influences bringing edge to the classic country sound. If you like your Americana with a shot of whiskey, this one will be right up your alley.

COVID has put the kibosh on a lot of opportunities to see Gareth play, but you can catch him at a couple of festivals this year. Hopefully the pandemic eases and we get a few more dates between these ones.

26 & 27 March 2022 – Country by the River @ Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
3 & 4 December 2022 – Mornington Country Music Festival @ The Briars, Mornington Peninsula

Image used with permission from Rock This Country

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Amber Farnan Embraces Softer Side With “Muse”

Cairns indie-pop songstress Amber Farnan has won me over with her sweet new single “Muse.” It’s a dreamy romantic track, the sort of song Amber could never have imagined writing when she began creating music.

“Twelve-year-old Amber promised herself that she would never write a love song. Nineteen-year-old Amber finally caved,” she admitted.”’Muse’ was written around the notion of being inspired by someone, with them ultimately being your source of inspiration towards creativity as an artist. Whether its poetry, art, theatre or dance, both modern and historic art forms utilise muses as their inspiration.

“I would like for listeners to be able to relate to the song in some way, whether that be through shared experience or through hopes and dreams. I think that ‘Muse’ has a universal feeling of relatability and no matter who you are, I am damn sure you have dreamed about someone falling in love with you before.”

Amber will launch the single and its music video at The Tanks in Cairns on March 4. Click here for tickets.

Image used with permission from Footstomp Music

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

2021: Year in Review

I’ve been writing these end-of-year wraps since I started Sounds of Oz. They used to be a way for me to reminisce about all the great things I’d seen and heard over the year before kicking up my heels. Last year they simply reminded me how few shows I’d seen before I let the New Year go by with barely a whimper. This year sadly is a little worse. At least 2020 had three good months before this COVID thing hit! While things got moving locally for a while, I miss those big international shows. I’ve got a few on my calendar for next year, so let’s hope they come off. Until then, thank god for those albums. If you haven’t already listened to the ones below, perhaps you could check them out during your own low-key New Years’ celebration! Thanks for reading everyone, and let’s hope that 2022 brings us better and brighter times.

Top 10 Albums of 2021

  1. Restless Dream – Bob Weatherall, Halfway, and William Barton
  2. 3 – Ngaiire
  3. into the great unknown – Pierce Brothers
  4. A Flower in the Weeds – Joe Mungovan
  5. If I Leave You In the Fire – Saint Lane
  6. The Space Between – Illy
  7. people just do good things sometimes – Pinkish Blu
  8. Armageddon – Between You & Me
  9. The Neverending Glory – Vaudeville Smash
  10. Holding On For My Life – Harry J Hart

Top Shows for 2021

  1. Hamilton
  2. Ben Folds
  3. Chant Du Vin
  4. Tim Freedman
  5. Rent
  6. Chess

Image source: ginnerobot @ Flickr

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Genesis Owusu, The Kid LAROI Take Out Top Honours at 2021 ARIA Awards

The ARIA Awards are done and dusted for another year, with Genesis Owusu and The Kid LAROI making the biggest splash at the 2021 ceremony. I’ve got to say, I really like the awards online. I love seeing them commercial-free and appreciate the opportunity to watch the entire event, not just the awards deemed popular enough for airtime. World music, jazz, blues, the work of engineers and producers, it all deserves to be celebrated.

However, I felt this year’s award ceremony was missing those moments that become talking points. As I sat through the highlights from past years, I marvelled at some of the top collaborations. I understand the pandemic is still impacting these kinds of events (although there wasn’t a mask to be seen at the party!), but with last year’s star-studded performance of “I Am Woman” we saw how well we could navigate these extraordinary circumstances. Props to the performers who did give it their all, especially the outstanding Genesis Owusu and Budjerah, but I would have loved to see something really unexpected.

Judging by the YouTube comments on the stream, I wasn’t the only one surprised when the event wrapped up around 8:30. I know it’s a school night, but I would have loved to see the event shifted to a later start and finish time. In case you missed it, here are all the winners:

Album Of The Year: Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Best Artist: The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber – ‘Stay’ (Columbia/Sony Music)
Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist: Budjerah – Budjerah (EP) (Warner Music Australia)
Best Dance Release: RÜFÜS DU SOL – ‘Alive’ (Rose Avenue Records/Reprise/Warner Music)
Best Group: RÜFÜS DU SOL – ‘Alive’ (Rose Avenue Records/Reprise/Warner Music)
Best Pop Release: The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber – ‘Stay’ (Columbia/Sony Music)
Best Hip Hop Release: Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Best Soul/R&B Release: Tkay Maidza – Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 3 (Dew Process/Universal Music Australia)
Best Independent Release: Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Best Rock Album: Middle Kids – Today We’re The Greatest (EMI Music Australia)
Best Adult Contemporary Album: Crowded House – Dreamers Are Waiting (EMI Music Australia)
Best Country Album: Troy Cassar-Daley – The World Today (Tarampa Music / Sony Music)
Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album: Tropical F**k Storm – Deep States (TFS Records/Virgin Music)
Best Blues & Roots Album: Archie Roach – The Songs Of Charcoal Lane (Bloodlines/Mushroom)
Best Children’s Album: Bluey – Bluey The Album (Ludo Studios / Demon Music Group / BBC Studios / Rocket)
Song of the Year: Spacey Jane – Booster Seat (AWAL Recordings)
Best Video: Missing Piece – Vance Joy, Annelise Hickey (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Best Australian Live Act: Lime Cordiale – Relapse Tour (Chugg Music Pty Ltd)
Most Popular International: Taylor Swift – Evermore (Universal Music Australia)
Music Teacher Award: Zoë Barry – Sacred Heart School, Melbourne
Best Cover Art: Kofi Anash & Bailey Howard for Genesis Owusu – Smiling With No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Engineer Of The Year: Konstantin Kersting
Producer Of The Year: Konstantin Kersting & The Rubens
Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album: Angus & Julia Stone – Life Is Strange (BMG/WMG)
Best Classical Album: Genevieve Lacey and Marshall McGuire – Bower (ABC Classic / Universal)
Best Jazz Album: Mildlife – Automatic (Inertia Music / [PIAS])
Best World Music Album: Joseph Tawadros – Hope In An Empty City (Independent / The Planet Company)

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Amy Shark, Genesis Owusu Lead ARIA Awards Charge

I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling like the awesome music our local artists created was the best thing to come out of the last 12 months. Today ARIA announced the talented artists who are up for the 2021 awards. It’s a diverse list which serves as a real testament to the talent in this country.

Amy Shark and Genesis Owusu lead the charge with six nominations a piece. They’ll face off in half of those categories: Album of the Year, Best Artist, and Best Australian Live Act. Note that Best Artist replaces Best Male and Best Female artist categories this year, a move that should help this year’s ceremony feel a little more inclusive. Not far behind we’ve got Midnight Oil, The Avalanches, Vance Joy, Tones and I, Masked Wolf and Budjerah all with five nominations each. With so many artists putting in such a good showing, it’s going to be really interesting to see where the awards land. You can see for yourself when ARIA streams this year’s awards on its YouTube channel on November 24. Until then, check out all the nominees. Who are you backing?

Album Of The Year
Amy Shark – Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Midnight Oil and First Nations Collaborators – The Makarrata Project (Sony Music)
The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
Tones And I – Welcome to the Madhouse (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music

Best Artist
Amy Shark – Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Budjerah – Budjerah (EP) (Warner Music Australia)
Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Keith Urban – The Speed Of Now Part 1 (CAPITOL – NASHVILLE / EMI Music Australia)
Kylie Minogue – Disco (Liberator Music/Mushroom)
Masked Wolf – ‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)
Ngaiire – 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)
The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber – ‘Stay’ (Columbia/Sony Music)
Tones And I – Welcome to the Madhouse (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Vance Joy – ‘Missing Piece’ (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)

Best Dance Release
Cosmo’s Midnight – Yesteryear (Nite High/Sony Music)
Dom Dolla – ‘Pump The Brakes’ (Sweat It Out/Warner)
Jolyon Petch – ‘Dreams’ (TMRW Music)
KLP & Stace Cadet – ‘People Happy’ (Medium Rare Recordings / Sony Music)
RÜFÜS DU SOL – ‘Alive’ (Rose Avenue Records/Reprise/Warner Music)

Best Group
AC/DC – Power Up (Leidseplein Presse / Sony Music)
Gang Of Youths – ‘The Angel of 8th Ave.’ (Mosy Recordings / Sony Music)
Midnight Oil and First Nations Collaborators – The Makarrata Project (Sony Music)
RÜFÜS DU SOL – ‘Alive’ (Rose Avenue Records/Reprise/Warner Music)
The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)

Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist
Budjerah – Budjerah (EP) (Warner Music Australia)
Gretta Ray – Begin To Look Around (EMI Music Australia)
Masked Wolf – ‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)
MAY-A – Don’t Kiss Ur Friends (Arcadia Music / Sony Music)
Ngaiire – 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)

Best Pop Release
Amy Shark – Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)
The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber – ‘Stay’ (Columbia/Sony Music)
Tones And I – ‘Fly Away’ (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Vance Joy – ‘Missing Piece’ (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)

Best Hip Hop Release
B Wise – jamie (Semi Pro Sound)
Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Masked Wolf – ‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)
The Kid LAROI – ‘WITHOUT YOU’ (Columbia/Sony Music)
Youngn Lipz – Area Baby (Biordi Music/Virgin Music)

Best Soul/R&B Release
Budjerah – Budjerah (EP) (Warner Music Australia)
Hiatus Kaiyote – Mood Valiant (Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune)
Ngaiire – 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)
Tash Sultana – Terra Firma (Lonely Lands Records/Sony Music
Tkay Maidza – Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 3 (Dew Process/Universal Music Australia)

Best Independent Release
Archie Roach – The Songs Of Charcoal Lane (Bloodlines/Mushroom)
Ball Park Music – Ball Park Music (Prawn Records/ Inertia Music)
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks – Crossover (Hopestreet Recordings/The Planet Company)
Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Vance Joy – ‘Missing Piece’ (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)

Best Rock Album
AC/DC – Power Up (Leidseplein Presse / Sony Music)
Ball Park Music – Ball Park Music (Prawn Records/ Inertia Music)
Holy Holy – Hello My Beautiful World (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Middle Kids – Today We’re The Greatest (EMI Music Australia)
Midnight Oil and First Nations Collaborators – The Makarrata Project (Sony Music)

Best Adult Contemporary Album
Big Scary – Daisy (Pieater/Inertia)
Crowded House – Dreamers Are Waiting (EMI Music Australia)
Kylie Minogue – Disco (Liberator Music/Mushroom)
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Carnage (Goliath / AWAL)
Odette – Herald (EMI Music Australia)

Best Country Album
Brad Cox – My Mind’s Projection (Sony Music)
Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham – The Song Club (ABC Music)
Shane Nicholson – Living In Colour (Lost Highway Australia/Universal Music Australia)
The Wolfe Brothers – Kids On Cassette (BMG/WMG)
Troy Cassar-Daley – The World Today (Tarampa Music / Sony Music)

Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album
Alpha Wolf – A Quiet Place To Die (Greyscale Records / Cooking Vinyl Australia)
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound (What Reality?/Virgin Music)
Tropical F**k Storm – Deep States (TFS Records/Virgin Music)
Yours Truly – Self Care (UNFD/The Orchard)
A. Swayze & the Ghosts – Paid Salvation (IVY LEAGUE/MUSHROOM)

Best Blues & Roots Album
Archie Roach – The Songs Of Charcoal Lane (Bloodlines/Mushroom)
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks – Crossover (Hopestreet Recordings/The Planet Company)
Josh Teskey & Ash Grunwald – Push The Blues Away (Ivy League/Mushroom)
Martha Marlow – Medicine Man (Independent/The Planet Company)
Ziggy Alberts – Searching For Freedom (Commonfolk Records / The Orchard)

Best Children’s Album
Amber Lawrence – The Kid’s Gone Country 2 (Fun For All The Family ABC Music)
Bluey The Album – Bluey (Ludo Studios / Demon Music Group / BBC Studios / Rocket)
Diver City – Dance Silly (ABC Music / Universal)
The Wiggles – Lullabies With Love (ABC Music)
Various Artists – The Moon, The Mouse & The Frog: Lullabies from Northern Australia (ABC Music)

PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS

Best Video
24k – Tkay Maidza, Nicholas Muecke (Dew Process/Universal Music Australia)
Astronaut In The Ocean – Masked Wolf, Daniele Cernera (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)
could cry just thinkin about you (Full Version) – Troye Sivan & Jesse Gohier-Fleet (EMI Music Australia)
Dance – Julia Stone, Jessie Hill (BMG/WMG)
First Nation – Midnight Oil ft. Jessica Mauboy & Tasman Keith, Robert Hambling (Sony Music)
Higher – Budjerah, Mick Soiza (Warner Music Australia)
Love Songs Ain’t for Us – Amy Shark, James Chappell (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Missing Piece – Vance Joy, Annelise Hickey (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
The Divine Chord – The Avalanches, Jonathan Zawada (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
Won’t Sleep – Tones and I, Nick Kozakis, Liam Kelly (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)

Best Australian Live Act
Amy Shark – Cry Forever Tour 2021 (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Ball Park Music – The Residency (Prawn Records/ Inertia Music)
Budjerah – Budjerah 2021 Aus Tour (Warner Music Australia)
Genesis Owusu – Smiling With No Teeth Album Tour (OURNESS / AWAL)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Micro Tour (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard/Virgin Music)
Lime Cordiale – Relapse Tour (Chugg Music Pty Ltd)
Midnight Oil and First Nations Collaborators – Makarrata Live (Sony Music)
The Avalanches – The Avalanches Live (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
The Teskey Brothers – The Teskey Brothers (Headline Shows + Festivals) (IVY LEAGUE/MUSHROOM)
Thelma Plum – Homecoming Queen Tour (Warner Music Australia)

Song of the Year
Amy Shark Feat. Keith Urban – Love Songs Ain’t For Us (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Dean Lewis – Falling Up (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia)
Hooligan Hefs – Send It! (db Music / Warner Music Australia)
Keith Urban & Pink – One Too Many (CAPITOL – NASHVILLE / EMI Music Australia)
Masked Wolf – Astronaut In The Ocean (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)
Sam Fischer & Demi Lovato – What Other People Say (Sony Music)
Spacey Jane – Booster Seat (AWAL Recordings)
The Kid LAROI with Miley Cyrus – Without You (Columbia/Sony Music)
Tones and I – Fly Away (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Vance Joy – Missing Piece (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)

Most Popular International
Ariana Grande – Positions (Universal Records USA / Universal Music Australia)
Doja Cat – Planet Her (RCA Records / Sony Music)
Justin Bieber – Justice (Def Jam / Universal Music Australia)
Kanye West – Donda (Def Jam / Universal Music Australia)
Luke Combs – What You See Ain’t Always What You Get (Columbia Nashville / Sony Music)
Machine Gun Kelly – Tickets To My Downfall (Interscope / Universal Music Australia)
Miley Cyrus – Plastic Hearts (RCA Records / Sony Music)
Olivia Rodrigo – Sour (Geffen / Universal Music Australia)
Pop Smoke – Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon (Universal Records USA / Universal Music Australia)
Taylor Swift – Evermore (Universal Music Australia)

Music Teacher Award
Aaron Silver – Wodonga Primary School, Regional VIC
Ashley Baxter – Pimlico State High School, Townsville QLD
Daniel Wilson – Star Struck, Newcastle NSW
Zoë Barry – Sacred Heart School, Melbourne VIC

ARTISAN AWARDS

Best Cover Art
Ngaiire Joseph & Dan Segal for Ngaiire – 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)
Eben Ejdne for Odette – Herald (EMI Music Australia)
Kofi Anash & Bailey Howard for Genesis Owusu – Smiling With No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Jonathan Zawada for The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
Giulia Giannini McGauran & Mitchell Eaton for Tones and I – Welcome to the Madhouse (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)

Engineer Of The Year
Chris Collins
Eric J Dubowsky
Konstantin Kersting
Matt Corby
Tony Espie

Producer Of The Year
Andrew Klippel, Dave Hammer
Konstantin Kersting
M-Phazes
Matt Corby
Robert Chater

FINE ARTS AWARDS

Best Classical Album
Christian Li – Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (Decca Records Australia/Universal Music Australia
Emily Sun & Andrea Lam – Nocturnes (ABC Classic)
Genevieve Lacey and Marshall McGuire – Bower (ABC Classic / Universal)
Grigoryan Brothers – This is Us: A Musical Reflection of Australia (ABC Classic / Universal)
Nat Bartsch – Hope (ABC Classic / Universal)

Best Jazz Album
Australian Art Orchestra, Reuben Lewis, Tariro Mavondo & Peter Knight – Closed Beginnings (AAO Recordings/The Planet Company)
Kristen Beradi, Sean Foran & Rafael Karlen – Haven (Earshift Music / The Planet Company) Mildlife – Automatic (Inertia Music / [PIAS])
Petra Haden & The Nick Haywood Quintet – Songs from my Father (ABC Jazz / Universal)
Vazesh – The Sacred Key (Earshift Music / The Planet Company)

Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album
Angus & Julia Stone – Life Is Strange (BMG/WMG)
Antony Partos – Rams (Original Motion Picture Score) (ABC Music)
Caitlin Yeo, Maria Alfonsine, Damian de Boos-Smith – Wakefield Season One Official Soundtrack (MADBS Composing Palace)
Sia – Music: Songs From And Inspired By The Motion Picture (Atlantic Records / Warner Music
Yve Blake – Fangirls (ADA/Warner Music)

Best World Music Album
Bob Weatherall & Halfway, with William Barton – Restless Dream (ABC Music)
Bukhu – Bukhchuluun Ganburged – The Journey (Bukhu/Distrokid)
Eishan Ensemble – Project Masnavi (Earshift Music / The Planet Company)
Joseph Tawadros – Hope In An Empty City (Independent / The Planet Company)
Kuya James – ISA (Settle Down Records / MGM Distribution)

Image used with permission from Revolutions per Minute

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Find Music and Mental Health Tips With “Scrub Sessions”

As restrictions ease further today in New South Wales, it can be easy to forget much of Australia is still doing it tough. With the Central Coast lumped back into Greater Sydney, I’m still separated from my family in Newcastle. I’ve spoken to friends in Melbourne who find looking at the images from Sydney a little hard to take. Their restrictions will ease on Friday, but with daily cases at close to 2,000, many still don’t feel confident venturing out. People focus on mental health while we’re all locked down, but I think it’s something that will concern us for some time as we try to navigate the new normal. So I was thrilled to discover Scrub Sessions, a cool podcast series focusing on music and wellness from the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

There are three episodes so far, including the latest featuring doctor and singer-songwriter Gordi. Here’s an awesome musical performance from that episode.

Hosted by the head and founder of the hospital’s Scrub Choir Dr Emma O’Brien OAM, all the episodes feature interviews and music, including some great wellness tips.

“Scrub Sessions aim to lift the spirits of our staff, patients and community,” Dr O’Brien explained. “It’s been a long difficult road for us all, and it is at these times, more than ever, that we need to stay connected and celebrate small moments of joy, working together to face the multiple health, physical, mental and emotional challenges brought on by the pandemic – Scrub Sessions aim to keep the hope alive.”

If you need a pick-me-up, I thoroughly recommend checking the Scrub Sessions out on YouTube or your favourite digital streaming platform.

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

India Dupriez Releases Striking Single, “Pray

Gold Coast singer-songwriter India Dupriez has really impressed me with her latest single “Pray.” I was instantly struck by its vulnerable lyrics and India’s ethereal, pure tone. By the time the beat dropped for the chorus, I was firmly on board. The addition of a gospel-style choir reflects the song’s spiritual title.

“It’s honest lyrically and open to interpretation but can also be heard casually as it easily covers a wide range of playlist and radio genres,” India said of her latest single. “It’s timeless and has an open target audience. Bring more positive music to a newer generation.’

India co-wrote this track with Rob Amoruso, who’s previously worked with The Rubens and Baker Boy. In the past, she’s written songs with Chizzy Stephens, who’s written for Jennifer Lopez and Justin Bieber, and Kyle Moorman, who’s penned tracks for Pink and Miley Cyrus. Mixing with these heavy-hitters, it might just be a matter of time before India has her own international smash.

Image used with permission from Australian Radio Promotion