Posted on by Lauren Katulka

The Buckleys Release Nostalgic Throwback Single, “Woodstock 69”

The Buckleys have got me feeling nostalgic with their latest single “Woodstock69.” With the world still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, this song perfectly encapsulates the way many of us are longing for a simpler time. The band namechecks Joni Mitchell and references the barefoot hippies, creating a beautiful picture of the Summer of Love. I remember loving this song when the band released their album, and I’m now remembering all the reasons why with the single release. And of course, it’s also made me nostalgic for those big rock shows and the sense of community I always find there.

“Beyond Woodstock, this song is reminiscent of the times we all stood in packed crowds, singing songs, holding the hands of strangers, and dancing together,” the band said in their press release. “It’s a song that embodies the excitement we have for when we all get to do this again. This is our love letter to live music and the impact Live Music has had on all of our lives.”

The song comes with a beautiful music video which was directed by the band’s youngest member, Molly Buckley. She shot the video on location at Chris Murphy’s Ballina property, Sugar Beach Ranch. I think you’ll agree it makes the perfect Laurel Canyon stand-in!

Those big live shows might be a little way off yet, but in the meantime, you can catch The Buckleys sharing all their favourite cover versions in virtual shows from their home studio, Soulfood Studios. Check out the Soulfood Sessions on The Buckleys’ YouTube channel.

Image used with permission from KAOS

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Fiz Releases Feelgood New Single, “Ripe”

With Victoria and New South Wales recently emerging from their extended lockdowns, it’s starting to feel like the world is a little brighter. “Ripe,” the latest track from Melbourne singer-songwriter Fiz, is a beautiful new song that epitomises that positivity. Described in the press release as “a love letter to sunshine, good friends, and grapefruit,” it’s got a cool cruisy feel that’s perfect for these optimistic times.

Fiz plans to announce a launch show soon for all your people missing live music, so give her a follow on Facebook to learn all the details.

Image used with permission from Soda Music Group

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Sister Act Germein Drops Empowering New Anthem “Good For a Girl”

Adelaide indie-pop act Germein have released a fantastic new girl power anthem, “Good for a Girl.” It gives voice to the struggle that these sisters have faced being an all-female band in the music industry. As you can expect, the vocals are next level. I love the way the fresh beat complements the classic guitar line. This is really good stuff. And yes, not just good for music produced by a female act!

“I went into a music shop to buy drumsticks, and the guy behind the desk asked me if I was buying them for my boyfriend,” Clara shared.
Georgia recalled the band’s first soundcheck on a national tour when “It was as if we’d surprised the sound guy when we started playing, like he expected us to be bad. At the end of the show, he said to us that we were actually pretty good for girls.”

“We wanted to write a song that would help tackle these stereotypes, and give a voice to anyone who might be going through a similar experience” added Ella.

“It’s about giving girls an equal playing field, and not discriminating based on gender” confirmed Clara.

Germein have a couple of gigs coming up, including a festival tomorrow! Check them out at the following events. Hopefully there are more to come!

30 October 2021 – Cleve Harvest Music Fest @ EP Field Days Site, Cleve
5 February 2022 – Copper & Stone Music Fest @ Paxton Square Cottages, Burra

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

Can’t Fight The Appeal of Etoile Marley’s “Moonlight”

Etoile Marley’s first name means “star” in French, so it’s not surprising that the night sky inspired her new single. “Moonlight” is a cool, sultry electro R’n’B track that is quite frankly out of this world.

Etoile’s rich voice really drew me into this one, but I was impressed to learn just how much creative control she had. She wrote and produced the song, which sounds just as polished as anything coming out of the big studios. Apparently this single gives us a big clue about the theme of the music from Etoile’s album, which is scheduled for release in 2022.

Image credit: Etoile Marley EPK

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

RedHook Ready to Rock Again With “Sentimental Surgery”

If you need something to get you going this Monday morning, take a listen to RedHook’s new single “Sentimental Surgery.” With elements of rock, punk, and pop, this track from the Sydney act demands to be played loud.

“’Sentimental Surgery’ is a punk party anthem inspired by the shared woes of lockdown (and feeling like a total cliche for writing a song about the shared woes of lockdown),” explained lead singer Emmy Mack. “Given what we’ve all been going through these past 18 months, I found it really difficult to write a song about any other topic. So instead of trying to, I decided to embrace the cliche and create a piece of music that expressed those sad feels, but also flipped them in a way that hopefully cheers people up, puts a smile on their face and makes them want to dance.”

Now that NSW’s lockdown has lifted, RedHook are looking forward to getting back on stage. Catch them at the following shows next year:

20-23 January 2022 – UNIFY Gathering 2022 @ Tarwin Meadows, Gippsland
28 January 2022 – Max Watt’s House of Music, Melbourne
4 February 2022 – The Zoo, Brisbane
5 February 2022 – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
11 February 2022 – Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
12 February 2022 – Jack Rabbit Slim’s, Perth
26 February 2022 – Full Tilt @ Bella Vista Farm, Sydney
2 April 2022 – Halloween Hysteria III @ Mansfield Tavern, Brisbane

Image used with permission from Good Intent

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Get Your Groove On With Superthick’s Super Cool New Single, “Baby, I Feel Love”

If you’re in one of the parts of the country where dancing in clubs is becoming a distant memory, take a listen to “Baby, I Feel Love,” the latest track from Perth act Supathick. In an era where disco tracks are few and far between, this funky eargasm is a breath of fresh air. It had me from that killer bassline. Supathick wrote the track with Matt Sevier who lends his vocals to the recording.

“We wrote this song with Matt a couple years ago and honestly, I feel like I’ve had it stuck in my head since 2019. It’s nice to get some uptempo funk back into the world. We recorded the track late last year with Sam Ford (POND, Abbe May) and Matt levelled it up with his gritty vocals. We think it’s a fresh change up from our usual Supathick vocal style,” explained Superthick’s guitarist, Christian Zappia.

You know this is the kind of music that will be a blast live. If you live in Western Australia, you can experience it when Superthick play Freo.Social on November 19.

Image used with permission from Beehive PR; credit: Daniel Hildebrand

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Discover Albert Salt’s “Family Tree”

Melbourne artist Albert Salt is here to brighten up your weekend with his cool new single “Family Tree.” It’s an endearing folky pop number that explores the closing doors of relationships.

Albert says he was inspired to write a Krautrock song after watching Radiohead side-project The Smile play at the live-streamed Glastonbury festival, “but it quickly became an alternative pop track. I had been listening to Silversun Pickups and was very influenced by the vocal harmonies and delivery they used in their song ‘Lazy Eye’ which I think you can hear in ‘Family Tree’.”

“After I had recorded the instrumental I got to work on the lyrics. With my most recent EP and last single I had drawn from extremely personal situations to write the lyrics, and found that it had been my best work despite it being very revealing and intimidating. I decided to go down the same path with this song and it explores the aftermath of the ending of close friendship but framed in a way to make it appear as if it was a romantic relationship.”

Albert took charge of the creative process, recording and producing “Family Tree” in his home studio. He then enlisted Nick Bond (Juno Disco, Aeroplane Mode, Kitschen Boy) for mixing and Joe Carra at Crystal Mastering (King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Pond, Hiatus Kaiyote) to give it a final spit polish. The result is a song that effortlessly combines summery vibes with a little bit of pathos.

Image used with permission from Habit Music Co; credit: James Vinson

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Prepare to Fall in Love With Tom Mac’s New Single, “Macedon”

Tom Mac beautifully captures a moment in time with his latest single “Macedon.” It’s a beautiful modern love song with a distinctively Australian flavour. It tells the story of two people who meet online: one from Bendigo and one from Melbourne. They decide to meet halfway on the top of Mt Macedon and see what happens from there. Tom Mac wrote the song in “a 30-minute rush of emotional energy after an abrupt and unexpected end to a budding love story.”

“The rush of emotional creativity came from a deep feeling of despair. It almost felt like an out-of-body experience, one of those profound moments where you realise there’s something much bigger than you at play, and I wouldn’t call myself religious. The pure power of music was in full flight that night.”

Sometimes even the best love stories don’t last, but if you come away with a song as fantastic as this it’s not a total loss.

Image used with permission from Footstomp Music