| Phia - Full Circle Pop | 30/07/2019 |
Lauded for her luscious harmonies and vivid pop sensibilities, Phia is also the founder of Melbourne Indie Voices, a contemporary community choir that performs her arrangements of indie-pop songs.
The opening guitar riff of 'Full Circle', warm and raw, is a fitting analogue for Phia's lyrical candour as she unpacks deeply personal questions about childhood, how she envisioned her adulthood, and whether there's a motherhood ahead. Looking to possible futures Phia asks: "Do you have to lose part of yourself to grow?"
| Little Wise - Devil off my Back Folk, Alternative Country, Rock | 25/06/2019 |
Little Wise, AKA songwriter Sophie Klein, is a truth-teller whose words and music leave you feeling more alive and heart-achingly human than ever before.
We all have our devils - the demons that hold us back from being the best versions of ourselves. The importance of fighting these devils is what Little Wise is tackling with her latest single Devil off my Back. The chorus serves as a mantra of hope for this universal feeling, and an encouragement to keep trying and opposing negativity.
| TJ Patrick - Adelina Folk, Acoustic | 21/06/2019 |
Born and raised in the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria, TJ Patrick creates songs that shed light on stories of raw, personal experiences with a delicate and gentle nature.
Recorded in the Dandenong Ranges with Ben Edgar (Passenger, Angus and Julia Stone) Adelina uses driving rhythms and lapsteel guitars to paint a vast landscape inspired by 1970s California rock and Americana. Lyrically, the song speaks of having a deep empathy for someone that has just broken your heart.
| Skyscraper Stan - Dole Queues and Dunhill Blues Blues/Roots, Rock, Alternative Country | 14/06/2019 |
"Skyscraper" Stan Woodhouse lopes around the stage, 6’6” and stick thin, delivering characters and narratives in a powerful baritone flanked by his long time band.
A favourite of Stan's on the album and to perform live, he enjoys the drive, the aggression and the syncopation of the backing vocals - and it all came out sounding better anticipated. It's a very straight song - there are no bridges and there's barely a chorus but it holds together and gets a crowd going like nothing else!
Other tracks by Skyscraper Stan: Talking About the Weather (While the House Burns Down) - Man Misunderstood
| This Way North - Night Terrors Pop, Rock | 31/05/2019 |
Drummer/vocalist Cat Leahy and guitarist/vocalist Leisha Jungalwalla create a uniquely full, expansive sound that translates effortlessly from the studio to the stage.
Written late last year in an attempt to explore her nightly struggle with the sleeping disorder, Jungalwalla has drawn from a difficult period of her life. The song pounds out of the first chorus, tightly wound and edgy as it drives relentlessly forward. Jungawalla’s vocal is exposed and vulnerable, sitting effortlessly above Leahy’s indomitable drumming.
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| Mark Lang - Pictou Landing Folk, Pop, Acoustic, Easy Listening | 10/05/2019 |
A renowned lyricist and storyteller, Mark Lang has written three critically acclaimed albums making many album of the year lists as the singer-songwriter of Australian indie band Skipping Girl Vinegar.
In the 1960s, The First Nations People were promised their traditional land and lifestyle would not be effected by the set-up of a pulp-waste discharge treatment facility, but within days of operation all aquatic life was dead. 'Pictou Landing' conjures up images of water birds weeping for their decimated dwelling and the smell of sweet grass replaced by smog.
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| The Maes - Head Over Heels Folk, Pop, Acoustic, Easy Listening | 03/05/2019 |
Since 2014, The Maes have been full time touring in Australia and overseas, winning over audiences with their striking songwriting, intricate instrumental arrangements and stunning vocal harmonies.
A song about the inevitable surprise and dizzying vulnerability of falling in love. Recorded on the shores of Lake Echo, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Other tracks by The Maes: Driving Ali Through Mining Towns - Get Your Act Together
| The Maes - Treat You Better Folk, Pop, Acoustic, Easy Listening | 05/04/2019 |
Since 2014, The Maes have been full time touring in Australia and overseas, winning over audiences with their striking songwriting, intricate instrumental arrangements and stunning vocal harmonies.
The brainchild of sisters Maggie and Elsie Rigby and co-written with singer-songwriter John Flanagan, the new track is a poignant promise to encourage mutual respect in a relationship, delivered with gorgeous Australian-accent driven a cappella harmonies and banjo plucking.
| Rob Snarski - Robert Mitchum at Mitcham Station Folk, Pop, Easy Listening | 15/03/2019 |
Rob has toured the globe with The Blackeyed Susans and The Triffids and has shared the stage with Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Nico amongst others.
A train trip on the Belgrave Line pays homage to forgotten Hollywood star Robert Mitchum, if not for one little vowel. The song deals with the intimate nature of the train carriages enclosed space and people’s open behaviours - conversations overheard, drug deals, romantic notions and our obsession with popular culture.
Other tracks by Rob Snarski: Number 44 - Conversation With A Brisbane Cab Driver
| VulgarGrad - Alyosha Ethnic Multicultural, Jazz, World, Rock | 15/03/2019 |
VulgarGrad arose in Melbourne in late 2004 out of a collaboration between some of Australia’s best musicians in underground ethnic styles.
The story of the titular hero: Alyosha, the hard-drinking, broad-shouldered Odessa thief. VulgarGrad has stolen this obscure song from the repertoire of 1930s Romania-based Russian tango singer Pyotr Leshchenko, but their version is a full brass-band ska riot.
Other tracks by VulgarGrad: Wolf Hunt - The Ballad of an Emperor
| TJ Patrick - Falling Folk, Pop, Easy Listening, Atmospheric | 22/02/2019 |
Born and raised in the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria, TJ Patrick has been working towards something special, creating songs that shed light on stories of raw and personal experiences.
Melbourne based singer-songwriter TJ Patrick unveils a gentle gem of a new track, 'Falling'. The song was recorded with Ben Edgar (Angus and Julia Stone, Passenger, Gotye) in his home studio in the Dandenong Ranges. "I love the way we use the word 'falling'. Falling asleep, falling ill, falling pregnant. They all imply a kind of letting go of control..."
| Rob Snarski - All God's Creatures Folk, Pop, Easy Listening | 15/02/2019 |
Rob Snarski is a velvet-voiced troubadour. He has toured the globe with The Blackeyed Susans and The Triffids and has graced the same stage as Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen.
Featuring exquisite guitar work from Shane O’Mara, beautiful harmonies from gal duo Broads and a Havana~style piano solo from the wandering hands of Kiernan Box, 'All God's Creatures' takes a wander through a dramatic Australian summer day where Snarski's velvet-voice sings “the heat shakes the air and the rain vows to kiss the ground”.
| Skyscraper Stan - On Your Corner Country, Folk, Alternative Country | 07/02/2019 |
"Skyscraper" Stan Woodhouse lopes around the stage, 6’6” and stick thin, delivering characters and narratives in a powerful baritone flanked by his long time band.
Written in a Darwin hotel room halfway through a gruelling solo tour and recorded at Woodstock studios in Melbourne it is typical of Stan’s work - rich in imagery, honest, heart wrenching and at times a little tongue in cheek. Marlon Williams-esque in tone and instrumentation, Stan's echoey voice drifts across a moody score of percussion, guitar and backing vocals.
| VulgarGrad - I Remember Ethnic Multicultural, Jazz, World, Rock | 06/02/2019 |
VulgarGrad delivers music with style, raucous menace, stripy shirts and grim smiles. Since 2004 they have been stalwarts of the live music and festival scene and amassed a dedicated fanbase.
'I Remember' is a psychedelic Soviet prison ode to dear mama, who always warned them not to hang out with thieves. It's big, bad, brass band sounds with grit, grunt and rowdy swashbuckling vocal vibes to boot. The song also features in the soundtrack of new anarchic Australian movie Judy & Punch, which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
| Skyscraper Stan - Tarcutta Shade Country, Rock, Alternative Country | 23/10/2018 |
Skyscraper" Stan Woodhouse lopes around the stage, 6’6” and stick thin, delivering characters and narratives in a powerful baritone flanked by his long time band.
Tarcutta Shade' is the latest single from rock n' roll troubadour Skyscraper Stan and his band The Commission Flats. Recorded at Woodstock Studios in Balaclava by Richard Stolz (Husky, Paul Kelly, Joe Camilleri) 'Tarcutta Shade' is a sonic depiction of one long, hot and sweaty day at a Riverina truckstop - where it's "40 degrees in the Tarcutta shade".
| Helen Mountfort - The Heart Afraid of Breaking Classical, Instrumental | 27/09/2018 |
Helen Mountfort is a classically trained cellist and composer based in Melbourne. Originally from New Zealand, Helen is best known as a key member of My Friend the Chocolate Cake.
This piece is inspired by the Duduk playing of the wonderful Armenian musician Djivan Gasparian. Like most of his tunes it is a bit of a passionate cry from the heart and was originally written for Swift, a dance show I made and toured all sorts of exciting places with Australian dancer/choreographer Ros Warby.
Other tracks by Helen Mountfort: How The Wind Blew - Each Precious Breath
| Strange Tenants - Love Is Blind Reggae/Dub, Ska | 20/09/2018 |
Iconic Melbourne ska band Strange Tenants may be 37 years young, but this year promises to be their most exciting with the release of their 8th album Militant Style...
This single encompasses everything a true ska/reggae anthem should – a cheeky wink to the iconic sound of UB40 but with a languid homegrown Melbourne feel. It also features a killer guitar solo!
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Other tracks by Strange Tenants: We Are The Firm - Teenage Zombie
| The Killjoys - So It's Goodbye Folk, Pop | 06/09/2018 |
If you took The Sundays, Stereo Lab and Fairground Attraction mixed them into a can of paint, then got Morrissey to brush it on canvas you would get the Killjoys.
The Killjoys new single 'So It's Goodbye' was recorded at Craig's Audrey Studios in Coburg. It's a surprisingly up-beat folk-pop melody for a song about breaking up.
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| Susie Scurry - Waiting For You Folk, Alternative Country | 08/06/2018 |
In the spirit of golden-old classic standards, Susie Scurry's songwriting is clear and precise, original and familiar, honest and romantic.
"I'm tired of being alone, and the world just carries on but I can't go on, I can't go on, I can't go on " Susie laments... Funky drum beats and echoey electric guitar notes underscore Susie's broody first track on the EP, 'Waiting For You'.
Other tracks by Susie Scurry: Daddy's Guitar - Shez's Lapsteel
| Tom Richardson - Somebody Say Love Folk, Chill | 18/05/2018 |
Tom Richardson is your newest oldest friend! With an infectious and genuine demeanour, Tom's songwriting, story telling and intricate guitar playing are a delicate balance of grace, truth and passion.
The accompanying video clip to romantic, acoustic groove 'Somebody Say Love' is compiled of over 200 clips from all corners of the planet, including Bangladesh, Panama, Canada, Indonesia, America, India and Australia. This song is a call to inclusion, equality and love.
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Other tracks by Tom Richardson: Wildest Dream - Can You Hear Her
