New Australian music hits the airwaves
For aspiring Australian bands and musicians, Triple J Unearthed is the godfather of having their music discovered and played at a national level. Around in various forms since 1995, the concept has been to find new and unsigned acts. Originally a touring competition, it has evolved to a website where people can upload their music and have it heard and reviewed.
Some of the mainstays of Australian music like Grinspoon and Missy Higgins started out their careers there and recent popular acts like Stonefield and Tim and Jean have benefited from being ‘unearthed’.
The good news for fans of new Australian music is that they will now be able to access it all day long, with the imminent launch of Triple J’s new radio station, Unearthed. Beginning on 5 October, the station will broadcast new and independent music 24 hours a day from the multitude of artists jamming away in their bedrooms and garages.
It will start out being broadcast across the capital cities and the station will then also expand to regional areas. Of course we can’t pick it up over here but like the original station, UK located Aussies will be able to turn to the internet and stream it for your new music fix.
Smells like an anniversary spirit
You all know the song and probably either spent a great deal of time listening to it growing up or have since moshed around to it, as it’s a great dance floor filler for even the most least talented dancer. Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was first played and then unleashed to a worldwide audience 20 years ago, spawning the mass grunge music genre (meanwhile taking flannel shirts and cardigans from Grandad’s fashion into something young hipsters wanted to wear).
So 20 years have come and gone since those first historic ‘Spirit’ chords. What happened next saw the unknown band Nirvana hit the world stage and make them the biggest band of the early nineties, until the shock death of lead singer Kurt Cobain in 1994.
The band only ever travelled Down Under once, in 1992 during the height of their fame. Perhaps by psychic knowledge or more likely good luck, the organisers of the inaugural Big Day Out decided to add the band to the bill as they happened to be touring with the Violet Femmes who were headlining the festival. In the period between being added to the bill and playing, Nirvana exploded onto everyone’s radios and the Big Day Out became the hottest ticket in town.
Playing in Sydney’s Horden Pavillion to six thousand punters and another ten thousand trying to get in, the show entered into Big Day Out folklore and gave the music festival the reputation it has today.
Capturing the nation’s sounds
How do you capture sounds which highlight the essence of a country and highlight the diversity the place has? Not a real easy task but the National Film and Sounds Archive of Australia is attempting to. Every year since 2007 the public has nominated music, speeches and recordings which are quintessentially Australian. The final 10 are then picked by a panel of experts in… sound, we guess?
This year’s list includes political speeches, a Melbourne Cup race call from 1952, some opera and a radio broadcast during Darwin’s Cyclone Tracey. Best of all, our pop princess Kylie Minogue has been awarded a spot this year. The song is none other than 1987 smash ‘I Should Be So Lucky’. You can’t get more Aussie than Kylie.