Australian music recommendations
Best Australian music soundtrack
So you’re heading to Australia for the first time, and are looking for a soundtrack to your trip? Well it may be worth checking out some of the best Australian music – it’s not just Rolf Harris and Kylie Minogue you know. I’ve listed a few of my favourites below; some have made some impact in the UK, but others are pretty much unknown outside Australia. Give a couple of them a try – you may just find yourself a new favourite.
The Cat Empire
This Melbourne band take influences from all over the shop – largely salsa, jazz, rock and hip-hop – but manage to create some incredibly catchy brass-heavy pop tunes to go alongside the more expansive numbers.
They’re the sort of band that can get everyone dancing, the music is largely happy and they’re a phenomenal live act packed with seriously good musicians.
Best songs to try? Two Shoes
Jackson Jackson
A side project led by Cat Empire front man and trumpeter Harry Angus, Jackson Jackson lean slightly more towards the hip-hop side of things. Both albums released so far have a few more psychedelic moments amongst the gold, but Eliza and International Society of Bad Dancers in particular are instant classics from the first listen.
Best songs to try? Eliza, International Society of Bad Dancers.
Powderfinger
They’ve been around for donkeys’ years, and are one of those rare bands that absolutely everyone seems to like. The reason is fairly simple – Powderfinger rarely put a foot wrong. They keep producing albums packed full of catchy rock anthems, with the odd hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck ballad interspersed.
Powderfinger albums tend to make for great driving music – the songs are the sort you end up singing/ bellowing along to behind the wheel – and there’s rarely a duff track.
Best songs to try? My Happiness, Nobody Sees
Bernard Fanning
Fanning is Powderfinger’s front man, and his solo album takes a more contemplative, country-tinged take on matters. It’s superb, though – Fanning’s distinctively enticing voice and songcraft make for one of those albums that you can put on repeat for hours, never wanting to skip a track.
If Tea and Sympathy had been made by a young British singer-songwriter, it would be all over the radio and we’d have a new superstar.
Best songs to try? Sleeping Rough
The Temper Trap
Driving guitar lines, falsetto vocals and an atmospheric production washover effect provide the sound. Conditions isn’t the most immediate of albums, but on a few listens you realise that there are some great songs in there. NME called The Temper Trap ‘the Coldplay it’s OK to like’, and that’s pretty much spot on.
Best songs to try? Sweet Disposition
The Herd
Much Australian hip-hop is truly dire, but this Sydney outfit rises above the, um, well… herd. They’re a full band, which makes for great live shows, and they manage to pull in a series of musical influences to ensure that there’s catchy, highly listenable music to go alongside the politicised lyrics.
Best songs to try? The King Is Dead
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Dissociatives
A collaboration between Silverchair front man Daniel Johns and dance producer Paul Mac, the Dissociatives managed to produce a neat brand of catchy pop-rock with a dancy twist.
Best songs to try? Young Man, Old Man, Somewhere Down The Barrel.
Avalanches
Since I Left You was one of 2000’s most distinctive albums. A bonkers, often rather psychedelic romp through thousands of samples, it’s most certainly unusual. The guys are still apparently working on the follow-up…
Best songs to try? Frontier Psychiatrist
And the ones you won’t be able to avoid…
You’re going to hear them when you go to Australia anyway, so you may as well acquaint yourself with the dinosaur classics before you go. John Farnham is Australia’s Shirley Bassey, and his repeated ‘last ever’ tours are a standing joke. You’re The Voice
Cold Chisel (fronted by Jimmy ‘Barnesy’ Barnes) is the archetypal Aussie pub rock band, and Khe Sanh
