Sunday, August 26, 2012

Best new Aussie music from independent/unsigned artists - and it's free! (AKA My picks from Triple J Unearthed) PART 1

Tip: scroll down the page if you want to skip the intro and get straight to my song recommendations.

Australia's Triple J radio has gone through numerous changes since it's inception in the 80's. Although being an avid listener in the late 90's, I rarely tune in nowadays. There came a time during the noughties when all too frequently I'd turn it on and think "wow these songs are really bad". Whether it was me and my musical tastes growing older, or it was the poor choices of the head musical programmer at the time, something had changed and it was no longer pleasant listening for me.

For a while I turned to 4ZZZ Brisbane community radio for my new (and old) music needs. I loved hearing of awesome new local bands through what was essentially word of mouth; a 4ZZZ programmer plugging their new favourite band that they saw at a show on the weekend. The thrill of discovering bands that were as good as (or better) than your favourite international acts and then being able to see them play a show to 50 people at the local pub, kept alive my interest in hunting down new music.

Nowadays we have Triple J Unearthed. And along with that came the associated digital radio station playing "100% Unsigned and independent music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week". Since purchasing a new stereo that incorporated a digital radio I've been listening to Triple J Unearthed to feed my need to discover decent new local music.

Amongst the bands that are OK but need a little more work there are those gems that really shine through. I've been keeping a list of tunes that catch my ear and I feel are worthy of recommendation. For the sake of giving you some kind of indication of the styles of music I've very loosely categorised the suggested tunes into genres as per below. Out of each genre I've also indicated my preferred stand out track via the blue highlight (pretty I know). Note that I'm sure there are plenty of other great tracks I haven't heard yet so please make recommendations in the comments section.

In part 1 (this one) I'm covering what I refer to "Upbeat Pop" and "Dance".

Future posts will cover "Soul swing funk", "Blues", "Roots and acoustic", "Electronic chilled", "Guitar rock", and "Hip hop".


UPBEAT POP


These are a collection of foot tapping, hip shaking, smily facing singalongs and I think it is for this reason that these are my favourite tunes to recommend. If you enjoy the stand out track then give the rest a go too because it was difficult choosing just one.


Band: Twincest
Song: I won't go
Sounds like: Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) meets Kimbra harmonies meets jungle beats.
Listen: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/890956/I%20Wont%20Go%20301211.mp3
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=46976



Band:
Jessica Cerro
Song: Anyone but me
Sounds like: Washington / Lily Allen
Listen: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/935447/Anyone%20But%20Me%20Jessica%20Cerro.mp3
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=53229

Band: Vance joy
Song: Riptide
Listen: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/968015/Riptide.mp3
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=56137

Band: East End Villains
Song: They don't deceive me
Listen: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/957957/04%2004%20They%20Dont%20Deceive%20Me%20(Mastere.mp3
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=33298

Band: Jenny broke the window
Song: Fancy dress
Listen: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/763425/02%20Fancy%20Dress.mp3
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=37239

Band: Dead letter chorus
Song: Run wild
Listen: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/847792/Dead%20Letter%20Chorus%20-%20Yearlings%20-%2003%20Run,%20WIld.mp3
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=12668



DANCE


Not much to say about this other than again all of these tracks are as excellent as each other so check them all out if the genre is for you. If they don't get your feet moving then you probably need to see a doctor.


Band: Protokol
Song: Street Fighter CSS
Sounds like: Dirty house?? (Sorry, crap at my sub genres)
Listen: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/892960/Street%20Fighter%20(radio%20edit%20128kbs).mp3
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=22351



Band: Jake Press
Song: Now that you're gone
Listen: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/913410/nowyouregonejakepress.mp3
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=50307

Band: Wolfie
Song: Cakes
Listen: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/830399/Cakes%20-%20Original%20Mix.mp3
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=48243

Band: Jordan F
Song: A new day
Sounds like: 80's synth
Listen: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/977542/A%20New%20Day.mp3
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=54266

Band: Peking duk
Song: Bonasa
Sounds like: MSTRKFT / Daft Punk
Listen: They've removed the track from the site but you can hear their stuff here http://www.youtube.com/user/pekingdukmusic/videos
Profile: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=36943


Part 2 and more to follow.

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