Category: 1/2/3/4

Celebrating all the great music that came out in 2018 – better late than never! It’s the 1/2/3/4 Top 50 tracks from last year. In Part 1, we count down from #50 to #26.

“The Nightmare Of J.B. Stanislas” could be the last cursed disc in history. It’s about to celebrate its 50th anniversary of its release, I was lucky to catch up with it’s author,  Nick Garrie, on a recent trip to Sydney. We chat about a debut album, which turned out to be much grander than it was intended to be and the horror of knowing it hadn’t been released. From being championed by the late great Francis Lai, to Scottish Indiepop royalty collaborating with him on his 2009 release 49 Arlington Gardens, this is a story of perseverance. 

With a career spanning 9 years, 8 releases under his belt, named in Melbourne Magazine’s 100 most influential people, Jordie Lane is widely regarded as one of Australia’s finest singer-songwriters. The much loved Australian indie roots artist, who recently moved from Melbourne to LA to Nashville and is back in Australia with partner and producer, Clare Reynolds. They pop in for a chat about the album as well as perform a brand new track for the show.

Caoilfhionn (pronounced Keelin) Rose is a singer-songwriter from Manchester, UK who has released her sublime debut album, Awaken. Her music draws on a diverse range of influences from The Mummers, to Rachel Sermanni, Melody’s Echo Chamber and Broadcast. An essential dreamy pop release, plus new music from Field Maps, Rachel Comte and we honour the passing of Pete Shelley from Buzzcocks.

Led by songwriter Matthew Kenneally, Canary are known for producing indie pop that is steeped in gorgeous melodies, intelligent instrumentation and an ever curious approach. Canary emerge once more from the studio, armed with material primed for their forthcoming third album. Also featuring the stunning UK folk duo Hannah Sanders/Ben Savage, the dreamy melancholy of Adrianne Lenker and the fantastic solo debut from Nick Craft (ex-Sidewinder).

Portland artist Anna Tivel creates wide-eyed celestial folk with a confessional edge. She has a wonderful new single out ahead of her album next year and we’ll feature that on this edition of the podcast. As well, William Elliot Whitmore who can seamlessly meld country, blues, folk, and punk together, he does this with aplomb on his new collection of covers, Kilonova. Plus bouncy electronic Afrofuturistic pop from Onipa, the excellent new release from the Yowo Music collective – dedicated to nurturing/encouraging high school aged girls and GNC youth and much more.