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photo by Julie Schuchard
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So, about all this great Aussie music...well, it's hard to know where to start with recommendations. My taste is all over the map, and I'm not that good with genres anyway. I guess the best approach is to put together a musical mixed bag of lollies.
I think the closest US equivalent is Pick-n-Mix candy, though I'm not sure it has the same sentimental impact. Mixed lollies are quite an institution in Australia — my brother and I still reminisce about the days when we'd take our pocket money to the corner store and pick out lollies one or two at a time. You had to be careful not to pick too many big lollies like Chocolate Frogs or Killer Pythons, or you'd use up all the money too quickly. Terribly exciting, but it was also serious business!
Picking out tracks to share with other people holds the same sense of excitement and responsibility for me. There's a limit to how much music you can introduce at one time without overloading someone, but there are so many delicious bands — how do you chose? Cobbers (choc dipped hard caramel) are so good, and it's always good to have a red and a green jelly frog in the mix — oh, and Sherbies are the best, and, and, and…
OK, enough daydreaming about the corner store. Time for me to do some selecting:
New Buffalo photo by Gen Kay |
Melbourne's New Buffalo — a one-woman band comprised of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Sally Seltmann — is sweet and fresh like a Spearmint Leaf. I think I first heard her on Sydney’s independent FBi Radio. Yummy, fuzzy home-style keyboards, crystal vocals, and songs that tell simple truths. I wasn't sure if it would hold up live, but she entranced a tent full of festivalgoers at the Cockatoo Island Festival in Sydney. Considering how unkind festival sound can be to good acts, it's no surprise that her career is taking off.
The Bedroom Philosopher is definitely the sherbet-filled, marshmallow-topped mini-icecream cone dipped in sprinkles — extremely silly! I've had to listen to "Folkstar" about three times to actually hear it properly. Every time I play it I end up giggling so much I can't hear the words. I first heard it on the long drive back to Sydney from Splendour in the Grass. It wasn't until I checked out his MySpace page that I realized he is also the evil genius behind "Megan the Vegan." If you have a soft spot for bands like King
Missile, They Might Be Giants, and Tenacious D, you may well dig this funny fellow.
I've never really worked out how I feel about Licorice Allsorts (cubes of licorice alternated with stripes of colored candy). Sometimes I'm way into them, other times they're just blah. Bertie Blackman has been a bit like that for me. She first caught my ear when she opened for The Hauntingly Beautiful Mousemoon at the Excelsior in Surry Hills a couple of years ago. I liked her laid-back rock-chick vibe and her jazzy yet gutsy vocal style. There's a touch of Fiona Apple in there, but Bertie's not as bitter. I wasn't that impressed by her single "Favorite Jeans," though, and thought perhaps she wasn't so great. But then the sound engineer at the Metro played her album before a show one night and fell for it all over again. So for now I'm liking Bertie Blackman, and even if I change my mind again, I'll always love her cover of Erykah Badu's "Tyrone." It's just too funny hearing a Sydney girl singing about "homeboys."
photo collage by Annette Loudon
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This next pick is a cross between a Pineapple Lump (rarely found outside Australia and New Zealand), and a black Jelly Bean (not for everyone). You might want to take a deep breath here. Some of you may experience a twinge of Cultural Rigidity Syndrome when I bring this one out:
Oz hiphop.
From the East to the West to the Southern Hemisphere, awww yeah! We may be a long way from where the hiphop originated, but we're doing it anyway — so there!
One of the first songs I heard when I got back to Sydney was The Herd's hilarious oz-hiphop classic "Scallops" (as in potatoes scallop, which is like a fry the size of a burger bun):
Like a $3.40 bag of fresh hiphop from your local fish and chip shop
Ahhh scallops!
With dollops of flavour on top
When we do what we do we give heads the bops
The Herd photo by Blondie |
OMG! The Herd was rapping in solid Australian drawl, and taking on the big issues, like going to the fish and chip shop. I'm sorry, but how can you not love that?
The Herd has put out a few albums since then, and become darlings of the Oz hiphop scene. They know how to get a giggle and get places jumping, but they're not afraid to tackle social and political issues. One of their recent hits — “I Was Only 19” — is a cover of a very full-on song about an Aussie Vietnam veteran. The original is an Australian classic, probably in heavy rotation for our parents and grandparents. The Herd's version is poetic in its reworking and its timing. Triple J has a great commentary on the track, including snippets of the song.
Hmm...four lollies in a mixed bag — that's kind of crappy, but selecting treats cannot be rushed. See how you like these, and I'll toss in a few more next time we meet.
What do you think — any tasty treats in the bag for you?
Posted September 2006
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