Talkin' 'bout singin'

May 9, 2005 11:18 PM

A heap of MP3 interviews from JJJ -- Australian radio. Artists include Caribou*, McLusky*, Antony and the Johnsons*, The Arcade Fire*, Architecture in Helsinki*, Bright Eyes*, The Decemberists*, Sharon Jones*, Black Mountain*, TV On the Radio*, Black Keys*, Black Dice*, Mercury Rev*, The Dears*, Four Tet*, Fiery Furnaces*, Jolie Holland*, and many more. * MP3 song of the artist -- not interview!
posted by dobbs (15 comments total)

Old Triple J year-end compilations are amongst some of my most prized musical possessions. A great way to keep up on Australian music for those who aren't actually there. There's always some non-Oz music in there too, of course, but out of a Top 100, there're always a whole bunch of keepers.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:25 PM on May 9, 2005

i really like antony and the johsons. new lp features cameos by lou reed, boy george & devendra banhart.
posted by Satapher at 11:43 PM on May 9, 2005

Cool links dobbs. For those who don't know Australia has fantastic 'indie' music radio. It is the total opposite to the Clear Chanel dominated awfulness of US radio. Many of these stations cast over the net too, so if you want to listen to an alt-country station you might want to try your luck.

In Melbourne especially there are two great indie music stations RRR and PBS. RRR plays heaps of alternative music, has a program for sci-fi buffs, one for Open Source folks and a great new British 'indie' music program, Far and Wide.

In Sydney there is FBi, in Canberra 2XX and in Brisbane 4ZzZ.

If you want to know why Australia is the world's third largest music exporter the reason has a lot to to with the airplay that Australian bands can get in large capital cities. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, INXS, Midnight Oil and countless others owe these radio stations a lot.

When John Peel died I had to ask around people who had lived in the UK as to why he was so important and was shocked to discover that he was just about the only guy who played that kind of music. In Australia you can listen to interesting pop music nationally on JJJ or on one of the indie stations above.

Oddly enough though, Australia doesn't have particularly good news radio. However we now have a service that plays All Things Considered so all isn't lost.
posted by sien at 11:59 PM on May 9, 2005

[this is great]
posted by schyler523 at 12:32 AM on May 10, 2005

Well put sien. JJJ has always been a tour de force. Nice one dobbs.
posted by peacay at 12:55 AM on May 10, 2005

thanks for the link, dobbs. there's a heap of good stuff in there.

the j's are good. and fbi is good also.

but ser is better than both for new, innovative music, mostly.

i've been liking brainwashed's the eye recently for their video interviews too.
posted by soi-disant at 1:37 AM on May 10, 2005

that decemberists track is a keeper.
posted by pxe2000 at 4:17 AM on May 10, 2005

words do not describe how freaking cool it is to see little ol' 4ZzZ on metafilter. after volunteering/working there for 3 years, it is just like the tshirt says...there's no other radio station in the world like it.
i miss the days of walking into the record library and just being able to listen to anything. it's tough going listening to JJJ - the overhyped perkiness of it, the earcandy high rotation playlist...
posted by gusset at 5:00 AM on May 10, 2005

Try Alchemy.
posted by emf at 5:44 AM on May 10, 2005

I want to second everything sien said about Australian radio. When I was travelling there last year, I was amazed by how good mainstream radio was. I wrote down a few playlists from RRR and emailed them back to my fellow North Americans, and we all had a good cry in our beers over what we're missing.

Seems like RRR just got cool people to play stuff they liked. Good radio: it's that simple.
posted by The Dryyyyy Cracker at 6:22 AM on May 10, 2005

I'd never heard of this (JJJ). Now I'll never be able to stop. Thanks!
posted by fungible at 7:51 AM on May 10, 2005

Coincidentally, I have some fresh snaps of Caribou up on Flickr.
posted by AlexReynolds at 8:06 AM on May 10, 2005

Thanks dobbs. I'm in love all over again. (with JJJ, not dobbs. Um, not that I have anything against you dobbs.)
posted by horseblind at 11:00 AM on May 10, 2005

I love being introduced to new radio stations, especially with eclecticism like this. Thanks dobbs!
posted by myopicman at 6:53 PM on May 10, 2005

And I forgot: I've had Perth's RTR bookmarked for years. They have a solid mix of various styles.
posted by myopicman at 8:02 PM on May 12, 2005