As mentioned in the About me [above] page – I’ve started discovering some cool new Australian music, since coming back to Australia, after losing interest in it (from 90s onward). Below is a small selection of vinyl discs (and odd other stuff) that I don’t have but have passed through my hands fairly recently. [Discogs links to the vinyl info are included][And sound/video links to the music itself].

REGURGITATOR with DEM MOB and JK47 Social Disaster / Dirty Old Men 7 INCH BROWN VINYL 45 (Australia) Sound Pressing SP 113

(2024 – Social Disaster recorded in Mt Gambier, March 2024, and when I first saw the disc I couldn’t recall it being In Language, but I’ll check in on it as it does seem to be related to the live version below. Dem Mob come from APY Lands which is very north-west South Australia, and are one of the few, if not only, groups to rap in Pitjantjatjara. No Fixed Address lead vocalist drummer, and one time Port Adelaide local, Bart Willoughby, is also from a Pitjantjatjara background, originally from the Ceduna area, also west-coast S.A. This disc is a Zenith pressing.) 

[Disc on Discogs] [DEM MOB on Facebook] [Regurgitator on Facebook]

ANNE CESSNA & ESSENDON AIRPORT Agua Por Favor 7 INCH VINYL 45 (Australia) Chapter Music CH183

(2022 – Many people will know what this is, no doubt, while perhaps not being aware it exists. 200 copy release of ‘second-off’ collaboration between ground-breaking Melbourne-based recording artists who last collaborated back in 1980. Their first single, 42 years prior, Talking to Cleopatra, was an important contribution to an emerging genre known as ‘minimal synth,’ which played a seminal role in the development of electronic music.

Essendon Airport (1978–1983) was founded by musicians Robert Goodge and David Chesworth, both of whom were at the forefront of early experimental electronic music in Australia. Anne Cessna (Anne Sanger) has been a somewhat mysterious figure whose distinctly Australian vocals give both the 1980 and 2022 releases a particularly Australian flavour. Credits note Richard Andrew as an instrumentalist (additional drums), a mainstay of Melbourne’s/Australia’s alternative-rock scene from 1990 onwards (Underground Lovers/ Crow). This was one of his very last contributions to Australian recorded music before his death in 2024. Zenith pressing.)

[Discs on Discogs] [David Chesworth on Wikipedia] [D. Chesworth on Bandcamp]

EMILY WURRAMARA Nara 12 INCH VINYL LP (Australia) ABC Music ABCM0035

Midnight blues/W.W.G.B.H./It’s you/S.T.F.A.F.M./Verandah/Lordy lordy/Boom biddy bye/See me there/Magic woman dancing/Passport + TWO Digital download tracks with vinyl lp: DTMN/Friend

(2024 Northern Territory [originally Gulf of Carpentaria] singer with Northern Territory based and other musicians. My favourite track off this album is actually a digital download bonus track as below. Again, this one takes shape mid-way as the tempo picks up.)

DENNIS COMETTI Dennis Cometti 12 INCH VINYL LP (Australia) Bargain Bin Records BB-11

Waxit/Sunnie tan/Spoked/Deadshit/(I h8 the) CBD/Pint police/Bali belly/Sk8 (spits)/No stress

(2022 – I met my wife at Claremont train station and Perth is our favourite Australian city. One of the first things we did together was go to a Freo [winner]/Carlton [loser] game at Subiaco. Label, based on the Sunshine Coast, Qld., has also released quite a few Chats discs on vinyl.)

EMMA DONOVAN & THE PUTBACKS Dawn 12 INCH VINYL LP (Australia) Hopestreet Recordings HS015

Black woman/My goodness/Dawn/Mother/Daddy/Keep me in your reach/Come back to me/Voodoo/Over under away

(2014 – First album by Sydney vocalist Emma Donovan backed by Melbourne group The Putbacks. This one sounds a lot like the classic Atlantic soul from the mid-60s, more so than the equally good ‘Crossover’ album (2020)(also out on vinyl) which I recall to be more of a Stax-like funk sound. Trivia: Crossover was released on CD in Japan on BSMF Records (Blues & Soul Music Factory), and it includes a liner note sheet in Japanese [by Masato Nishimura] providing a Japanese take on Emma Donovan’s music within the context of Australian indigenous music in general.)

BLACK ACES Anywhere but here 12 INCH VINYL LP (Australia) Off Yer Rocka Recordings 0YR049

Show you how to rock n’ roll/Anywhere but here/Down/Better off dead/Where you love from/Cut me loose/Good woman (gone bad)/Run for your life/Short changed/Show me your love/We came for rock n’ roll

(2017 – Bendigo band play their own take on the Australian hard rock tradition of Cold Chisel, AC/DC, and the Albert label, with legendary studio master Mark Opitz (AC/DC, Cold Chisel, The Angels, et al) alongside Colin Wynne producing. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there looks to be a brief cameo in the film clip by Opitz [at 2.50].)

LEATHERMAN Telephone / Tryin’ 2 4get 7 INCH GREEN VINYL 45 (Australia) Legless LEG026

(2023 – Rock music … wait for the guitar break with hand-claps at 2.00. Band is from Melbourne. Legless label, based on the Mornington Peninsula, has been releasing a lot of interesting vinyl during the 2020s … this track my favourite from what I’ve heard so far.)

TOM SHOWTIME Life Is Funky (feat D’Fro) BANDCAMP/AMRAP

(2014 – Melbourne artist’s take on the 1974 The Round Robin Monopoly’s classic version, I actually prefer this version to the original. This one not out on vinyl, but to be fair, this artist has released quite a few lathe cut discs both 10 ” and 7″. Just one of the great tracks I found through AMRAP. Another is this one [TOBY Crash Landing])

Bandcamp link: https://tomshowtime.bandcamp.com/track/life-is-funky-feat-dfro

Two great Adelaide groups : they should put out a vinyl single/12 inch covering one of each other’s songs on each side!

HILLTOP HOODS Walking Under Stars DOUBLE 12 INCH AQUA VINYL LP (Australia) Golden Era Records GERV009 (2014/15) + The Hard Road: Restrung 12 INCH VINYL LP (2007)

(2014 – but noted is the 2015 Aqua vinyl copy pictured, as this is the copy I picked up)

In Korean the common use transliteration: Hilltop Hoods = 힐탑 후즈 … which doesn’t read exactly as I’d have thought … but, ‘What are you gonna do?’ … that’s what they’re running with … regardless : 멋진 힙합 그룹 !!

The Hard Road: Restrung 12 INCH VINYL LP (2007), is a collaboration with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) understood to be working as a 32-piece ensemble on the album, alongside a small selection of contributing hip hop artists. If anyone can point me towards verified information about the make-up of the instrumentalists on the album – please let me know via the ‘Wanted … information’ page link above – and I’ll document those details here. Hilltop Hoods are from Blackwood.

THE MARK OF CAIN Battlesick 12 inch GREEN VINYL LP (Australia) Golden Robot Records GOLDRRLP 091

(2021 – coloured vinyl reissue of their first album that originally came out on Dominator Records DOMA 006.)

(Right hand pic at Hindley Street Music Hall: please let me know a credit to add for the photo. Left hand one is ok.)

TMOC were recently in the news (The Guardian, The Australian, online media, 2026) that covered gender identity statements from lead singer/guitarist Josie Scott/John Scott. A transgender identity may not currently be aligned with the intense sonic-punk guitar style Josie Scott plays, or the hard hitting vocals, but it may be time to expand the scope of music culture associated with that demographic. (tracks below are off the Battlesick album and the second Dominator released album; Unclaimed Prize – best played with some volume).

Battlesick: https://themarkofcain.bandcamp.com/track/battlesick

Visions of love: https://themarkofcain.bandcamp.com/track/visions-of-love

Cap on John:

KEANU NELSON Wilurarrakutu 12 INCH GREEN VINYL LP (U.S.) Mississippi Records MRI-211 (Australia) Altered States Tapes – AST150 (Australia) Efficient Space ES044

Family/Warumpinya/Wati Kutju/Kungkaku Wangkapayi/Kutjupa Tjuṯa/Nyinarralpi Kulini/Lonely man

(2023/2024/2025 – First released by Altered States Tapes in Tasmania [Zenith Pressing], then Mississippi Records in the United States, and Efficient Space in Melbourne. Recorded and produced by Yuta Matsumura.

This album is visual artist Keanu Nelson following on from the early 80s minimal synth lead of Australian pioneers such David Chesworth/Essendon Airport [see above]. He adds strong distinctive vocals [English + Luritja] to a lo-fi analogue synthesizer backing [possibly from vintage equipment]. I like it. He’s from Papunya [Warumpi] 240 NW of Alice Springs.)

Keanu Nelson’s from Papunya (Warumpi) … a place that also produced the famed Australian rock group [Warumpi Band]. 그는 앨리스 스프링스(Alice Springs)에서 북서쪽으로 240km 떨어진 파푼야(Papunya, 와룸피) 출신입니다. 이곳은 호주의 유명한 록 그룹을 배출한 지역이기도 합니다 [Warumpi Band].)