The All-Australian Playlist

It was nearly two years ago when I first mentioned my affection for Australian musicians. (By the way, "musician" is often shortened here to "muso"-- another wonderful example of the Aussie tendency to abbreviate words and stick on an "o" as the suffix). Since that first post, I've continued to broaden my education, and I realise that I am now playing Australian music on my iPod at least half the time. I even have an overplayed Aussie highlights playlist, made up of both old and new acts. Here's a sample of that list:

1. Missy Higgins, "Peachy"
2. The Waifs, "Lighthouse"
3. Faker, "This Heart Attack"
4. Silverchair, "Straight Lines"
5. Empire of the Sun, "Walking on a Dream"
6. Katie Noonan, "Blackbird"
7. The Veronicas, "Untouched"
8. Jessica Mauboy, "Been Waiting"
9. Dash and Will, "Out of Control"
10. Josh Pyke, "Make You Happy"
11. Hoodoo Gurus, "Come Anytime"
12. Kate Miller-Heidke, "Caught in the Crowd"
13. Sarah Blasko, "All I Want"
14. Angus and Julius Stone, "The Beast"

On Friday night we got to see Kate Miller-Heidke in concert at the Lyric Theatre in QPAC. I only very recently discovered this incredibly talented muso, who hails from Brisbane and went to school just a short distance from where we are living. Kate's music is best described as eclectic, but it's also thoroughly musical and full of comedy. Her voice is beautiful. Opening for her was Skinny Jean, another band from Brisbane (which has also produced Powderfinger, the Veronicas, Katie Noonan, and Savage Garden, among others), which V. and I quickly became enamoured with. As soon as the monthly cap on our bandwidth is lifted, I plan to buy Skinny Jean's album, as well as one from Hunz, who--you guessed it--are also from Brisbane.

Assuming that my American readers will not have heard most of this music, please check out the video for Miller-Heidke's, "Caught in the Crowd," which won the 2008 International Songwriting Competion, by the way: