MUSICIANS' POLL

MUSICIANS' BEST OF

ANDY WHITE

TOP 10 RECORDS OF THE YEAR

I Don’t Live Here Anymore - War on Drugs We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong - Sharon von Etten ‘Been to the Mountain’ - Margo Price (I know it’s not an album!) Revolver Sessions - The Beatles ‘Streamline Train’ - Van Morrison (he’s getting better!) Big Time - Angel Olsen Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You – Big Thief The Line is Curve - Kae Tempest Pre-pleasure - Julia Jacklin (‘coz Sebastian did the cover) Harry’s House - Harry Styles

BEST COMPILATION REISSUES

Revolver - The Beatles ‘Love Sick’ Version 2 - Bob (as good as an album)

BEST MUSIC BOOK/S (One or two)

The Philosophy of Modern Song – Bob Dylan

BEST MUSIC FILM/S (One or two)

Shetland - (music to my eyes DON’T TELL US WHAT HAPPENS!!!) Crowded House - Rod Laver Nov 22 Sharon von Etten - December 8, Northcote Theatre

HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR

Playing Rave on Andy White live with Rod McVey my school friend, Hammond player, producer of all my early albums.

THE WEEPING WILLOWS

TOP 5 ALBUMS

(In alphabetical order) The Liar – John Fullbright Dark Enough to See the Stars – Mary Gauthier Co-Starring Too – Ray Wylie Hubbard The Flowers That Bloom in Spring – Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert Good To Be – Keb’ Mo’

SONG

‘Paranoid Heart’ – John Fullbright

FILM

Elvis

TV SHOW

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

HIGHLIGHT

Performing shows with our heroes, Kevin Welch and Nick Charles in Australia. Showcasing at AMERICANAFEST in the USA.

PLANS FOR 2023

More UK and US touring and perhaps writing songs towards a new album.

TOP 5 ALBUMS

Warm Chris – Aldous Harding Big Time – Angel Olsen Plus albums that I revisited this year and played on repeat for various reasons: Blue – Joni Mitchell Charcoal Lane – Archie Roach Real Gone – Tom Waits

SONG

‘All the Flowers’ – Angel Olsen A song of hope, thinly disguised within beauty and sadness. It’s a little reminiscent of Skeeter Davis’ ‘The End Of The World’ and has a really pretty melody.

BOOK

Nina Simone’s Gum – Warren Ellis I’ll point out here that Warren met David McComb through playing in The Blackeyed Susans, a band we were all in together. Apart from that oversight, I really loved the book.

FILM

I kinda liked the first half of Elvis, then it lost me. The most moving moment for me was the final scene – the actual live footage from his last concert performance, singing ‘Unchained Melody’. Sad.

TV SHOW

Fisk

HIGHLIGHT

Being able to travel and tour. From tumbleweeds blowing down empty terminals and sparrows setting up homes in forgotten pockets, plane travel returned to being a little frantic, the cause of a few anxious moments and seemingly more expensive than I remembered. My new project with Lindy Morrison (Go-Betweens), Graham Lee (Triffids) and Shane “the maestro” O’Mara has forced me to write a different type of song; I think we call it free pop. Dan Kelly has also hopped on board and we plan to record in 2023.

NICK BARKER

TOP ALBUMS

On the Ghostline, with Hands of Lightning – Halfway (best band in the country) Shoot Me Your Ace – Reef (I have always liked Reef) Cub – Wunderhorse (the single hooked me right in) Exoskeleton – Nick Barker (I’ve had a sneak listen, it’s on point)

SONG

‘One Last F.U.’ – Lucero Back to form!

BOOK

Journeymen by Mark Turley

FILM

Elvis. I was sceptical, but I learned some things, I really did.

TV SHOW

The Offer. Fascinating. Worth it for the Puzo/Coppola scenes alone.

RE-RELEASE

Toast – Neil Young The Bloke is a nutty wonderful machine, right?

HIGHLIGHT

Playing at the Palais to 1300 people on my own (James Reyne support). Terrifying, but rewarding.

PLANS FOR 2023

New album and some band shows.

GEORGIA FIELDS

TOP 5 ALBUMS

1. Phia - Phia Lush, melodic, brimming with texture and lyrically vulnerable, Phia’s second album is nothing short of a masterpiece. Collaborating with ambient guitarist Joshua Teicher and 50-piece choir Melbourne Indie Voices, Phia blends understated, artful pop with breathtaking choral arrangements and the dreamy chime of her signature kalimba. There’s nothing else like it out there. 2. Amateurs – Laura Jean 3. Begin Again EP – Emily Lubitz 4. The Nightline – BATTS 5. Warm Chris – Aldous Harding

SONG

‘Mana Takatāpui’ – Jen Cloher I heard this song for the first time listening to Triple R in the car. My kids in the back seat became instantly silent as the deep and beautiful magic of Jen’s voice settled over us. ‘Mana Takatāpui’ is infused with such generous wisdom and vulnerability. I can’t wait for Jen’s album this year.

BOOK

Wildflowers by Peggy Frew

FILM

Everything Everywhere All At Once

TV SHOW

Stranger Things, Season 4 I didn’t buy any re-releases this year but was stoked to see Leah Senior’s label release a very special vinyl box set of her first three albums: Summer’s On The Ground, Pretty Faces and The Passing Scene. Leah is an exquisite artist and I love that her work is being presented in such a luxurious, deluxe format. Power to you, Leah!

HIGHLIGHT

Selfishly, I’m going to say: recording my third album, Hiraeth, with producer, drummer and multiinstrumentalist Josh Barber. Creating this album was challenging, fun, scary, hilarious, confusing and profoundly rewarding.

PLANS FOR 2023

Shows! Hiraeth was released in November 2022, so this year I’m looking forward to performing the record live and connecting with people at Real Life Gigs

ASHLEY NAYLOR

TOP 5 ALBUMS

A Print Out Of The Sun – L.A. Mood Lost In The Woods – The Smallgoods We Need To Be Free – Jodi Phillis Fire Doesn’t Grow On Trees – The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Wait – Vika & Linda

SONG

‘Silver Stars’ – Jodi Phillis

BOOK

Monkey Grip by Helen Garner

FILM

Moonage Daydream

RE-RELEASE

Jams From The Heart – Eddie Hazel

HIGHLIGHT

Playing at the Music Bowl with Hoodoo Gurus and The Dandy Warhols.

PLANS FOR 2023

More guitar solos.

DAN WARNER

TOP 5 ALBUMS

1: Seth Avett Sings Greg Brown – Seth Avett Hopefully, Seth Avett brings some new listeners to the songs of Greg Brown, the folk singer from Iowa. Greg has a keen eye and a keener turn of phrase, sorta like John Prine meets Buffett meets Mickey Newbury. 2: I’m Gonna Die With This Frown On My Face – Ruby Gill One of Melbourne’s top-quality young songwriters. “You make me weak at my knees, and I’ve got pretty strong knees.” Great line. Beautifully produced by Marcel Borrack and Tim Harvey. 3: Gold – Ashley Davies I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of Ash Davies’ and Danny McKenna’s short film, Gold – animations of Ash’s uncle Len Davies’ visions of Lasseter searching for that famous reef of gold. The soundtrack is an extraordinary tribute to an extraordinary man. 4: Watch My Moves – Kurt Vile When I heard Tim Thorpe play ‘Stuffed Leopard’ on Vital Bits on RRR, I knew I had to have this record. Like a lockdown Basement Tapes.

MUSICIANS' BEST OF

5: Everything Was Beautiful – Spiritualized ‘Crazy’ is one of my favourite songs of the year.

SONG

Old News – Ella Hooper Courageous, honest, ambitious. A call to all us old musos to keep going (not that Ella is old!). Looking forward to the album.

BOOK

All the Rage – Paulie Stewart A huge human, a huge life, a huge heart.

FILM

It takes me a while to catch up on movies, so these two probably don’t qualify, but I enjoyed Todd Haynes’ Velvet Underground doco; and I’m a sucker for a musical – loved Spielberg’s West Side Story. Vale Stephen Sondheim.

TV SHOW

Series 2 of Austrian/German crime drama Der Pass. Gedeon Winter is an intriguing character – brutally human. Series 2 even better than Series 1.

RE-RELEASE

I’m Gonna Sing: The Mother’s Best Gospel Radio Recordings – Hank Williams I Saw the Light, indeed. Hope Hank found some relief, wherever he went.

HIGHLIGHT

Finally getting a new record out.

PLANS FOR 2023

The Night Parrots and I are launching Maybe, then at Memo in March. Then, hopefully, lots more gigs!