Take 5

The Waifs are one of those bands many of us have a connection with. It felt like they came up as we came of age, the soundtracks to our own first adventures and a band with a loyal live following. Three albums into their career this steadfastly independent band broke through with ‘Up All Night’. It was helped by the juggernaut single “London Still”, which managed to capture a quintessentially Aust...

Tim Ross is one of those fella’s you want to bail up in the kitchen at a house party. Better known to many as simply Rosso, he’s a triple j legend who we first met as co-host of Drive alongside Merrick Watts. He’d go on to launch a new commercial radio station, publish books, and fall deeper into his love of Australian architecture. What I love about Tim is that he makes me feel like design is for...

This week’s Take 5 is a dream come true. Ever since I first met Thundercat, I wanted him on this podcast. Stephen Bruner is one of those magical humans whose musical DNA you want to explore. Born into a family of legendary players, Thundercat grew up with a famous  drummer dad, who played with Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, and the Temptations. His older brother Ronald was a jazz drummer too, and a me...

Are you ready for some incredible stories? Take 5 always gifts us with some cracking yarns, but this week’s episode takes the cake. In fact, I’ve had more responses to Ed Le Brocq’s Take 5 than any other, in ages.

Boy & Bear have been making beautiful music for more than a decade now. The Sydney band are ARIA award winners, have  won the Australian Music Prize, and gathered a huge fanbase. Known for their warm folk guitar sounds centred around the gorgeous voice of Dave Hosking, Boy & Bear have made us swoon over four albums. But they’re taking a little side step with their fifth. This new chapter s...

I'm excited to bring you this week's Take 5. Cos Gabrielle Zevin wrote one of my favourite books of the last year. The bestselling American author is behind 10 books, but her most recent has won huge acclaim. It's sat at the New York Times bestseller list for yonks, is being turned into a film, and has captured the imaginations of everyone who reads it. "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" is th...

Over the last two decades, Goldfrapp have delivered some of the coolest, smartest, and most exciting electro around. Out front, Alison Goldfrapp’s voice has tread the tightrope. A multi-octave phenomenon which lends itself to dark bassy tones as well as it does to floaty ethereal sounds. But can you believe, she’s never made a solo record? Until now. On the day Alison released her debut album unde...

Colin Hay is the kind of guy you want to have a yarn with. He’s a master songwriter from his days in Men at Work, and the long solo career that has followed. Colin captures the world in a beautiful way. He’s also a recent recipient of the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian music, and came back to Australia to accept it. While he was in the county, I asked him to Take 5. Becaus...

It’s been a minute between albums for Cash Savage and the Last Drinks. But the Melbourne songwriter has returned with her band after five years, and with an album of intense feeling. So This Is Love is a story of heartbreak, but also a celebration of love in all it’s forms, and how it changes, and can still be with you when people are gone. This is a beautiful conversation with Cash. She shared so...

This is an extraordinary Take 5. There’s something a bit different about capturing an artist at a particular moment in their creative life. Not talking with me to promote an album or to spruik a tour… but in the midst of creating something new. And following a curiosity that will take them to this unknown end. This is where I found Jake Webb – better known as Methyl Ethel. The Fremantle based muso...

You know you’re going to have a good time when Frenzal Rhomb join you for a chat. The Sydney punks have been making short, fast, and very funny songs for more than 30 years. And they just released their 10th album The Cup of Pestilence. It once again captures the world around them; the micro to the macro. So when Jay and Lindsay joined me to Take 5 I asked them to pick songs from others that also...

In 2017, a music book came out that had everyone talking. Meet Me in the Bathroom was an oral history capturing a definitive era in New York City indie music. At almost 600 pages long, everyone from Karen O to Julian Casablancas, James Murphy to Regina Spektor were part of it, and it instantly became a bestseller. In the last year, the book has been adapted for screen; captured in a documentary th...

Unknown Mortal Orchestra are one of my favourite bands. Ever since when I first heard Ffunny Friends, I was hooked. And also intrigued… their music is often a beautiful mystery, layered with hidden meanings and textures you unpick with every listen. I remember listening to Multi-Love, then reading about the poly relationship that had inspired it, and the songs just cracked open. It’s a bit the sam...

Mo’Ju is a shapeshifting artist. Over more than a decade, they’ve explored different sounds, stories and scenes… forever disrupting our expectations. Their new album is Oro, Plata, Mata. It’s a concept record based in cycles, and very much rooted in Mo’Ju’s sense of self and where they’re headed. A week out from it’s release, Mo’Ju joined me to Take 5 and explore this new era.  Take 5 sings when m...

If you know the music of Angel Olsen, you know she feels and communicates emotion deeply. Across six albums, we’ve heard her lay it all on the line. Or at least, we thought we had. Big Time is Angel’s most raw and personal record to date. And with good reason. It was recorded in a time of great love, grief, and change for Angel. At 34, she met a new partner and came out as queer to her parents. Da...

It was less than a year ago that Wet Leg released their debut album. A little more than that, when we first met them with Chaise Longue. In that time they’ve blown up; hit #1 on the album charts, won 2 Grammy’s, 2 Brits, and fans all over the world… including Harry Styles. Back in Australia supporting Harry in his stadium shows, I invited Rhian and Hester to Take 5. I wanted to hear, from the sour...

It’s a big World Pride celebration for Take 5, as the party comes to Australia for the first time and on the same weekend at Mardi Gras. Music (and dance music in particular) came from queer culture, and queer clubs are some of the most welcoming and magical spaces in the world. So it’s fitting to have a woman who has found herself in the clubs, Take 5. HAAi was born and raised in Australia, but h...

For more than twenty years, Urthboy has been part of the Australian hip-hop scene. From his early days with The Herd, to setting up the Elefant Traks record label, he’s made a name as a solo artist, with now seven albums under his belt. His latest is called Savour, it’s Urthy’s exploration of masculinity, of vulnerability, and of capturing and enjoying life while you can. And ahead of it’s release...

This Take 5 is something of a reunion. It’s been six years since Julia Jacklin first joined me and picked the music. Since then, she’s released two more brilliant albums, made a name for herself across the world, and shared her stories in every way. Julia has always had a knack for knocking us out with her incredibly personal songs. And in giving so much of her own experiences in her art, we’ve be...

Irish band Fontaine’s D.C. formed over a shared love of poetry. In the early days, the band would meet at the pub, write verse, and recite it to one another. And that’s carried through to the music they make; across three albums they’ve created a compelling mood punctuated by some brilliant lyrics. It’s why I gave them the theme of verse, and from Sinead O’Connor to A$AP Ferg, to The Pogues, this...

Every year, while our sister station counts down the Hottest 100, on Double J we relive the countdown from 20 years ago. It’s a wild trip down memory lane, and a reminder of the music that has stood the test of time, and the songs you’d completely forgotten about (sometimes, for good reason). As we readied to live in the 2002 countdown once again, I thought it’d be fun to invite some of triple j’s...

It’s the finale of Take 5 for 2022 and honestly, I couldn’t think of a more perfect guest to see us into the summer break. Jon Hopkins has been one of my favourite artists for many years. His music has soundtracked the highs and lows of my life, it’s kept me grounded when I needed it most and it’s helped my transcend when life has boxed me in. Whether crafting beats, or composing music for psyched...

Melbourne band Press Club have only played together for a handful of years, but in that time they’ve made a name for themselves; their live gigs are the stuff of legend, with frontwoman Natalie Foster throwing herself around the stage while belting out pitch perfect indie rock. Press Club have always recorded their albums with the same kinetic energy - short, sharp bursts in the studio that captur...

It’s a treat from the archives this ep, with Deftones back in Australia for the Good Things festival I thought it’d be a good chance to revisit a beautiful and eye opening chat with the legendary Chino Moreno. Back in 2016 he joined me to Take 5. Deftones have always balanced the brutal with the beautiful, and I wanted to discover the different parts of his musical heart. So I asked him to share f...

It’s fair to say that most of us have a connection to Groove Armada. Whether you’re a turbo fan, or you’ve been at a festival going off to one of their bangers, their connection to Australia is huge. Andy Cato and Tom Findlay are celebrating 25 years together, and with it a new box set of greatest hits, and their final live shows all over the world. In Australia to perform for the last time with a...