Take 5

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 sources themselves, about their wild year. From the headspin of the Grammy Awards, to discovering an Aussie favourite in a London recording studio, this is one very unique diary from one of the best surprises of the last year.

• CMAT - I Don’t Really Care For You 
• The Lazy Eyes - Fuzz Jam 
• Piri & Tommy - Soft Spot
• Katy J Pearson - Fix Me Up 
• Faux Real – Kindred Spirit 

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 has made her name in music in London, where over the past decade she’s been dj-ing and refining her sound. Last year she released her debut, it was a soaring, dense, otherworldly, and beautiful record that was one of 2022’s best.

HAAi is back in Australia to play the Mardi Gras afterparty, and so I invited her to Take 5 with pride. Her embrace of this scene, and her invitation for us to travel inside these clubs will have you gripped till the end… I loved this conversation, it felt like I was hanging out with a mate. And from Skatt Bros to Sylvester, this chat will have you strut dancing too.

• Skatt Bros - 'Walk The Night (Cratebug edit)'
• Felix Da Housecat vs. Pop Tarts - 'Money, Success, Fame, Glamour'
• Bizarre Inc - 'Playing With Knives (Quadrant mix)'
• N-Joi – 'Anthem'
• Sylvester - 'You Make Me Feel'

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, he joined me to Take 5. This is a heartfelt convo where his love of the scene is on full display, and his reflections on his own story are front of mind.

• Youngn Lipz - Broken Home 
• Stormzy - Bad Blood (ft Nao)
• Elsy Wameyo - River Nile 
• Dallas Woods feat. Miiesha - Heaven of My Own 
• Khi'leb - Tempt Me 

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 been witness to the many changes she’s experienced as she’s grown up.

Change is a constant in all of our lives; it’s the one thing we can be absolutely certain of. So for her Take 5 I asked Julia to pick five songs of change. And man, she embraced the theme, and then some. From Fiona Apple to Leonard Cohen to Love, this is a beautiful, honest, and enlightening conversation. You won’t hear her music in the same way, again.

• Miriam Makeba – Willow Song 
• Fiona Apple – Not About Love 
• Edith Piaf – Milord 
• Leonard Cohen – Memories
• Love – Alone Again Or 

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 is, itself, a poetic conversation about the power of verse.

• Velvet Underground - Stephanie Says 
• Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Stranger than Kindness 
• Sinead O Connor – Troy 
• A$AP Ferg - Psycho 
• The Pogues - Sea Shanty 

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 most beloved presenters from that time. And people who – just like us listeners – were getting their start at their first jobs. Wil Anderson, Myf Warhurst, Charlie Pickering, Rosie Beaton, and Adam Spencer.

From wild nights out turning into mornings on air, to scratch n’ sniff triple j tees, dive into some iconic memories from these absolute legends, and the singular workplace many of them got their start.

• Adam Spencer: Salmon Hater - 6.66
• Myf Warhurst: Missy Elliott – Work It
• Charlie Pickering: The Streets – Don’t Mug Yourself 
• Rosie Beaton: Silverchair – The Greatest View
• Wil Anderson: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Whatever Happened to My Rock N Roll?

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 psychedelic therapy, Jon makes everything feel lighter, everything connected – which is why he’s seeing us out of 2022.

I asked him to share the five songs that transcend for him, and he brought in some beautiful pieces of music… songs that were a revelation to me and, I hope, are for you as well.

• Nana Adjoa – Throw Stones [Mattheis Remix]
• Fort Romeau – Heaven & Earth
• Elkka – Harmonic Frequencies
• Nosaj Thing – Blue Hour [Ft. Julianna Barwick]
• Vagabon – Home Soon

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 capture the essence of who they are. Their latest album was done a little differently… the pandemic killed plans to record overseas, and with plenty of quarantine time on their hands, they stretched out. Remarkably, they still managed to capture that lightning in a bottle, and so when Nat joined me to Take 5, I asked her to share the songs that captured that energy in the same way.

• Tracy Chapman - Behind The Wall
• Blink 182 - I Miss You
• Vasco Era - Kingswood
• Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend
• Bad//Dreems - Cuffed & Collared

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 five sides of Chino, across five songs.

What he showed up with, was a heartfelt connection to Australia. It’s testament to their ties to us, that he went this way… and hearing why he chose them is an enlightening ride. From Cat Power, to Olivia Newton John, to HTRK, this is the legendary Chino Moreno, Taking 5.

• Vowws – The Great Sun
• Cat Power – Peking Saint
• Olivia Newton John – Magic
• HTRK – Chinatown Style
• Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Henry Lee (ft PJ Harvey)

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 all the bells and whistles, I asked them to Take 5 with their quarter century. Cos when you think back to Groove Armada’s legacy, it travels across scenes and sounds that have changed markedly. From chillout classics, to sound system megahits, and heartfelt songwriting, Andy and Tom have always done things their way.

They’re also legendary humans, who know how to spin a yarn and have some wild stories in their memory box. From early raves to Cotswold cottages, and the basements they met some of their biggest collaborators, this is a capture of a quarter century not just for GA, but for the scene itself. 

• Ray Mang – Number One
• Xpansions – Move Your Body
• Chris Rea – Josephine (French Edit)
• Prince – I Wanna Be Your Lover
• Drew Hill – Talk To You (Groove Armada Remix)