Take 5

Where do I begin with Kylie Minogue? She’s been in our lives for over three decades, she’s sold more than 70 million records, holds multiple ARIA and Brit Awards, and a Grammy. Over fifteen studio albums, countless tours, and plenty of other side hustles, she has become one of the most legendary Australians alive. She’s just Kylie, our Kylie, and she’s an icon.

 No doubt like many of you, I grew up with Kylie Minogue. Her new albums would be on every Christmas and birthday wish list, and as I got older and opened up my world view, so did she; broadening her sound to indie music, taking on country pop, and collaborating with everyone from Nick Cave to Robbie Williams to The Wiggles.  But disco has always been in her back pocket, and in 2020 she returned to the Studio 54 dancefloor with an glittering new album of classic dance. On the day “DISCO” was released, Kylie joined me to Take 5 with her disco ball. The tunes she picked were classics, but wait till you hear the stories behind them. This is a bucket list Take 5 with a living legend.

Donna Summer – "Love To Love You Baby"

Earth, Wind & Fire – "September"

Gloria Gaynor – "I Will Survive"

Bee Gees – "Night Fever"

Daft Punk – "Around The World"

Roisin Murphy is a force of nature. We first met her as one half of Moloko, whose pop house hits made them a household name. But since 2005 Roisin Murphy has carved out an incredible solo career, and a dedicated fanbase to boot. Her latest album is Roisin Machine; it’s a deep cut of house, disco, and industrial sounds fuelled by her formative years in Manchester and Sheffield.

Roisin’s life story is pretty fascinating, which is why I asked her to choose her foundation songs. From formative moments in a mosh pit, to the organ shaking surround sound of a club, go deep with this legend and her incredible record collection.

The Stooges – "I Wanna Be Your Dog"

Minnie Riperton – "Inside My Love"

Talk Talk & Tim Frisee-Greene – "Life What You make It (Extended Mix; 2003 Remaster)"

The Family Stand – "Ghetto Heaven (Soul II Soul Remix)"

Cabaret Voltaire – "Yashar"

There are some bands that just sound like summer. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, are one of them. Those jangly guitars, the three part harmonies… pressing play on their songs sends me straight to the beach, to balmy nights and road trips with friends.

We’re on the cusp of summer right now but given 2020’s shitshow of a year I figured we may as well skip ahead to that happy place. So I asked Tom from the band to Take 5 with his “songs of summer”. Whether it’s a sound, or a memory, he transported us to dance festivals, and family holidays, to rolling waves and Australian classics. Like eating an ice-cream, there’s no way you can be sad listening to these songs.

Amen Dunes - 'Miki Dora'

The Shapeshifters - 'Lola's Theme'

Sunflower Bean - 'Twentytwo'

Gilberto Gil - 'Palco'

The Triffids - 'Hell of A Summer'

You know when you meet someone, and from the get go you think, you’re good people. Julia Baird is good people.

An acclaimed journalist and broadcaster, she’s spent her life chasing rabbits down the hole, fighting for the causes that deserve it, and telling the stories of icons and everyday folk alike. Julia’s life has been a tale of two cities; a childhood in New York that would bring her back to the Big Apple and be the site of some of her biggest moments. And a home in Sydney, where as host of The Drum she holds it down by night, but greets every day diving into the ocean, curiously exploring the expansive world under the tides.

Julia is also an author, and her most recent book is Phosphorescence. It’s a book on awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark. And even though it was entirely unintentional, it couldn’t be a more perfect book for 2020.

That’s one of the reasons I asked Julia Baird to Take 5. I also had an inkling she has remarkable music taste… and I wasn’t disappointed. From the big sky sound of The Triffids, to the direct sexuality of PJ Harvey, and a luminous moment on the dancefloor, these songs are stories will light you up from within.

The Triffids - 'Wide Open Road'

Fatboy Slim - 'Praise You'

P.J. Harvey - 'This Is Love'

JAY-Z ft. Alicia Keys - 'Empire State of Mind'

Elbow - 'One Day Like This'

So where I do even begin with Peter Garrett? He’s one of the most iconic front men, and activists in Australia. As lead singer of Midnight Oil, he lit a fire with their music, bringing the plight of First Nations peoples, of environmental degradation, and the threat of nuclear war, to Top 40 radio.

The Oils were the first band I ever saw live. I was 12, and my parents took the whole family along to their Blue Sky Mining tour. That lit a fire in me, of the excitement and connection of live music. So the opportunity to Take 5 with Pete is a real bucket list moment. I asked him to share his five songs of reckoning. It felt like the perfect theme, and he didn’t disappoint. Peter has spoken out about his own music, he’s been on the floor of Parliament in Canberra, and at plenty of rally’s and stages across his lifetime. But this is a rare opportunity to hear from his as a fan. And what an articulate, passionate, and heartfelt fan he is. From Edwin Starr to PJ Harvey, and one of the most powerful protest songs of all time, this is an extraordinary conversation with one of our greatest artists.

Edwin Starr - "War"

Yothu Yindi - "Treaty"

Elvis Costello - "Shipbuilding"

PJ Harvey - "The Wheel"

Rage Against the Machine - "Killing in the Name"

It’s hard to remember it now, but back in 2010 Tame Impala were getting excited about the prospect of their first headline American tour. The Perth band had just released their debut album Innerspeaker. We all thought it was pretty good, and it would go on to win the J Award for Australian Album of the Year.

This month, September 2020, we’ve been celebrating great Australian debuts on Double J Radio, so I thought it’d be fun to jump in the time machine, and dig into the Take 5 archives to share my conversation with Tame Impala the year they released their first album. Kev Parker and Jay Watson joined me to share their “songs that would surprise”, and it’s such a joy to hear them at this moment, quite unaware of how big they would become. They’ve stayed true to that down to earth spirit, to this day. But I bet they never imagined they’d be headlining Coachella.

One of the other things I love about this Take 5 is that it sounds like a blueprint. A debut album can be such a forecast for an incredible career to follow; it’s a statement to the world on who you are, and where you’re headed. This collection of songs does the same; we didn’t know it yet, but Kev has a huge love of pop music… he would stray more and more towards that in the Tame albums that followed. And, perhaps most beautifully, he picks a song from a producer and musician who would go on to become on of his greatest collaborators and friends.

Justin Timberlake - "Rock Your Body"

The Presidents of The United States of America - "Peaches"S.O.A.P. - "This Is How We Party"Boris - "Heavy Friends"Mark Ronson and the Business Intl. - "Bang Bang Bang" (feat. Q-Tip and MNDR)

For Felix Riebl, exploring the world has been his life for more than twenty years. As founding member of The Cat Empire, touring all over the planet and experiencing all kinds of wild adventures is his day job. Away from the stage his curious spirit has taken him to some incredible places. And creatively, the map he draws with his music (whether in his band, solo, or collaborating with others) is broad and unknown.

From Athens to New Orleans, Glastonbury Festival to the remote Pilbara, settle in for some armchair travel with a guy who knows how to tell a yarn.

Felix picked these songs for this Take 5:

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - S.O.B.Mikis Theodorakis - I HartaetiSigrid - Mine Right Now Lil' Band O' Gold - Blue MondaySpinifex Gum - Spinifex Gum

Have you ever seen one of Karen O’s outfits and thought to yourself “who MADE that?”. Today you’re going to meet her. Christian Joy is a fashion designer and lifelong collaborator of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman. Her DIY style has become iconic over two decades, gracing album covers, video clips and wild stage shows.

For this untrained punk from Iowa, meeting Karen O right before Yeah Yeah Yeahs broke it big, changed the trajectory of her life. In between that epic friendship she’s made costumes for Childish Gambino, Maggie Rogers, and Alabama Shakes. She’s collaborated with fashion brands and held major exhibitions.

For her Take 5 I gave her the theme “visionary songs”, and we trekked back to her childhood in Iowa, formative years in street fashion in New York City, and to the many stages where her creativity has made a gig, an iconic event.

Edith Massey - Punks, Get Off the Grass

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Date With the Night

The Big Bopper - Chantilly Lace

Rammellzee and K-Rob - Beat Bop

David Bowie - Be My Wife

Have you ever wondered why you get goosebumps when you listen to certain songs? Or what makes a hit, a hit? Maybe you’ve argued that the music you listened to when you were younger, is the best music that was ever made. All of that, relates to neuroscience.

The way the brain processes music is a huge field of study; it’s why music therapy exists, why people with Alzheimer’s can remember a tune from the childhood, or why songs can be a way for non verbal people to communicate. It’s something I’m endlessly fascinated by, and I know I’m not alone. That’s why I asked Dr Daniel Levitin to Take 5.In 2007, Daniel published a book called This Is Your Brain on Music. It laid out, in layman’s terms, all of the neural pathways that spark when we hear songs. It sold millions of copies, and he backed it up with an anthropological book called The World in Six Songs. But Daniel’s life didn’t start in the sciences. First and foremost, he’s a musician himself. He was a producer and engineer for about 15 years too; working alongside Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, and The Grateful Dead.

He knows his stuff. I asked Daniel to Take 5 with the neuroscience of music, and share songs not only from his own life but explain what’s happening to the brain, when he hear them. I loved this chat. I could speak for days about this stuff, and it just adds to a rich understanding and love of music, from all  over the genre map. From Beds are Burning to Beethoven, to one of the most beautiful tunes ever written, Daniel articulates the spark of a song.

Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning

Iggy Azalea - Fancy [Ft. Charli XCX]

The Afflicted - Here Come The Cops

Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker - Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67; I. Allegro con brio

Judy Garland - Over The Rainbow

Quan Yeomans is a guy who likes to play. Whether fronting Regurgitator for the past quarter century and bringing his songwriting clout to their punk, pop, and electronic missives, stepping out with the hyper sounds of Happyland, or collaborating on any number of other projects, there’s a sense of childlike wonder, of curiosity and risk, to  all he does.

That’s why I asked him to Take 5 with his inner child songs. I wanted to hear that music that, for him, captured that sense of freedom, of newness, of the silliness of childhood. What I didn’t realise when I came up with the theme though, was that his late father was a psychiatrist. And the concept and exploration of the inner child, is something he had been exploring his whole life. From James Chance to The Velvet Underground to Peggy Lee, this is a perfectly wonderful trip through Quan’s brain and musical heart.

Contort Yourself  - James Chance

Shave 'Em Dry - Lucille Bogan

Dumb Head - Ginny Arnell

After Hours (Closet Mix) - Velvet Underground

Is That All There Is? - Peggy Lee/Robert Norberg