The Music Show

First discovered as a 17-year-old, Annahstasia found the music industry had a vision for her that she didn't recognise. Leaving the industry behind gave her a chance to find her voice - both metaphorically and literally, with months spent testing various mics and studios to get the right right for her latest album, Tether. While she points to influences like Nina Simone and Bill Withers, Annahstasia shares with the Music Show that it was schoolyard bullying that originally made her realise that she could sing.

When four jazz students in Sweden developed an interest in Scandinavian folk songs, they blended those influences together into an a cappella group, Åkervinda, that pays tribute to the past, while creating something entirely their own. Iris Bergcrantz, Agnes Åhlund, and Linda Bergström talk about their love for traditional music.

Title: Om Du är LedsenArtist: ÅkervindaComposer: ÅkervindaAlbum: Så Skall Hat och Avund SmältasLabel: Naxos

Title: VillainArtist: AnnahstasiaComposer: Annahstasia EnukeAlbum: TetherLabel: Drink Sum Wtr

Title: Be KindArtist: AnnahstasiaComposer: Annahstasia EnukeAlbum: TetherLabel: Drink Sum Wtr

Title: I Was Unhappy in My MarriageArtist: Bhutan BalladeersComposer: Bhutan BalladeersAlbum: Your Face Is Like The Moon, Your Eyes Are StarsLabel: Glitterbeat Records

Title: Jag Står Upp en MorgonArtist: ÅkervindaComposer: ÅkervindaAlbum: Så Skall Hat och Avund SmältasLabel: Naxos

Title: En MidsommaraftonArtist: ÅkervindaComposer: ÅkervindaAlbum: Så Skall Hat och Avund SmältasLabel: Naxos

Title: BlågetaArtist: ÅkervindaComposer: ÅkervindaAlbum: Så Skall Hat och Avund SmältasLabel: Naxos

Title: GuaracharArtist: La PerlaComposer: Diana Sanmiguel, Giovana Mogollón, Karen ForeroAlbum: GuaracharLabel: Independent release

The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, Kaurna, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country

Technical production by Ann-Marie Debettencor

Ron Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter who more than earns the title of tunesmith with his melodies and storytelling. He's back on The Music Show to talk about his latest album Hangover Terrace, about finding his voice eight albums into his career, and being a songwriter's songwriter.

Uncategorisable is how we like them on The Music Show and Mary Coughlan is certainly that. The Irish singer is headed to Australia for Port Fairy Folk Festival, and a run of other dates on what she says is her final Australian tour. 

Music heard in the show:

Title: I'd Rather Go Blind (live)Artist: Mary CoughlanComposer: Ellington Jordan, Billy Foster, Etta JamesAlbum: Live & KickingLabel: Hail Mary Records

Title: Don't Lose Sight, It's Been A While, Angel on My Shoulder, Must Be Something Wrong With HerArtist: Ron SexsmithComposer: Ron SexsmithAlbum: Hangover TerraceLabel: Cooking Vinyl

Title: Repeat RewindArtist: Mary CoughlanComposer: Mary Coughlan, Pete GlenisterAlbum: Repeat RewindLabel: Hail Mary Records

Title: Marital BlissArtist: Mary CoughlanComposer: Mary Coughlan, Pete GlenisterAlbum: Repeat RewindLabel: Hail Mary Records

Title: God Only KnowsArtist: Mary CoughlanComposer: Brian Wilson, Tony AsherAlbum: Repeat RewindLabel: Hail Mary Records

Title: MaishaArtist: The Zawose QueensComposer: The Zawose QueensAlbum: MaishaLabel: Real World

Technical production by Simon Branthwaite and Emrys Cronin

The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country.

Marisa Anderson says she learned to play the guitar three times. Once, as a young learner of classical guitar as a child. Then, being exposed to folk music at university, and, finally, when she threw away standard tuning about fifteen years later. On her latest album, The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music, she has taken inspiration from the record collection of Harry Smith and created her own version of music from countries that the USA has been at war with.

And Éliane Radigue died this week at the age of 94. Radigue found her voice when she found the synthesiser, which enabled her to make long, pure, slow moving tones, and she leaves a remarkable legacy of sound. Two of her Australia collaborators, Cat Hope and Lawrence English, share what it was that made Radigue's music so special and what it was like to collaborate with her.

Marisa Anderson's tour dates are here

Title: KoumeArtist: Éliane RadigueComposer: Éliane RadigueAlbum: Trilogie De La MortLabel: Experimental Intermedia Foundation

Title: HamdArtist: Marisa AndersonComposer: Marisa AndersonAlbum: The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk MusicLabel: Thrill Jockey Records

Title: Waking/Cloud CornerArtist: Marisa AndersonComposer: Marisa AndersonAlbum: Cloud CornerLabel: Thrill Jockey Records

Title: Onward 38Artist: Éliane RadigueComposer: Éliane RadigueAlbum: Vice Versa, Etc…Label: Important Records

Title: KailashaArtist: Éliane RadigueComposer: Éliane RadigueAlbum: Trilogie De La MortLabel: Experimental Intermedia Foundation

Title: Occam Hex IIArtist: DecibelComposer: Éliane Radigue & Carol RobsinonAlbum: Live recording

Title: Camelot TowersArtist: Ron SexsmithComposer: Ron SexsmithAlbum: Hangover TerraceLabel: Cooking Vinyl

The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country

Technical production by Emrys Cronin

It's the hundredth birthday of György Kurtág, one of the most revered and increasingly performed of living composers. Cellist Steven Isserlis and baritone Benjamin Appl have both worked closely with the Hungarian composer on his rarefied music, and they tell Andy about his humour, high standards and a commitment to work that finds him currently composing a new opera in between taking Latin and Mandarin lessons.

Kurtág centenary celebrations at ANAM in Melbourne include Kurtág and Friends and the ANAM 30th Gala, conducted by Simone Young

Åkervinda are on tour now, starting with Perth Festival.

British Japanese composer Ben Nobuto's Hallelujah Sim. opened the BBC Proms in 2024, garnering a roaring, standing ovation (a rare feat for a world premiere). His musical vocabulary, which marries precise chamber music sensibilities with video game sound effects and electronic multitracking, is unique in the universe of contemporary composition. He joins Andy to unpack his composition process and the ideas behind a new composition called Hope Spiral. 

Black Country, New Road brings together six musicians, each with their own style and influences, and blends them all together on every song. What could have been chaos instead became some of the most critically acclaimed music of the decade. Bassist and co-vocalist Tyler Hyde shares the surprising turns that have led the band to where they are today.

Black Country, New Road tour dates are here

Title: The Big SpinArtist: Black Country, New RoadComposer: Black Country, New RoadAlbum: Forever HowlongLabel: Ninja Tune

Title: Hallelujah SimArtist: BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Symphony OrchestraComposer: Ben NobutoLabel: Independent Release

Title: TrioArtist: Ellie Blamires, Mikołaj Piszczorowicz, Ben Nobuto Composer: Ben NobutoLabel: Independent Release

Title: Hope SpiralArtist: Ben Nobuto, Ben Goldscheider, Brother Tree SoundComposer: Ben NobutoAlbum: Hope SpiralLabel: NMC Recordings

Title: Echoes of the HeartArtist: Aaron ShawComposer: Aaron ShawAlbum: And So It IsLabel: Leaving

Title: BestiesArtist: Black Country, New RoadComposer: Black Country, New RoadAlbum: Forever HowlongLabel: Ninja Tune

Title: MaryArtist: Black Country, New RoadComposer: Black Country, New RoadAlbum: Forever HowlongLabel: Ninja Tune

Title: Up SongArtist: Black Country, New RoadComposer: Black Country, New RoadAlbum: Live At Bush HallLabel: Ninja Tune

Title: Salem SistersArtist: Black Country, New RoadComposer: Black Country, New RoadAlbum: Forever HowlongLabel: Ninja Tune

Title: Kafka-Fragmente, Op. 24; Pt. 1, BerceuseArtist: Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Camerata BernComposer: György KurtágAlbum: Maria Mater MeretrixLabel: Alpha

The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country

Technical production by Emrys Cronin

Carlo Gesualdo was a Renaissance composer, a prince, and a murderer. His sacred music, including his Tenebrae Responsoria, is a strange collection of settings full of dissonance and chromatic moving parts. AJ America is the Artistic Director of Luminescence Chamber Singers, and she joins Andy to talk about how the gory details of Gesualdo's life translate to the music.

Blinky Bill is a Kenyan musician and producer who, as part of the group Just A Band, drove the development of alternative music in Nairobi and Kenya more broadly. His music draws from all over Africa and the diaspora, and he's about to come to Australia where he's performing at WOMADelaide... and you'll be able to see The Music Show in action there too!

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings are one of the great couples of Americana, with a catalogue that stretches back decades. Along the way they've put their stamp on the classics of American folk, and created more than a few classics of their own. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of Time (The Revelator), they're heading back to Australia to show off their latest collection of new material: Woodland. They performed material from both albums live in the Music Show studios. 

Raphaël Pichon leads Ensemble Pygmalion, a French historically informed performance group which, unusually, is a choir and orchestra operating as one ensemble. They’re making their Australian debut at the Adelaide Festival with three programmes - including Monteverdi and Bach and, after 400 years, the Australian debut of Rossi's Orfeo.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' tour dates are available here.

And Ensemble Pygmalion are performing Bach, Monteverdi, and Rossi at the Adelaide Festival.

Title: Requiem in D minor, KyrieArtist: Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon, Ying FangComposer: Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlbum: Mozart: RequiemLabel: Harmonia Mundi

Title: Empty Trainload of SkyArtist: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsComposer: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsAlbum: WoodlandLabel: Acony Records

Title: HashtagArtist: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsComposer: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsAlbum: WoodlandLabel: Acony Records

Title: Everything Is FreeArtist: Gillian WelchComposer: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsAlbum: Time (The Revelator) Label: Acony Records

Title: Missa Brevis in F major; II. GloriaArtist: Emiliano Gonzalez-Toro, Sydney Fierro, Magid El-Bushra, Eugénie Warnier, Raphaël Pichon, Ensemble PygmalionComposer: Johann Sebastian BachAlbum: JS Bach: Missæ BrevesLabel: Alpha

Title: Hymnus "Ave maris stella"Artist: Raphaël Pichon, Ensemble PygmalionComposer: Claudio MonteverdiAlbum: Monteverdi: Vespro della beata VergineLabel: Harmonia Mundi

Title: Extract from the Tenebrae settings for Maundy ThursdayArtist: Luminescence Chamber SingersComposer: Carlo GesualdoCourtesy of Luminescence

The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country, and Turrbal and Yuggera Country

Technical production by Ann-Marie Debettencor and Steve Fieldhouse

Lachlan Skipworth, one of Australia's most beautiful compositional voices, has a very unusual new double concerto - for trumpet and clarinet - set to premiere with Omega Ensemble. He tells Andy how a series of 'joyful and uplifting' commissions added a new string to his bow.

And Thomas William Smith & Mara Schwerdtfeger from the ambient collective Worlds Only share why they prefer to exist in the moment, creating live shows that are full of pieces of structured improvisation that might never be heard again. 

Omega Ensembles performance dates are available here

Worlds Only performance details here

Music in this program:

Title: Tarmac in the ProvinceArtist: Worlds OnlyComposer: Worlds OnlyAlbum: Raw & Hot & UncutLabel: Independent release

Title: Altiora Peto, Concerto for Trumpet and Strings; I. Moderato ritmico – Adagio – Tempo primoArtist: David Elton & Sydney String VirtuosiComposer: Lachlan SkipworthAlbum: Altiora PetoLabel: ABC Classics

Title: Quintet for Bass Recorder and String Quartet; II. TranquilloArtist: Genevieve Lacey & Australian String QuartetComposer: Lachlan SkipworthAlbum: Altiora PetoLabel: ABC Classics

Title: The Night Sky FallArtist: Ashley William Smith, Louise Devenish, Emily Green-ArmytageComposer: Lachlan SkipworthAlbum: Lachlan Skipworth: Chamber WorksLabel: Navona Records

Title: Song for Sad TimesArtist: GanavyaComposer: GanavyaAlbum: NilamLabel: Leiter

Title: SanctuaryArtist: Worlds OnlyComposer: Worlds OnlyAlbum: Raw & Hot & UncutLabel: Independent release

Title: TabbedArtist: Worlds OnlyComposer: Worlds OnlyAlbum: Raw & Hot & UncutLabel: Independent release

Title: Meteoric ChatArtist: Worlds OnlyComposer: Worlds OnlyAlbum: Raw & Hot & UncutLabel: Independent release

Title: The Bells And The BirdsArtist: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsComposer: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsAlbum: WoodlandLabel: Acony Records

The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country

Technical production by Ann-Marie Debettencor

Andrea Keller is not only a pianist, composer, bandleader and educator, she's also the Jazz Ambassador at this year's Clarence Jazz Festival, celebrating its 30th year. She joins Andy to talk about creating a web of collaborators in her Transients series. 

Ian Thompson's book, Synths, Sax and Situationists, examines the music of the French underground that began with the Paris 'events' of May 1968. For the next decade, bands such as Daevid Allen's Gong, Red Noise and Heldon were sometimes overtly political, but always subversive. Andy talks to Ian Thompson about the times and the music.

Tim Finn and Neil Finn have worked together in a number of guises over the years: Crowded House, The Finn Brothers, and guesting on each other’s solo projects. But it all began with Split Enz, and there’s something about that music that keeps bringing them back together. Neil and Finn reminisce about their early collaborations, explain how a setlist comes together, and share how The Eagles were a surprising influence on the band.

Back in 1948, a major scientific expedition travelled to Arnhem Land to catalogue that place and its people, including recordings of the music and ceremony they witnessed there. Those recordings drew the ethnomusicologist Dr Reuben Brown to Arnhem Land many decades later and, on that trip, Reuben met senior western Arnhem Land songmen who invited him to make recordings of his own - to document their songs for future generations. It also led to a book, The Gift of Song.

Andy Irvine is on tour now - Newcastle, Bathurst, Sydney. And next week, Andy (Ford) will be in conversation with him at the Gaelic Club in Sydney, at 6pm - all welcome.

Split Enz's Australian tour dates are available here.

Listeners are advised that the episode discusses people who have died. The music in this episode is the Indigenous cultural intellectual property (ICIP) of Bininj/Arrarrkpi ceremony leaders and custodians. Use without proper attribution of the ICIP owners may breach customary laws as well as copyright and moral rights under the Copyright Act 1968 (Australian Govt).

Reuben Brown wishes to thank the people of Gunbalanya, Warruwi, and Jabiru and surrounding outstations who have hosted him on their Country and to the Bininj and Arrarrkpi ceremony leaders, custodians, and knowledge holders who generously contributed to the book and knowledge discussed in this episode.

Music in this program:

Title:  Nganaru songset Artist: Billy NamunurrAlbum: Archival recording

Title: Give It A WhirlArtist: Split Enz Composer: Neil Finn, Tim FinnAlbum: FrenzyLabel: Mushroom

Title: Late Last NightArtist: Split EnzComposer: Phil JuddAlbum: Second ThoughtsLabel: Mushroom

Title: I Got YouArtist: Split Enz Composer: Neil FinnAlbum: True ColoursLabel: Mushroom

Title: One Step AheadArtist: Split EnzComposer: Neil FinnAlbum: WaiataLabel: Mushroom

Title: Missing PersonArtist: Split EnzComposer: Neil FinnAlbum: True ColoursLabel: Mushroom

Title: Six Months In A Leaky BoatArtist: Split EnzComposer: Split Enz, Tim FinnAlbum: Time and TideLabel: Mushroom

Title: Spellbound (Eddie Rayner remix)Artist: Split EnzComposer: Phil Judd, Tim FinnAlbum: Enzyclopedia: Volumes One & TwoLabel: Warner Music Australia

Title:  Marrwakara ‘goanna’ and Mularrik Mularrik ‘green frog’ songsetArtist: Harold Warrabin & Micky YalbarrAlbum: Archival recording

Title:  Inyjalarrku ‘mermaid' songArtist: Rupert Manmurulu, Renfred Manmurulu, Solomon NangamuAlbum: Archival recording

Title:  Mirrijpu ‘seagull’ songset featuring the Nigi or ‘mother’ song Artist: Solomon Nangamu, Russell Agalara, Rupert ManmuruluAlbum: Archival recording

Title: My Heart's Tonight In IrelandArtist: Andy IrvineComposer: Andy IrvineAlbum: Rain On The RoofLabel: AK Records

The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country

Technical production by Ann-Marie Debettencor