An Anthology of Australian Albums

An Anthology of Australian Albums offers an overview of Australian popular music through the lens of significant, yet sometimes overlooked, Australian albums. Chapters explore the unique qualities of each album within a broader history of Australian popular music. Artists covered range from the older and non-mainstream yet influential, such as the Missing Links, Wendy Saddington and the Coloured Balls, to those who have achieved very recent success (Courtney Barnett, Dami Im and Flume) and whose work contributes to international pop music (Sia), to the more exploratory or experimental (Curse ov Dialect and A.B. Original). Collectively the albums and artists covered contribute to a view of Australian popular music through the non-canonical, emphasizing albums by women, non-white artists and Indigenous artists, and expanding the focus to include genres outside of rock including hip hop, black metal and country.

Jon Dale is a writer and researcher based in Melbourne, Australia. He teaches across a number of fields (popular music, experimental writing, media studies, criminology, sociology, screen studies) at a number of institutions. He also writes for the English music magazine Uncut, and contributes liner notes and essays to a number of record labels and other publications. He is currently working on several books about DIY and post-punk music, and texts on experimental film and diary film making. He also runs the record labels Tristes Tropiques and Rose Hobart.
Jon Stratton is Adjunct Professor in the School of Creative Industries at the University of South Australia. His most recent publications include Black Popular Music in Britain since 1945 (edited with Nabeel Zuberi, 2014) and When Music Migrates: Crossing British and European Racial Faultlines 1945-2010 (2014).
Tony Mitchell is an honorary research associate at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. He is the author of Popular Music and Local Identity: Rock, Pop and Rap in Europe and Oceania (1994), editor of Global Noise: Rap and Hip hop outside the USA (2001), co-editor of North Meets South: Popular Music in Aotearoa New Zealand (2004), Sounds of Then, Sounds of Now: Popular Music in Australia (2007), Home, Land and Sea: Situating Music in Aotearoa New Zealand (2011) and Sounds Icelandic (2017).

Notes on Contributors Preamble Introduction Jon Stratton with Jon Dale (University of South Australia, Australia) 1. The Missing Links, The Missing Links Jon Stratton (University of South Australia, Australia) 2. Wendy Saddington and The Copperwine, Wendy Saddington and The Copperwine Live Julie Rickwood (Australian National University, Australia) 3. Coloured Balls, Ball Power Paul 'Nazz' Oldham (University of South Australia, Australia) 4. The Scientists, Blood Red River Jon Stratton (University of South Australia, Australia) 5. The Plums, Gun; Deadstar, Deadstar; Milk; Over The Radio Caroline Kennedy (Monash University, Australia) 6. Shakaya, Shakaya Panizza Allmark (Edith Cowan University, Australia) 7. Striborg, Spiritual Catharsis Catherine Hoad (Massey University, Aotearoa/New Zealand) 8. Curse ov Dialect, Wooden Tongues Sarah Attfield (University of Technology, Sydney, Australia) 9. The Drones, I See Seaweed Adam Trainer (Edith Cowan University, Australia) 10. Roger Knox & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Stranger In My Land; Roger Knox, Give It a Go Liz Dean (University of Melbourne, Australia) with Roger Knox 11. Dami Im, Dami Im Sarah Keith (Macquarie University, Australia) 12. Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit John Encarnacao (University of Western Sydney, Australia) 13. Sia, This Is Acting Laura Glitsos (Curtin University, Australia) 14. Flume, Skin Ed Montano and Gene Shill (RMIT University, Australia) 15. A.B.Original, Reclaim Australia Suzi Hutchings (RMIT University, Australia) and Dianne Rodger (University of Adelaide, Australia)