Mojo Juju remains steadfast at the top of the community radio charts

Community radio shows a huge amount of support for Australian music, with almost 40% of music played coming from local artists. Taste-making presenters excel at giving airtime to an incredible spread of what Aussie artists have to offer. The Amrap Metro and Amrap Regional Charts provide insight into what’s getting airplay and attention on community radio each week. Here’s the lowdown on some tunes charting this week.

Tape/Off  – #4 Amrap Metro

Since emerging from Brisbane in 2014 with their debut album Chipper, Tape/Off have been bluntly assessing the Australian psyche with scalpel-like precision, all soundtracked by a pulverising punk-rock template. It’s taken four years to return with Broadcast Park but the band’s passion, insight and intensity is wholly undiminished. The band have been under the radar in that time, and in the wake of The Peep Tempel’s breakup last year, Tape/Off should pave the way for well-channelled disaffection for years to come. Going the hard yards with them are Hobart’s Edge Radio Brisbane’s 4ZZZ FM and Perth’s 6RTR FM.

8 Ball Aitken – #2 Amrap Regional

Six Stringer from the North Queensland bluesman has crept its way to near the top of the Amrap Regional Chart after many weeks in the Top 10. It’s fitting for a song that isn’t in any real rush with its delivery of low-slung swamp blues in tribute to some of the greatest bluesman. John Lee Hooker, Hound Dog Taylor, Albert King are but a few name checked as inspirations for Mr Ball to keep on doing his thing. The axeman cometh loud and strong for stations such as South Australia’s 5GTR FM, 2BBB in NSW’s Bellingen and Queensland’s Fraser Coast Communiy Radio.

Hollow Coves – #8 Amrap Regional

Already making waves overseas after their first North American tour supporting Tom Walker, Brisbane duo Hollow Coves have a delivered a slice of atmospheric folk-pop to swoon to with Ran Away. We’re getting hints of The National, Holy Holy and Ben Howard – the track was in fact produced by Chris Ford who has also worked with Howard. They’ve an accomplished sound for a young act and community radio have picked up on Hollow Coves very quickly. 2BOB FM in NSW’s Taree, Victoria’s Mountain District Radio and NSDW’s Yass FM are but a few community stations around Australia loving this track.

Glass Diamonds – #6 Amrap Regional

If this is the soundtrack to sad sex dreams then colour me Freudian! Or is that technicolour, because what we have here is a kaleidoscopic piece of disco laced with more psychedelic overlay than an Austin Powers movie. And yep, it’s groovy, baby. The Melbourne trio are currently recording their debut album Sounding like Future of The Left on a goth-pop bender, Diamond’s Walk Away is a storming tune from the duo out of the NSW South Coast that’s hard, fast and no mess in sound and sentiment. Clocking in at under two and a half minutes, it’s an extremely defiant slab of noise with some underlying melodic smarts to suck you in to their particular kind of thrash n’ burn. Already slated for a showcase spot at September’s Bigsound, they are feedbacking loud and clear on Brisbane’s 4ZZZ FM, Canberra’s 2XX, Perth’s 6RTR FM and a load more.

HoT To RoT – #6 Amrap Metro

The Melbourne trio’s Kindred is punchy post-punk streaked with theatrical flourish, unflinching in its depiction of a friendship gone cold. Released on the wryly named Hysterical Records, a label dedicated to fostering greater gender diversity in the Australian music underground, HoT To RoT make their first release quite the release indeed with the band at full throttle in pursuit of taking on the past and letting go. We can’t wait for their next move, but we’ll have to until August when their debut EP drops. In the meantime, after top airplay at metropolitan community radio, rural stations such as Victoria’s 3WAY, Bay FM in NSW’s Byron Bay and Noosa FM in Queensland are in the think of it with this.

See the full Amrap Charts at www.airit.org.au.

The Amrap Charts show the Top 10 tracks ordered for airplay by community broadcasters through the Amrap’s AirIt music distribution service. Amrap is an initiative of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia which distributes new Australian music to community radio stations nationwide & empowers broadcasters to promote new Australian music on air & online.