John

Hello folks. This is one for all you ex-pats living in Oz, and I’d love to hear all of your opinions/experiences..
I’ve recently been going through my record collection (which includes a fair amount of 12" long players – remember those things!?!) as unfortunately I shan’t be able to take them all when emigrating, far too much weight

This has brought the memories flooding back and it started me wondering what the current music scene is like over in Oz, as a whole. Are there many music publications available, e.g. mojo, uncut? Do all the major international/UK bands tend to include Australia on the circuit and do they stick to the same venues when performing? And is there a certain ‘unknown-but-could-be-the-next-big-thing’ element that there is in the UK, which keeps the flame burning?
Cheers

(clocking off now to get some )

ShozInOz

There are music publications but they tend to bwe British or American. You can get Mojo, Uncut, etc. Bands do not tend to tour Australia, except the biggest ones (e.g. Oasis, Robbie Williams) and some of the smaller ones with an affinity to Austrlaia (e.g. Gomez). The scene here is influenced more by America and especially R&B tripe, rap crap, etc (obviously I'm not a fan). The scene in Sydney is poor but Melbourne is better for small bands in the pubs.

Del Boy

Agree with the above. Also the mags on sale have invariably come by surface mail and will usually be 2 or 3 months old by the time they go on sale. # month old copy of NME anyone !

Aus isnt at the cutting edge of the music scene, despite what the locals think.

Dont ditch those albums !! the choice of music in the shops is much less than in the UK. There are a few excellent shops like Rockinghorse in Brisbane and that one in Pacific Fair (forget the name), but as for sanity, big W etc, well, if its isnt current top 40 or a past huge seller then forget it. HMV and Virgin shops are tiny and have limited stock, in my mostly Qld experience.

squeezzii

[QUOTE=JAllen]Hello folks. This is one for all you ex-pats living in Oz, and I’d love to hear all of your opinions/experiences..
I’ve recently been going through my record collection (which includes a fair amount of 12" long players – remember those things!?!) as unfortunately I shan’t be able to take them all when emigrating, far too much weight

This has brought the memories flooding back and it started me wondering what the current music scene is like over in Oz, as a whole. Are there many music publications available, e.g. mojo, uncut? Do all the major international/UK bands tend to include Australia on the circuit and do they stick to the same venues when performing? And is there a certain ‘unknown-but-could-be-the-next-big-thing’ element that there is in the UK, which keeps the flame burning?
Cheers



Hi there, thought you might like my initial impression as have been here just 3 weeks. In perth the impression I have is a lot of metal bands are very popular there is also a dance scene too,and OZ bands tend to just be big in Oz with the odd exception, yeah most music mags are availiable and I have found the local music store people to be enthusiastic,there was also a free mag; X Press which has info on gigs etc.Athlete are doing a few gigs here and tix were $40-not bad as you wouldnt get a reasonably small gig with them at home esp at that price!Havent settled in enough to hit the music scene yet but there is enthusiasm for live music here. Another observation,the radio here so far is :scared: :scared: -anyone in perth know a good radio station I'm open to any suggestions! So, whatever happens resist all temptations to out your collection,(leave the bedroom furniture behind)you'll never replace your collection and you'll never forgive yourself if you dont bring it whatever the music is like over here your collection is YOUR collection and you'd be lost without it!...

Kangablue

As has been said already, you can get the likes of Uncut, Mojo, NME and The Wire out here. Usually it is previous editions, but you can pay extra for a 'Air Freight' copy of say Uncut for near to $20. I've not come across any local mags that are comparable. In Sydney, at least, there is a free mag called Drum Media that can keep you in touch with whose playing live. It's easy to miss visiting bands as they only seem to play one night per city.

There are some excellent record shops in Newtown, Sydney, including a great one that sells second-hand vinyl, Egg. Red Eye in the city has almost everything including obscure experimental stuff. Bring your vinyl, I brought hundreds of my old albums over (try Seven Seas shipping) as well as CDs.

Now, Australian music, to my taste, currently, isn't very exciting. They all sound like someone else and seldom original - lots of dated grungy or retro rock, indie soundalikes, Aussie rap (!). Incidentally, my fave Aussie bands: The Go-Betweens, The Birthday Party, Radio Birdman, The Saints .

Del Boy

Ahh. The Saints...now you're talking

Anastasia Beaverhausen

Redeye...I love that place, spent many a saturday picking up stuff I couldnt even get here.

Is Utopia still going? Dan will be crushed if it has gone, he loved to pick up the worst 80s metal he could find.

There were lots of small second hand book and record shops at the lower end of pitt and george street in Sydney, are they still in abundance now?

Dan and I could spend the whole of saturday cruising the second had record shop, great memories.

Claire
xx

Kangablue

Claire,

Not sure I know of Utopia, but a colleague still says it's still going and was known for its Heavy Metal. Red Eye is indeed excellent and has a couple of shops including a 'second hand' one. As you say, it has everything. Newtown has a number of good shops. The markets in Glebe and Rozelle are good for picking up second-hand records - Glebe has a Record Collectors Fair now and again.

Another excellent shop, particularly for Indie\Alternative stuff is a chain called JB Hi-Fi (if I recall correctly). There's one in Norton Street Leichardt anyway. It looks like a 'Stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap' Hi Fi shop or something , but it has a fantastic range of CD's at very good prices.

I must say that I have no problems getting the records I want here in Sydney and as you say, it is fun scouting about finding second-hand stuff. You will find a lot of the records were probably from UK ex-pats in the first place. I've found several Kent Northern Soul compilations out here which I'm sure were not sold over here.

John

Thanks for all the great responses guys, some very informative comments