STACK #229 November 2023

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There’s nothing quite like taking home some fresh vinyl and putting it on the turntable for the first time. It’s a total experience. Each month we pull together a collection of reissues, JB-exclusives, or just straight-up classic long players to add to any burgeoning collection. We’re featuring Aussie artists in November to celebrate AusMusic Month. Words Zoë Radas, Amy Flower, Paul Jones

CHART Vinyl

GRINSPOON EASY (2003) (LIMITED ORANGE MARBLE VINYL)

Forget second album blues. Grinspoon’s intentions are made crystal clear on Easy , when the first track, American Party Bomb , explodes from the speakers like a sledgehammer to the spine. This is rock how we remember it used to be. Unrelenting, energy filled guitar riffs and monster drums that beckon you to the mosh like a sonic temptress, Easy is chock full of short, sharp, well-written songs. If you missed the boat the first time around, jump aboard now and reminisce in this riotous trip of blood,

AUSTRALIAN CRAWL CRAWL FILE: THEIR GREATEST HITS (1984) LIMITED RED VINYL One of the Mornington Peninsula’s great music exports, Australian Crawl – or, more colloquially,

sweat and beer. TOP TRACK: Ready 1

Aussie Crawl – burst onto the scene with single Beautiful People in 1979, and for five years they burned bright with their catchy, summery pub rock featuring James Reyne’s unique diction. Their first long player, The Boys Light Up , was packed with top tunes, from the risqué title track and Downhearted , both singles, to the upbeat Indisposed and downbeat Hootchie Gucci Fiorucci Mama .

1. THE ROLLING STONES HACKNEY DIAMONDS 2. TROYE SIVAN SOMETHING TO GIVE EACH OTHER 3. OLIVIA RODRIGO GUTS 4. TAYLOR SWIFT MIDNIGHTS 5. TAYLOR SWIFT SPEAK NOW (TAYLOR'S VERSION) 6. TAYLOR SWIFT FOLKLORE (IN THE TREES EDITION) 7. KYLIE MINOGUE TENSION 8. BLINK 182 ONE MORE TIME 9. TAYLOR SWIFT RED (TAYLOR'S VERSION) 10. MAC MILLER

TOP TRACK: Jonathan Burnside, who had honed his production skills with seminal US punk band The Melvins, produced the album.

DELTA GOODREM INNOCENT EYES (2003) 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Erinsborough was never going to contain Delta

Goodrem for long. In November 2002, just a few days after her 18th birthday, the pianist-singer's debut single Born to Try hit Aussie radio. As we listened to her hitting stratospheric registers as she sung about learning to love, we wondered: who was this teenager with the ridiculously accomplished voice? It turned out we already knew her: as schoolgirl Nina Tucker on Neighbours . But Goodrem quickly left the 'burbs behind when everything she touched turned into a number one: first Born to Try , then its whimsical ballad follow-up Lost Without You , then the debut album from which they both came. After that, three more singles from Innocent Eyes hit the ARIA chart's top spot – including the fabulous title track, which established Goodrem's fierce talents in the mysterious minor keys and proved she wasn't just nine-grains-wholesome. Innocent Eyes

All are included on this 14-track best-of that’s about to celebrate its 40th, with other highlights including Errol , Oh No Not You Again , and number one smash Reckless . TOP TRACK: Unpublished Critics FAST FACT: The Crawl’s Countdown debut was memorable, as Reyne had both arms in plaster after being hit by a car. For more on that, listen to Indisposed …

(the album) went on to be the biggest-selling record in Australia of the entire decade, and remains as breathlessly delightful as it was 20 years ago. TOP TRACK: Innocent Eyes FAST FACT: When Innocent Eyes ' fifth single Predictable hit number one, Goodrem broke an ARIA record previously held by Kylie Minogue, for the most consecutive numbers ones from a debut album.

NPR MUSIC TINY DESK CONCERT

BOY AND BEAR HARLEQUIN DREAM (2013) (10TH ANNIVERSARY BLUE VINYL)

DELTA GOODREM MISTAKEN IDENTITY (2004) (BLUE VINYL)

On July 8, 2003, the third single from Delta Goodrem's debut album Innocent Eyes hit number one on the ARIA charts – the same spot her previous two singles had reached – while the album itself was spending its third month at number one. It was also on this day that then-18-year-old Goodrem was diagnosed with cancer: the rare Hodgkin lymphoma. While the musician underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy, melodies and harmonies typhooned around her mind, eventually becoming the much darker but much more triumphant material for second album Mistaken Identity . The title track itself illuminated Delta's new direction, lyrically daring and full of dramatic, dangerous strings – not to mention its direct reference to the singer's new appearance in the opening lines:“The girl [with] the long golden hair/ That used to be me”. "My music changed because my life had changed; the whole world around me had changed,” Goodrem explained after the album's release. “It wouldn't be right if I didn't acknowledge what went on. I feel I had to go into depth; get things out of the way, go through the journey.” TOP TRACK: Almost Here

In the continuous revolutions of the music industry, anniversary albums are a welcome reminder to occasionally drop anchor and appreciate the past. And that’s exactly what this ten-year anniversary of Sydney quintet Boy and Bear’s sophomore album is. Propelled by the melancholic lush of opener and big single Southern Sun , there’s an obvious nod here to the great Americana pop of the 1970s, and Harlequin Dream is a beauty; a blend of indie-folk and melodic rock that should be your go to for warm Sunday afternoons lazing in the sun. TOP TRACK: Southern Sun TOP TRACK: Weta artist Vaughan Flanagan created the incredible artwork.

FAST FACT: During recording of the duet Almost Here with Irish boyband vocalist Brian McFadden (Westlife), Goodrem and McFadden began dating. They were together for seven years, including a four-year engagement.

36 NOVEMBER 2023

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