​A Bourke Street Mall busker, Tash Sultana has truly taken the world by storm. She is currently on a massive Australian tour (after an eventful luggage mishandling incident that made global news), and is set to become a major name in Australian music. So for those of you who have not seen her fantastically engaging and charismatic sets in Bourke Street, I strongly suggest you check out her EP Notion. 

​It’s September, and for many, that means 4 weekends of stubbies, snags and a shedload of footy. Two of Australia’s leading sport leagues have their grand finals this weekend (AFL and NRL), and hopefully they should both be fantastic games! At last, both will be featuring fantastic Australian talent, with the AFL showcasing Vance Joy and The Living End, and the NRL bringing Keith Urban back from his recent fame in the United States.
 
But when I compare the two leagues, I do notice the striking lack of team songs within the NRL. Unlike AFL, where each team enjoys their victories with a cheesy cover of some classic European folk song, NRL victors celebrate to top 40 hits like “Geronimo”. And this has made me wonder, coming into Grand Final weekend, whether team songs are successful and necessary attachments for Australian sporting teams, especially in leading sporting leagues.

I don’t know what Australian musicians have been up to recently, but it seems every second artist is changing their stage name. Even the Melburnian jazz scene has gotten into the mix of this “evolution” la-di-da, with a fusion quintet that came to my attention earlier this year pulling a “Prince” manoeuvre, to change their name from ‘Pilot’ to the increasingly vibrant, but also confusing ‘Neon City Pilot’. But despite all the befuddlement that comes with changing a name, the group has just launched another incredible release, with their debut album Ghost Wings. 

​I’ve been a Cat Empire fan since their hit ‘Hello’, and have loved their distinctive Australian take on ska and jazz. The Cat Empire have toured the world countless times, and their music is loved internationally for the band’s stupendous brass lines, keyboard finesse and thrifty use of vinyl scratching. Front-man Felix Riebl has been the mastermind behind the majority of the band’s success, with his charismatic performance style and intelligent song-writing.