Giles Peterson is always digging for fresh sounds, and this time he’s turned his ear to Australia.
Legendary broadcaster and DJ Giles Peterson transformed Sydney’s Ivy Penthouse into a vinyl lover’s dream in February with the Kirin Ichiban Listening Room.
Guests started in a bespoke chill-out lounge before descending into the intimate Listening Room, where Peterson took centre stage, spinning a 30-minute set of vinyl gems straight from his personal collection.
After the session, we caught up with Giles to talk about his current favourite Australian artists – here’s who’s on his radar.
Close Counters – I thought I’d open up with this group called Close Counters, who are made up of Alan McConnell and Finn Reese.
Finn’s done a lot of solo stuff as well. He is an amazing multi-instrumentalist, and my biggest record as a club DJ last year was a record they did with a producer called River Star called Jingga.
Very musical, 130 BPM, absolute no-brainer, peak-time killer.
Center – This is a singer called Center, I think that’s how you say it. She made it self-release – I think there were just 200 pressings.
I got the last one in a record shop today. The owner said, ‘This is my copy, I don’t think I can get another,’ and I said, well, you shouldn’t be playing it in your shop because I’m the consumer. And he was like, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’
It’s called Worth Control – love that. Halcyon Days is the shop; very good Australian section, quiet, obscure ’70s and ’80s Australian jazz and some soul.
Surprise Chef – One of their early records, but I love Surprise Chef. I met the drummer years ago when he was driving me around for gigs in Australia.
Eventually he said, ‘Oh, I’m in a band as well,’ and that’s how I discovered them. They’ve gone on to do really well in Europe and America.
Think groups like BadBadNotGood, Menahan Street Band – really nice analog instrumentals.
I love that he still drives on the side; musicians have to these days.
GI – I picked up this one at Repressed Vinyl. I was looking for electronic, jazzy stuff, and after a bit of a chat with the guy, he pulled out a record by GI – Thought Makes Music. It’s like a cross between Four Tet and Burial but with attitude.
Very musical, very electronic. I’m really sold on this.
Ab Browns – From Melbourne – I discovered him playing drums in Michel de Gale Cello’s band.
He gave me his solo record, just drums and percussion, and it was amazing. In a world of many incredible drummers, he’s at the very top. Evidently Michel de Gale Cello saw that in him too.
Audrey Pound – Another incredible Australian musician, singer, and trumpeter. S
he does jazz but also songwriting and soul. I recorded her on the album Sunny Side Up, and she’s now living in London. She’s amazing.
Giles’ picks capture a snapshot of Australia’s current musical landscape – a mix of underground electronic innovators, jazz experiments, and instrumental mastery.
Six names for the price of five, and all worth keeping an ear on.
