I’m trying to dig up some music to accompany footage from our trip to Australia. But I’m having problems coming up with iconic Australian music ideas. The two inclusions I’ve used so far are “Land Down Under” (of course), “Waltzing Matilda” (of course), and some didgeridoo music that I’ve dug up from somewhere.
Obviously I’ve got AC/DC, INXS, etc. to choose from; but those don’t really scream out “Australia” so much as “music from bands who happen to be from Australia.”
Any other suggestions? Artist or song titles? I’m just looking for mood music, basically.
I’d agree with you on those two bands but Midnight Oil seems like the quintessential Australian band to me. Especially their big breakthough album, Diesel & Dust.
Second only to “Waltzing Matilda,” I don’t think you can get any more Australian than Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport by Rolf Harris. Now that I think about it, since the song is from 1957 it ought to have been on my list of MP3s older than you…
This band is actually from New Zealand and NOT Australia, which I only learned just now when I looked them up. But that song was HUGE in the year 1997, which was the first year where I had my own stereo and so listened to music constantly in my room. I can still remember almost every single pop song that was on the charts in 1997. And “How Bizarre” was always, to me, “that Australian song,” because the singing in it just sounded so Australian.
I think Xavier Rudd might be what you’re after - he’s an Australian folk-rock singer who uses Aboriginal instruments in his music, and he sings about a lot of uniquely Australian themes.
