When Julia Gillard gave Barack Obama an iPod full of music as a gift to mark her recent visit to the US, it could have easily been mistaken as a representative canon of Australian music. Despite the wave of discontent that occurred soon after the playlist was released to the public, its inclusions are not as significant as the exclusions from the playlist. Surely, the past 200 years of Australian music production can be condensed to something more than just entire albums of Jimmy Barnes and Guy Sebastian?
Soon after the gift, a collective of Australian classical composers and musicians put together another iPod to protest the dearth of classical music on the original device. Certainly no single playlist could adequately represent the distinct nuances of Australian music across genres, but it’s now certain from this backlash that the official playlist was distinctly lacking bite.
This issue celebrates Australian musicians and artists across the country, from our cover designer Kris Keogh to Mental Powers and back with Catcall. Our new photo spread found in the centre of the magazine comes courtesy of Lari Gadza, who has documented her encounters with creative types both locally and abroad.
Cyclic Defrost would also like to extend our condolences to the family and friends of Trish Keenan from Broadcast who passed away earlier this year. She will be sorely missed.
Online at cyclicdefrost.com there’s a wealth of additional content including interviews with Gold Panda, Os Mutantes, The Books and all the reviews. A Cyclic Defrost iPod for the President, anyone?
Enjoy the issue,
Shaun, Lex
Editors
