UniCast President Rachel Forbes has been highlighting live music performances that may have flown under your radar on her radio show, The Skips. She’s put together five “hidden gem” musicians from Adelaide that you just can’t skip. (Image supplied: Wake in Fright)
By Rachel Forbes | @theskipsradioshow
Kaurna land is home to so much great music that most of it gets lost in the grand algorithmic canyon that is Spotify.
Here are five of Adelaide’s best musical acts with less than 500 monthly listeners on Spotify as of September 1, 2024.
By the time September ends this list may need to be renamed “Five over 500”.
Wake in Fright
447 monthly listeners as of September 1, 2024 | @wakeinfrightmusic
No two folk acts in Adelaide are quite the same, but this act certainly stands out from the crowd.
Wake in Fright (WIF) is a reliable staple in the Adelaide folk scene (even if the predicted number of band members at their gigs is not so reliable).
While you should partake in the quest to get WIF over 500 monthly listeners, seeing them perform live is a priority.
Their latest setlist — including upbeat single “You Deserve” — imbues even the smallest venue with massive energy that will sway the opinions of nay-sayers and get said nay-sayers swaying.
What a mouthful.
All of this to say, this is a band to brag about to your inferior friends while WIF’s Thea Martin masterfully plays the world’s smallest violin for them.
If you want to hear more from WIF, you can listen to their appearance on The Skips here.
Birdwatching
118 monthly listeners as of September 1, 2024 | @birdwatchingsux
With an Instagram handle like @birdwatchingsux you may question this Adelaide-based musician’s marketing skills.
Luckily for Maisie (the reverse psychology super-genius behind Birdwatching), On The Record is here to save the day.
Fans of moody music will love her latest track “Disintegrate”, which features airy guitar and mixing and mastering from across the globe.
The track may have been mastered in England by Too Common, but finding a talent like Maisie’s anywhere is too rare.
When she’s not being criminally underrated, she spends her time penning lyrics to float like a feather over her atmospheric instrumentals.
Get yourself some binoculars because dare we say … she’s one to watch.
You can hear her on UniCast performing a live version of “Disintegrate” for The Skips on September 11 at 8pm.
The Honey Pies
107 monthly listeners as of September 1, 2024
From the depths of the algorithmic canyon, we bring you a healthy heaping of The Honey Pies.
It may be cheating to include a band whose low listenership is a result of their latest album being released in 2012, but we make the rules here!
Thirteen years after its release, their 2011 debut album, Carpe Carp, has stood the test of time.
Some of our more senior readers may even remember seeing The Honey Pies at Big Day Out back in 2012, but, especially for those of us who were barely nine years old at the time, there are still plenty more memories to be made to this archive album.
Start with their song “Girl” and keep listening to their discography to experience the closest thing to time travel.
Georgie Raft
99 monthly listeners as of September 1, 2024 | @georgie_raft
It’s been a year since Georgie Raft released her EP The Hours Between, but the opening track “Twenty Minutes” is still a shining example of just how much exceptional talent Adelaide has to offer.
Georgie’s articulation is impressive and allows for her vulnerable narratives to form crystal-clear imagery that deserves a much larger platform.
Georgie has been awarded countless times for her songwriting and this EP is a testament to why.
What the EP doesn’t explain, though, is why on earth more people aren’t listening to her!
If you can spare twenty minutes, listen to “Twenty Minutes” six times in a row — or the entirety of The Hours Between.
Pink Duke
75 monthly listeners as of September 1, 2024 | @pinkdukeband
If “new-wave psychedelic” sounds fun to you and not reminiscent of a bad trip, Pink Duke might be up your alley!
If you crave the sensation of floating in your friend’s pool while feeling a little tipsy, Pink Duke’s Dandelion Crown EP should be added to your playlist well before summer.
If you don’t, though, perhaps you’d better understand that their track “Long Way Down” is like Ocean Alley covering King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
Be warned that every time you listen to “Long Way Down” you may come to a different conclusion as to who their sonic influences are.
With band members shared across other Adelaide acts like Druid Fluids, Normal Behaviour and Big Sloe, it is a great success that Pink Duke has still created something truly unique that can’t quickly be labelled as mimicry.
Tune in to The Skips live on UniCast, UniSA’s student-run radio station, at 8pm on the second Wednesday of every month to hear more recommendations from Rachel Forbes.
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