Big Boi – ‘Shutterbug’
“Bo boboom/Bo booo booom/Bo boooom/Bo boooomm” – you know what I’m saying. That classic intro and backing vocal line to Big Boi’s timeless 2010 classic ‘Shutterbug’. Up there with Outkast’s ‘Sorry Miss Jackson’ or Justin Timberlake’s ‘Senorita’, this track’s hit the dfloor millions of times all over the world. This will raise the roof of the amphitheatre and the euphoria will be akin to when Jesus rose a second time.
The Avalanches – ‘Since I Left You’
Had to be ‘Since I Left You’. The memorable cut from The Avalanches’ 2000 antique of the same name is an eloquent dream. Listen to it eyes-shut and tip toe across the clouds at heaven’s door. As you sway to the meandering chord progressions, go find your closest friend and give them a kiss on the cheek – this is living. Sorry ‘Frontier Psychiatrist’, ‘Radio’ and ‘Subways’, you’re seriously unlucky.
King Krule – ‘Dum Surfer’
King Krule’s new record The OOZ is murky, bleak and apocalyptic ascending Archy Marshall to some sort of mad music scientist. His debut album 6 Feet Beneath the Moon set the stage for the songwriter’s brooding design but The OOZ demolishes the blueprint with its musical complexity and turbulence. How Marshall presents this aesthetic on stage will be a sight to see and the album’s most accessible track, ‘Dum Surfer’, will keep punters grounded with its infectious guitar line.
Kamasi Washington – ‘Truth’
If ‘Truth’ was the only song Kamasi Washington played, punters would be able to walk away saying they got the full Washington experience. It’s the saxophonist’s all-encompassing oeuvre – fusing everything that he’s manifested before. Find your seat for the momentous opening, become passenger to the ethereal vocal “ahhs” through its midsection before riding the hurricane of drum fills and trembling sax lines that close it out. A true maximalist charm.
Grizzly Bear – ‘Two Weeks’
Has the time passed for Grizzly Bear to make a single as euphoric and accessible as ‘Two Weeks’? It remains to be seen. Nevertheless, it’s remiss of me to play down the prowess of this intellectual Brooklyn outfit. They’re pilots of musical intricacy that’s unmatched – no one manifests synth rock compositions like Grizzly Bear and their 2017 LP Painted Ruins is evidence of that. Yet, as I lie amid the fertile grasses of the amphitheatre looking to the sky, all I want is to be flooded back to my adolescence.
Thundercat – ‘Them Changes’
The best songs are those shared to you by another. When Thundercat’s 2015 splendour ‘Them Changes’ rose from a friend’s Bose speaker chamber during a casual afternoon gathering, before I could reach for Shazam, I was grooving to the song’s whacky synth palpitation. Damn, this is funky and the fact that GP comrade Kamasi shares his sax, adds to every longing for sex. Dance on fellow aeronauts.
Perfume Genius – ‘Queen’
For a song to stop you in your tracks in a shopping mall, its needs to permeate every sense you didn’t know you had. It needs to stand adrift from your established consciousness and batter down your expectations. That’s exactly what happened when ‘Queen’ smouldered the eeriness of my sparsely populated local Kmart megastore in 2014. Perfume Genius’ opus is emotional, exhilarating and is poised to steal the hearts of every GP punter.
Mogwai – ‘Ether’
In 2015, Scottish post rock innovators Mogwai scored the poignant Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise – a BBC documentary probing the Hiroshima nuclear disaster. In 2016, the band reworked their soundtrack and enlivened the glittering soundscape of ‘Ether’. Throughout the triumphant song, magnificent arpeggios are embellished by an exultant trumpet which sounds like the dawning of a new age. Cue Independence Day.
Lee Fields & The Expressions – ‘Ladies’
Not many current-day musicians can say they were a part of the monumental ‘60s soul movement, but Lee Fields certainly can. The R&B trailblazer is at the forefront of the genre’s legacy and went toe to toe with James Brown throughout his unrivalled career. To have an icon of the grandeur of Fields grace the Golden Plains’ stage is beyond description and there’s sure to be plenty of matchmaking when ‘Ladies’ saturates the supernatural airwaves.
Wet Lips – ‘Shame’
2017 has been a magnificent year for Melbourne punk. Stellar releases have come from Cable Ties, Private Function, Amyl & The Sniffers and Batpiss, to name a few, while established all-female outfit Wet Lips have risen again with their enraged debut LP. This album is littered with titanic hurricanes and while ‘Can’t Take It Anymore’ will have the crowd in raptures, I can’t help but think ‘Shame’ and its magnetic chorus will scorch budding moshers with greater venom.
The Preatures – ‘Is This How You Feel?’
It’s been three years, but one of the most celebrated songs of 2014 continues to clutch the heartstrings and lure you in further with every listen. ‘Is This How You Feel?’ has already been written in pop rock folklore with its swinging rhythm and Isabella Manfredi’s irresistible, crying vocals. An electric volt of groove will be diffused into the Sup’ when this banger arises.
Tropical Fuck Storm – ‘Chameleon Paint’
I’m not sure everyone’s fully cognisant of the typhoon coming in over the Dandenong Ranges. Just because The Drones are quiet, doesn’t mean Gareth Liddiard is constrained to his rocking chair. The songwriter’s done some hard yards but he’s more limber than ever and the riotous Tropical Fuck Storm is proof of that. ‘Chameleon Paint’ carries the same trembling guitar lines and wailing vocals that much of The Drones’ discography is known for. Come March in Meredith, the weather forecast is looking pretty grim.
