Ep 5, Part 1: Millennium Blues

Hello, it's been a long time! We will be back with a new season soon, but we couldn't wait any longer to share this particular episode with you. This episode looks at the early music of Australia. And when we say early we mean early. Dharug artist Jacinta Tobin takes us through what music means in Indigenous Australian culture and talks about her incredible project to restore the songlines of western Sydney. Toby Martin, musician and historian, talks us through the early music of colonial Australia. What did early settlers listen to? How did they access music? Where did they see it performed? Both Jacinta and Toby are part of a fascinating project called Hearing the Music of Early NSW 1788 - 1860 which draws on Indigenous and settler musical practices "to develop a balanced historical account of the musical soundscape of early colonial NSW." And they perform that music too! You will hear some of it during this episode. To listen to more from Hearing the Music of Early NSW go to www.hearingthemusic.info/home

And that's a wrap for Season 1 of The Intersection. Thanks for all your support and engagement. Send any feedback, gripes or suggestions for future topics to [email protected]. We'll be back here in this feed with updates along the way.

For Part 2 of Episode 6, we hand over to musician and broadcaster, Preston Peachey. Preston is a Wiradjuri and Malyangapa man who grew up in Sydney. Having played drums in local bands since the age of 14, he went on to study community development while looking at Aboriginal music through that lens. He now works in community engagement on Gadigal Country. His approach for this segment was to show the diversity of style and culture that is paired with everything from songs of political action, to ceremony, to personal reflections and healing. We loved having Preston on the show. Playlist  Emma Donovan and the Putbacks: Mob March  Rona: Closure  Nai Palm & Jason Guwanbool Gurruwiwi: Wititji (Lightning Strike)  Barkaa: For My Tittas  Alice Skye: Friends With Feelings  Drmngnow ft. Emily Wurramara: Get Back To the Land  Electric Fields: Pukulpa  Dan Sultan: It Belongs To Us (piano version)

It became known as “the Great Australian Silence”. The way in which white Australia failed to recognize its Indigenous history. In this episode of The Intersection we look at a few ways in which, from a personal perspective, music tried to counter that silence. Playlist: Eleanor Dixon: My Spirit Is Free No Fixed Address: Vision (Version) Tactics: Buried Country Tactics: A Long Story Tactics: Standing By The Window Tactics: Gold Watch  Tactics: The Usual Galarway Yunupingu: Gurindji Blues (Poor Bugger Me) Black Allan Barker: Run Dingo Run Mac Silva: Malabar Mansion Vic Simms: The Loner Vic Simms: Stranger In My Country Vic Simms: Poor Folk's Happiness Dougie Young: Cuttin' The Rug Dougie Young: Land Where The Crow Flies Backwards Dougie Young: They Say It's A Crime Frank Yamma: She Cried Ruby Hunter: Ngarrindji Woman Kankawa Nagarra :: Krien Por Country 

For each episode we follow up the main segment with an interview to further explore the themes of the show. Our special guest for this episode is musician and activist Keyna Wilkins. In recent years she has been involved in some extraordinary collaborations with refugees trapped in Australia’s indefinite detention regime. In one case at least, the publicity from the collaboration led to the release of an artist detained for the previous nine years. Playlist: Mohammad Maleki &  Keyna Wilkins: Silence Lands

In Episode 5 of The Intersection, we make it into the 21st Century. Millennium Blues looks at that fraught period in Australia - Howard, Hanson, Tampa, 9/11, War on Terror, a rise in xenophobia and a backlash against First Nations' people's claims to justice. In particular we look at a 2003 song from Sydney hiphop band The Herd which addressed these issues in the most emphatic of ways. Playlist The Herd: 77%  Unkle Ho: Spaghetti Eastern   Pasobionic: Empty Beat  Pasobionic: Echoes of Blue  Combat Wombat: Asylum  Naretha Willaims: Chaos Country   The Herd: I Was Only 19   Jane Tyrrell: Echoes In The Aviery   Sampa The Great: Final Form  AB Original: January 26  Ziggy Ramo: April 25  Barkaa: Our Lives Matter  Jalal Mahamede and Keyna Wilkins: Set Me Free

We follow up each episode of The Intersection with an interview with an expert on the topic. Our special guest for Episode 4 is historian and musicologist Kay Dreyfus. Her 2013 book,,’Silence and Secrets – the Weintraub Syncopators in Australia’, introduced many people to this extraordinary story.

The Weintraub Syncopators were the hottest jazz band in Weimar Germany. But after the Nazi party passed the first anti-Jewish laws, the Syncopators decided to embark on what was perhaps the longest world tour by any band in history. It ended in an internment camp in rural Australia. This episode traces an epic journey of music, intrigue, war, xenophobia and survival. Playlist Weintraub Syncopators – Heut spelt mein Sebastian Marlene Dietrich – Jonny Marlene Dietrich  - Ich hab' noch einen Koffer in Berlin Marlene Dietrich  - Lili Marleen (German version) Marlene Dietrich  - Lili Marleen (English version) Marlene Dietrich – Falling In Love Again Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra - Chinatown My Chinatown Marlene Dietrich with Friedrich Hollaender & Weintraub Syncopators – Blonde Women Friedrich Hollaender & Weintraub Syncopators – Up and At ‘Em Die Weintraubs – Mein Schatz vom Tegernsee Weintraub Syncopators – Isle of Capri Weintraub Syncopators – Jo-Jo Friedrich Hollaender & Weintraub Syncopators – Jackass Blues Weintraub Syncopators – Nur in Sebastopol Weintraub Syncopators – Honolulu Baby Weintraub Syncopators with Rudolf Nelson – Wenn Du Meine Tante Siehst Franz Waxman - Dance and Angela (piano version) Friedrich Hollaender & Weintraub Syncopators – Marion Weintraub Syncopators – Auf Dein Wohl Brad Annis (Double Bass - Israel Philharmonic Orchestra) – Solo from Mahler Symphony No. 1 (Original recording) Weintraub Syncopators – Das Geheimnis des Dr Lari Fari

Our special guest is historian and activist Gary Foley. A Gumbayngirr man, Gary Foley has been at the forefront of Indigenous activism for over fifty years and was a key figure in the Bicentennial protests.

1988 in Australia. On the musical front, it was seriously divided between the mainstream music industry and the alternative/underground scene, yet both sides had their eyes on the international stage. But there was a bigger issue; 1988 marked the Bicentennial of the British invasion of Aboriginal lands. Indigenous activists were waiting to protest any celebrations. It was this that the international media focused on. Playlist Minced Meat: The World's Got Everything In It NO: 200 Years Kev Carmody: Black Deaths In Custody James Freud: One Fine Day Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: City Of Refuge The Triffids: Jerdacuttup Man King Snake Roost: Gutterbreath Distant Locusts: Father's Suit Matrimony: Whirlpool Head Box The Jesuit: Three Cheers For The Pancreas Slub: Rootman Beasts of Bourbon: Door To Your Soul Umkulu: Boomerang Gondwana: Swamp No Fixed Address: Pigs The Gravy: Spirit Of The Land SPK: Kambuja Kev Carmody: Thou Shalt Not Steal