Vin Maskell Wellington St, St Kilda, 1982Five songs in and I was wrung out. No light, no shade on this album. Black rivers. Serial killers.
David Oke Geelong 1982In my university music major I had my eyes opened to the art form of Jazz music. John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, title track of his 1959 album, always made me pull my head in. It was a reality check. It was wild.
Vin Maskell Moggs Creek, Australia, 1983 to 2013A three-part Stereo Story about family, a beach house, and its records. Part 1: from Glen Miller's Chattanooga Choo Choo to Roxy Music's Love Is The Drug.
Vin Maskell Melbourne, Midnight, November 29, 1982On a piece of foolscap paper, at my desk in my single-bed bedroom or maybe at the small table in the little kitchen at the end of the long hallway, I wrote a little poem. Nothing special.
Hazel Wood Yeovil, England, November 2010At 3am, alone in the alien landscape of medically-induced fear, I reach for the only comfort available: my iPod. With its unnerving intuition, ‘shuffle’ offers up a song I have, up to now, entirely misunderstood.
Nimity James Theodor W. Adorno, the German philosopher, said we don’t understand music. Rather, music understands us.
Colin Ritchie Bluesfest Byron Bay 2012It was stinking hot, humidity overwhelming with sweat dripping from our bodies. The lights were low and the expectation ever so high. Would Shane actually be there on stage or would The Pogues perform without him?
David Oke Belmont, Geelong; November 1998It was a rite of passage to spend a weekend with Dad as we travelled on a McHarrys coach from Geelong to a country Victorian destination with the International Harvester Choir.
Vin Maskell Family room, Melbourne, June 2012You don’t have to own every song you like. You don’t have to possess all the music you love.
Rick Kane Perth, April 2006Someone asked, “Where’s the music?” This would be the cathartic moment. This would be where the pain flowed out as the love poured in.