Back Yourself, the third solo album from revered Australian singer songwriter Ben Salter, is the follow up to 2011’s The Cat and 2015’s The Stars My Destination. 

Back Yourself was made over a twelve-month period at locations around Tasmania and Victoria. It was predominantly recorded with producer Chris Townend (Augie March, Daniel Johns, Tim Finn, Portishead) at his White Light studio, located on the edge of Tasmania’s Huon Valley.

Back Yourself features guest appearances by well-known Australian guitarist and songwriter Jeff Lang, Peter “Blackie” Black of underground legends The Hard Ons, and Something for Kate drummer Clint Hyndman.  Melbourne based jazz saxophone virtuoso Julien Wilson and his BeeforChicken Quartet act as the backing band on two tracks, “The First Sign Of Madness” and “I Need You”. Wilson has played on all three of Salter’s albums.

Other key personnel include regular collaborator Seja Vogel (Regurgitator) on synthesizer and vocals, vocalist Gemma Sharard (Skyscraper Stan & The Commission Flats) and Tasmanian based drummer Sam Dowson (Lawless Quartet, Mephistopheles, Lazer Baby, Milquebarth).

Back Yourself continues some of Salter’s long held thematic preoccupations - love, dreams, armageddon, video games, the ocean and the stars, the intersection of myth and science, and the nature of reality itself.

Salter is currently touring nationally in support of the album, with five Tassie shows to scheduled for November:
Thurs 9                       Launceston TAS / St John Craft Beer (solo)
Fri 10                           Ulverstone TAS / The Wharf (solo)
Fri 10                           Sheffield TAS / Mountain Mumma (solo)
Sat 11                           Swansea TAS / House Show (solo)
Sun 19                         Hobart TAS / MONA

Ecca Vandal is fired up. “I feel like these are the rawest recordings I’ve made. There’s a vulnerability in there, and looking back, it really represented some of the things I’ve been going through over the past year. Some were even the first take when I was in the early writing process but they had a vibe and emotional honesty to it so we kept it all in there.”

More than a year removed from the surprise release of her debut EP ‘End of Time’, Ecca Vandal has released her debut, self-titled album. “This record has been a journey. It’s been a year of challenges, but I’ve seen myself overcome them by learning to trust myself a lot more. Being out of my comfort zone, being alone and kind of isolated, put me in a place where I really needed to pick myself back up. I learnt to back myself and to trust my gut instincts, and doing that was definitely a growing experience for me.”
 
If you were expecting this record to be just like the Ecca you’ve come to know and adore – you’re in for some rude surprises, as showcased by the sonic disparity between ‘Broke Days, Party Nights’ and ‘Future Heroine’.
 
Co-produced by Vandal and EV band member Kidnot in their DIY home studio in Melbourne, the album sees Ecca collaborating on album track ‘Price Of Living’ with bone fide punk rock legend and her personal hero Dennis Lyxen of Refused along with Letlive powerhouse vocalist Jason Aalon Butler. 
 
Collaboration continues on ‘Dead Wait’, where she reunites with Sydney bass master Moonbase, and Aussie superstar Sampa The Great lends her inimitable voice to the other-worldly hip hop sound of ‘Your Orbit’ which was co-written with the radar-detecting Darwin Deez.

​'Ash' is the second album from Ibeyi - twins Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz. 
It is the follow-up to their globally acclaimed, self-titled debut album (2015) which earned the them fans and collaborators in some of the most iconic and crucial artists of today, including Beyoncé and Alvin Ailey.
'Ash', a more visceral and potent political statement, is firmly rooted in Afro-Cuban culture and history and finds itself entirely concerned with Ibeyi’s present: Who Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi are, what’s important to them, and how they live today, especially given that the spheres, both personally and politically, are entirely different from when Ibeyi was recorded.
The twelve track album includes appearances from Kamasi Washington, Mala Rodriguez, Chilly Gonzales and Meshell Ndegeocello.
'Ash' is available now on XL Recordings via Remote Control.

Gosh! Are the National Live Music Awards here already? Seems like it was only yesterday we were celebrating the 2016 winners. Edge Radio has the pleasure of announcing the nominees for Tasmania. Not familiar with the NMLAs? Here's a quick rundown of what you're in for...

"​The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia’s diverse and successful live industry, celebrating the diversity and success of the Australian live scene – recognising the best vocal talents and musicians alongside the best venues, events and festivals.
​
The awards contain both national and state focused categories, voted on by the live industry (including fellow musicians, media, venues, bookers), with select public voted categories. The national awards will be revealed at a gala event, while the State and Territory awards will be revealed at satellite events in their respective capital cities. The first annual event was held on 29th November 2016, and the second annual event will be held on 7th December 2017."

Sounds pretty damn awesome doesn't it?  This year the NMLAs has 54 categories, recognising the best musicians, venues, events and industry members from all corners of Australia. But before we get onto all the details of the Tasmanian nominees let's take a bit of a look at some interesting facts from a national perspective about this year's awards.

A few fun facts about the awards:

• This is the first time the event has been held in Fremantle, Alice Springs or Launceston.
• There are two new awards this year: Best Pop Act and Best Country or Folk Act. 
• The All Ages Achievement (AAA) Award, which recognises an individual or organisation who supports and fosters all ages events, has expanded from NSW to Victoria thanks to The Push. 

A few awards have changed their names:

• "The Heatseeker Award" is now "The Best New Act presented by Young Henrys", though the award is still given to an artist who has exploded over the last 12 months. 
• The "Hard Rock or Metal" genre category has been shortened to just "Hard Rock", however this encompasses a wide range of genres including Punk, Metal and Hard Rock. 
• The previous "Roots" award is now the "Blues & Roots" award, with Country and Folk nominees given their own category for the first time.

THE TL;DR:

• Gender Balance: A whopping 63% of the artists nominated in the national categories, and 51% in the State/Territory Categories, are either female or are a group led by a female vocalist. 
• Strong Indigenous representation, with nominated artists including Electric Fields, Kardajala Kirridarra, Dan Sultan, The Lonely Boys, Tjupi Band, Eleanor Dixon, Yirrmal, William Barton and A.B. Original.
• Gang of Youths lead the nominees with 6 nominations.
• Julia Jacklin, Amy Shark, Camp Cope sit right behind with 5 nominations.
• All Our Exes Live in Texas, Stella Donnelly and the St Jerome's Laneway Festival all have 4 nominations.

Okay, here's what you're waiting for. The Tasmanian nominees for this year's NMLAs. In the following categories...

TAS Awards
Presented in partnership with Edge Radio 99.3FM

Live Act of the Year
A. Swayze and The Ghosts
Ani Lou
EWAH & The Vision of Paradise
The Sleepyheads
Sumner

Live Voice of the Year
Emma Waters (EWAH & The Vision of Paradise)
Maddy Jane
Mary Shannon (Bansheeland, Disrepute)
Seth Henderson
Tyler Richardson (Luca Brasi)

Live Venue of the Year presented by OzTix
The Brisbane Hotel
Club 54
The Grand Poobah
The Homestead
The Republic Bar

Live Event of the Year
A Festival Called Panama
Dark MOFO
Mona Foma
Party In The Paddock
Til The Wheels Falls Off

The winners to all categories will be announced at simultaneous events around Australia on Thursday, the 7th of December. 

Melbourne, VIC: Grace Darling (Invite-Only Gala)
Sydney, NSW: Leadbelly 
Brisbane, QLD: Lefty's 
Fremantle, WA: Mojos
Adelaide, SA: Grace Emily 
Launceston, TAS: Club 54
Alice Springs, NT: Epilogue Rooftop 
Canberra, ACT: Smith's Alternative

Tickets to all events, bar the invite-only Melbourne gala, are free and will be available exclusively through NLMA's official ticketing partners OzTix from Monday, October 23rd. More details about who will be performing and what time doors will open at each venue will be revealed as we approach the night.

Keep an eye on nlmas.com.au for the full list if national nominees and future updates on the awards. Keen to hear tracks from the Tasmanian nominees and any future news on the NMLAs? Edge's Tassie music program The Map is where to get all the lowdown on all the new tunes being made in our fine state. Listen live every Tuesday at 7pm or stream on demand anytime via the Edge Radio website.

Fronted by June Jones, Melbourne emotion punk band Two Steps on the Water make raw and honest music, centred on themes of Jones' experience as a trans woman with a history of mental illness. As the name suggests, their second full length release 'Sword Songs' is an album of songs that fight back. Recorded with the help of local producer Geoffrey O’Connor, the album presents a narrator who has been emboldened by intimidation tactics.
 
Growing to a four piece with the addition of Ellah Blake on keys this year, Two Steps on the Water – June Jones (vocals, guitar), Sienna Thornton (violin, vocals), Jonathan Nash (drums), Ellah Blake(keys) – have been prolific since forming in 2014, recording and releasing three EPs and now their second album. They reject the label of folk punk - ‘emotion punk’ is much more relevant as emotional expression is at the core of all the band’s output.