Milk! Records isn’t just a label, it’s a movement – an artistic collective the likes of which Australia has not properly seen since the Smudge-centric Ozzie alt-rock revival of the mid-’90s.

Though co-founder Courtney Barnett is arguably the best known artist on the Milk! Records roster, in truth every act the label supports is worthy of your time and attention. From the art-punk stylings of Ouch My Face to the quiet genius of Fraser A. Gorman, the label promotes any artist that seems willing to take genuine risks.

Here’s the thing: Milk! Records doesn’t really seem to have a strict central ethos – not one that appears more complicated than ‘put out good music’, anyway. They like what they like. Give it a chance and you’ll like it too.

Ahead of their 2016 Sydney Good For You show – a gig that will see Barnett, Gorman, Ouch My Face, Jen Cloher, The Finks and East Brunswick All Girls Choir all combining forces – we asked the Milk! Records gang to rate each other’s discography, choosing their favourite peer-written tunes. Here’s what they told us.

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Courtney Barnettchooses‘Aeroflot’ byEast Brunswick All Girls Choir

“A finger-picked nylon. Softly, warily, foreboding. Urgency in slow motion. The slide refrain begins to sound like a wailing siren, lost in an epic cacophony. The video clip is also mesmerising. Levitating paper planes, goin’ nowhere, doing nothin’, blowing in the wind.”

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Jen Cloher chooses ‘Book Of Love’ by Fraser A. Gorman

“I remember the first time I heard this song. Court was recording at Head Gap and Dan Luscombe brought in a mix on headphones and I loved it straight away. It reminded me of the Velvet Underground; that low-key conversational intimacy Lou Reed mastered so well.

“What I enjoy is the contrary nature of the music, which is laid back and effortless, in contrast to the predicament of the raconteur who’s trying hard to impress this cool, worldly woman but going largely unnoticed. This lyric says it all:“I know you’re moving to New York but that’s okay / Maybe if I save enough painting, I can visit you one day.”Fraser isn’t so much self-effacing but willing to be vulnerable in his songwriting. I’m always searching for that human revelation in good art. A reminder that we’re all pretty much the same.”

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Marcus Hobbs (East Brunswick All Girls Choir) chooses‘Punched By A Giant’ by Ouch My Face

“Is Melbourne’s ‘Dolewave’ scene dead? It matters not.

“I’m pretty keen on a chorded bass line in any tune: it can fill some odd harmonic world you can’t get from dribbling your fingers across the six string machine. As the title would attest, Celeste once punched me in the chest at Bar Open after I “heckled” Ouch My Face from the back of the room. I felt the full force of this strike and am glad that from my pain she was able to liberate her feelings into this tune.

“My favourite part of this track is easily the heavier back half. Did you hear bow cymbals as well? There’s some serious Swans-like guitar tones shredding going on in this one. That’s where my ears turned.”

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Oliver Mestitz (The Finks)chooses‘Needs’ by Jen Cloher

“A conversation while asleep. The hair of a peach. A jumper so thin you have to wear two at once. Two birds flying opposite directions into the wind. ‘Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear‘. Standing up in a boat. Dessert for breakfast. Autumn. After all that dreaming you wake up exactly where you started from.”

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Fraser A. Gormanchooses ‘My Ambition’ by The Finks

“‘My Ambition’ is my favourite Finks song. I love how Oliver really lays his heart out on the table through his lyrics; his ability to match the beautiful lines like “sell my soul/I’d change my name to hear you say you feel the same”with cheeky references like “in socks we stole from business class.”
The Finks’ lo-fi sound reminds me a lot of early ’60s folk like Dave Van Ronk and Donovan but they still sit lyrically very much in the modern age. It’s a great vibe.”

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Celeste Potter (Ouch My Face) chooses ‘Anonymous Club’ by Courtney Barnett

“I once asked Courtney what this song was about and she said, ‘It’s just about having people over for dinner.’ Despite the seemingly banal theme, Courtney delivered a rich and powerfully emotive song.
“Her honest, vulnerable vocals alongside the viscerally moving instrumentation combine to create so much more than the sum of the individual parts. To me it isn’t just a song about having dinner with friends. It’s about feeling the opposite to lonely. It’s aboutintimacy, finding a home in others, and the special way that we create one another through meaningful relationships.
“‘Anonymous Club’ is like looking at a tiny thing through the transformative, real-life magic of a kaleidoscope.”

The Good For You tour hits Sydney tomorrow, Saturday March 12, at the Vic On The Park. For more information, visit the Milk! Records Facebook page.

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