The team behind The Bridge, our 100% Sydney music program, have put together a little Christmas present for you!

Our finest Sydney music nerds have carefully selected their favourite home-grown tracks of the year. Presenters Ryan Saar, Amelia Jenner, Lachlan Wyllie and Tia Newling pulled together a diverse range of tracks from artists all across Sydney. The best part? It’s free! (Or name-your-price, if you’d like to contribute a donation to us here at FBi Radio.)

Check it out on bandcamp and read through the a track-by-track from each presenter below.

Artwork by the marvellous Ancika Mester.

Tia Newling

Freda & Jackson – ‘Persius’

A breakthrough year for the Moonshoe boys. Releases from Freda, Jackson, and Oedura made narrowing one track down pretty difficult, but for me, ‘Persius’ was the one that set it off. A staple track for The Bridge as well as many specialty shows on FBi, it’s seven and half minutes of bliss. Keep your eye on these guys.

Sam Weston – ‘Control’

Shiraz Voyager came out two weeks before I started presenting The Bridge, and I think I’ve played a Sam Weston track in 70% of shows I’ve ever done. Doesn’t hurt that the vocal hook will get stuck in your head for weeks on end. If ‘Control’ hits the sweet spot, be sure to listen to the rest of Shiraz Voyager, as well as his latest release on Soothsayer.

Chunyin – ‘Animus’

Rainbow Chan had a huge year with the release of her debut album Spacings, but it was also the year of her side project, Chunyin. Picking a track from Chunyin was hard – everything on the Code Switch release has gone into my ‘all time faves’ playlist – but I think ‘Animus’ was the real winner of the year. Spooky, eclectic but danceable techno, it’s Chunyin at her finest.

Lachlan Wyllie

Jackie Brown Jr – ‘Lake Loser’

Having played around the Sydney circuit since 2014 and gaining a reputation for their bombastic, funk-meets-soul live shows, Jackie Brown Jr’s reflective, slow ‘Lake Loser’ came as both a surprising shift in tone and a marked progression in their songwriting. Frontwoman Maddy Mallis speaks to a universal feeling of growing up, intermingled with moments of desperation, bildungsroman, and of course, hitting up mum for cash. Combined with a slow instrumental that gradually ascends to a soaring brass breakdown in the third act, ‘Lake Loser’ is a twenty-something anthem that I suspect many FBi listeners can identify with.

Hector Gachan – ‘Really Something’

My main aim for The Bridge this year has been to air and support local artists that even regular FBi listeners might not know. Acts who make consistent, genre-pushing and intriguing music. Sydney (via Sarajevo, via Sydney) solo artist Hector Gachan is one such musician, whose music really popped out from the Soundcloud page with his single ‘Really Something’. Those riding cymbals, that understated, woozy guitar melody and Hector’s wispy vocals made for the perfect intro to his bedroom ‘dad rock’. His music has gone from strength to strength in 2016. 

Leftenent – ‘Control’

A late but much-deserved addition to this year-end compilation, Antonia Gauci continues to add to her lengthy resume (radio presenter, producer, engineer, co-writer) with not one, but two projects debuted this year: Gauci and Leftenent. Her debut as Leftenent, ‘Control’, is a disquieting, fractured piece that’s as much about temptation as it is about love; a narrative furthered by the moody, asymmetrical percussion and diminished electronic interplay. At its core, it’s about conflict and serves to further bolster Antonia as one of Sydney’s most exciting rising talents.

Amelia Jenner

Gussy – ‘Looking At Myself’

‘Looking At Myself’ is the first “official” single from Gussy, and what a debut! This track is HOT and if you haven’t seen the clip, please do yourself a favour. I don’t think there has been a track this year that has spoken to me the way this one has. Watch out world, your new favourite pop star is here.

Jikuroux – ‘Doubt’

Jikuroux has been teasing new music for a long time now. From the snippets I’d heard, I knew it was going to be good – but with the release of her debut EP, Ruptured Pulse, she quickly ascended to be one of my favourite Sydney producers – and possibly Australia’s most exciting. ‘Doubt’ followed hotly on the heels of her EP. I just hope she keeps up this steady stream of releases, ‘cos I’m here for it.

BV – ‘Up In The Flesh’

Do you expect anything less when three of Sydney’s finest make music together? I’d hope not! Their new mixtape B2V was three years in the making, but well worth the wait. If you are yet to, please wrap your ears around it now. You won’t regret it. Thanks for keeping me sweaty, BV. I love you.

Ryan Saar

MEZKO – ‘Trust’

MEZKO have always been impossibly cool. Ever since their first singles and live appearances, there’s been an immediate sense of edge and sheen to their work. In their time as a band, they’ve honed that into the jagged ‘Trust’, their most electrifying and magnetic single to date.

Okin Osan – ‘You Tell, I’ll Listen’

Charming and instantly engaging, Okin Osan’s ‘You Tell, I’ll Listen’ is a suckering slice of hyperactive garage pop. Simple but swelling with a whole lot of heart, this is a song that demands repeated listening.

Body Type – ‘Ludlow’

Body Type completely took everyone by surprise in August, arriving with fully fledged and incredibly affecting songs after only six months together as a band. Their debut track ‘Ludlow’ delivers driving dream pop rhythms, not unlike the ruling indies powers of Warpaint, Beach House or Chastity Belt. Heart-stopping stuff.

Listen to The Bridge on FBi 94.fm, Tuesday-Friday from 8-9pm.