Aldous Harding's voices

It’s fair to say, boygenius’ debut album was highly anticipated. But did you know that it was an Australian producer that helped bring it to life? Catherine Marks was born and bred in Melbourne, but made her way to the UK where she’s been working with everyone from PJ Harvey to Foals, The Killers to, yes, boygenius.

Her work is lauded across the world, winning awards and fans as one of the rare women to celebrated in the field. And while home in Australia for a hot minute, Catherine joined Zan Rowe to Take 5. The magic of what happens when crafting a song or an album can sometimes be intangible, and it’s made up of a million elements that bring music to life. You're invited into her studio to see the big picture of making five extraordinary songs.

• Wolf Alice – Storms 
• The Big Moon – Bonfire 
• Manchester Orchestra - The Silence 
• Roman Lewis - Mindless Town
• boygenius - Not Strong Enough 

In the early 00’s The Streets burst onto the scene. Original Pirate Material was like nothing else around, combining garage beats with everyday stories from a geezer we could all relate to. Mike Skinner wanted to literally push things forward, taking the garage genre in a new direction and using his lyrics to talk about what was really going on inside the hearts and minds of people in the clubs. It struck a chord, and The Streets got a lot of attention.

Over five albums Mike Skinner would tour Australia a whole lot, always playing festivals and always drawing a huge crowd. Then in 2011 he called it a day, releasing his final album and doing his final shows as The Streets. Music stayed in his life though. He threw himself into producing, directing, and most notably DJ-ing, behind the decks instead of out front on stage.

Across his five songs choices we get a snapshot of a kid writing raps in his notebook in a hostel in Sydney. As well as the man today who is older, wiser, more grounded but with plenty of stories to tell. From Johnny Cash to Grim Sickers to Daft Punk, this is The Streets, Taking 5 with Zan Rowe and playing us his songs from then and now.

• Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue
• Snoop Dogg - Serial Killa [Ft. D.O.C., RBX & Tha Dogg Pound] 
• Grim Sickers - Open The Till [Ft. Ghetts & Darker The Shadow Brighter The Light]
• Daniel Bedingfield – Gotta Get Thru This
• Daft Punk - Human / Together / One More Time / Music Sounds Better with You / Stardust (Instrumental) [Live]

Comedian Cameron James loves music. For years he’s been telling his stories through song, ploughing through personal history with a hook and a melody. You would have seen him pop up on funny panel shows, or heard him in hit podcast Finding Drago.

Cameron’s latest comedy show is called Mixtape, and it’s a love letter to the songs that shape our lives. Which is why he’s the perfect person to Take 5. From Silverchair to Gladys Knight & the Pips, settle in for some ripper stories and the art of the mixtape.

• Silverchair – The Greatest View
• Iggy Pop – Candy
• New Radicals – You Get What You Give
• Gladys Knight & the Pips – Midnight Train To Georgia
• Tyler, the Creator – See You Again

Zoë Coombs Marr has been making us laugh for years. You might have seen her doing award winning stand up comedy, often doing meta shows that twist our brains. Maybe you caught her alter ego Dave, or have seen Zoë pop up on The Weekly, The Project and watched her brilliant 3 part series Queerstralia.

Zoë is one of my favourite creators; she always keeps me guessing with what she’ll do next, and she always does it differently to everyone else.

Her 2024 comedy show seems to be her most personal to date, cos it’s her story. “Every Single Thing In My Whole Entire Life” will see her dig through it all, on stage across Australia. It’s an idea that lends itself well to a soundtrack, which is why I asked her to Take 5. From Elaine Stritch to Yothu Yindi to Romy, this is a funny and glorious conversation about life itself.

• Yothu Yindi - Treaty 
• Elaine Stritch - Are You Having Any Fun 
• The Lemonheads - The Outdoor Type 
• Hot Chip - Bath Full of Ecstasy
• Romy - Enjoy Your Life 

It’s been a big week for Kylie Minogue. 20 years after she won her first Grammy, she backed it up; grabbing Best Pop Dance Recording for "Padam Padam".

It caps off one of the biggest recent peaks of Kylie’s career, and that’s saying something. Since most of us were little kids, Kylie has been in our lives. As an actor who became a pop star who became an icon in Australian music. She’s a chameleon, a stayer, and she fills every dancefloor with her magic.

I love Kylie Minogue, and I thought it’d be fun to crank open the Take 5 archives, and share the brilliant convo I had with her back in 2020.

It was the first year of the pandemic, she’d been working away for months on a shimmering new record, and on the day she joined me to Take 5, Disco was released everywhere.

It felt like the perfect salve in a tough time; the community and dancefloor we all craved, and who better to gift it than the Queen of Pop. From Donna Summer to Daft Punk, this is a glorious celebration of Kylie's foundations.

• Donna Summer – Love To Love You Baby 
• Earth, Wind & Fire – September 
• Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive 
• Bee Gees – Night Fever 
• Daft Punk – Around The World 

We’re kicking off the 2024 Take 5 season with an absolute legend. He’s a star of the small screen, a comedian, a children’s book author, he’s part of the very fabric of Australian life, and 20 years ago he won the Gold Logie.

As we celebrated the Hottest 100 of 2003 on Double J, I jumped into the time machine to relive it ALL with the brilliant and delightful Rove McManus. And from pop stars to drummers to nerds, he shared the songs that were gold, to him. 

• Ben Folds Five - One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces
• P!nk - So What
• They Might Be Giants - Doctor Worm
• G Flip - The Worst Person Alive
• Powderfinger - Burn Your Name

It’s fair to say 2023 has been a year for Caroline Polachek. Her second solo album soared into our hearts on Valentines Day, and stayed there. It solidified her place as one of the most remarkable musicians operating today; her voice as one of the most incredible of our time, and her output an unflinching celebration of art in all forms. Sonically, visually, and spiritually, Caroline Polachek defies genre and time. She’s just a marvel.

Desire, I Want To Turn Into You has topped many best of lists this year, and it’s Double J’s #1 album of 2023. So what an absolute treat to see out this year with the woman herself, and Take 5. Volcano’s have featured heavily in her live shows, and capture the energy of what she does in every way. So I asked her to pick “volcano songs” and she really delivered.

From wild American composers to glitchy electronic trailblazers, and the mysterious world of Sault... this is a joy for the senses, the heart, and the mind.

• Harry Partch – Daphne of the Dunes      
• David Sylvian – Before the Bullfight
• Greetje Bijma & Oceanic – Step Snakes   
• Pink Floyd – The Great Gig in the Sky
• Sault - Air

Spoon are one of those bands that are quiet achievers. Over 25 years they’ve put out 10 albums and toured all over the world… they’ve weirdly never become super famous, but have a very dedicated bunch of fans. And I say weirdly, cos frontman Britt Daniel knows how to write a hit.

He’s one of my favourite songwriters, and you can hear in Spoon’s songs and their curiosity that there’s a deep love for music and melody. From Sinatra to Prince to Gambino, this is a fall down the rabbit hole of a great musical mind.

• Gloria Jones - Tainted Love
• Frank Sinatra - Strangers in the Night
• Prince - If I Was Your Girlfriend
• AC/DC - Rock And Roll Damnation
• Childish Gambino - Redbone

If you’re like me and came of age in the 90’s, then Supergrass loom large. The UK band exploded into the Brit Pop scene like a firecracker, with a song that captured the cheeky charm they’d come to be known for. Six albums followed, before they called it a day. And a few years later, lead singer Gaz Coombes went out on his own.

In the last decade or so, Gaz has released a handful of critically acclaimed solo albums, and despite the madness of the era he came up in, remains one of the more grounded and lovely muso’s around.

Gaz came to Australia to support Robbie Williams on some huge stadium shows, and while he was here I asked him to Take 5. From Scott Walker to Broadcast to Lennon, this is a brilliant conversation and peek into a great songwriter’s brain.

• Captain Beefheart - Sure ‘Nuff ’n’ Yes, I do
• Daniel Rossen - Silent Song
• Broadcast - I Found The F
• Scott Walker – It’s Raining Today
• John Lennon – Remember

Rhys Nicholson grew up making people want to laugh. As a kid in Newcastle, they were supported every step of the way, with a family of wild creatives and even an uncle in a famous Australian band.  Over the past few years, Rhys’s star has shone brighter and brighter. Winning major comedy awards, becoming a judge on Ru Paul’s Drag Race Down Under, and now writing their first memoir Dish. 

But did that broke teenager moving to Sydney to give comedy a crack, have any inkling about how life would unfold? To find out, I asked Rhys to Take 5 with the unexpected. And from John Prine to Ru-Paul, mapped a beautiful picture of Rhys's magical life. 

• Scissor Sisters – Running Out 
• David Byrne – Glass, Concrete and Stone 
• John Prine – In Spite of Ourselves 
• Georgia Mooney – War Romance 
• Ru Paul – Sissy That Walk