The J Files: Dr. Dre

2023 had moments for huge celebrations - we were gripped by Matildas fever, celebrated the 50th anniversary since hip hop began its ascent to dominance, saw technology make the impossible possible and heard more great albums than we can count. 

And music has been there through the hard times too - with devastating global conflicts, a referendum defeat and escalating cost of living pressures.

Join Caz Tran as she reflects on some of the year’s biggest music and cultural moments, tracks that got us pumped as well as a whole heap to get excited for in 2024. 

DJ Shadow (Josh Davis) changed the game of instrumental hip hop in the 1990s. An early signee of British label Mo' Wax, his debut album Endtroducing….. blew minds with its fusion of electronic music and hip hop beats and it was entirely composed using samples. 

But he's not been content to peddle more of the same. Keeping us guessing, pushing himself and the music forward with each release he's experimented with composing, bringing collaborators onboard (like Run The Jewels) and finding new ways of sourcing samples. 

DJ Shadow recently released his seventh studio album Action Adventure and it’s the perfect time for us to follow him into the studio, backstage at some of the biggest festivals and into crate-filled basements of record stores to understand how he makes his music.

In this episode we also hear how Australian producers, musicians and DJs Katalyst, Joelistics and Beatrice Lewis rate DJ Shadow.

Olivia Newton-John is one of the best selling artists of all time. Across a six-decade career that spanned music, stage, screen and health advocacy, she firmly embedded herself in our hearts.

Before the huge success of Grease she’d already made her name as a recording artist, earning Grammys, Country Music Awards and a swathe of hit singles.

The story of Olivia Newton-John is full of interesting bumps and swerves. She came first in a TV talent contest as a teenager that won her a trip to England where her career first took off. She went from starring in a 1970s sci-fi film that flopped to being cast as a lead in Grease after a chance meeting at a dinner party at Helen Reddy's house. And she nearly didn't release her hit song Physical because she felt it was too risqué!

For the final episode of Aus Music Month get to know this legendary singer, performer and advocate who died last year at the age of 73. 

We’re handing the mic to Yorta Yorta rapper and Double J's Australian Artist of the Year winner Briggs.

Adam Briggs has carved out such an important legacy in Australian music. From his early days in Shepparton, supporting artists like MC Reason, Funkoars and The Hilltop Hoods to teaming up with Trials in A.B. Original, building his own label Bad Apples Music, and mentoring the next crop of rappers. 

The J Files celebrates this legend with archive and reflections from Trials, Reason, The Hilltop Hoods, Nooky, BARKAA, DJ Jaytee and more.

He may not be a household name, but Ron S. Peno had all the makings of a star.

From his smalltown regional NSW upbringing to his early glam and punk groups in Brisbane and Sydney, to wowing audiences overseas and being splashed across the coolest music mags, his life and legacy is as colourful and chaotic as it has been artistic and influential.

He was a singer, a songwriter, keen collaborator and dynamic frontman for many different bands, most notably Died Pretty—with albums like Doughboy Hollow, Free Dirt, Every Brilliant Eye remaining on high rotation with music lovers to this day.

After Died Pretty, Peno continued performing and recording music, forming alt-country duo The Darling Downs with Kim Salmon and Ron S. Peno and The Superstitions with Cam Butler.

His presence and contribution to Australian alternative rock over nearly 50 years has been immense. The J Files is paying tribute to this charismatic, unique and bold singer who died in August this year at the age of 68.

For eight years Camp Cope shook up the Australian music industry with their fearless anthems, raw punk rock and stand against sexism and harassment. 

After three albums, countless live shows and a music industry forever changed by their advocacy, Georgia Maq, Sarah Thompson and Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich have decided to call it a day.

This episode of The J Files celebrates this trailblazing band and their legacy. It features one of their last ever interviews, reflections from fans at their final Sydney Opera House show and from musicians like Teenage Joans, Jen Cloher and Ben Lee.

In the late 90s and early 2000s The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks) were the biggest selling female group in the U.S—selling tens of millions of records and changing the face of country music.

The trio weren’t afraid to do things their own way—maintaining independence from their label and speaking out about social justice issues. But their comments about George W. Bush at the height of the Iraq War in 2003 saw them blacklisted from country radio stations, receive death threats, have their CDs burnt in public and their songs tumble from the charts. 

They’ve regrouped, renamed and have come back fighting. Get the full story of the rise, fall, and rise again, of The Chicks ahead of their Australian tour.

Featuring stories and reflections from Chicks fans Tami Neilson, Freya Josephine Hollick, Fanny Lumsden, Georgia Maq and more.

Jamiroquai’s blend of soul, funk, rock, house and jazz was an instant hit. Songs like ‘Cosmic Girl’, ‘Little L’, 'Love Foolosophy' and ‘Virtual Insanity’ are still on high rotation across dancefloors around the world.

Fronted by charismatic singer Jay Kay, the English group are in the country later this month to play Harvest Rock festival. This episode is a chance to dive deep into their sound and story—travelling from the early 1990s to now.

Featuring archival interviews with Jay Kay, Acid Jazz label founder Eddie Piller, fansite owner David Rowe, and Jamiroquai fans DJ Nina Las Vegas and Allan McConnell from electronic duo Close Counters.

Australian post-punk group The Birthday Party were loud, raucous and genre-defying.

Forming in 1973 as The Boys Next Door, they found limited audiences on home turf and in 1980 they jetted overseas for a crack at breaking into the London music scene, changing their name in the process.

The Birthday Party's famously raucous live shows were often confronting and disturbing, and their ferocious sound as a band was a potent cocktail of depravity, absurdity, and the primitive—leading them to be dubbed by the press as "one of the most violent bands in Britain".

The group was relatively short-lived, although albums and EPs like Junkyard, Prayers On Fire, Mutiny! and The Bad Seed influenced plenty of bands both in the UK and Australia. The Birthday Party also launched the legendary music careers of Rowland S Howard, Mick Harvey and Nick Cave.

In this episode of The J Files hear archival interviews with the band, sound engineer Tony Cohen, filmmaker Ian White, biographer Mark Mordue as well as fresh reflections from Warren Ellis, Tex Perkins and Party Dozen.

Australia has produced its fair share of pop stars, but few are as cherished as Kylie Minogue. 

From humble soap star beginnings to worldwide chart domination, moving effortlessly between pop, dance, and indie, she has truly earned her title as Queen of Reinvention.

On the eve of her sixteenth studio album Tension with instant dancefloor hits 'Padam Padam' and 'Tension' we're bringing you up to speed on how she went from doing 'The Loco-Motion' to being an international superstar.

With huge thanks to Gemma Pike, Gab Burke and everyone involved in the 2018 Kylie Minogue J Files that this episode is built upon.