Built to Spill

More download generosity: the Australian Spill Label has started to offer its compilations from the end of the last century:

During the 1990s I produced the "Spill" series of compilations, as a kind of pre-myspace attempt to document and showcase interesting independent music being made in Australia at that time. The comps had an impact at the time - now I think they are interesting historical snapshots of a time when the focus of Australian music was shifting from Sydney to Melbourne - and St Kilda to Fitzroy - and the indie scenes of Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth were finding each other and cross-pollinating. The people on these compilations were part of that process.

Australian indie was a splendid thing to behold - probably still is, but we hear less of it these days - and this is a gorgeous snapshot of some of the reasons why.