Compilations

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. The comps had something of an impact then - 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 indie scenes in Australia and abroad were finding each other and cross-pollinating. The people on these compilations were part of that process.

These compilations are deliberately non-genre-specific, as I think it's wise to recognize that good (and bad) is being done in every music style. Richard Hagen recalls, "they were a bit like very big split singles." For bands without the resources to release albums, comps were a way of releasing the occasional song to a reasonably wide audience. (And some songs just work better as singles.)

The comps are out of print, and with the web superceding discs as an archival medium, I've converted the songs to mp3 and placed them here. All songs are owned by the artists listed, except when they are covers.

I wrote the text beside the songs in 2007, fifteen or so years after the comps were released. I'm not 100% certain of all the details and have lost contact with some of the performers. I will add details as I discover them. If you notice any errors, please let me know. With community input this page can be a better music-history resource. Thanks to the several music scene identities who have helped me with this already.

After the three Spill compilations, I helped compile two theme comps - Box and Kraftworks - and helped with a couple of others which will find their way here eventually. More recently I have been involved in producing the Melbourne Water compilations. Enjoy!

from Greg Wadley in Melbourne, Australia