Festival Records and Warner Music Australia, in association with the National Indigenous Music Awards, are proud to announce the 2CD release of _Nima Presents The Sound Of Indigenous Australia - Now & Before.

The Sound Of Indigenous Australia_
looks for the first time at both the thriving contemporary music scene in Indigenous Australia and the roots of that scene in the classic songs and artists of the recent past.

Divided into ‘Now’ and ‘Before’ discs, the collection poignantly opens with A.B. Original’s game-changing 2017 Hottest 100 entry ‘January 26’ and concludes with Kev Carmody’s iconic Australian classic ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’.

The ‘Now’ disc includes some of Australia’s biggest artists including Jessica Mauboy, Busby Marou, Dan Sultan and Emma Donovan & The Putbacks alongside a range of tomorrow’s stars, previous NIMA Unearthed winners and critics favourites including Thelma Plum, Emily Wurramara and Robbie Miller. Young rappers Birdz and Ziggy mix it with up & coming roots artists like Yirrmal, Gawurra and high school singer songwriter Tia Gostelow as well as electronic artists like Kuren and Electric Fields. It’s an eclectic mix, showcasing the scale of today’s Indigenous music talent, full of great songs and powerful messages.

The ‘Before’ disc features Australian icons from across the last few decades and is the first successful attempt to bring the key Indigenous rock & pop songs of modern times together in the one collection. Yothu Yindi’s ‘Treaty’ and Archie Roach’s ‘Took the Children Away’ kick it off; No Fixed Address’ ‘We Have Survived’, Warumpi Band’s “Blackfella/Whitefella’, Christine Anu’s ‘My Island Home’, Coloured Stones’ Black boy’ and Gurrumul’s ‘Wiyathul’ all follow, creating a history of contemporary Indigenous music never before brought together on one album. The collection celebrates other hugely important artists like Ruby Hunter, Tiddas, Pigram Brtohers, Troy Cassar-Daly, Jimmy Little, Blekbla Mujik and Vic Simms and shines a light on less well-known contributors to Australia’s Indigenous music tome including Blackfire (featuring Kutcha Edwards and Grant Hansen of Marngrook Footy Show fame) and LJ Hill, whose ‘Pretty Bird Tree’ was recently recorded by Paul Kelly.

This super 42-track collection comes with full liner notes in a stunning 24-page booklet and is a great launching point for anyone looking to delve into Indigenous Australia’s exciting world of contemporary music. It is released in association with the National Indigenous Music Awards and includes many of the artists who have been acknowledged across the event’s proud fourteen-year history of celebrating Indigenous music’s integral part in Australian culture.