Heads up, Sydneysiders. There’s a hot new hangout in town – Rekōdo restaurant & vinyl bar has just opened up, paying homage to Japanese listening rooms by enlisting some of the city’s most loved artists as guest curators for the venue’s opening months, from Donny Benét and Lazywax. Every Thurs to Sunday, vinyl DJs will take the stage, including Ayebatonye, Adi Toohey and Soul of Sydney DJs.
Located on level one of Barangaroo house, Rekōdo (the Japanese word for ‘record’) will offer Japanese inspired nibbles and drinks, to this backdrop of incredible music. First up on the curator front is beloved, prolific singer-songwriter Meg Mac — easily one of the country’s most spellbinding live performers, and with her third studio album ‘Matter Of Time’ freshly out, you won’t want to miss her sets throughout the month of September. To celebrate, we asked Meg Mac to share her top five records of all time.
Van Morrison – ‘Astral Weeks’ (1968)
This album always makes me think of my dad, I remember stealing it from his collection and taking it with me when I moved out of home. My favourite song is “Slim Slow Slider”. It’s one of those albums that feels like home.
D’Angelo — ‘Black Messiah’ (2014)
This will always be special record for me. D’Angelo and The Vanguard taking me on their US tour of this album is still the coolest thing I have ever done. Watching this show and all these songs live every night was enough inspiration for a lifetime.
Camille — ‘Le fil’ (2005)
My French teacher at high-school gave me this album because she knew I loved to sing. I can sing along almost every word, even though I don’t understand all of it. It was the first time I’d heard vocals used in all these different and weird ways; the album is almost completely her vocals.
Amy Winehouse, ‘Back To Black’ — (2006)
One of my sisters had been living in London and when she came home to Australia, she brought back some CDs she thought we would like. She introduced me to Amy Winehouse! I was so excited to hear someone sing like this and, just like everyone else in the world, I was hooked.
Sly & The Family Stone, ‘A Whole New Thing’ — (1967)
I love the chaos of Sly & The Family Stone. All the backing vocals and horns, there is so much going on and it still surprises me every time I listen. So many gems in these songs and little vocal hooks and runs from Sly too that I have to sing along to.
Get a taste of Meg Mac’s new album below, with her latest single “Understand”: