Today’s milestone 5th edition (who ever thought we’d make it this far) of ‘Sputnik Discusses’ features the first topic to come suggested by one of the discussors. You heard me correctly; every now and then, I’ll take a topic suggested by you and turn into a discussion column. And the man who is privileged enough to be the first to have such an honor bestowed upon him is Contributing Reviewer Arcade. His prize: If the column sucks, he gets to take all the blame. Thanks for the idea Arcade.

Of course, I could also say that this is the third consecutive column to be inspired by Dave Grohl and ‘Sonic Highways’, since that series of documentaries was all about commemorating the sound and stories of eight U.S cities. While there was clearly some overlap between those cities, each one was sufficiently distinctive. It got me to thinking about my hometown of Melbourne – Australia. How do we stack up in terms of having a unique music scene? I mean, sure, we’re the sporting capital of the world and have perfect weather (just look at those blue skies below, doubters), but what is our musical heritage and how do we stand out from any other city musically?

Well, apart from the sport and the weather, the two words that would best describe Melbourne are “cosmopolitan” and “multicultural”. There’s a real culture here that fuels a diverse range of music. I haven’t got enough space to list the pub-rock bands to come from this city, but Jet will take up the least room. There’s the punk of The Living End and Brody Dalle, singer-songwriters such as Paul Kelly and Paul Dempsey, while the multiculturalism of Melbourne has helped give birth to the likes of Crowded House, The Temper Trap and Gotye. Oh, and this guy was also born here:

Do you ever get that warm, tingly sensation of pride when someone that has come from your hometown makes it big on the world stage? No, me neither… But some do. Apart from the aforementioned multicultural trio ruling the world with ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’, ‘Sweet Disposition’ and ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ respectively, the likes of Nick Cave, Kylie Minogue and The Avalanches (still waiting on that second LP guys) have made a splash worldwide. Could there be another in 2015? Probably not, but it seems a nice segue into the much-anticipated debut LP of transplanted Melburnian Courtney Barnett, whose new video does a decent job in showing what Melbourne’s suburbia looks like:

So, the discussion points should be obvious concerning this topic: Without telling us your exact address and posting a picture of you desecrating a local landmark, what do you believe your hometown’s musical heritage to be? If that’s too deep to think about, then fire away with who you believe to be your hometown hero when it comes to musicians who have made it to the big time. Those in London, New York and L.A. have permission to get a little more specific in terms of location, or else you could have a list as long as my, ummm, leg.

As they say at the end of those dreaded English essays: DISCUSS…..

PS: If things go to plan next week, I will have my very first ‘Sputnik Discusses’ franchisee. That’s right, a staff colleague of mine will be taking over the reins to provide a slightly different slant on this industry we all love. I bet you can’t guess who it will be!