The AU Crew Poll: A Year In Review – Music Collaborations

In today’s society, the rising trend of music collaborations is becoming a sure-fire way to expand the fanbase, either through the release of singles, albums, or even one-off live performances.

It was recently announced that legendary jazz crooner, Tony Bennett, scored his first #1 album with the release of the aptly titled Duets II, working alongside the likes of Lady Gaga, the late Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Norah Jones, Michael Bublé and plenty more.

Better late than never, as they say.

Because of this fascinating piece of news, we asked our contributors to tell us what were their stand out collaborative efforts over the last year.

Here is what a few of them had to say…

Album: Jay-Z and Kanye West – Watch The Throne

Jay-Z is no stranger to joint albums, and while his two projects with R Kelly didn’t quite live up to the dream-team status that hyped them up, his epic with Kanye West made everyone breathe a sigh a relief as the high expectations were met, and perhaps even exceeded. From the excellent production to the witty bars about everything from being rich, to, um, being richer – Watch The Throne is a thrill to listen to.” – Chris Singh

Single: Gotye and Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know

“‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ with Gotye and Kimbra is an obvious favourite. The beautiful lyrics resonate with listeners and allow this to be such a special song. Kimbra’s addition shows the song from a different perspective, and this track would not be the same if it were simply Gotye alone.” – Amelia Barnes

Live Performance: Conor Oberst and Jenny Lewis – Handle With Care

“‘Handle With Care’, played live on a joint tour, [was a] surprising collaboration of two extremely talented singer-songwriters” – Annette Geneva