"Yes, I do like Philip Glass."
"Oh, thank God, I thought I was going to be judged for that for some reason."

My old piano teacher came over for dinner last night. I didn't talk much, because I had just woken up from a nap on the sofa.

She talked a lot about how awful the people were at wherever it was that she was working. Somewhere north, I think. She had also been studying religion. All of our family friends are always a bit irritatingly religious. She also complained about her neighbours, in the same way that my mother complains about her co-workers. That was dull. I think a lot of women have nothing to talk about except to complain about other people they know.

Playing in the background was a carefully curated playlist of well-known, influential, critically acclaimed, etc. songs designed to elicit some kind of response (e.g. wtf is an Arcade Fries?). That did not work in the way that I intended, so I tried playing a Pixies album. No response, so I gave up politeness and put on Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, which is practically impossible to ignore. She made a face, and asked if I actually liked this kind of thing. Yes, I got the side-eye for liking Stravinsky. I don't even...

She was unfamiliar with the Vienna Philharmonic, didn't know anything about Bruckner, didn't recognize Arvo Pärt, and didn't seem to approve of Mahler. I expect better from teachers. I learnt everything I know of music just this year, and just from hanging around the music classroom. For free.

Then again, the first music teacher at QASMT bought Maroon 5 and Jet music books. Ha.

Only the categories that I actually can have an opinion on. Might be updated as I get around to listening to them. Brought to you by my music teacher's campaign to convince me that there is good Australian music.

Edited on 13/10/11. Mr H completely disregards country, and we both laughed at the Adult Contemporary category's nominations, except for one, who was some guy from Hunters & Collectors. Also, I should check out something from the Fine Arts categories.

Edited on 1/12/11 to add winners and some comments, because I was too busy to do it on the night.

Underlined means I might go and look more into the band/artist. Italics means I already have it. Strikethrough means I missed it and I don't know it.

#100: Muse - Neutron Star Collision
Oh, Muse. You should do better than this. :(

#99: Dead Letter Circus - Big
Something than Gwen & co. like. It reminds me of the kind of J-Rock I used to listen to when I was into Japanese.
#98: Foals - Spanish Sahara
The Hipster Girls like this band. Pretty, but vocals are meh. Wouldn't mind checking out more of their stuff though.
#97: Parkway Drive - Sleepwalker
This sounds kind of awesome. Kind of.
#96: Jonsi - Go Do
So painfully hipster-sounding. But also more pretty than that Foals track. Oh, he's part of Sigur Ros. Unsurprising.
#95: Broken Bells - The High Road
Repetitive. Synthesizeritis.
#94: Xavier Rudd - Time To Smile
Boring. Oh, Australian.
#93: The National - Anyone's Ghost
Not bad, but I'm not really into this kind of sound.
#92: LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change
I don't really like electronic. Also, severe Ending Fatigue.
#91: The Bedroom Philosopher - Northcote (So Hungover)
"Gonna go down to JB Hi-Fi!" Okay, must look up lyrics, this sounds funny.
#90: Art Vs. Science - Finally See Our Way
Catchy, but I cannot forgive this band for Magic Fountain. Oh God, that'll probably be in the top ten or something. D:

#89: Interpol - Barricade
Not bad. Repetitive song, but I like the sound.
#88: Kanye West - Monster {Ft. JAY-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver}
I will never like hip-hop. I can't get over the bad grammar.
#87: Birds Of Tokyo - The Saddest Thing I Know
Heard this song enough on radio already. Sounds a bit Maroon 5-ish too.
#86: Evil Eddie - Queensland
LOL. "Shake that gluteus maximus." Stay classy, Queenslanderps.

#85: Hot Chip - I Feel Better
This sounds like Vocaloid. I don't hate it, but I'm a sucker for strings of any variety, even synth.
#84: Washington - The Hardest Part
I loved this song for a while, but I got bored of it.
#83: Arcade Fire - Modern Man
Hell yeah, Arcade Fire. They'll probably have more songs up higher.

#82: The Black Keys - Tighten Up
Been thinking of checking out their stuff for a while now. Still haven't, but I'm interested.
#81: Klaxons - Echoes
Do all bands have crappy vocals nowadays? Might be the radio, but the song sounds horribly compressed.

#80: The Black Keys - Howlin' For You
Beginning reminded me of Uprising. Odd echo-y effect, like being in a venue with poor acoustics.
#79: Little Red - Slow Motion
PIANOOOO! Shitty vocals again. Sigh.

#78: Gorillaz - Stylo {Ft. Bobby Womack and Mos Def}
Memorable song, but I couldn't really get into Gorillaz.

#77: Big Boi - Shutterbugg {Ft. Cutty}
Once again, hip-hop.
#76: Kings Of Leon - Radioactive
Heard this too many times already.

#75: Hungry Kids Of Hungary - Coming Around
Last.fm kept reccommending this to me. Eh.

#74: Tame Impala - Lucidity
Don't know why, but this reminds me of The Beatles' more psychedelic stuff.

#73: Gypsy & The Cat - Time To Wander
Hmm. Undecided about this one. Might the radio that's making it sound bad.

#72: Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk
I like this! Vocalist sounds a bit like Ben Gibbard, but whatever.

#71: Gypsy & The Cat - Piper's Song
Snobs complain that all pop sounds the same, but a lot of indie does as well.
#70: Groove Armada - Paper Romance
MGMT-ish?

#69: Pendulum - Watercolour
Expecting this song. Heard it on the radio a few too many times, but it's still good. I just couldn't get into the album because it's so brickwalled.
#68: Andy Bull - Dog {Ft. Lisa Mitchell}
Hey, it's Lisa Mitchell! And pretty piano! Too bad it's damn impossible to pirate Aus music without torrents.

#67: Vampire Weekend - Holiday
Oh no, these guys. Theyre not bad, but I just find them annoyingly upbeat and calypso-indie.

#66: Cold War Kids - Audience
First song on here with a proper singer!

#65: Dead Letter Circus - One Step
Didn't catch all of this one because I went downstairs to greet my cousin, who had bought me a Lacoste iPhone case. :D Sounds a bit poppy.

#64: Gypsy & The Cat - Jona Vark
Again? I find them quite boring.
#63: Arcade Fire - Ready To Start
Wait, what? Already? We Used To Wait better be up high then.
#62: Angus And Julia Stone - Hold On
Didn't hear this because I was downstairs. I know I didn't miss anything exciting.

#61: Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Jackson's Last Stand
Overplayed.
#60: Children Collide - My Eagle
Terribly catchy! I laughed at the lyrics when I first heard it.
#59: Washington - Rich Kids
Apparently this is about Brisbane. "Now I remembery why I left this town." The "Washington action figure" skit before it was kind of funny.
#58: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Already?! SMH, Australia!
#57: Example - Kickstarts
Nice voice.
#56: Sia - Bring Night
I liker her voice too, but not really into dance music.
#55: Vampire Weekend - Giving Up The Gun
A non-hyper VW track! Actually sounds not bad.
#54: Miami Horror - Holidays {Ft. Alan Palomo}

#53: Bliss N Eso - Reflections
I've always sort of liked these guys, even though it's rap. I think I like the rap of the non-electronic variety.
#52:The John Steel Singers - Overpass
#51: Yeasayer - Ambling Alp
#50: Hot Chip - One Life Stand
Mehh.
#49: The Jezabels - Easy To Love
Piano ballad! I'm intrigued.
#48: Pendulum - Witchcraft

#47: Birds Of Tokyo - Wild At Heart
I like this song less less than the other one that made it on the countdown.
#46: Bag Raiders - Way Back Home
#45: Boy & Bear - Rabbit Song
#44: Crystal Castles - Baptism

#43: Yolanda Be Cool/DCUP - We No Speak Americano
I don't like this, but I expected it to be higher.
#42: Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill
As expected.
#41: Bliss N Eso - Down By The River
See #53.
#40: Gyroscope - Baby, I'm Getting Better
Overplayed.
#39: John Butler Trio - Revolution
I think we're entering "songs I've heard on the radio every day" territory.
#38: The Naked And Famous - Young Blood
Wait, this isn't Passion Pit? Wow. Sounds exactly the same.

#37: Gorillaz - Doncamatic {Ft. Daley}
18 plays in my library, which means I liked it but got bored quickly. But I would have voted for it.

#36: Chiddy Bang - Opposite Of Adults
It annoys me when I immediately pick up what a rap song is sampling.

So tired of that Golden Ticket ad.
#35: Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. - The Bike Song {Ft. Kyle Falconer & Spank Rock}
This isn't bad. "Gonna ride my bike until I get home." Well, that would be the smart thing to do, right?
#29: Illy - It Can Wait {Ft. Owl Eyes}
Wasn't paying attention, so I'll assume it was boring, as well as the following:
#30: Yeasayer - O.N.E

#31: The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
#32: Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks

#33: Tame Impala - Solitude Is Bliss
Once again, I will say: Beatles with more drugs.
#34: The Naked And Famous - Punching In A Dream
I didn't like Passion Pit and I sure won't like a band that sounds like them.

#28: Darwin Deez - Radar Detector
Cute indie pop.

#27: Florence & The Machine/Dizzee Rascal - You've Got The Dirtee Love {Live}
This is bizzarre.

#26: Crystal Castles - Not In Love {Ft. Robert Smith}
***OK, at this point I fell asleep intermittently, so I'll only comment on what I know***

#24: Sparkadia - Talking Like I'm Falling Down Stairs
This was not bad at all. Though the fact that this their only song here means they probably just got lucky.
#23: Bliss N Eso - Addicted
See previous Bliss N Eso comments.
#21: Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn
#20: Washington - Sunday Best
I fell asleep during this...
#19: Flight Facilities - Crave You {Ft. Giselle}
...and as a result missed this, which was a shame, because I really like this song.
#15: Duck Sauce - Barbara Streisand
Ugh, this song is terribly annoying. Glad I was asleep, and it didn't get in the top ten.
#14: Kanye West - Runaway {Ft. Pusha T}
I woke up in the middle of this, right before the vocoder part. Interesting.
#13: Sia - Clap Your Hands
Haha, my father asked what this is everytime it comes on. Everything about it is quite forgettable.
#12: Drapht - Rapunzel
Annoying rap.
#11: Pendulum - ABC News Theme {Remix}
EPIC. Noo, it should be higher! If Magic Fountain wins I'll be pissed.
#10: Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. - Somebody To Love Me
Reminds me of Cee Lo for some reason. Kind of annoying, since I've heard it so often lately.
#9: Art Vs. Science - Magic Fountain
Announcer to band: "Are you aware that it is the stupidest song ever? It's crazy bullshit...I don't think it's a song anymore. It's like, a force." LMAO.

#8: The Wombats - Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)
So yeah, I was expecting this to be up pretty high. But it is ridiculously overplayed, and doesn't have enough staying power to not annoy me. Twitter: "Nova called, Triple J, they want their music back."
#7: Cee Lo Green - Fuck You!
I shouted when this came on. This was my pick for #1. The rest of Twitter seems to have the same reaction.

#6: Adrian Lux - Teenage Crime
OK, this song isn't terrible. But I don't like it either. :/

#5: Boy & Bear - Fall At Your Feet
Eh? A cover is #5? It's nice, I guess. Also reminds me of the time Mumford & Sons covered a Vampire Weekend song, and slowed it down a ridiculous amount.

#4: Birds Of Tokyo - Plans
RT @whatamindblast: They should call this song "Blands".

#3: Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Dance The Way I Feel
*shrug* Overplayed, I guess.

#2: Little Red - Rock It
I don't hate this band. Their general sounds seems pleasant enough.

#1: Angus & Julia Stone - Big Jet Plane
:| Yeah, I typed this out when they started playing Rock It. Predictable. I'd probably like this if it weren't for the stoner voice. Why are they so...derpy? The live version actually sounds better than the recorded version.