Triple J Hottest 100

You voted for: 

David Byrne & St Vincent - Who 

Dirty Projectors - Gun Has No Trigger 

Bat For Lashes - Laura 

Beach House - Myth 

Cloud Nothings - Stay Useless 

Courtney Barnett - History Eraser 

Fiona Apple - Every Single Night 

Grimes - Oblivion 

Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards 

Catcall - The World Is Ours

I try to vote for things that are already listed, because they actually have a chance of making it in the countdown. The only one I added was Catcall. Here are the betting odds. Not a Macklemore fan, but it had better beat that awful Of Monsters & Men song.

San Cisco: Debut album is finally here! I'm hearing a lot of Vampire Weekend, maybe some MGMT, and Arctic Monkeys. It's mediocre and I doubt that I'll listen to it again.

Birds Of Tokyo: Their latest song  whoops, it's Something for Kate with Miracle Cure ripping off Arcade Fire's 'Rebellion' several months after Delta Goodrem did. (Though the BoT is kind of similar too?)

Rebecca Black: New song is surprisingly not terrible. It's not good but it's probably not any worse than a lot of generic female singer-songwriter stuff. Good for her.

Ke$ha: It's cool to like her now? Well, okay, I listened to her demos before she even released her first album. She's not completely devoid of value, but I wouldn't say she was good. 

Pitchfork: Readers Poll, yay. Not that I'm going to vote, since I don't give a crap about album covers or musician twitters. We all know that Album of the Year is gonna be Kendrick Lamar or Frank Ocean, right?

Triple J: Hottest 100, on the other hand, I will participate in, because it comes with a handy guide of what to vote for! According to last.fm, my favourite 2012 songs were Oblivion, Satellites, and Gun Has No Trigger.

Pixies: Listened to Doolittle while on a road trip. It brought me no joy. I don't think I want friends who listen to the same stuff anymore if this is the aftermath. Maybe friends who hate the same stuff?

Didn't see this on television, because I was actually at the damn thing. I don't know anybody who watched it (except my parents, but their "watched TV" is really more "slept on couch"). My best guess at what was televised comes from this Pedestrian article.

Radiohead: Went to the concert. I learned that if you don't like Radiohead, you're not listening to it loudly enough. Hipsters were reluctant to dance, despite the amount of beer I saw them with. The stage lighting was great, with The National Anthem being particularly seizuretastic.

Spotify: Some person has been playing the Radiohead setlist on repeat since the concert. I guess they went too. I know that feeling; most of the 2000 plays I have for Muse were racked up the week after the concert.

J Awards: Tame Impala for AOTY, obviously. I'm surprised that they've actually heard of Kirin J Callinan. Of course, The Rubens will win Unearthed.

Sarah Blasko: The new album is... meh. It's okay, but it's not the step forward that everybody says it is. Everybody's all "OMG orchestra!!1!", but it's mostly string section, and strings are used in everything so it's not particularly special. I feel like a lot of people shout "innovative" when they enjoy a work but can't think of anything insightful to say about it.

Lana Del Rey: Paradise EP is out. They're sticking with the dark, heavy production, which is a shame. A lot of people who are fans of her actually seem to see "Video Games" as her worst song, so I guess they'll be sticking with this direction.

Of Monsters & Men: "Little Talks" sounds like Edward Sharpe's "Home", and it's now popular enough to get played on Nova. Is it going to top the Hottest 100? I'm not sure if it's any better than Mumford & Sons.

Violent Soho: Still can't decide if they're too much of a Pixies ripoff to be good. Like what Silverchair were to Nirvana.

Courtney Barnett: I am really enjoying History Eraser.

Sydney Opera House, 2:45PM

A lady is sitting across from me. Says she's from Melbourne. She's chatting with a friend who is apparently here for study, and funding it hard to "accept it as music." Speech On Nothing is running overtime so they're handing out programs. I wander over to the CD stand and buy Music For Airports.

I don't know what this is, but whatever, this looks like a Asian, crappier Eurovision. Racism alert. Or cultural cringe, I guess, since I'm Asian too. Wikipedia link!

Last.fm: Upon hearing an incredibly irritating track on the radio, I Googled it (Mystery Jets - Greatest Hits) to see if anybody else hated it and its egregious name-dropping. Apparently not, but I discovered this Last.fm account, whose usefulness makes up for having to listen to that song.

Triple J: Oz music month or something happening. I'm ready to tut tut at the J Award. Here's a somewhat worrying article that pretty much confirms my theory that they promote Australian crap that just sounds like better overseas bands. Edit: Yay, they're playing a Royal Headache song.

Spotify: A guy in my feed seems to be listening to some kind of "A-Z of Pitchfork". In alphabetical order, even. Sometime last week he started listening to Arcade Fire, then Bon Iver, Cults, Death Cab, and Grimes. After that, it seems that he gave up and listened to Marina and the Diamonds. More entertaining than my Facebook feed!

Philip Glass: I listened to Music In 5ths. I don't think I will ever need or want to listen to it again.

Ben Salter: His album won Album of the Year at the QLD Music Awards. I finally got around to listening the whole thing, and yes, it deserves it. (I feel like I don't say that often.)

Homebrand 1: Hey, remember them? They released a new song. No oohs + no Mumford = a step in the right direction. But the glock reminded me of another song by a guy who went to our odd network of schools. He's doing pretty well now, with this song winning a QLD Music Award.

When I was in high school, I heard some boys in a band say about the music teacher, "His music taste must kick all of our asses!" I laughed to myself, because at that moment, he unfortunately decided to play Angus & Julia Stone over the speakers.

Last week, I was waylaid at Central Station by some girls selling stuff for Pink Ribbon Day. One complimented me on my Regina Spektor shirt, and the other (who was in my stats class) told her that I had great taste in music. Then a guy in my chem lab congratulated me for listening to Amanda Palmer. Cool?

What do people really mean when they say "good taste"? I've come to see it as just another way of saying that their taste is similar to yours. It's not often that you say another person has better taste, because we all like to think that we're the best, right?

My ideal, I suppose, is someone who listens to as many different things as they can. A person like that could have a conversation with almost anybody, and that's useful.

A very, very old draft.

Messandnoise & Crikey on Melba Records, and Crikey on performing arts audience stagnating.

Lots of people wondering why classical music gets government funding while pop/rock doesn't.

I don't think popular music should be funded. It just doesn't need to be. There are middle-class kiddies all over the place who are able to save up enough money to record their own material and release it. When pop music does get money (like through various awards), it goes to artists who don't really need it because they're already popular. I assume the same would/does happen with government funding.

A huge issue would be who is going to decide who gets a grant. One could argue that Triple J already serves as a government funded leg-up for pop acts, through their Unearthed program. The hit rate for that is dismal, with most winners not even making it far enough to have a Wikipedia article.

Funding classical is a bit like spending money on preserving artefacts in museums or saving endangered animals. That crap is going to disintegrate from exposure to oxygen/die out because it refuses to have sex. But we still make an effort, right? Right?

ABC Classic 100: 5 out of eight predictions correct, 7/10 if you count the "other things by those composers". Cool. Suite Bergamasque (ie. Clair de Lune) juuuust missed it at no. 11, Massenet and Delibes at 14 and 15 respectively.

Spotify: Spotify is horrible and seems to pick the worst things you've listened to to put in your top artists/tracks. The Pitchfork disciples therefore have theirs hidden, but I can still see using Swarm.fm. You can't win. Amusingly, the flamboyant Nicki Minaj fan is now listening to Bon Iver. That's what uni does to you, I guess.

CDs: Counted my CDs and marked them as owned on RYM. There's a few I haven't marked, but I don't know what they are! I also felt a bit sad looking at Pixies and Talking Heads albums, because I doubt that I'll want to touch them again for a while.

Festivals: My white, upper-middle class, Triple J listener friends always complain of drunk bogans at festivals. Looking at photos though, they could easily be mistaken for drunken bogans. I bet the people they complain about are just other middle-class kids.

Identity: I have learnt from conversations in my chemistry lab that people actually do use the term "Triple J" to describe their music taste. A lot of information conveyed in one word and one letter. I am not ignorant enough to say "everything", so I guess I'll go with "elitist", like one guy in this article.

Kyle Quarles - Indictment of the designation of classical music as “relaxing”
"It’s because when we use the word relaxing, we’re describing the effect of listening to non-sensical syntax." THISTHISTHIS. It applies to other kinds of music as well, of course. I used to fall asleep to Kid A because it sounded like nonsense to me. I know people who can't sleep with any music at all because they absolutely must analyze it.

James Rhodes - At last: the Classic Brit Awards exposed as a sickening crime against classical music 
Interesting to see that awards shows are crap for all kinds of music. I tried listening to some of that popera stuff, and it made me realize that I've been too harsh on everything else. I'm sorry, ARIAs. You're all right. (And apparently my dislike of Einaudi is not unreasonable.)

ABC Classic 100 - Music of France
This is happening this week. I think I've missed all the good stuff that normally hangs around the lower end of these countdowns.

Everywhere else I've seen on the internet about this has the same typos and missing track and album names, because they just copy/pasted from the ARIA Twitter. They've also left out the Fine Arts winners. Get it together, Australians. (Though I am not bothering with artisans because eh.) So here you go, all on one page. I will listen to all of it. ALL OF IT. Then I will return and add appropriate notes to this entry.

FINE ARTS WINNERS
Best Classical Album: Sydney Symphony & Vladimir Ashkenazy – Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Best Jazz Album: Sarah McKenzie - Close Your Eyes
Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album: Triple J – Tribute To Nick Cave (4/10)
Best World Music Album: Joseph Tawadros – Concerto Of The Greater Sea (7/10)

I was recommended this song. Some people say it's a crappy pop song, probably because it got big enough for this and this to happen. One possible interpretation of the song is that it's about drugs. There is definitely a sinister undertone to it, like the lyrics, "you only reap just what you sow", but then a decent amount of people seem to think it's a simple love song, so I don't know. The ambiguity is my favourite thing about it. The bizarre chord progression of the verse is something too.

I haven't focused my energies into liking anything since that song, actually. It's as if I don't like anything unless I'm ordered to, and nobody with the authority has rec'd me recently. I tried making a schedule of critically acclaimed shit to listen to. You'd think the internet hivemind would be a good enough authority, but then I realized that I didn't have anybody to impress.

Nobody to impress? All right, I'm going to listen to Lana Del Rey demos on Tumblr while RainyMood.mp3 plays on VLC.

But even that, I like because of someone else. 

This has been sitting in my drafts for months, but it might be relevant again with the ARIAs coming up.

Mr Tastemaker once gave me Angus & Julia Stone as an example of good, current, Australian music. Since we agreed on practically everything but this, I must figure out what the appeal of them is. For closure or something.

3/10, but I am going to keep editing this throughout today because I have no classes.

Sarah Blasko's new song. It's okay. I'm of the unusual opinion that she peaked with What The Sea Wants. Hoping that she actually did something interesting with the orchestra.

Lisa Mitchell's new song. Reminds me of some J-Pop I used to listen to. The melody is the same as something; I just can't remember what. Thumbs down.

Clare Bowditch's new album. I thought she was a folk singer, but now that's apparently not fashionable so she's doing the ye olde Tumblrcore? I'm definitely getting a Lana Del Rey vibe from that cover. Will probably be nominated for an ARIA because she always is.

Pitchfork pans some old favourites. Well, not really, because a 7 is not a pan. I agree with the AnCo and The xx reviews, but I didn't like those two much to begin with. On the other hand, the DB & St Vincent score says that the album was only 0.3 better than Born To Die, which is pretty wrong.

Pitchfork lauds old favourite. It was better than the aforementioned albums, but not better than Veckatimest. I dunno. They're not really my thing.

The ACO's old brochures are a sight to behold. I wonder why old graphic design looks so bad now. Or did those always look terrible? (Richard's face is timeless though...) Looking at the new brochures sitting on the table, I have to say that Sydney Symphony wins this year. Or, even better, this, because Helvetica + good-looking director = yay.

X Factor AU sucks. I know, reality TV always sucks, but this isn't even enjoyable in the guilty pleasure way. At least the people on The Voice could hit the right notes.

Edited 24/09, after the jump!

Yeah, every "Best Albums of [timeframe]" list is dominated by men, and every time it happens, people have to write some hissy fit about it. But what if I just happen to like those white-boys-with-guitars bands more? And what if a whole lot of people, like the majority of people, share that preference? What can anybody do about that?

From what I've heard, most female artists sing pop songs about love, e.g. relationship failure. Girls listen to these songs when they are experiencing relationship failure. When I'm not feeling that, my reaction to sad ballads or whatever tends to be, "Ugh, shut up and get over it." I get annoyed with male singers too (Oberst, Gibbard, etc.), but most girl music is vocal/lyric-centric pop, whereas there are male bands that put vocals low in the mix, sing nonsense words, or are just plain instrumental, so I might not notice that they're being whiny.

It's a bit like the different types of tumblogs people have. Some are entirely devoted to those damned pictures with complaints or sappy quotes on them, or text posts about the friendzone. They are annoying. Others are more subtle, and post art or hipster photos that subtly show their general boredom with life. They are OK to follow.

I don't have many feelings about classical music, but I'll post my prediction for the top ten, based on past polls.

• Ravel - Boléro
• Faure - Requiem
• Massenet - Meditation from Thaïs
• Saint-Saëns - Symphony 3 
• Satie - Gymnopédies
• Debussy - Clair de Lune
• Bizet - Carmen
• Delibes - Flower Duet
• and two other things by one of the aforementioned composers, probably Debussy.

These sorts of things always end in a mess. According to Wikipedia, Chopsticks was actually no. 7 in the piano countdown. Surprisingly, Fur Elise was no. 15. 4'33" was no. 40, despite not really being for piano. It didn't even place in the 20th Century countdown. What.

The next time I get a lab placement, I'm going to TMS my brain until it fixes my musical preferences.

Muse
Every time JJJ bring up Survival, they talk about how it's such a terrible song, yet they still keep playing it! Now apparently they're talking to Matt Bellamy and playing the new single, Madness. It's pretty awful too. However, Unsustainable is the worst thing I've heard in a while.

Animal Collective
Naw, I'm not streaming your album if it's in fuzzy video format. I can't be bothered; I'll wait for it to come out properly. What I have heard of it seems a bit more normal than what I expected from them. Not sure if BNM.

X Factor Australia
After seeing the US Voice coaches give a good show of bantering, these judges seem terribly amateurish. They're so awkward! The worst part was how the cameras kept making faces at the poor 14 year old girl, and the background music was Lily Allen's Fuck You. Even I thought that was unnecessarily asshole-ish. Also, there is X Factor fanfiction.

Birdy
TV has been pushing her album. I think she made Skinny Love popular. It's a shame that the production/arrangement of her version is so dull, because I'd rather listen to someone other than JVernon sing it. White Winter Hymnal doesn't work as a pop song at all though.

Unfortunately, I was wrong about indie folk going out of fashion. The winner's song is basic as hell. It's just a folk song with little electronic wooshes. The beginning sounds like a bit in Feeding Line. The handclaps are the worst. Blargh.

It's not like I expect anything great from high school kids, but I even thought Tyler Touche and Jessica Cerro were both better. I bet that first guy might be able to at least make the next ridiculously catchy dance song and I wouldn't mind having an Australian knockoff of Fiona Apple. The hardcore band was meh, I think they picked them just so people would whinge less about marginalizing that genre.

Clickety click. I guess Pitchfork got tired of people complaining that they don't provide opportunities for reader interaction, etc.

I'm looking through other lists, and I bet that a lot of reviews are going to get changed as a result of this poll. People seem to love Transatlanticism, which got a joke review! Lots of Dark Was The Night, which I personally didn't think was that good, but okay.

The homogeneity is a little disheartening. My list seems to be missing a lot of things that everybody else is including, e.g. Animal Collective, Spiritualized, The Microphones, and a few other things that got 10.0s, but I haven't heard them yet. Heck, I'm somewhat ashamed that I know which albums got the perfect score.

While making my list, I realized that a disproportionate amount of stuff I like is from before my time. Some people think it's cooler to like old music, but I feel that I should like things that are coming out now, just so I can later say, "Yeah, I totally remember when that came out." Isn't that even cooler than liking something that everyone has liked for ages? You have to think about the long term!

EDIT: I'm updating this as the situation changes. It's going to turn into a fun way to discover new music.

I know it's really stupid, but it's annoying to see posts on Facebook from distant acquaintances talking about something I like. Part of it is because I'm bitter about having no friends who like what I like. Another thing is that it's usually some vapid post like "[critically acclaimed album/artist] is awesome!" or some random lyrics, and then it gets a whole lot of likes and circlejerk comments. Karma whoring.

Well, screw that. I'm going to find alternatives that my news feed doesn't mention.

There's another indie-folk band from my high school! I'll try to be kind.

Backstory: I (kind of) know one person from the band. I curated the school's talent quest last year and the guitarist was in it. I thought he should've won, and the teacher judges agreed, but everybody voted for the popular kids.

At over six minutes, this single is on the long side for a pop song, but it builds up and changes throughout. My brain does not shout band names at me while I listen to it, instead, it uncertainly mumbles genre descriptions like "dream pop". The song could do with more distinctive vocals too, I guess, but at least there are no repetitive "ooh"s.

I could go on and list all the things that this song does that Homebrand #1 doesn't, but that isn't nice, so I'll just say that I really like the bridge and give it a score. 6/10.

After killing off the state literary awards, cutting pay for ambulance officers, sacking a whole lot of people, waging war against gays, and planning to cut down trees,  Queensland premier Campbell Newman has now axed two music programs, making him relevant to this blog.

Interestingly enough, they've chosen to keep Creative Generation. Of course, keep the flashy thing that makes you look like you support the arts. As one commenter points out, "Having been to one it has more lights and pyrotechnics than a Las Vegas casino act and the sound track from a bad 80's movie." Having been to two myself, I'd say that description is accurate. However, should they cut that too, I've got my personal story ready to present!

Everything I know about music today is an indirect result of taking part in CGEN 2009. 

I don't play an instrument, not really. I took piano lessons, but I wasn't interested, and as a result didn't learn much from them. In fact, I had no interest in music whatsoever as a child. I didn't like classical, pop, or even Disney movies that had singing in them. I went to this primary school, and it didn't do me any good. I went to another school known for its music program and that didn't do much either. So how did this cheesy show with terrible music help me see the light?

I'll tell you if/when they kill it.

Not a review. 

Almost everybody else there was an old white person. The attendant had to look long and hard at my ticket to make sure I wasn't some teen up to no good. Apart from the old people, there were some fathers and their young children, and maybe a few Asian families. Didn't see any hipsters. I think they're only into minimalism and Mahler.

Prompted by /r/music, in no particular order. I know that I'm boring.

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
This might be the only album that I can listen to on repeat, in full.

Arcade Fire - Funeral
I remember when everybody was raving about The Suburbs, and I didn't get the hype for this band. Until I listened to this.

The National - Boxer
More vocalists should sound like Matt Berninger, and more bands should have a horn section. I like High Violet almost as much, but this one has the lyrics, "Sometimes you get up and bake a cake or something."

Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Doolittle is probably better, but I just can't listen to it any more.

Radiohead - In Rainbows
I am happy to know that it has become acceptable to like In Rainbows. If it's good enough for Steve Reich, it's good enough for me.

Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz
I don't like electronics, and I don't like Jesus, but this album makes me want to reconsider my position on those things.

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
American, easier-to-digest Radiohead. That's a good thing.

You Am I - Hourly, Daily
Quote from some random on RYM: "If you have ever lived in Sydney, this album will go straight to your heart."

The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
I love this because I can't buy it. Every physical format of it seems to be out of print. If I get stupidly rich, I will spend my wealth trying to find it.

Fiona Apple - When The Pawn...
Token female artist for my list, whoops. The only female singer who sings in my range, and "Get Gone" got me through senior year.

So I can look back and laugh at my piss-weak prediction skills.

• What if Julia Stone wins Best Female Artist and Angus Stone wins Best Male Artist? I'd love to see the reaction to that.
• Best Female Artist noms: Missy Higgins, Kimbra, Lisa Mitchell, Catcall
• I continue to not give a crap about male artists. Sorry. Uhh... Gotye and Guy Sebastian? Some rapper?
• Album of the Year probably hasn't been released yet. Matt Corby?
• Temper Trap and Hilltop Hoods will probably be nominated.
• If the new Tame Impala is good, it will be nominated but not win anything.
• Sarah Blasko album release is poorly timed, becomes irrelevant
• San Cisco for Breakthrough!
• Best of Go-Betweens for Album Art!
• Timomatic will be the token mainstream dance artist at the ceremony. Also Pop Release, but he'll be beaten by some indie act.
• Highest Selling Whatever: Karise Eden

A band of kids from my high school released their first single the other day. I downloaded it and listened to it a few times.

Remember the indie-folk wave, with Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, etc.? Then there was the crappy mainstream derivative, Mumford & Sons, which sort of helped Australian acts like Boy & Bear and Matt Corby to get big. So many dull pop songs decorated with a folksy wrapping.

Judging from the popularity of Japandroids, Bleeding Knees Club, DZ Deathrays, etc. I think we've moved on to garage/punk. The nice thing about this is that it's harder to make an adult-contemporary punk.

Oh right, that song. It's a softer Mumford & Sons meets Matt Corby's "ooh ooh ooh"s. Late to the party.  4/10.

EDIT: Hey, it's in the top 100 on Unearthed. I panned it before it was cool.

No Spotify, I don't have an Android phone.

Catcall - The Warmest Place
Not as great as what the Australian media said, but also not as bad as what Pitchfork said. I really like "Satellites".

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
I've already bought the CD, which says something about it! However, I can't help but think that the hype comes from the fact that her previous albums weren't given as much attention as they received.

Liars - WIXIW
Radiohead-ish. I didn't remember how any of it went after it finished, but I do remember enjoying it.

Jherek Bischoff - Composed
Orchestral pop with a few female vocalists. Nothing particularly exceptional, but I like this kind of thing.

The Cast of Cheers - Family
A Triple J feature album. Bloc Party meets summery indie pop. Very average.

Metric - Synthetica
Okay, Spotify, you can stop advertising this to me. I found it rather boring. Maybe it's a grower, whatever that means.

Japandroids - Celebration Rock
"The House That Heaven Built" is like this year's "Midnight City", so the album would also be this year's HUWD. But I like this one better.

DIIV - Oshin
Oh God, the reverb. Bits that have no singing are enjoyable.

Only listened to Pop and Album of the Year because they're mostly on Spotify. Complete list of nominees over here. Might do the rest later.

Pop:
Busby Marou - I Still Don't Believe
Music by sensitive guy aimed at indie girls? The word "indie" is even in there. It's a folk-pop song. It's pleasant, and I know lots of people who are into this kind of thing.

Cub Scouts - Do You Hear
Reminds me of an Andy Bull song. Otherwise, it's not very memorable.

Kate Miller-Heidke - I'll Change Your Mind
That key change at the end automatically makes the worst song of the lot. Sorry. Not to mention that super-heavy shiny production is really not in at the moment. They could've picked a better song from the album.

The Jungle Giants - Mr Polite
Oh, I know this song! Sure is catchy. Will probably win due to being played on the radio the most. This is how these things work, right?

Halfway through the year, yay. 

Songs I like that have a chance:

• Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built
• Grimes - Oblivion
• Beach House - Other People
• Sleigh Bells - Comeback Kid
• Catcall - Satellites 
• San Cisco - Rocket Ship

Songs I like that have no chance:

• Fiona Apple - Every Single Night
• Julia Holter - Marienbad
• Liars - The Exact Colour of Doubt
• Royal Headache - Surprise (not sure if eligible)

Songs that I may vote for because I used to like the artist and they are probably going to get in anyway:

• Regina Spektor - All The Rowboats
• Lisa Mitchell - Spiritus
• Missy Higgins - Unashamed Desire

Albums not yet released that may produce something voteworthy:

• The xx - Coexist
• Animal Collective - Centipede Hz
• Muse - The 2nd Law
• Sarah Blasko - ?
• Grizzly Bear - ?
• David Byrne + St. Vincent - Love This Giant

Should I audition for a choir?

This university is similar to my high school in several ways, the most important being: everybody is Asian, everybody does science, and the music department is kind of puny and nobody seems to care for it. There is an orchestra, but oddly enough there doesn't seem to be a choir. However, there is a music club that supposedly runs a vocal group.

Last semester, only eight people turned up for the audition (as far as I know) out of the eighty-something that signed up. My friend signed up, but couldn't make it to the audition. The club said they'd set another date, but she never heard back from them. I guess they gave up from lack of interest, because I didn't hear anything either. Friend wants to try auditioning again this semester. I'm not so sure.

It all reminded me of that debacle last year. (Long, personal story.) It almost single-handedly ruined my senior year. I don't want even the slightest possibility of putting up with that kind of thing again. Negative associations, you know?

But another part of me thinks I should try, because I might be able to replace the bad associations with better ones. After all, who the hell goes through life with a hatred of choral music? Christmas is already irritating enough for me.

This week in music: this and one prominent response. Now there's a response to that response!

I could be all, "I'm under twenty and I pay for music," but that would be as bad as "I'm a girl and I play computer games." I have nothing to contribute to this debate. Let me find something else to talk about.

Oddly enough, the majority of my acquaintances aren't torrenting music: they don't know how to do that. From what I've heard, most of their music comes from a few of their more technologically competent brothers. That, or they're using a Youtube-to-MP3 converter, which results in terrible low-res files. If I were a musician, I'd really prefer for you to be downloading V0 mp3s ripped from the CD, just so you wouldn't assume it was bad because of the shitty file quality. If you're going to pirate, do it properly, geez.


Spotify? Probably better than pirating, even if you're giving money to "evil corporations". The point is, you're showing that there's demand for an artist, making it more likely for them record and release new stuff. You're not doing that by getting stuff from "alternative sources".

I've read a bit of arguing about clapping and classical music lately. They're essentially saying that people don't like going to concerts because they're not allowed to clap between movements, or cheer at solos, etc. and that this tradition contributes to the perception that the culture around classical music is elitist. I'd never even thought of this before.

I agree that the elitism is a big deal. If you don't like someone, you're not going to try and get into something that they like. (See also: hipsters and indie rock.) In fact, I'm into contemporary classical just because the annoying classical elitists I knew didn't like it. However, not clapping isn't snobby or anything. It's common sense that you wouldn't want people to be noisy while you're trying to listen to quiet music. If you're an interested newbie, you should probably realize this.

This argument is probably happening because it's getting old to say that kids these days have no attention span. But as a young person, I seriously think that is the main reason. Who gives a crap about clapping? The issue is, people don't want to listen to something that goes for an hour. It all sounds the same to them because all of the instruments are the same. There are no lyrics to be posted on Facebook, and dynamic range isn't practical with iPods on public transport.

What will make people go to concerts? The generic answer is education, but look at Asians. That isn't working (though they are pretty great business for music teachers). I am Asian, and I can confirm that compulsory instrument lessons will not make you like music. I like the idea of free public performances. Free samples are always great. Play more than just those same snippets that everybody already knows, because that isn't going to win new fans. Okay, I just want to see things for free, can you blame me?

(For the record, my first concert was the Vienna Philharmonic playing Bruckner 4 last year. I confess that I went just so I could say that I did. There was an Asian family with a kid that fell asleep. People clapped between movements. Bloody Queenslanders.)

Hey, remember when I absolutely couldn't wait for a new Regina Spektor album? Probably not. Far was a pretty dull album, but I still put it on a lot to sing to while doing chores around the house or whatever. I still went to see her when she was in Brisbane.

Okay. This album. Immediate first impression: overproduction! There is way too much that isn't voice and piano in the first single, "All The Rowboats". Both "Small Town Moon" and "Oh Marcello" are a bit busy for my liking as well. Especially jarring with the second of those, which sounds a lot like some of her older, weirder material. "Don't Leave Me" is terribly cutesy. I liked "Ballad of a Politician" live, but those vocal effects here are unnecessary.

I feel as though I should like "How" and its very, very relevant lyrics. Actually, this is the one song that could probably afford a bit more sound, in my opinion. Another thing is that the vomiting noises in "Open" do not work well on recordings, despite being somewhat entertaining live. I mean, I like the rest of this song, but hearing the exact same noises each time becomes grating, a bit like the random squeaking in "Folding Chair" on Far. 

It might grow on me. I'm at least quite sure that most of these songs would be decent live. I don't know yet.

Three straight nights of shows has really screwed my sleeping pattern. I woke up at about 3PM today. Then again, a guy said "g'morning" to me as I was walking home at 7PM. So I'm not alone.

Host looks like Charlie Pickering, haha. Assume that each song is terrible unless otherwise stated.

Lazy entry while procrastinating on maths.


(OH WELL) THAT'S WHAT YOU GET (FALLING IN LOVE WITH A COWBOY - Lanie Lane
I've only heard this a few times, but I haven't got anything against it. Spaghetti Western is a bit overdone by now though, isn't it? I wish Australians could invent their own Australian-y sound. The closest thing to that I can think of is Paul Kelly's voice.

BROTHER - Matt Corby
Woo-oo-oo! It's like, engineered to appeal to the JJJ crowd. Never mind the fact that he's an ex-Idol dude remade into a sensitive beard-folk hipster. This song just isn't very good. Sure, there's that big vocal hook, but the whole thing is kind of a melodramatic mess. Feeding Line is similar, but slightly better.

CAMEO LOVER - Kimbra
Reminds me of the J-Pop that I used to listen to. Saw someone post it on the resident weaboo's Facebook saying that it reminded them of her, so I'm not alone. It's catchy and has a retro sound, like how a lot of Asian pop is stuck twenty years ago. Hallyu?

SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW - Gotye Ft. Kimbra
I don't listen to the radio or go to supermarkets, so I still don't hate this song. It's such an unlikely hit that it must be doing something right. This is going to win, isn't it?

YOU SHOULD CONSIDER HAVING SEX WITH A BEARDED MAN - The Beards
This is a joke band with a novelty song! It's not a good song. It's not a good song even by my low, mainstream-pop standards. It's not even funny! If I had a beard, I'd be more embarrassed about this song than the fact that I were a girl with a beard.

I was listening to the radio today. The station that I happened upon was doing an "Australian countdown", which was the top 20 songs with Australian artists. A lot of them were the "So-and-So Ft. Sia" tracks. There was some terrible, mediocre dance pop from reality TV alumni. One mediocre faux-indie track from an Idol alumnus. That Gotye. I'd say I wept for humanity, but really, I didn't expect any better.

Never mind finding someone with similar musical taste; that's not too hard. I started with the Pitchfork lists, and I bet many other people did the same. The important thing is the attitude.

Here comes the album release cycle! Ah, those lame things I used to listen to in 2009 because I didn't know any better. Those people are releasing new albums now.

Or some ideas that I will elaborate on at a later date.

I listened to the lab supervisor chat animatedly with a girl in a Rollins Band shirt about the time he'd seen them live. I knew that, regardless of what kind of shirt I was wearing, nobody would start a conversation with me about anything like that.

I closed the door and fell onto my bed. I was exhausted. Not from walking halfway across the CBD, not from sitting for half an hour on the bus, but from practically leaping out of my skin every time my phone buzzed. I knew I'd have as much luck getting a reply from JS Bach, but still.

It would be inaccurate to say that I want to go home. I'm not sure where that is any more. I just don't think I enjoy living next to a piano teacher's studio. Of course, there's the noise, but there's also those poor kids who just don't want to be there. I don't know why their parents insist on it. It certainly didn't do me any good.

I was honestly relieved to learn that everybody knew, but I'll say it here too:

I want nothing more than to be tracing the triangles and lines of annotations, pencilled on a Lovelock score in quintuple time, while basking in the artificial light of a Monday afternoon.

"Born To Die" is number one on iTunes in a whole lot of countries now. It's number two for Australia, behind some folk-pop Idol alumni, but that's a rant for another day.

Considering the ridiculous hype, nobody should be surprised. Video Games was probably one of the best songs of 2011. Every post about her on ONTD receives a good amount of attention. People there seem to love the album. Members seem to agree that the best song is either Dark Paradise or Radio. Some are even saying that Video Games is one of the weaker tracks.

I think one could predict how the record sounds, and how it did critically from how popular it is on ONTD, a celebrity gossip blog/community predominantly occupied by people who are interested in stuff like Gaga and Ke$ha.

Has anyone stopped to think that people may like this album even more because it's being critically panned? The mainstream thinks critics are bullshit anyway, and that is the audience that the record is aimed at, after all. Marketing genius.

In the absence of someone to argue with (I miss you!), I'm going to post my thoughts here.

100. Mr Little Jeans - The Suburbs
This is interesting, though the sound doesn't really suit the lyrics.

99. The Beards - You Should Consider Having Sex With A Bearded Man
First time I've heard this. This is a novelty song, so I can't say much about it. I think it's rather weak.

98. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Niggas In Paris
Surprised that this isn't higher. That shit cray.

97. Foo Fighters - Arlandria
Hello, generic rock song. I have a feeling that I'll be saying that a lot today.

96. The Strokes - Machu Picchu
This Is It was great. This isn't terrible, but it's not that impressive either. Typical British stuff.

95. Grouplove - Naked Kids
Mercury Rev? Pixies? Is this one of those opportunistic indie bands that copies a bunch of sounds?

If Hype Machine is still going with their Zeitgeist thing, then it's not too late for me to waffle about my ten most-played artists of 2011.