Arcade Fire: The more I listen, the less I like. So I think I'm gonna leave it here. They're doing a sideshow here next year, but it's on a weeknight, at the damned Convention Centre, and I have no friends, so blah. It'll probably be full of the kind of people I don't like.

St Vincent: New song is surprisingly fun. I didn't care much for the previous album and I was set on not caring about this, but now I'm going to be cautiously interested. Has it stopped being shocking for female singers to talk about masturbating?

Jenny Hval: Innocence Is Kinky came out ages ago, but I'm revisiting it because one of the songs came up in shuffle and I distinctly heard the lyrics, "Do you remember, in Brisbane in December? It was raining..."

RCO: Saw them at the Opera House at the beginning of the month. Mariss Jansons had to pull out halfway through, which made for some awkwardness at the end when the audience threw streamers at the orchestra. Especially since they'd advertised it as his last concert with them. But I still enjoyed it, I guess.

Television: Went to the concert ages ago, but I somehow neglected to mention it here! They were impressively tight, and one of the few bands where I wasn't even slightly annoyed when they jammed and drew out songs. Ed Kuepper of The Saints was the support act. I really like Sleepyhead, and now it's on my high rotation playlist.

ARIA Awards: I wasn't really paying attention. Tame Impala won a bunch of things and I'm pretty OK with that. I'm not even sure Nick Cave should count as Australian anymore. The Flume guy seemed annoying. Resolution has to be the meh-est song to get Song Of The Year ever, I'm glad Matt Corby just said, "I don't have much to say" and walked off the stage.

Youtube: Keeps recommending me terrible Youtube singers because I keep clicking on things that people post on my Glee Club's Facebook group. They can sing well and all, but oh the overproduction! Oversinging! The worst thing is amateurs imitate and add stupid affectations to their singing when they haven't even got the basic "singing in tune" thing right.

Tumblr: I'm gradually unfollowing all of the music writers, because I just don't care anymore. They're all clambering over each other to say stuff like, "I liked Taylor Swift back when everyone else hated her!" and it's just stupid and annoying.

Lana Del Rey: Tropico is... something. I still listen to Driving In Cars With Boys a lot. Looking forward to her new material.

The Whitlams: Yeah, people say they're terrible. But I just rediscovered You Gotta Love This City, and I'd never noticed the disparaging lyrics before: "You've gotta love this city for it's body, not it's brain. My city's a whore..." Absolutely perfect. I'd kill to hear Tim Rogers sing it.

Darren Hanlon: Manilla NSW is one of my favourite discoveries of this year. I've been looking for Sydney/NSW kind of songs because The Go-Betweens' perfection was making me want to move back to QLD. Alas, this guy is from Gympie!

Haim: Collapse Board review. Not the best review, but I agree with the sentiment. I like this paragraph because it's what I think about a lot of people I know:

"But if you’re a young person out there, like 15 or under, I’m willing to cut you a little slack. Look, I don’t deny the pleasure you get from this music, but your ability to be moved by it says more about the depth/breadth of your emotions, the thrill of being alive, than it does about Haim."

I also agree with this comment thread from the AV Club review. "generic kinda chart-pop with an indie blog backup plan" seems to be the new big thing, e.g. Lana Del Rey, Lorde.

Arcade Fire: New album is way too long. I'm sure I'll never truly love it because it's longer than my commute! I don't even want to listen to it at home. Reviewers seem to like it though.

Dismemberment Plan: Ouch. Gonna pretend they never released that.

Anna Calvi: A bit sad that I only realized that she released a new album because it was reviewed in MX. Enjoying it so far.

Melt-Banana: Hey, it's something that sounds a bit like Vocaloid songs I used to like, but critic-sanctioned!

Spotify: Recommended a song called "I Often Dream Of Trains" to me. I love it.

Triple J: Took over Dig Music. Gotta go dig up those articles about the jjj monopoly again!

ARIA Awards: I'll be missing them this year because I'm going to see the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. It's probably better for my blood pressure that way, because ugh those nominees. The only band I care about is The Drones, and they won't win anything.

X Factor: Hooray for Dami Im, doing us Asians proud, I guess. Not surprising, since the audience for this kind of thing is little girls (who vote for little boys) and Asians of all ages. I hoping she wouldn't win though, since winning seems to be a career killer.

Lorde - Pure Heroine: A bit annoyed that the album stream is only available to the US. Found a way to listen to it anyway. I like the sound, but everything else is meh..  Cringey lyrics at times, but I guess she's just a kid. It's like pop music for people who think they're too good for it.  Highlight for me is "Ribs" for its interesting pace and "Lover's Spit" shout-out.

Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady: I always skip those skits tbh. I don't care. I still need to give the rest of it a few more listens.

Arcade Fire - Reflektor: Why does this song need to be so long? Everyone seems to like it. I thought it was fine until I read the lyrics. Doesn't sound much more mature than the 16 year-old mentioned above.

Spotify: Everybody is suddenly getting into Allo Darlin's "Tallulah". Yes, it's a song about leaving Brisbane. Wish fulfillment, I guess. Also, I made a friend who likes some similar stuff as me! An Asian too! She is a breath of fresh air on my Spotify Social feed.

Silverchair: Just made the front page of Reddit. I had no idea people outside Australia cared about them. "Nirvana in Pajamas". Excellent.

This is what I get for choosing advanced-level subjects as electives.

You Am I: Saw them at the Enmore in August. That was cool. Surprised that they did Berlin Chair, since they didn't in Brisbane, and I'd assumed it was like their "Creep". Tim Rogers did make a bit of a joke about "Berlin Chair Heights".

John Adams: Conducted the Sydney Symphony last Friday. Comments from the crowd indicated that they were not entirely sold on him being a conductor. I enjoyed it well enough, though I couldn't really get used to the idea of a saxophone concerto. It doesn't sound right!

Julia Holter: New album, BNM'd. I listened to it twice. It's pretty and makes for nice background music, but I'm yet to find any standout track. That comes with time, I guess.

King Krule: First thought was "British Gareth Liddiard." Then I looked him up and found that he's a weedy redhead kid five days younger than me. Shit, I've accomplished nothing with my life. (If only the album didn't sound so... overproduced?)

Rainbow Chan: "Skinny Dipping" is damn catchy. Also, omg an Asian-Australian musician.

Speedy Ortiz: Vocalist described on Triple J as sounding a bit like Fiona Apple, which was odd since the station pretty much never plays her. My first thought was Liz Phair. Seems like the kind of thing that will be forgotten before the year is finished.

The Dismemberment Plan: Two new songs! Not particularly enamoured by either though. I will still be cautiously excited about their album.

Temi Dollface: "Pata Pata" was featured on The Singles Jukebox with some Janelle Monae comparisons. I really like the video.

The National: Concert apparently sold out while I was having a breakdown on the train about forgetting my wallet. Oh well, the new album hadn't grown on me, and I'm content to wait for them to play some hipstery highbrow seated show in a concert hall.

SLQ Live!: While I was in Brisbane, I went to the little exhibition room in the State Library, where this was printed on one of the walls. It was drawn by a person I briefly went to school with. I sort of regret not suggesting Kitchen's Floor while she was asking for bands on Facebook, but oh well. Interestingly, the friend who was with me had the same thought: how many of these bands will be remembered in three years?

Small town: Kurt Sines, one of the guys on that poster, is now in a band with that kid I thought should have won the high school talent quest I ran in 2011. Good for him. They've already got 800 likes on Facebook.

Kirin J. Callinan: Melbourne loves this Sydney guy! Something about seizures, I don't know. Cool voice though, will have to give the album a few more listens.

Sarah Blasko: Forgot to talk about this last month. Being naked in a music video for a song called "All Of Me" is... naff. I'm also not sure why people think it's brave for a woman to do that. It's practically expected, isn't it?

Bliss N Eso: Speaking of Blasko, I just heard Next Frontier on jjj and thought to myself, is it really sufficient to just take someone's song and rap over it? It's pretty much unaltered, and the fact that the original song is so familiar makes it sound so awkward.

Pitchforkcore update: I took Trouble Will Find Me to Brisbane, listened to it many times, tried to muster up some melancholy, and all I felt was "eh". Yeah, I do think the good reviews are people praying for it to be a grower. On the other hand, I'm still getting some enjoyment out of Vampire Weekend's album. Wonder how Arcade Fire will fare.

Yeezus: Yeah, I don't think this album is as difficult and revolutionary as people have been saying. "Bound 2" was probably the best song I heard on the radio that week, but I think its novelty will wear off quickly.

Pixies: I've managed to avoid them for a while now, but a new song! It's alright, but nobody would care about it if it wasn't the Pixies.

Blargh, been busy with exams and I'm going to Brisbane next week.

Kraftwerk: Not in June, but I wen to Computer World and loved it for reasons outlined in every other review on the internet.  Isolating 3D glasses, technology, etc. Okay, I really loved not having to see people sip champagne in the periphery. Sydney Opera House is a awkward as hell venue for everything.

Charles Ives: Been listening to his 4th symphony while studying. It's terribly distracting, which means it must be good. Also, Richard Tognetti said it was his favorite symphony in an interview.

Witold Lutoslawski: Cello Concerto is the other classical thing on rotation. I remember earlier in the year being asked if pieces evoked visual images in my head in a music psychology experiment and answering "no" all the time. This piece would get a "yes".

The National: I'm starting to think that the good reviews for The National's album are from people not wanting to seem late to the praise party like with their previous, "grower" albums. I've listened to it a fair bit and I'm still not getting much from it, to be entirely honest. Pink Rabbits is going on my holiday playlist for it's terrifically clunky lyric, "I was a television version of a person with a broken heart."

Vampire Weekend: On the other hand, I was initially dismissive about Step, but now it's one of my favorites from the album. This band isn't very popular with the Australian critics I read, but screw them, Robert Forster covered one of their songs so they can't be that bad.

The Go-Betweens: Which brings me to this band! I was looking through a "Cityrail in Pop Culture" thread on Railpage, and one of the linked videos was "Streets Of Your Town" (which I was already familiar with). In the sidebar was "Cattle and Cane", and I've racked up like 40 plays of that in one day. Hoooly shit those meter changes. No wonder there's a bridge named after them. I'm going to listen to it on the Brisbane Airtrain and cry. I also like "Dive For Your Memory", and "Here Comes A City".

Powderfinger: I can imagine a future Brisbane having a "Powderfinger Tunnel" or something, oh boy. I still don't feel much for them, and I don't understand why they keep topping polls. I guess I was born too late for them (though I like You Am I somehow). Even so, "My Happiness" is way better than "These Days". Apparently its music video increased slinky sales.

The Church: Giving Starfish a go now. It's a bit of a difficult listen at the moment, but it takes me forever to get into things. "Under The Milky Way" is basically Lovesong but earlier, which is pretty cool.

Easybeats: This is just a note to myself to try and find one of their albums or a best-of. They were recommended to me back in 2011, with a caution of it being "very commercial-sounding". "Friday On My Mind" is great. I can't sing those "dododododo"s in the chorus.

Lorde: Spotify friends love "Tennis Court". "Swinging Party" is what Lana Del Rey's songs wish they sound like. Possible ARIA nomination?

50. Pearl Jam - Better Man

49. Florence + the Machine - Dog Days Are Over
Considering how classic rock these countdowns tend to be, I really didn't expect this.

48. The Strokes - Last Nite

47. The Offspring - Self Esteem

46. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Into My Arms
Oh no, I forgot about this song!

45. Modest Mouse - Float On
I downloaded Good News... and for some reason this song wasn't in the zip, so I didn't hear it for ages.

44. Daft Punk - One More Time

43. John Butler Trio - Betterman

42. Matt Corby - Brother
I don't think this belongs here. I don't think it's a bad song, but there are probably a hundred songs better than it.

41. Coldplay - Yellow
I'm really glad Coldplay exists now. It seems to be the one thing that both pop music and indie rock types can enjoy/tolerate, judging from how the uni music club always ends up singing one of their songs at the end of gatherings.

40. Nine Inch Nails - Closer
My IB45 friend was into romance novels, so I read one with her so we'd have something to talk about. In the book, the heroine would nearly faint every time she heard this song because it reminded her of her ex. And that's how I first heard this great song.

39. Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box
Thumbs up for this song. Ooh, the Spotify playlist updates in real time.

38. The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
Having seen this band at the ARIAs, I can confirm that the singer can goddamn sing.

37. Beastie Boys - Sabotage

36. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Whoa, expected this to be higher. I could live without hearing any version of this song again though, it's good but overplayed to death.

35. Radiohead - Karma Police
Cool. I remember a friend showing me how to play this on guitar. Paranoid Android better be up there somewhere.

34. Ben Folds Five - Brick
Didn't expect this. I guess this is the song that made Ben Folds decide to focus on sappier sort of songs, but I do like it.

33. The Cranberries - Zombie
The chord progression sounds a bit like Coldplay's "The Scientist", doesn't it? But this came first. People just love songs that go "eh eh eh oh". It's pretty fun to sing to.

32. Tool - Stinkfist
Oh, so this is Tool. Interesting. Another album atarred on Spotify for later listening.

31. Massive Attack - Teardrop
Here's another song I considered voting for. Thank you, House MD.

30. RHCP - Californication
Only listened to this album because of how much I heard about its terrible mastering. It really was exhausting to listen to. This song is okay/meh, though I'd probably hate it if I were born a bit earlier.

29. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Ridiculously catchy guitar riff.

28. RHCP - Scar Tissue
See above RHCP words. Oh yeah, I remember living in Brisbane and being on a train full of crazy excited people going to their concert. Ah, Ipswich line.

27. The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
Finally, another song I voted for! It would have been embarrassing for everyone if the only one I got right(!?) was Lana Del Rey.

26. System Of A Down - Chop Suey
I'm not at all familiar with this.

25. Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings
Didn't vote for this song, but happy it's here.

24. Augie March - One Crowded Hour
Hooray, another vote in. Probably the only #1 I really like. Awesome lyrics.

23. Muse - Knights of Cydonia
This song is hilarious. I wouldn't say that I like Muse ironically, but I don't really think they're great either. Their songs are just really fun to sing to and play on Guitar Hero. Just sitting around quietly listening to them? Nah.

22. Blur - Song 2
Woo hoo. (But I like the Parklife stuff more...)

21. Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Hmm, I probably should have voted for this.

20. The Living End - Prisoner Of Society
Didn't expect this so high. I remember the teachers at my high school singing this at the graduation of the cohort above ours. For my year, they did Green Day, and it was nowhere near as fun.

19. Blink-182 - Dammit
I don't really like this band. I was never into pop punk or emo.

18. Outkast - Hey Ya
What!? Thought it'd be top 10. This is a nice break from all of those rock songs.

17. Silverchair - Tomorrow
*shrug* I thought this was supposed to be a youth radio station.

16. Bon Iver - Skinny Love
Can't be surprised, considering how popular that Birdy cover became. I feel like the only person who doesn't think Justin Vernon's voice is beautiful, but his songs still manage to be pretty.

15. The Prodigy - Breathe
Heard this a lot but didn't what it was called.

14. Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
The best thing about this band is how people get entertainingly angry about them. I feel the same way about this as Angus & Julia Stone: hilarious in hindsight. (This really does not belong here though.)

13. Radiohead - Paranoid Android
Should be higher, but whatever. Gosh, what's going to be in the top ten then?

12. Gotye - Hearts A Mess
Surprising. I think I like this a bit more than STIUTK, probably because it's a lot less overplayed.

11. QOTSA - No One Knows
Wasn't really paying attention because I was eating, but I heard a nice guitar bit.

10. Powderfinger - My Happiness
Nostalgia votes, I guess. Haha, someone on Spotify just added it to their terrible early 2000s nostalgia playlist ("listen @ own risk").

9. Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
Thank you to my vocal group for showing me the intricacies of this song, as well as giving it some future sentimental value. I also remember it playing at my Yr 12 formal.

8. Powderfinger - These Days
I don't know this one, so no nostalgia for me. Bernard Fanning seems nice enough though.

7. The Killers - Mr Brightside
I actually think this song has the potential to grow on me a little more.

6. Foo Fighters - Everlong
I've... actually never heard this song. At least, I don't remember it

5. The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
Here's another one of my votes. Thank God I like something that a lot of other people like. It's not actually one of my top 20 songs from the last two decades, but I wanted to vote for things that had a chance.

4. Hilltop Hoods - The Nosebleed Section
Probably the best of Australian hip hop, but I don't think that's saying much. The little explanation about the sample was interesting though.

3. Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
That's some impressive falsetto. Seven Nation Army and Wonderwall next?

2. The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
Yep. Some kid at school suggested this to be our school song, with the seven nations representing the six IB groups and the hub. The guitar riff is basically this whole song.

1. Oasis - Wonderwall
I don't like Oasis. I only have to know this song for things like music club singalongs. That kind of thing is probably why so many people voted for it.

My votes are over here. How long will I last before I switch over to the Classic 100?

100. Beastie Boys - Intergalactic
We're off to a good start, though I guess all of the good stuff will be in the bottom half of the countdown, as always.

99. Lana Del Rey - Video Games
I didn't actually expect this to make it. I figured that to everyone else, this would be just another terrible buzz single. Overall, her catalogue is awful, but this one song is good. (So much Twitter butthurt.)

98. Jebediah - Leaving Home
Not familiar with this, though the I know the band is Australian. Meh.

97. MIA - Paper Planes
This should probably be higher, but okay.

96. The Cat Empire - Hello
Hmm. Definitely not better than Paper Planes. This looks like it's going to be a "Best of Triple J-Core" countdown.

95. Ben Lee - Cigarettes Will Kill You
There's a Ben I particularly dislike, it's either this guy or Ben Kweller. Definitely not Ben Folds, but all three are probably similar. Oh, this is the "Catch My Disease" one? Alright, this is my least favourite Ben.

94. Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks
Catchy but insubstantial fluff. Sorry to my friends who love this band.

93. Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
I was going to vote for either this or Smashing Pumpkins' "Today". If "Today" doesn't make it, I'll probably wish that I gave a vote to this song.

92. Of Monsters & Men - Little Talks
Are you fucking serious? Meanwhile, Philip Glass is on the Classic 100, so over there I go for now.

91. Jebediah - Harpoon

90. Silverchair - Straight Lines
Glass is finished, so I'm back. This song has a tiny bit of nostalgia value for me, but I don't really like it. It's a bit Coldplayish? I can see why people love it though.

89. TV On The Radio - Wolf Like Me
This band has been on my to-listen list for years, but I never got around to it. This seems like the kind of thing I'd be into.

88. Something For Kate - Monsters
Okay, nothing special, meh, etc.

87. The Kooks - Naive
Boring.

86. The Killers - When You Were Young
I like this in an indifferent, 6/10 sort of way.

85. Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise
Shit, I'm too young for this. This has nice production.

84. Kanye West - Gold Digger
This is really fun, but I think most of it is because of that sample.

83. Pulp - Common People
Ah, another song I wanted to vote for. This song is about middle-class people wanting to go ooh-ah at poor people, right? It's great.

82. Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag
I guess this counts as a pop classic now. I think it's annoying, but it could be worse.

81. Angus & Julia Stone - Big Jet Plane
Oh my God, the nostalgia. People were so angry about this song! And my high school music teacher suggested them to me when I said most Australian music was boring...

80. Rage Against The Machine - Bulls On Parade
Missed most of this because I went to do the laundry.

79. Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
My father likes this band.

78. Silverchair - Freak
I don't see anything really memorable about this song.

77. The Presents - My People
What's the difference between a good song and a song you heard a lot when you were young? It's really hard to tell. Apparently this song is about asylum seekers, and that's pretty cool.

76. MGMT - Electric Feel
I think there's a Foster The People song that sounds exactly like this!

75. The Killers - Somebody Told Me
Eh, I liked the other Killers song more. I didn't have any interest in music until 2009, and I've found that it's really hard to like anything I heard a lot before then.

74. The Wombats - Let's Dance To Joy Division
The disco noises and children's chorus make me cringe. Also, I feel like a horrible person because I seem to hate everything that my friends like.

73. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home
Hey, it's the original version of "Little Talks". There's something likable about it despite being one of those stupid "hey ho" songs.

72. Wolfmother - Joker & The Thief
All these old songs make me feel like I'm listening to that station that says, "the best mix of the 80s, 90s, and now!"

71. Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
Whoops, zoned out.

70. Regurgitator - ! (The Song Formerly Known As)
69. Eminem - Lose Yourself
Nope, I'm not old enough for this.

68. Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl?
All of the celebration about their breakup made me really embarrassed for Australia.

67. Alt-J - Breezeblocks
Liked this song the first few times I heard it, but it got tiring. And 67 is waaaay to high.

66. You Am I - Berlin Chair
I couldn't decide which You Am I song I wanted to vote for. I'm glad this is here, even though I probably wouldn't consider it one of the best 100 songs of the last 20 years. But hey, this list was always going to be Australia-centric, and not really the best.

Right, I'm going to Hurstville. See you tomorrow.

Eurovision: Didn't pay much attention to it this year. Romania was pretty memorable. Netherlands probably had the least crappily composed song.

Spotify: Stalkees are listening to a terrible early 2000s pop playlist. I'd never actually heard "Stars Are Blind" so I listened to it, along with some of the other songs. Didn't enjoy it. I think most of the enjoyment from this stuff comes from nostalgia, and I don't have anything from that time period to reminisce about.

Abbe May: Kiss My Apocalypse was unenjoyable. The pretentious concept for it really didn't help. Way, way late to the poptimism party, and it really does seem to be trying to cash in on the female vocalist synth pop trend. Probably still would have cringed at a lot of it without having read that though.

Daft Punk: Haven't listened to all of it, but saw some stuff on Tumblr about how they're part of some '10s "sophisticated older person pop" wave, along with Beyonce and Justin Timberlake. Interest decreased.

Following up: Vampire Weekend's album is still enjoyable. I think I still like the first album more because of sentimental reasons. Entertainingly, a lot of critics seem uncomfortable with liking them. The National's album is growing on me, much like the previous ones. I'll probably like it more than 8.4. Like, like.

Arcade Fire: Just wanted to put in a prediction that their new album will be a flop. Additionally, their stuff doesn't seem to be on Spotify anymore. Thank God for this article!

Wow, it's the middle of May already!

Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City is... okay, I guess. Actually, I'm a little confused about how I feel about this band. I first heard the Contra singles on Triple J years ago, and I absolutely hated them. I found their first album a fair bit later and liked it, to my surprise. This one is somewhere between the two.

Not surprised that it got a BNM, but 9.3, wow!

The National: It'd probably be embarrassing to write down early opinions of an album by these guys. The video for "Sea of Love" is great and led me to discover this pretty cool Russian band.

Spotify: Either Showtunes Guy has been successfully converted into a hipster, or he's trying pretty damn hard. He's been playing the new Lana Del Rey song on repeat, and Spotify Stalkee has been saying it's her only good song.

Hottest 100 - 20 Years: Oh boy, this is going to be fun. I tried to pick a song for every year and discovered that I like nothing from 2001. Nothing. I didn't like The Strokes much, and I've actually never listened to Lateralus or that Daft Punk album (*gasp*). Gave up that idea, but I'm still going with the one song per band rule.

Should I throw in some votes for women and Australians, even though I know they won't make it in? I'm thinking of submitting two lists; one for stuff that will likely get in (Radiohead) and one for women and Australians (Tori Amos, The Drones?).

Those year summaries are pretty good! Lots of love for You Am I, so maybe they've got a chance. Surprised by Bernard Fanning's piece, because I can't stand his stuff, kinda like how Sarah Blasko claims to be influenced by David Byrne but makes boring samey music. lol the dude from The Rubens likes Jet.

The Drones at Sydney Opera House: Yeah, it wasn't the best venue for them. It's really weird to watch these guys thrashing about on the stage, while the middle-aged guy next to you calmly sips his wine. I still enjoyed it though. Really, really like "Why Write A Letter That You'll Never Send" and was very happy that they finished with it. A bit random, maybe, but I also liked the choice of pre-concert music.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: I have decided that I don't like the album. (4/10) I don't like it when people call things pretentious, but that's what I'm inclined to think of this band. 41 Strings, Stop The Virgens? Meh.

Charli XCX: True Romance is pretty decent. I like "Black Roses". It seems like the kind of thing I'll tire of quickly though.

Daft Punk: Spotify Stalkee keeps playing "Get Lucky", so I've been listening to it as well. Got tired of it last week though. It's okay. Not particularly exciting.

Lana Del Rey: "Young and Beautiful" is a bit of a step up from the Paradise tracks. I just wish they'd get someone to write better lyrics for her.

Ben Salter: Not new music, but I just bought his 2011 album, The Cat. I found this video ages and ages ago, and recently rediscovered it through a railfan forum. Good ol' Ipswich line. The warm, fuzzy nostalgia feeling was enough for me to cough up for the CD. I love it. (8/10)

Spotify: I hate how it knows when I turn the volume down during the ads and stops it. Also, remember that showtunes and Minaj guy that was attempting to convert himself into a hipster? He's now listening to Debussy. I kind of want to follow him, but the new Spotify follow system would make it awkward.

Glee club: A first year econ student scraped together some audition rejects (including me) to form a vocal group. So far, he's doing a better job than my high school music teacher.

Wilco
Faster, louder, more exciting than I expected after reading all of that NPR stuff about "adult contemporary indie". They didn't play "Jesus Etc." the night I went, but I didn't mind because it wouldn't have fit in anyway. Jeff Tweedy vs the heckler was pretty funny too. "It's a lot more exciting outside... I've never played on a filthier stage!" The night that was streamed was a bit more subdued, so I guess I got lucky.

The Composers: Arvo Pärt
Hmm. Not sure what to say about this one.

Audience applauded loudly after fast movement, then fell asleep in slow movement.
— Cd Chai-whatever (@amusiastic) April 7, 2013

Dude next to me has been napping through the whole concert though, occasionally clapping too enthusiastically.
— Cd Chai-whatever (@amusiastic) April 7, 2013

Interval: people taking about how they want to search for coffee. Mixed reception.
— Cd Chai-whatever (@amusiastic) April 7, 2013

Conductor picked up the score and made it bow, haha.
— Cd Chai-whatever (@amusiastic) April 7, 2013

Some bits were good, some were boring. I thought that maybe I was just tired, but other people seemed to think the same. A lot of people didn't come back after the interval, and there were even some who left during Fratres (which was Four Organs kind of painful).

I don't think it was that bad overall. The choir sounded great, Tabula Rasa was good. I guess I'd never think of walking out of a concert that I'd paid $50 for.

Lorde: Apparently "Royals" has been No. 1 in New Zealand for a while. I love the "I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies" line, and the pre-chorus thing is catchy, but something about the song makes it feel like it's twice the length it really is. Might be because it peaks so early. (7/10)

Passenger: Meanwhile in Australia, "Let Her Go" is topping the chart. Father borrowed the album from the library some time ago, and the most interesting thing I got out of it was that a member of the ACO played the violin on it. Worse than Ed Sheeran. (3/10)

Classic FM: Final Fantasy soundtrack came 3rd in their Hall of Fame poll. That's like saying the complete works of Beethoven count as one piece. I don't think video game music is any worse than film soundtracks. Might even be better, since you have to put up with it for a much longer time. (Canon in D is there at 18, and that's something I definitely don't need to hear again.)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: New album leaked in terrible quality, so I can't have a proper opinion on it yet. "Sacrilege" is average and I think the gospel choir is gimmicky, "Mosquito" is kind of annoying, and one of the later tracks has a random rap that doesn't quite fit. (6/10)

Spotify: The random Australian sportspeople/D list celebrities that Spotify suggests I follow seem to have better taste than most of my friends. Except for Johnny Ruffo. I like that Bernard Fanning has a "Whip Cracking Songs" playlist.

Trends: Seems that the likes of Grimes has ushered in an age of female vocalist indie electronic pop. Like CHVRCHES, AlunaGeorge, and Phebe Starr, who was really boring when she was on Unearthed. They just wrapped that mess up with some trendy production.

Foxygen: Listened to the new album while going through BNMs and was shocked by how bad it was. Thank God for this review. Especially that 2nd paragraph!

The Drones: I wasn't going to freak over new music this year, but I heard The Drones on the radio and thought, "Wow, this is a really weird." It's a good album. I particularly like the last two tracks.

Spotify: Oh God, they changed it so you can see who people are following/who's following you. On the plus side, I can now unfollow that girl who listens exclusively to Glee covers.

Paul Kelly/Neil Finn: Watching the livestream was probably better than actually being there. It was alright, though I'm not really into Crowded House (gasp). I dunno, they were like one of those name-drop bands in high school, like Beatles or Pink Floyd. Felt a bit emotional during How To Make Gravy.

Hey, you know what I'd like to hear in new Australian music? Specific references to local stuff (like catching the 470 to Circular Quay) and accents that aren't pointlessly weird and definitely not Australian (Lisa Mitchell, Josh Thomas).

Was on holiday, so not much to say.

BBC Radio: Radio 6 is like a weirder, better Triple j. I tuned in at some point in the afternoon and they were playing a bunch of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" covers spliced together. Radio 1 played a lot of "alt" stuff like Imagine Dragons and Villagers alongside Nicki Minaj.

Olly Murs: I had been assuming that "Troublemaker" was a Maroon 5 song until I saw the music video.

Harlem Shake: While I was in London, I went to have dinner with some family friends. I overheard their teenage son trying to explain this meme to his mother. It's now No. 1 on Billboard and ARIA. Apparently it was BNM'd in May last year. I'm yet to hear it on the radio.

Dirty Projectors
I bought the tickets ages before and I had no idea why, since I didn't even like them much. I didn't even know that they had a whole bunch of albums before Bitte Orca.

The first support act was awful. They started promisingly enough, with a guy playing a bass clarinet, before a girl walked on and started singing some terribly generic piano pop. Fortunately the second was a nice indie-classical group that played Nico Muhly and St. Vincent, though by that point a lot of people had gone outside to buy drinks.

I'd read some criticism where people were saying that the male singer was off-key and "Using women as back-up singers is sexist!" but it really didn't come off that way to me. Longstreth is a better singer than most other wimpy indie frontmen I've seen, and there were plenty of female-lead songs. The bassist was not a woman for once!

I walked away thinking, "Hey, that was great!" while people around me were like "That was weird, where was the melody?" like a lot of other concerts I go to, and I know that a lot of them are just going to these things to pretend to be smart.

Also, I saw a guy wearing Crocs.

David Byrne & St. Vincent

I appreciated the songs from St. Vincent's 2nd album, which I thought was better than her new one. 

I didn't expect any Talking Heads because musicians are often like, "This is the new me, stop making me play old hits". And that's fine, but everyone leapt out of their seats at "Burning Down The House" and they finished with "Road To Nowhere". Unsurprising, since the audience looked pretty middle-aged.

Um, I'm not sure where I was going with that. It's been more than a month, so I don't remember much. However, I will always remember that old guy sitting and reading his phone while everyone was jumping and dancing to "Burning Down The House". But I won't complain anymore about other concertgoers...

Updated every 20 songs. Might graph the numbers afterwards.

100. Everything Everything - Cough Cough
Jesus, this was the worst feature album in recent memory. 3/10

99. MIA - Bad Girls
Hmm, fun, but could probably get annoying quickly. 6/10

98. Kimbra - Warrior (Ft. Mark Foster & A-Trak)
Bland. 4/10

97. Jack White - I'm Shakin'
7/10

96. Kanye West - Clique
Twitter has a lot of hate for Kanye. Bet the same people will be happy when Macklemore wins. Production sounds pretty good (as with everything Kanye is involved in). 8/10

95. Last Dinosaurs - Andy
Facebook friend voted for 3 songs by this band. They sure can play the guitar, but that production smothers the whole album into a samey mess. 5/10

94. The Gaslight Anthem - 45
Generic rock song. Annoying lyrics. 3/10

93. Snakadaktal - Dance Bear
I guess it's better than "Air". 6/10

92. Lisa Mitchell - Spiritus
IN MY LUMALUMALUM! Her voice has become so much more annoying. I suppose people encourage that horrid accent because it makes her "unique". 4/10

91. Allday x C1 - So Good
Don't know why, but it's reminding me of Kitty Pryde. 4/10

By the time I got around to actually posting this, I forgot what all the links were.

Haim: Whenever I hear their song on the radio, I wonder, "When did I change to the oldies station?" Not the best response to a song. They're probably this year's Friends. Ugh, buzzbands.

I'm  tired  of  "alt"  pop.

Well, not really. More tired of music writers. I spent all of 2012 following new releases and I didn't enjoy it much, especially at the end when everybody started declaring Call Me Maybe to be the year's highlight. It seems like they're trying too had to prove that they don't only like "serious" music and that they don't agree with the consensus. There's even this article about both of those things!

Whatever to those people. This year, I'll stick with Australian stuff that never makes it overseas and classical.

Compare with last year's chart here. Won't bother talking about what I talked about there.