Natalie Prass - self titled
I'm surprised at how universally praised this is by critics, while not even cracking the top 100 of 2015 on rym. The music is beautiful, the vocals are sweet, and there's not a track that's noticeably worse than the others. But I can't go for those lyrics. I know it's a breakup album, but I can only listen to so much "why don't you love me?". The one track I've got on repeat is Violently. "And I'll break by arms 'cause they want to hold you" is the kind of thing I'm into.

Megan Washington
I haven't seen much on the internet about Insomnia. Its highs are higher than her debut. I've probably mentioned before that Sentimental Education is my favourite track of hers, and it's back on high rotation. Holy Moses is a fun singalong now that my voice is a bit higher, not to mention its lyrical relevance.

Kimbra - As You Are
I didn't give The Golden Echo as much attention as I should've because it got a fairly negative review from someone I follow, and I generally can't be bothered with long albums. I gave As You Are a go because I saw it in Kimbra's top tracks on Spotify. "Honey that hourglass got me thinkin', you ain't no friend of mine" 

The Church - Wide Open Road
The original is great, but a bit of extra jangliness and modern recording helps. According to Wikipedia, Paul Kelly has also done a cover, but there doesn't seem to be a recording. Damn.


Crowded House - Don't Stop Now
"Give me something I can cry about." Oh wait, this song is about the singer's wife driving and getting lost? Wow. I feel like it ought to be placed next to The Go-Betweens' Finding You on a mixtape. They're both about driving, getting lost, and mention lightning.

Rie Fu - ROSE ALBUM
What is it? Japanese, female vocalist
How'd I find it? D Gray-man ending
Damn, why'd I put so many albums I don't have strong feelings about in this? This is neither terrible nor great, and there is probably heaps more out there like it. It was pure dumb luck that this came to be something I listened to when I was younger, and so made it into my 100 playlist. I have some residual fondness for it. I feel the same way about many things that make the charts.

Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
What is it? Female, singer songwriter
How'd I find it? last.fm recs?
I'm surprised this isn't a regular on "best albums of all time" lists. Not weird enough maybe, though there's plenty of MOR rock that seems to be popular. I used to like this just for how "nice" it sounded, but now, four years later, I think I understand the lyrics and emotion. Plus, I think it's more socially acceptable to like her now.

The Whitlams - Love This City
What is it? Piano rock, adult contemporary
How'd I find it? jjj plays No Aphrodisiac when it dies
This band seems extremely bland at first listen, yet they've performed with the Sydney Symphony and Richard Tognetti (who is pretty damn cool) is a fan. Though I guess wordy piano pop is the kind of thing that audience would like. Title track and Blow Up The Pokies are great though, and the vocalist reminds me of Darren Hanlon.

Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream Of Trains
What is it? singer-songwriter, folk
How'd I find it? Spotify recommendation
People like bringing up the low budget but this sounds pretty nice to me. Not that anybody talks about this much, which is a shame. I've thought of culling some weaker tracks and replacing them with the bonus ones so I have something that's the right length for my commute, but I don't know what to cut. Seriously, how did My Favourite Buildings not make it in the first place?

Silverchair - Young Modern
What is it? rock, pop
How'd I find it? radio
Well, this isn't as bad as I expected. It's fun-mediocre, like the later Muse albums. Straight Lines is just awful though. If You Keep Losing Sleep could be a Panic! At The Disco song (that's not a insult). I think they're from a similar time period. Wait, I take that second sentence back, this isn't fun anymore. I don't want to listen to a 7-minute song. Wanky.

God, what a week.

Lisa Mitchell - Wonder
What is it? female singer-songwriter
How'd I find it? jjj
I remember the outrage when this album won her the Australian Music Prize. For once, I think the hate is unjustified. A thing's not bad just because it isn't a gritty guitar rock album, right? Not that I don't have issues with this album. I hate the cloying, cutesy accent. It doesn't offer anything original. Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but it's so, so pretty.

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
What is it? female vocalist, pop
How'd I find it? Hype Machine
Loved Video Games, enjoyed some of the other songs/demos, had high expectations for this. Never have high expectations, people. Unfortunately, this album is like wading through melted cheese. Hot, but suffocating and cheesy. Some people would love it, I did not.

The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane
What is it? summery guitar pop
How'd I find it? That bridge
I listened to this for the first time while going through the Hottest Aus Albums industry list. I didn't quite get it then, and abandoned it until sometime last year, when there was a Railpage thread on CityRail in pop culture and Streets Of Your Town was linked. Don't know why my music teacher never recommended this, though maybe that's why I'm able like this band so much. He was also less punctual than CityRail.

You Am I - Hi Fi Way
What is it? Rock, male vocalist
How'd I find it? industry list
Yeah, I like Hourly, Daily more. I think that might be because I heard it first, and listened to it on repeat while driving to Sydney. I'm yet to associate this one with anything apart from the great show I went to last year. Seeing Tim Rogers make gun shooting motions with his guitar has greatly enhanced Applecross Wing Commander for me.

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
What is it? Jangle pop, whatever that is
How'd I find it? Every hipster teenager ever
This has become one of those things that I never put on myself because it's such a damn cliche, but still appreciate when I hear it "out in the wild". I mean, if you ask me if I like The Smiths, I'd just shrug and say, "yeah, they're fine", but when I listen to this I think, "wow, this is great and should be longer!" Now I will soon completely forget about ever thinking that.

Argh I've fallen way behind schedule. Let's make this a March-April of 100 Albums?

Kate Miller-Heidke - O Vertigo!
What is it? Female vocalist, pop
How'd I find it? Radio
I've always liked her voice, but I've never been 100% into everything else about her music. Always a bit too average, or overproduced. But I still followed her because I'd seen live and she was great, and she once tweeted something disparaging about Richard Kingsmill. This is her best album yet. Still a bit too glossy, but a lot more consistent.

Sia - Colour The Small One
What is it? Female vocalist, chamber pop
How'd I find it? Radio
Not really feeling the hype on this one. I love her voice, and I normally like this type of sound, but I found it hard to pay attention to. The production puts it a notch above the average acoustic "TV drama soundtrack" music. I just don't feel like getting to know a whole new album of sad-ish music. I've already got my go-to mopey music sorted out.

My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me The Workhorse
What is it? Female vocalist, chamber pop
How'd I find it? last.fm rec
Here's that favourite dramatic sad music I was talking about. It's chamber pop, but there's also some weird percussive noises that I can't quite identify, and I really like that sort of thing. I got Something Of An End for free off last.fm a few years ago, and I it was one of very few freebies that I've kept. Sometimes I miss being a melodramatic teenager.

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
What is it? Indie rock, apparently somewhat country
How'd I find it? This list
This is pretty much the only album of theirs I'm really familiar with, so when I went to see them, I expected them to be one of those soft, quiet, adult-alt type shows. Nope. Singer was shouty and energetic as hell. Hearing a different take on these songs was great.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
What is it? Indie
How'd I find it? Played on jjj
Ah, the sound of my high school years. Really only got into this album because of the cool Chrome Experiment, and so did one of my school friends, I think. Now I'm a bit older, I see why people think this one is boring. It's like they stretched the goodness out a bit thin, because all of the songs are fine, but none are truly great like in previous albums.

Unrelated, but ugh at a certain mediocre band's frontperson having a whinge about critics. They sound like those kids on Deviantart who cry about constructive criticism.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son
What is it? acoustic/piano ballads
How'd I find it? cheesy tourism ad
Not bad but a bit overrated, maybe. Sometimes an artist will release an "accessible" new album to huge critical acclaim because their old stuff was great but underrated. Also, Australia will freak out about anything that gets acclaim/popularity overseas (e.g. INXS). I think the appeal is the vocal and general "sound", rather than the songwriting/composition. (The Ship Song is ok.)

Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
What is it? Space rock, apparently
How'd I find it? Friends at school liked them
I completely stopped listening to Muse after I went to the concert a few years ago. It's just not the same without the flashy lights and lasers. Critics probably hated this and the albums before it because it's not frail and indie. They'd eat it up now in this age of poptimism, because it is great stupid fun. Hell, I've got thousands of scribbles for them and I'm still having fun now.

Missy Higgins - The Sound Of White 
What is it? female singer songwriter
How'd I find it? Radio
Surely someone else out there has already made a joke about this album's title. I think they call this type of music "Lilith Fair". Which is probably sexist, but really, this album is generic. The only thing it's got going for it is her accent, and maybe The Special Two.

Asami Shimoda - Prism 
What is it? Vocaloid voice actor sings Vocaloid songs
How'd I find it? I don't remember
I like to think of Vocaloid songs as being demos for real singers, but I've never heard a human cover that improves on the original. This is about as close as it gets. The vocal is a fair bit weaker-sounding, and not much more emotive, but if I had to tell someone about one of my favourite jpop songs, I'd probably link them to this instead of the robot version.

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
What is it? indie pop, female vocalist
How'd I find it? Country Mile was in a fanmix
I first discovered this band when I was still into really basic, mainstream stuff, and I found them difficult back then. I gave them another go when I saw Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken topping a year chart on RYM. Now they just sound like Belle & Sebastian with an incomprehensible female vocalist. Everything's better with incomprehensible female vocalists.

This is so time-consuming.

Crowded House - Crowded House
What is it? pop rock, 80s
How'd I find it? That radio station that plays old music
The fact that they were played on that station, and people I found annoying liked them really put me off this band for a long time. But then I saw a uni friend spamming them on Spotify, so I thought I should give them a go. Thank God for that. Don't Dream It's Over is up there with Wide Open Road and Cattle & Cane, and the rest is pretty good too.

The Go-Betweens - Before Hollywood
What is it? Jangle pop, according to rym
How'd I find it? A bridge in Brisbane
I am so glad that I got into Go-Betweens after high school, and that nobody suggested them to me. It'd be a shame to associate this band with any person who could screw me over at any moment. Plus if nobody knows about this thing they can't say anything bad about it! Cattle & Cane is my number one most favourite song ever. I also quite like Two Steps Step Out and That Way.

Ai Otsuka - LOVE LETTER
What is it? J-pop, female vocalist
How'd I find it? Draw With Me
This might by my favourite mainstream J-pop album. There isn't a single cringey moment on it, except maybe the child saying "koi" on the last track. Rocket Sneaker is another one of those songs I'd want as an anime opening. Also, this album seems to be evidence that Asian pop singers are just putting on the cutesy voice, because there is one fabulous jazzy alto song.

The Dismemberment Plan - Change
What is it? indie rock, kind of emo
How'd I find it? An article about the influence of Pitchfork
Hmm, I used to really like this band. Or maybe I just really liked Emergency & I, I'm not sure. This is okay, not great. There are some good lyrics here (Ellen And Ben) and Time Bomb is a great feel-crap song. Maybe I'm just not feeling this today. I'm more annoyed-angry than sad-angry at the moment.

The National - High Violet
What is it? "sad bastard melodrama", indie rock
How'd I find it? Father heard about it, probably from mX
My father said this was boring. I agreed at first, but after a lot of listens, it eventually grew on me. I was young, impressionable, and more likely to trust reviews. Another factor was that it took forever to even learn the names of the songs, so I had to keep listening through the whole thing to find my favourite ones (Conversation 16 and Bloodbuzz Ohio).

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible 
What is it? Indie rock, strings, organ
How'd I find it? Video of them performing in an elevator
The appeal of Arcade Fire is the overblown melodrama, but this is just a bit too much. Church organ and complaining about religion? No wonder this is their least popular album. I only ever listen to Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, The Well And The Lighthouse, and My Body Is A Cage. That last one ought to be a future classic.

Darren Hanlon - Fingertips and Mountaintops
What is it? Male singer-songwriter, acoustic
How'd I find it? Probably in some list of Australian musicians
Does this count as twee? That's what it makes me think of. I don't have a problem with that, though some people find it annoying. Is that why there isn't much talk about this album? Well, that's a shame, because it's lovely. Lyrics are good enough that I want to grab a physical copy for the liner notes, but I can't find it anywhere.

Catcall - The Warmest Place
What is it? Female vocalist, pop
How'd I find it? Mess+Noise
I remember when it was big deal that Pitchfork gave this a negative review. I'm generally ok with Pitchfork, though I do think sometimes they give good scores to mediocre albums by bands that they've hyped for a long time, and bad scores to things they overlooked. I'd have given this at least a 6. The World Is Ours is fantastic.

cosMo@暴走P - 初音ミクの消失
What is it? Vocaloid, I don't even know
How'd I find it? Brisbane Square Library
Not sure if this album is 100% Vocaloid, but if it is, it's extremely impressive. I'm sure there's a genre tag for this kind of thing, but I know nothing about electronic. Happy hardcore, maybe? There are a few songs that are stupidly fast and cheery. This is one of those albums that I want to make friends listen to just to see their reaction.

Augie March - Strange Bird
What is it? folk, rock
How'd I find it? The ubiquity of One Crowded Hour
Shit, this album is over ten years old. Lots of albums I'm listening to are, but this one just sounds fresh and not dated. Possibly because the mainstream loves folk music at the moment. Come back and ask me about this album in a month's time; I still don't know it well enough to have a strong opinion. I currently like This Train Will Be Taking No Passengers and Addle Brains.

Kanon Wakeshima - Shinsoku Dolce
What is it? Female vocalist, cello, gothic pop?
How'd I find it? Searched the "cello" tag on last.fm
I guess I don't really get the hubbub about Kyary Pamyu Pamyu because I'm used to cute/weird Japanese music with a specific aesthetic. Maybe this isn't as fun or trendy, but I think it's of a similar quality. I remember listening to Ennui Kibun a ridiculous number of times, and Sweet Ticket was the instrumental interlude in a lot of my playlists.

Kirin J Callinan - Embracism
What is it? Man with strong Aus accent sings over noises
How'd I find it? Mess+Noise
So he didn't win the Australian Music Prize. Come on, who actually expects the best album to win? To be completely honest, I think this was a bit overhyped. Not to say that it's bad, but... actually, I don't see anything better on the shortlist. Okay, okay, this is good. I like this kind of distinctive, "ugly" voice. From what I've read, he's probably better live than on record.

The Triffids - Born Sandy Devotional
What is it? Guitar, pop
How'd I find it? Probably one of those best Aus albums lists
I've listened to this album a lot without really "getting it". I had my Australian playlist on shuffle one day, Wide Open Road played, and despite having heard it many times before, I was completely blown away. I have no idea why that happens, but it's enough for me to occasionally give this album another go. It gets better with every listen.

Marina and The Diamonds - Electra Heart
What is it? Dance, electropop, female vocalist
How'd I find it? ONTD
Whenever I hear anything from this album, I think of the time my hipster-in-denial friend complained that hipsters were starting to like it. I don't understand why people were crying that she sold out with this; the first album really didn't sound that indie. At the risk of sounding pretentious, this isn't the kind of music I ever want to hear a whole album of, but some of the songs are fun by themselves. Radioactive is my favourite.

Sarah Blasko - What The Sea Wants The Sea Will Have
What is it? female vocalist, pop,
How'd I find it? Indooroopilly Library
This album has the nicest liner notes I've ever seen. The paper is thick and glossy, and I love the art. I don't know why this is the least popular of her albums, because it's at least as good as As Day Follows Night, if not better. Well, I like it more. Maybe it's this Robert F. Cranny doing it, he also co-wrote/produced parts of The Cat. Highlight is Queen Of Apology.

Oh man, it's the 4th already.

Moumoon - Moumoon
What is it? J-Pop, female vocalist
How'd I find it? This Livejournal comm, I think
Kicking off the morning with an old J-Pop album I used to like, because I'm studying Japanese this semester. This album is completely unremarkable and has a lot of clunky key changes, but I still kinda like it as background music. Thinking something isn't good but still enjoying it is a valid opinion, and it doesn't have to be ironic.

ELECTROCUTICA - REVERSUS
What is it? electronic, idm, Vocaloid
How'd I find it? Vocaloid producer AVTechNo
And now for the complete opposite, Japanese not-quite-pop. The title track is like a futuristic O Fortuna. Most of this is pretty unpredictable, not really songs in the verse-chorus etc. style. Not on this album but by the same producer is iDolla, one of my favourite Vocaloid tracks.

Kimbra - Vows
What is it? female vocalist, pop
How'd I find it? Some people I knew in school were fans
Someone on Facebook posted a song from this on the resident weeaboo's page saying it reminded her of "anime music". I'm kinda hearing it... it's a bit retro, but not to the point that it sounds dated or gimmicky. Lovely first half, second gets a bit flat until the last track, a song that is right up my street. (I don't know why the US/UK version ends with Warrior.)

The Middle East - I Want That You Are Always Happy
What is it? chamber folk
How'd I find it? Nominated for an ARIA a few years back
Here's an album I'm not familiar with. So long, so slow, maybe it's a grower. Definitely will be adding it to my phone for further listening. Really similar to Augie March, but less poppy, more stately and beautiful. Land Of The Bloody Unknown is fantastic. Is that train guard chatter I hear in Sydney To Newcastle? I'm sold.

Nicole Atkins - Neptune City
What is it? Female vocalist, pop
How'd I find it? People compared Lana Del Rey to her on ONTD
I think this is better than Born To Die, even though it's not be as nicely produced and the singer isn't as stylish. Also, the mastering sounds a bit brickwalled, unless I just have a bad copy. I don't know why people describe this as soul, unless that's just a word that means "alto singer". Whatever, it's great to have decent songs that are actually in my range. This version of the title track goes on my phone every time I visit Brisbane.

Pixies - Doolittle 
What is it? noisy shouty alt rock
How'd I find it? High school crush's favourite album
I don't listen to this anymore. I can't fault it; it's hailed as the father of indie but it's still not even too overrated. Every song is 4-5 star quality. Future tryhards will probably wear its cover on t-shirts. I just don't want to hear the songs of high school enemies. If you've never listened to it, you really should.

Powderfinger - Odyssey Number Five
What is it? radio friendly rock
How'd I find it? Topped Hottest 100 Australian albums poll
I like My Happiness. Didn't know QR trains used to have buttons like that, and look at old Roma Steet! Oh, it leads quite nicely into The Metre too. This is better than I expect from a poll-winner. There's something a bit sterile about it that keeps me from really liking it and a lot of the songs could be shorter (ugh Thrillology), but I'd still be stoked if they name that new bus/train tunnel after the band.

You Am I - Hourly, Daily
What is it? alt rock (what does that even mean?)
How'd I find it? This list
I like that this band is more Sydney than Powderfinger is Brisbane. That's pretty important to me. I listened to this album so many times while driving to between those two cities. I don't care what the world thinks; this is a five-star album for me. "Fourteen year olds, screaming get out of my country," "We ain't going west of the city," and I smile every time I see the "470 to Circular Quay".

wowaka - SEVEN GIRLS' DISCHORD
What is it? Vocaloid pop, a bit alt rock in parts
How'd I find it? A Livejournal comm called singing_robots
Rolling Girl (track 2) and this version of World's End Dancehall (6) are the songs I would use as OP/ED if my life were an anime. This producer's style is so jagged that it makes the robot voices sound natural, which is a much better approach than putting the computer voice in the middle of an emotional piano ballad. I can't think of any Western equivalent for this, or even things to compare it to.

Megan Washington - I Believe You Liar
What is it? "Indie" female vocalist pop
How'd I find it? A song was played on Nova
Everett True's review is spot-on, I reckon. She's got a great voice, but her singing sounds unemotional. The production is like cling wrap. Still, there's some good potential there. I didn't know Rich Kids was about Brisbane until I read that review, but listening to it now, yeah, I've lived that. The guy I didn't wanna dance with was spotted busking near King George Square when I visited a year later.

Found out about this through a Reddit post. Tried gathering 100 Australian albums at first, but that turned out too homogeneous, so it'll be half Australian, half other. Non-Spotify links provided where possible.

Venetian Snares - Rossz csillag alatt született
What is it? Orchestral samples, breakcore
How'd I find it? Clicked a random genre on rym and tried the top album.
I doubt that this really is the best of the genre, just one of the more accessible. Its rating has increased a bit since I first found it, possibly due to being featured on a lot of /mu/ lists. It's the kind of sad/abrasive thing a lot of their audience like. Of course the Elgar Cello Concerto is in there. I'd love to hear this kind of thing in a game/movie soundtrack.

JYONGRI - Love Forever
What is it? Mid-2000s J-Pop, female vocalist
How'd I find it? This song was used in The World Ends With You.
Sounds super dated, though I think it did back when I first heard it in 2009 anyway (like a lot of J-Pop). This sound will probably become trendy again though, with the jelly sandals and chokers I've been seeing on the street. I struggled to stay awake for the whole album, but the linked song and other ballads still pretty good, seeing as sad piano ballads don't go out of style.

Angus & Julia Stone - Down The Way
What is it? Indie folk-pop, adult contemporary, when female vocalists imitate Bjork
How'd I find it? Everywhere on the radio in 2010!
Don't like them but glad they exist because they gave me something to argue about with my old music teacher. I've eventually come around to the everything he recommended except this. Every time I listen to this album I'm thinking, "nah, it's probably not as bad as I remembered." But this is the soundtrack of basic middle-class white people and that's nails on chalkboard for me. I keep trying anyway.

Ben Salter - The Cat
What is it? Male singer-songwriter, Australian, saxophones
How'd I find it? I don't remember exactly, but it involved this video.
I'm glad that I lived in Toowong, because it seems like lots of artsy types come from the inner-west, and I like seeing places I know in stuff. If I had friends who liked this kind of music, I'd be screaming at them to listen to this, because it's one of my favourite albums ever. It's got lush instrumentation, strong vocals, Brisbane, trains, bus numbers, and cats. Perfect.

Simon Bookish - Everything/Everything
What is it? Male singer-songwriter, art pop, chamber pop
How'd I find it? Rec'd by last.fm because I listened to Sufjan Stevens and Patrick Wolf
He has fewer Facebook likes than a generic Brisbane band I know of, how depressing. I want to throw money at this guy but this album isn't on his Bandcamp! I wanted to hear Philip Glass in pop form, and this delivers that and weirder. This is my niche. A 4.5 star review on RYM simply states, "Songs about not fucking".

St Vincent: Nah, not really feeling it. I'm over both Birth In Reverse and Digital Witness. The rest of the album is similarly dull and the "image" seems way too forced. This person explains it pretty well. This one is a bit harsh but I kinda feel the same way.

You Beauty: Jersey Flegg is currently my favourite 2014 album. Best legit free thing I've ever heard. I don't even like football.

The National: Watched the live stream, don't regret not going at all. I don't think their music suits that kind of setting, though I was a bit moved by Mr November at the end.

Neil Finn & Paul Kelly: Only just noticed that the full set is on Youtube, but I've been listening to the album on Spotify. Here's something I regret not attending. I was planning to, but I woke up late and by then it was sold out already!

Megan Washington: New single is eh. I still have hope that she may release something that I'll like as much as Sentimental Education. (Rich Kids could've been good too if the production wasn't so bland.)

Sky Ferreira: I was enjoying her album a bit at the beginning of the month, but not so much now. I think I might like the Unknown Mortal Orchestra remix of Everything Is Embarrassing more than the original.

Spotify: Jesus, I wish they'd advertise something other than condoms and alcohol, two things that I have zero interest in. Hell, I'm more interested in that train station and duck pond.

Infrastructure in Brisbane: Not really music-related, but there's a competition to name Brisbane's new tunnel, and lots of people are going for another band. I've been joking about a Powderfinger Tunnel since they built the Go-Between Bridge. Regurgitator Tunnel would be acceptable also.

Australian Compilations: Look at this link! Damn, wish I'd discovered this earlier. One of the better Australian music compilations I've seen. Dirty Jeans has a pretty average second half (the decline of jjj?) and Great Australian Songbook is just mostly tragic.

Older things I just discovered:
Augie March - Addle Brains
The Magnetic Fields - Born On A Train
Crowded House - Private Universe

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.

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?

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.

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).