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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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?

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.

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.

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.

"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.