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.

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).

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Courtney Barnett: I am really enjoying History Eraser.

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

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

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

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

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

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