Hottest 100 Vote: 
The Drones - Why Write A Letter That You’ll Never Send
Lorde - Ribs
Vampire Weekend - Step
The National - Sea Of Love
Kirin J Callinan - Embracism
Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
Rainbow Chan - Haircut
Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
Arcade Fire - Reflektor
Janelle Monae - Q.U.E.E.N. {Ft. Erykah Badu}

In descending order of how much I like them. I think the only ones to make it will be Step, Reflektor, and Do I Wanna Know? No sure what will be No. 1. My friend and I guess it'll be Royals, Get Lucky, or Riptide.

Ooh, Warmest 100 is predicting Riptide as No. 1. I'm not surprised. It reminds me of Big Jet Plane, being an aggressively... ah, I should save that for the 26th.

Other Triple J Things: People are arguing about jjj and homogenizing again. Nothing new to me. Yeah, I don't like the station much, despite being squarely in its target demographic, and sometimes I find even Nova easier (less annoying) to listen to, but after talking with a friend, I think the problem lies with the audience. They do play some decent stuff, but the majority likes dumb crap, which is how it goes with every kind of art. Oh well. Just listen to 4ZZZ or FBi or something.

Hey, they're talking about the Dessner-Greenwood classical collaboration now, that's something good!

Things I Just Discovered:
Kimbra - The Build-Up | Is that a prepared piano? It's a shame I never noticed this song earlier; I always zone out towards the end of albums.
The Triffids - Wide Open Road | It's up there with Cattle & Cane, I think!
Midnight Oil - Power And The Passion | For some reason I was expecting something MOR, but this is pretty fun.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

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

Triple J Hottest 100

You voted for: 

David Byrne & St Vincent - Who 

Dirty Projectors - Gun Has No Trigger 

Bat For Lashes - Laura 

Beach House - Myth 

Cloud Nothings - Stay Useless 

Courtney Barnett - History Eraser 

Fiona Apple - Every Single Night 

Grimes - Oblivion 

Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards 

Catcall - The World Is Ours

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Halfway through the year, yay. 

Songs I like that have a chance:

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

Songs I like that have no chance:

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

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

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

Albums not yet released that may produce something voteworthy:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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