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.

Clickety click. I guess Pitchfork got tired of people complaining that they don't provide opportunities for reader interaction, etc.

I'm looking through other lists, and I bet that a lot of reviews are going to get changed as a result of this poll. People seem to love Transatlanticism, which got a joke review! Lots of Dark Was The Night, which I personally didn't think was that good, but okay.

The homogeneity is a little disheartening. My list seems to be missing a lot of things that everybody else is including, e.g. Animal Collective, Spiritualized, The Microphones, and a few other things that got 10.0s, but I haven't heard them yet. Heck, I'm somewhat ashamed that I know which albums got the perfect score.

While making my list, I realized that a disproportionate amount of stuff I like is from before my time. Some people think it's cooler to like old music, but I feel that I should like things that are coming out now, just so I can later say, "Yeah, I totally remember when that came out." Isn't that even cooler than liking something that everyone has liked for ages? You have to think about the long term!

EDIT: I'm updating this as the situation changes. It's going to turn into a fun way to discover new music.

I know it's really stupid, but it's annoying to see posts on Facebook from distant acquaintances talking about something I like. Part of it is because I'm bitter about having no friends who like what I like. Another thing is that it's usually some vapid post like "[critically acclaimed album/artist] is awesome!" or some random lyrics, and then it gets a whole lot of likes and circlejerk comments. Karma whoring.

Well, screw that. I'm going to find alternatives that my news feed doesn't mention.

There's another indie-folk band from my high school! I'll try to be kind.

Backstory: I (kind of) know one person from the band. I curated the school's talent quest last year and the guitarist was in it. I thought he should've won, and the teacher judges agreed, but everybody voted for the popular kids.

At over six minutes, this single is on the long side for a pop song, but it builds up and changes throughout. My brain does not shout band names at me while I listen to it, instead, it uncertainly mumbles genre descriptions like "dream pop". The song could do with more distinctive vocals too, I guess, but at least there are no repetitive "ooh"s.

I could go on and list all the things that this song does that Homebrand #1 doesn't, but that isn't nice, so I'll just say that I really like the bridge and give it a score. 6/10.

After killing off the state literary awards, cutting pay for ambulance officers, sacking a whole lot of people, waging war against gays, and planning to cut down trees,  Queensland premier Campbell Newman has now axed two music programs, making him relevant to this blog.

Interestingly enough, they've chosen to keep Creative Generation. Of course, keep the flashy thing that makes you look like you support the arts. As one commenter points out, "Having been to one it has more lights and pyrotechnics than a Las Vegas casino act and the sound track from a bad 80's movie." Having been to two myself, I'd say that description is accurate. However, should they cut that too, I've got my personal story ready to present!

Everything I know about music today is an indirect result of taking part in CGEN 2009. 

I don't play an instrument, not really. I took piano lessons, but I wasn't interested, and as a result didn't learn much from them. In fact, I had no interest in music whatsoever as a child. I didn't like classical, pop, or even Disney movies that had singing in them. I went to this primary school, and it didn't do me any good. I went to another school known for its music program and that didn't do much either. So how did this cheesy show with terrible music help me see the light?

I'll tell you if/when they kill it.