Welcome to Australia Day, or Invasion Day, or quite possibly both, depending on your preference.
Every year, Triple J (part of the ABC, Australia’s national broadcaster) plays the Hottest 100 – a countdown of the best songs of the year, as voted by, well, anyone with access to the internet.
If you have a spare eight hours or so, and you’d like to listen along, you should be able to do so here.
Viva BrisVegas
I remember when Triple J was Double J and Doug Mulray ruled the airwaves. Now there was a face for radio.
Anyway, Australia/Invasion Day has been so co-opted by mindless aggressive nationalism that it has become an affront to traditionalists like me.
Australia Day should be about driving down to the beach, eating a burnt barbecued steak sandwich, followed by family arguments in the car on the way home.
Now it’s about bogans waving flags and insulting foreigners.
I yearn for the good old days when we didn’t give a stuff why the day existed, just that it was a long weekend.
Now where is my stick? I need it to wave at some kids on my lawn.
gbear
9/10 of the music I buy is reissues. My hot 100 of new music would only have 10 songs. I’d be hard-pressed to come up with 25 songs from 2013 that I even like.
tybee
finally. :)
Tom the First
“My God Is The Sun” should be a hell of a lot higher than 97.
jayboat
This is what the internets were made for. If you listen to at least the first 15 seconds of every one of those you would surely find a few to your liking, no?
Gotta go…
eta- I buy a lot of used cds on ebay- rip em and then mail the disc to my sis… pass it forward?
MomSense
I’m performing motherly duties and camping out in the living room watching the Harry Potter marathon for the millionth time. HH&R just broke out of the goblin bank by liberating a dragon and flying out.
hildebrand
OT – My daughter (11), took up karate a couple of months ago. She earned her yellow belt today. And yes, the place is very much focused on building a good foundation; teaching that martial arts is a very holistic approach to ideas of discipline, control, and confidence. We love her Sensei (who happens to be an old teacher from Japan).
Litlebritdiftrnt
Someone who is not my husband came home last night. He ate chicken and rice pilaf for dinner at a restaurant, I have been married to the man for 23 years and he has NEVER allowed me to serve him rice because he hates it. Today he told me that he wants Chicken and Rice for dinner tomorrow night. Who the fuck is this guy and what has he done with my Husband?
chopper
@Viva BrisVegas:
I remember back when it was just J. i wore an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time.
chopper
@Litlebritdiftrnt:
Make him risotto. His head will asplode.
Jack Canuck
I’m sitting at home with my 3.5 year old, trying to get some work on the house done in between being called upon for help with various Lego construction projects. Might turn on JJJ though; never hurts to hear some tunes I haven’t heard before. Other than that, the only Australia Day stuff happening here is my wife getting paid double time for her work tomorrow (Monday) since the day itself is on Sunday this year. I, on the other hand, will get no pay at all tomorrow, because the only work I’ve been able to find is casual (so no paid holidays when the store is closed).
ETA (since it is a music thread): I think the only new album I picked up in 2013 was Suede’s Bloodsports, which was pretty good (if you like Suede, of course). Wanted to get the new Depeche Mode too, but couldn’t spare the money. Oh, and the new Dead Can Dance live album I got for Christmas, that was gorgeous.
Bob
See that Vampire Weekend got one song on the list, so far. Their first two albums sucked hard but the new one is freaking wonderful. I bet some more of their stuff show up on the list.
WaterGirl
@MomSense: Spoiler! (just kidding)
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
Your comment made me think of River Song!
Cacti
I don’t keep up on these sorts of things generally, but I just saw that Led Zeppelin is up for a grammy nomination for Kashmir…39 years after its original release.
Kind of reminds me of when Scorsese got Best Director…for The Departed.
schrodinger's cat
Caturday Kitteh has to resort to extreme measures to get attention.
schrodinger's cat
@Litlebritdiftrnt: Make him biryani or shrimp pilaf.
KG
@hildebrand: nice. What style? I studied shorinryu as a kid (started at 7, was a black belt at 14, second degree at 16). Well worth it. Sounds like you found a dojo that does it right, that’s always key
WaterGirl
@MomSense: River song? I am drawing a blank. Sorry!
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
Doctor Who. She is always saying “spoilers”.
Cacti
@KG:
As a kid, I went to church with a guy who was a big muckity muck in US shorinryu. I believe he’s a Hanshi now.
? Martin
@hildebrand: Yeah, my son earned his black belt in Taekwondo. Very good experience for him. He started when he was 11 as well. Good age for it.
hildebrand
@KG: Shitō-ryū is the school of karate-do taught at the dojo.
hildebrand
@? Martin: It is great for my daughter – she loves it, and wants to excel. The sensei is great because he clearly states that students shouldn’t come to practice unless their homework is done, and done well. He mentioned today that he started in Japan as a school teacher – you can tell.
KG
@hildebrand: good style. Also glad to know there are dojos that still teach traditional martial eats instead of buying into the mma craze (not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that either)
Mike G
@Viva BrisVegas:
I haven’t lived in Oz for a couple of decades now, but seeing the rise of the kind of working-class jingoistic nationalism I loathe in Southern US culture, is very disappointing.