Ahhhh Memories...

The other day I went to a friends place for dinner. Her music taste is very similar to mine but really not similar to the other friend who was with us, so she grabbed a compilation disc to play in the background.

The compilation she grabbed turned out to be Triple J's Hottest 100 Volume 4 from 1996. It wasn't long before the "background" music became the center of the conversation. Every time the song changed we would laugh and and exclaim "Fuck! THIS song! I haven't heard this for AGES!!" (seriously, when was the last time you heard Ballad Of The Skeletons?).

For those not aware, Triple J is an Australian radio station that is owned and run by the government. It's kinda the "cool" station. There's no ads (except the advertise events on the station and the government run television station) and no ratings. This means they don't necessarily have to play commercial crap, so they don't (mostly). It also means they play a good deal more Australian artists and "Unearth" unsigned local groups.

Every year Triple J runs a vote for the hottest music of the year. They collect the votes for a couple of weeks at the end of the year and then play the results on Australia Day. Shortly after that they release an album with songs from the 100. Last year was up to Volume 18.

So after the dinner, I went home and went searching for my old volumes. I also started asking others what volumes they had, so before I knew it I had volumes 1-17. Its the first time I really appreciated Triple J's tradition of compiling these lists. I now have a random sample of music, grouped by year, for the last 18 years.  I'm not just rediscovering old gems, I'm also hearing some songs with a fresh ear.

I'm having a blast! Cheers, Triple J.

Music From My Youth - Alice Donut

Hey all. I'm writing this post a few hours after watching Trent Reznor win an Oscar, but I figure a LOT of people will be posting about that and I was quite disappointed with the complete lack of Winter's Bone love so I thought I'd post about the very first punk band/song I ever heard. The band was Alice Donut and the song was Come Up With Your Hands Out.

I heard this song for the first time in form class. In Western Australia this is where you sit for 10 minutes at the beginning of the day and a teacher marks attendance. On that particular morning (I was 14, I can tell you that much), my best friend at the time took his earphones off, handed them to me and said "Listen to this."

Had he mentioned that the song was 6.5 minutes of screeching guitars while a guy tells the story of a mild-mannered murderess, this blog might have ended up being a tribute to East 17. Luckily, I listened and my mind was suitably blown. I like to think of that song as my first step. I still listen to it and Alice Donut.