Triple J Hottest 100 2012 Follow Up

So this weekend, in case you missed it, was the

Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown! 
(and also Australia Day, Happy Belated Australia Day!)

It's one of the world's largest public music polls started in 1989, hosted by an Australian radio station. On Australia Day, they spend the whole day counting down the top 100 songs as voted by the people (check out my votes here). Usually, a lot of the top 10 songs on the poll subsequently become huge in the US the next year. This year was actually a strong year for US artists (or maybe just more US voters), and the top artist came outta the good ol' US of A (& I actually first posted about him back in May [my second Musical Monday post EVER]), so if you've been listening to the right radio stations, you've probably heard it already.
But I won't do the big reveal here... you gotta scroll all the way down through all the awesome music to find out! So without further Ado, 

The Triple J Hottest 100 Songs of 2012:

#100 Everything Everything - 'Cough Cough'      
#99 M.I.A. - 'Bad Girls'    
#98 Kimbra - 'Warrior' {ft. Mark Foster & A-Trak}
#97 Jack White - 'I'm Shakin'     
#96 Kanye West, JAY Z & Big Sean - 'Clique'     
#95 Last Dinosaurs - 'Andy'
#94 The Gaslight Anthem - '45'    
#93 Snakadaktal - 'Dance Bear'    
#92 Lisa Mitchell - 'Spiritus'    
#91 Allday x C1 - 'So Good'  
#90Two Door Cinema Club - 'Sleep Alone' 













#89 Chance Waters - 'Maybe Tomorrow' {ft. Lilian Blue}
#88 C2C - 'Down The Road'
#87 The Bloody Beetroots & Greta Svabo Bech - 'Chronicles Of A Fallen Love'
#86 Lana Del Rey - 'Summertime Sadness'
#85 Purity Ring - 'Fineshrine'
#84 Hilltop Hoods - 'Rattling The Keys To The Kingdom'
#83 The Jungle Giants - 'She's A Riot'
#82 Santigold - 'Disparate Youth'
#81 alt-J - 'Something Good'

#80 Frank Ocean - 'Super Rich Kids' {ft. Earl Sweatshirt}
#79 The Black Keys - 'Little Black Submarines'
#78 Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - 'Household Goods'
#77 Feed Me & Crystal Fighters - 'Love Is All I Got'
#76 Illy - 'Heard It All'
#75 Muse - 'Madness'
#74 The Shins - 'Simple Song'
#73 Ben Folds Five - 'Draw A Crowd'
#72 Regina Spektor - 'All The Rowboats'
#71 Kendrick Lamar - 'Swimming Pools (Drank)'












#70 The Presets - 'Promises'
#69 Matt Corby - 'Lonely Boy' {Like A Version}
#68 Avicii - 'Silhouettes' 
#67 Flume - 'On Top' {ft. T-Shirt}
#66 The Rubens - 'The Best We Got' 
#65 Grimes - 'Genesis'
#64 alt-J - 'Tessellate'
#63 First Aid Kit - 'Wolf'
#62 Kid Cudi - 'Just What I Am' {ft. King Chip}
#61 Sticky Fingers - 'Caress Your Soul'

















#60 Jack White - 'Love Interruption'
#59 Cosmo Jarvis - 'Love This' 
#58 Mumford & Sons - 'Babel' 
#57 Seth Sentry - 'Float Away'
#56 Frank Ocean - 'Thinkin Bout You'
#55 Knife Party - 'Internet Friends'
#54 The Bamboos - 'I Got Burned' {ft. Tim Rogers}
#53 San Cisco - 'Wild Things'
#52 The Presets - 'Ghosts'
#51 Birds Of Tokyo - 'This Fire'

















#50Asta - 'My Heart Is On Fire'
#49Thundamentals - 'Brother' {Like A Version}
#48San Cisco - 'Fred Astaire'
#47Of Monsters And Men - 'Mountain Sound'
#46Passion Pit - 'Take A Walk'
#45Chance Waters - 'Young & Dumb' {ft. Bertie Blackman}
#44Xavier Rudd - 'Follow The Sun'
#43The Lumineers - 'Ho Hey'
#42MS MR - 'Hurricane'
#41British India - 'I Can Make You Love Me'




















#40 Arctic Monkeys - 'R U Mine?'
#39 Alabama Shakes - 'Hold On'
#38 Grimes - 'Oblivion'
#37 Two Door Cinema Club - 'Sun'
#36 Miike Snow - 'Paddling Out'
#35 360 - 'Run Alone'
#34 Lana Del Rey - 'Born To Die'
#33 Parachute Youth - 'Can't Get Better Than This'
#32 Florence + The Machine - 'Spectrum (Say My Name)' {Calvin Harris Remix}
#31 Alpine - 'Gasoline'
















#30 Bat For Lashes - 'Laura'
#29 Loon Lake - 'Cherry Lips'
#28 Django Django - 'Default'
#27 Ball Park Music - 'Surrender'
#26 Seth Sentry - 'Dear Science'
#25 Skrillex -' Bangarang' {ft. Sirah}
#24 Chet Faker - 'I'm Into You'
#23 Ball Park Music - 'Coming Down'
#22 The Temper Trap - 'Trembling Hands'
#21 Disclosure - 'Latch' {ft. Sam Smith}

#19 The xx - 'Angels'    

#18 Hermitude - 'HyperParadise' {Flume Remix}

#17 Flight Facilities - 'Clair De Lune' {ft. Christine Hoberg}

#16 Rudimental - 'Not Giving In' {ft. John Newman & Alex Clare}

     

#15 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - 'Same Love' {ft. Mary Lambert}

#14 Icona Pop - 'I Love It' {ft. Charli XCX}

#13 The Black Keys - 'Gold On The Ceiling'

#12 Flume - 'Sleepless' {ft. Jezzabell Doran}

#11 Calvin Harris - 'Sweet Nothing' {ft. Florence Welch} #10 The Rubens - 'My Gun'

#9 Tame Impala - 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards'

#8 Frank Ocean - 'Lost'

#7 Tame Impala - 'Elephant' 

#6 Major Lazer - 'Get Free' {ft. Amber Coffman}

#5 Mumford & Sons - 'I Will Wait'

#4 Flume - 'Holdin On'

#3 alt-J - 'Breezeblocks'

#2 Of Monsters And Men - 'Little Talks' 

 And the Big #1... (I actually voted a different song by this artist but knew this one would make top 10):

#1 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - 'Thrift Shop' {ft. Wanz}

Wow, I'm exhausted. I listened to part of this countdown live and have spent the better part of  the last 2 days streaming it via Triple J's official website (not to mention trying to format all these pics in blogger, not the easiest thing to do).

***BREAKING NEWS*** 

Triple J announced:

"For the 1st time ever this weekend we're having the 2ND HOTTEST 100! You'll hear what songs came in at 200-101!!!"
So get online & start streaming (for us non-Aussies) late Friday night (For us ESTimers) to hear all the fabulous songs that just didn't quite make the cut!

My 2012 Triple J Hottest 100 Votes

So if you've followed my blog at all in the past year, you know how excited I get for the Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown. It's happening NOW!
If this is your first time reading my blog, and you're all "Triple wha?" here's the lowdown:
It's one of the world's largest public music polls started in 1989. Each person is limited to 10 votes & on Australia Day, they spend the whole day counting down the top 100 songs as voted by the people. Most of the top 10 songs on the poll subsequently become huge in the US the next year. I'm sure you've heard of a little known track called Somebody That I Used To Know by this guy Gotye? Yeah, #1 in the 2011 Hottest 100 (you can see my recap of that here).

Votes are also determined by songs that have come out in Australia, so a song I might LOVE just might not be eligible. Like the Husky song History's Door took so long to cross the oceans between Australia and the US, that even though I just discovered it, it actually came out there last year. Or one of my favorite bands Ramona Falls isn't well enough known in Australia to get on the voting list.

You can listen to the eligible songs here through spotify (might take a few days, but oh! what days they'll be)

Once you've heard enough, you can submit your own vote here

But HURRY, voting closes in 12 DAYS!

If you need some help on where to start to find some good artists or songs, here are my votes

(the graphic is giving me trouble but you can listen to my 10 songs here)

My 10 Votes:

Voting factors I took into account was wanting exposure for particularly lesser-known artists and recognition for plain old good tracks regardless of artist infamy, I also wanted my vote to make a difference so rather than write-in a few favorites I stuck with songs I thought had a chance to get at least at the top 100.

• 
  alt-J

  Taro
• 
  Angus Stone

  Monsters
• 
  Gossling

  Wild Love
• 
  Grimes

  Genesis
• 
  Japandroids

  The House That Heaven Built
• 
  Julia Stone

  Let's Forget All The Things That We Say
• 
  Kimbra

  Warrior {ft. Mark Foster & A-Trak}
• 
  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

  Can't Hold Us {ft. Ray Dalton}
• 
  Matt Corby

  Lonely Boy {Like A Version}
• 
  Miike Snow

  Devil's Work

  
  

Alt-J: Taro

My favorite song of theirs, although it really was hard to single it out over the rest, something about this one just gets me, i think it's the Bollywood beat that drops with each chorus. It's also really epic if you open two windows on YouTube to the same songs of their and start it 5 seconds apart. Done right, it will blow your mind.

Angus Stone: Monsters

The banjo and trumpet inevitably won this song a spot in my top 10. If you doubt my love of banjos, just go here, I judge people based on their banjo appreciation level. PLus the wonderful imagery of the lyrics gets me: "In the dark, there's monsters that cry alone"

Gossling: Wild Love

A track I think is US-Radio friendly that evokes frontiers and wide-open spaces with a unique voice that balances out what could be just another country/pop song. Hopefully I'll hear it on the US-airwaves soon!

Grimes: Genesis

Between her lisp, whispy-high voice, and atmospheric vocal loops, Grimes is the Canadian poptastic alternative punky girl version of Bon Iver. It was really tough choosing between Oblivion and Genesis but in the end the vocal layering and range of the smooth Genesis won out over the more danceable Oblivion (and Oblivion was the first of her songs I heard but that was back in 2011, so it's more fitting to vote for the song I first heard in 2012)

Japandroids: The House That Heaven Built

Oh.oh.oh.Oh.oh.oh.oh.oh.... 'Nuff Said

Julia Stone: Let's Forget All The Things That We Say

The Stone Siblings are one of my most favorite duos in current music, alas they spent 2011 nad 2012 pursuing solo-projects. Julia pursued a more ballady-pop sound while Angus stayed with his guitar-strumming indie sound. While the Frenglish version is my favorite, this original deserves recognition

Kimbra feat. Mark Foster and A-Trak: Warrior

A gross oversight in my top songs of 2012, this track is FANTASTIC and helped me with Bar prep this summer (I've blocked so much of the summer out no wonder I couldn't remember it.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Can't Hold Us

As much as I think Thrift Shop will beat this one out in just about any music poll, THIS is my favorite Macklemore & Ryan Lewis song. I spent 2 weeks driving to and from work learning this whole rap. It helped get me through my last semester of law school.

Matt Corby: Lonely Boy (Like A Version)

Such a different, deeper, heart-wrenching version compared with the original. I don't think I'll ever get over this song.

Miike Snow: Devil's Work

This one snuck in just over Sigur Ros and Metric, really just because I heard it a lot sooner and it had enough time to really get stuck in my brain. Plus Miike Snow is always fantastic.

Honorable Mentions: 

Icona Pop: I Love It

Metric: Breathing Underwater

Mumford And Sons: Below My Feet

Sigur Ros: Varou

I REALLY hope these songs make the Top 100, and if I had 14 votes, they'd for sure be included. Alas I had to pick only 10 or none at all. It was a tough decision

Musical Monday: Best of 2012

I tried to pick my top 10 songs of 2012, I really did. But I have such trouble picking favorites, the only way that made sense to showcase the songs I loved this year was not to make a numerically ordered list (how could I rank & measure Macklemore against Julia Stone in any way that could truly compare their music fairly. So instead I decided to share the top 3 songs that got me through each month. The only restriction I gave myself in this list is that since it is a "best of 2012" list they either had to be released in 2012 or late 2011.

*a quick explanation on lack of Gotye in the top songs of 2012:  I discovered his music in February 2011 & bought Making Mirrors when it was released in Australia in August 2011 and subsequently rocked out on repeat until the end of the year. For me, 2011 was the year of Gotye, even though I went to 2 concerts of his in 2012 which were awesome, the magic and obsession of discovery has given way to a comfortable, less prominent but still ever-present appreciation.

Without further ado, here are my Top 36 of 2012

January: 

The 2011 Triple J Hottest 100 gave me a lot of great music to start off the new year. And KEXP's Iceland Airwaves gave me Of Monsters and Men and their super-catchy "Little Talks"

Matt Corby: Brother 

Of Monsters and Men: Little Talks

Bombay Bicycle Club: Shuffle

February

February was all about escaping the madness through music, and Marathon Runner became my Spring-time anthem, I even used the lyrics as headers in a law school paper.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Make the Money

Yellow Ostrich: Marathon Runner

The Lumineers: Ho Hey

March:

Lushlife: Teenage Dream

Ramona Falls: Spore

Kimbra: Come Into My Head

April:

April Showers brought some sad nostalgia but also comforting reflection.

David's Lyre: Hearbeat

Gossling: Love Fall Foul

Dana Buoy: So Lucky

May:

Happy songs were fitting for all the celebrations of May

Ramona Falls: Archimedes Plutonium

Gossling: Wild Love

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Can't Hold Us Feat. Ray Dalton

June: 

Songs that got me through Bar Review, either epic soundtracks, positive messages, of complex beats to fall into to pause from studying. I credit "When It Builds" especially for helping me get through certain sections of Bar Review *cough* Wills & Trusts and therefore helping me pass the VA Bar)

Shadows on Stars: When It Builds

Alt-J: Fitzpleasure

Alt-J: Taro

July:

More happy/upbeat songs, I'm still waiting for Yuna to blow up, she's great and Stereogum voted Japandroids The House That Heaven Built  the Song of the Summer. Also, a zen Matt Corby track he released for free which I listen to almost every yoga practice, it puts me in such a lovely place.

Yuna: Live Your Life

Japandroids: The House that Heaven Built

Matt Corby: Coloured Stones and Walls

August:

August was about rekindling the love for old favorite musicians. I went to the Gentlemen of the Road festival and it renewed my love for Mumford, I also rediscovered Stars with their new album North and Ingrid Michaelson on YouTube made me realize how great she still is.

Mumford & Sons: Below My Feet

Stars: Hold on When You Get Love and Let Go When You Get It

Ingrid Michaelson: Fire

September:

No theme in Septermber, just good music.

 

Imagine Dragons: Tiptoe

Hot Chip: Let Me Be Him

Julia Stone: Let's Forget All The Things That We Say (Feat. Benjamin Biolay)

October:

Again, no theme here, just songs I kept replaying.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: BomBom Feat. The Teaching

Stars: Walls

NO: What's Your Name

November: 

This was an angsty month for me, evidenced by the girl-tastic jams with lyrics like "if you're still breathing, you're the lucky one" and "don't tell me our youth is running out"

Daughter: Youth

HAIM: Go Slow

Foxes: Youth

December:

Christmas, nostalgia, and the years end meant these were the tracks of my December.

Sufjan Stevens: Christmas Unicorn

Kishi Bashi: Manchester

Husky: History's Door

I'm excited for what 2013 will hold. Were any of these your favorites from 2012? What songs define your past year? I'd love to hear in the comments section below or find me on twitter: @itzbizr

Blue Christmas: Thank God for Kids

Because it's Christmas. Because there are 27 people whose murders shocked the world.  Because many were beautiful innocent children.  Because they are near to my heart right now and should not be forgotten. Because, the darkness threatened to overshadow the light, but the Light has and will always conquer the darkness.

Because in the midst of asking how this could happen, we can all thank God for the gift of children everywhere, and for the joy and laughter and smiles of those kids in Newtown, Connecticut shared on this earth before they were taken from it.

Oak Ridge Boys: Thank God for Kids

If it weren't for kids have you ever thought
There wouldn't be no Santa Claus
Or look what the stork just brought
Thank God for kids

And we'd all live in a quiet house
With out Big Bird or Mickey Mouse
And kool aid on the couch
Thank God for kids

Thank God for kids, there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile
Do you ever stop to think or wonder why
The nearest thing to heaven is a child

Daddy, how does this thing fly?
And a hundred other where's and whys
I really don't know but I try
Thank God for kids

And when I look down in those trusting eyes
That look to me, I realize
There's a love that I can't buy
Thank God for kids

Thank God for kids, there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile
Do you ever stop to think or wonder why
The nearest thing to heaven is a child

And when you get down on your knees tonight
Thank the Lord for His guiding light
And pray they turn out right
Thank God for kids

Thank God for kids.

Musical Monday: Christmas Unicorns!

So today's blog is brought to you by Christmas non-human entities =). We have Christmas Unicorns, Christmas Ghosts, Christmas Hippos, and of course that magical snowman who lives on the edge!

Sufjan Stevens: Christmas Unicorn

A song about how we're all uniquely outcasts, and don't quite feel we deserve Christmas in our own ways, but that's why Christmas happened and happens every year! Even if you're wary of artsy, indie, angsty music, it is totally worth getting through the first 5-6 minutes to the slow build to a dance-tastic, "It's alright, I love you" filled joyful groove (the beat finally drops about 6:30). I love how Sufjan is constantly changing and experimenting with his sounds and so evolves as an artist with each song. I would've LOVED to have seen his latest tour but he was in DC over Thanksgiving & I couldn't convince Grandma to go =)

A Muppet Christmas Carol: It Feels Like Christmas

So i pretended to be a celebrity and totally live-tweeted my first (of many) viewing of the movie this year, that's how much I love it! The message of this song is so wonderful to: "in all the ways that you show love it feels like Christmas... the message if you hear it, is make it last all year!"

Gayla Peevey: I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas

I LOVED this song growing up because imagining a Hippo standing next to a Christmas tree is just too hilarious! Just picture it: a real live, aggressively irate (hippos are not Chill Charlies, like they want you to believe) hippo standing with a giant bow on its head or around it's stomach, too funny!

Bing Crosby: Frosty the Snowman

And it's just not Christmas without good old Frosty the snowman. A reminder that life is short so why not enjoy it and have fun (although I'd draw the line before provoking a traffic cop, but then again I'm not quite as bold as an animated snowman)

What are some of your favorite songs of the season? I'd love to know in the comments section!

Follow me on Twitter: @itzbizr

Musical Monday, err Thursday: Oppa GOTR style

Forgive me for the bandwagony style title, but I just had to find a way to nod to one of the most interesting pop music hits of the year, Gangnam style. I also need to apologize b/c whoops, it's already the 13th and I've not posted yet this month... That's 2 Musical Mondays I've missed. APOLOGIES! 

Now that that's over with the real theme behind today's post is the Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Tour. Basically this summer, Mumford & Sons coordinated 4 awesome music festivals nationwide, highlighting the musical history of the four cities. I went with friend to the Bristol, TN/VA Stopover, heard great music, went antiquing, saw more mustaches than I could count, and had a great time!

They even had lovely little photo-shoot opportunities set up, and a mustache on a helicopter!

I'm also doing something new and using only live versions of the song, since that's how I experienced them-slash-now have them on the compilation CD.

HAIM: Go Slow

I was able to see part of their performance at Bristol, but unfortunately not this song. So I'm super stoked to have the live-recording version from the compilation CD. I actually like the live version better than the recorded one, there's a much more 80s synth-tastic vibe and the vocals intertwine into an awesome tapestry of awesomicity =)

Dawes: A Little Bit of Everything

I was also lucky enough to see Dawes play at Bristol and they were great! This is a nice mellow jam about an attempted suicide, regret-fueled binge-eating, & the power of love, you can close your eyes and sway to.

The Very Best: Kondaine

Now after that downer, it's Super-party-dance-time! They look like they're having so much fun and its hard not to catch their infectious smiles and let the beat carry you to at least a bit of shoulder dancing.

Gogol Bordello: Start Wearing Purple

An oldie but goodie. They weren't at Bristol so I can only imagine what this was like live. Seeing the footage from this 2007 concert I'm sure it was pretty crazy!

Mumford & Sons-Below My Feet

One of their newer tracks. I can't get enough of the lyrics "keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn." While their chord progression remains predictable by now (you can say that about most any rock/pop artist though), it is predictably wonderful and one of my favorite things is shout-singing along to the "Ahhhs," creating and weaving in my own version of harmonies, so it's different every time. Their music also makes me happy in a way few other artists can. Also, this has a brief intro by Joseph Gordon Levitt so if it's not your type of music you can  just watch the first 3 seconds on repeat for awhile =)

Did you go to any great live shows or music festivals in 2012? Or is there any concert that stuck with you for awhile, I'd love to hear about it in the comments, or follow me on twitter for more music updates: @itzbizr