I was galavanting in O’ahu on Australia Day during the annual triple j Hottest 100 countdown. Although I saw a tourist sporting an Australian flag towel as a cape on the streets of Waikiki, it wasn’t quite the same as tuning in to triple j for the nation’s top tunes.
Since moving to Brisbane from Mackay, we haven’t listened as often to triple j, the staple radio station of our weekly road trips and evening meals. That being said, I’ve been checking out their hitlist on Spotify and live music podcasts for my daily dose of Australian and international music for the young or young at heart.
This year’s Hottest 100 has many gems, but here are the five that stole my heart:
March is my month of regeneration. It’s my birth month. In Canada, it was the first month of spring. In Australia, it’s the precursor to winter. These days the rain falls day and night, not unlike Vancouver. The difference is that here, the rain falls in sheets through a humid and warm sky.
Every March I reflect, re-evaluate, restore, simultaneously seeking novelty and familiarity. Here are the songs of my autumn/spring:
Deep Blue by Arcade Fire
Mission Bells by Armistice
Part Time Believer by Boy & Bear
Change the Sheets by Kathleen Edwards
In My time by Kurt Vile
Boomerang by Miniature Tigers
Embrace (feat. Fawn Myers) by Oliver Tank
Your Long Journey by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
About You by Royal Wood
It Will Sail by Sarah Harmer
Even Though I’m a Woman by Seeker Lover Keeper
Twigs And Stones by Siskiyou
Sun in an Empty Room by The Weakerthans
Orono Park by The Wilderness Of Manitoba
Marathon Runner by Yellow Ostrich
If you have any trouble finding these tracks, drop me a line.
Whenever we’re in the car or rocking out in the kitchen, we’re tuned in to triple j. Given our weekly road trips and love of food, we spend hours each week listening to the best station down under.
Every year, triple j counts down the Hottest 100–what they call ‘the largest musical democracy in the world’–on Australia Day. Over a million listeners voted this year to make a high-caliber list of both Australian and international tracks. Here are my tops picks from the 2011 Hottest 100.
#89: Beirut – Santa Fe
I first heard Beirut three years ago at Turks on The Drive during an evening adventure with my old friend David. I was enchanted to say the least. Since their latest album ‘The Rip Tide’ dropped in Spring 2011, I’ve been even more keen on the American band. Seeing them perform at the Commodore Ballroom was one of the highlights of my summer.
#57: The Rubens – Lay It Down
This track is sexy; there’s something about the gravelly vocals of Sam Margin and guitar work by Zaac Margin that had me swaying to ‘Lay it Down’. The Rubens, an indie outfit from NSW, were discovered on triple j unearthed and enjoyed a strong showing in this year’s Hottest 100.
#50: Boy & Bear – Part Time Believer
This is one of the few tracks in the 2011 Hottest 100 that I think my dad would enjoy it. The melody and the lyrics harken back to the folk and classic rock that dad would play on his 8-track deck years ago. During my research on men’s magazines, I discovered that Boy & Bear were winners in GQ Australia’s Men of the Year 2011, not that I was surprised.
#16: Grouplove – Tongue Tied
When we first moved to Mackay, ‘Tongue Tied’ seemed to be playing on the radio every time we hopped in the car. Although Grouplove is based in LA, I think of this track as my ‘Australia’ song, given it’s mention of roundabouts and marmalade.
#1: Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know {Ft. Kimbra}
In the whispers of a move to Australia so many months ago, I started searching for music from down under. Gotye was one of the first artists I stumbled upon. The video for his track ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ was just released. I was awestruck. The xylophone sample in first seconds of the track caught my attention. His moan-yell-cry chorus reminded me of Peter Gabriel. I appreciated his indie intensity. The body paint was strikingly well-done. The video now has over 53 million views. When I showed to Chris, he may have developed a slight crush on Kimbra. We like to sing it at the top of our lungs on drives out to camp.
It feels like we live here. We return to our favourite shops, we take transit, we clean our suite. We’re looking forward to putting down roots in Mackay; fostering new friendships, establishing ourselves in a community.
When Chris came home early from work, we shared a bottle and a half of wine over lunch. Wonderful.
In the late afternoon we ventured out into the city, looking for a coffee shop to continue our research into graduate schools (me) and cars (Chris). It turns out that most coffee shops in Brisbane, in fact most shops in Brisbane, close at 5pm. We happened across Bleeding Heart Cafe on Ann St, which promised internet, beverages and wares by local artisans but only between the hours of 10am and 5pm. We’ll be sure to return tomorrow, which may be our last day in Brisbane.
Our search fruitless, we returned to our suite to create our own cafe. I brewed T2 Sencha Mango and turned on my ‘coffee shop’ mix-tape, which comprised of:
Constellation by Forest City Lovers
Michicant by Bon Iver
Modern Man by Arcade Fire
Just Like Honey by The Jesus and Mary Chain
It Was A Strange Time In My Life by Jens Lekman
Son of Sam by Elliot Smith
Montreal by Ariane Moffat
Dress Me Life A Clown by Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos
Love, Love, Love by As Tall As Lions
Jasper by Aidan Knight
I’m A Cuckoo by Belle and Sebastian w/The Avalanches
Dry the Rain by The Beta Band
More Than This by Charlie Hunter featuring Norah Jones
Ending Start by Metric
We continue to cook our own meals. Tonight we had a stir fry of tofu drenched in garlic and ginger with green beans, carrots, leeks and onions over a bed of par-boiled cabbage. All the veg helps to balance last night’s dinner of Australian sausage and potatoes.
We’ll miss the dinner-time sights and sounds from our balcony suite.
fedOZsenko 