Right. The 2014 Hottest 100. I'll level with you: I nearly didn't vote. These days, I rarely listen to Triple J, for tedious reasons like I'm old and boring, I no longer work at One Rabbit (where we listened to the station during the day), and I now listen to the more "adult" focussed Double J instead. (Considering how much I enjoy the music they ( Read more... )

Oh! Looks like I missed writing about the 2013 Hottest 100! I didn't think that I voted in that year's countdown... but I dug through my old emails and found the email "receipt" of the songs that I had voted for:

• Boy and Bear - Southern Sun - #41
• City And Colour - Thirst - #165
• Matt Corby - Resolution - #8
• Haim - The Wire - #11
• London Grammar - Strong - ( Read more... )

This is a bit belated, but I figured I'd post it for posterity anyway.

In the 2012 Triple J Hottest 100, I voted for the following songs:

• Art of Sleeping - Empty Hands - #180
• Ball Park Music - Surrender - #27
• Battleships - Your Words
• The Black Keys - Little Black Submarines - #79
• British India - I Can Make You Love Me - #41

I almost didn't go to this show: I'd totally forgotten that Brisbane band The Art of Sleeping were performing at the Nash in Geelong, and only just remembered that evening that I'd been meaning to see them for a month or so. I could have skipped the event: I was rather tired and the Hawthorn vs Collingwood match was on, and it had been a highly ( Read more... )

Note from 2012: Well, I wanted to study up on Jethro Tull albums before the concert, but didn't actually do it... Since then, I amusingly/depressingly still haven't listened to any Jethro Tull. Oh well.

Plus, despite what this nearly year old review suggests, I'm currently not listening to any Neil Diamond albums... instead, I'm getting good ( Read more... )

The last show that we saw at the Comedy Festival was Geraldine Quinn. Ahh, Gerry. Samantha, Dave and I saw her show last year (Shut Up and Sing), and she was batshit mental over the top. There were some extremely funny moments in the show, like her ridiculous dance moves tutorial. But it was certainly wasn't a subtle show: it was in your face, loud ( Read more... )

On the very last night of the Festival, Samantha, Dave and I planned to see Geraldine Quinn (my choice), and a mystery comedian of Dave's choosing. The mystery comedian turned out to be Greg Proops (of Whose Line is It Anyway?), which was an excellent choice. He was extremely funny, and the funniest comedian I saw at the festival. He was quite loud ( Read more... )

I've been meaning to see Justin Hamilton for years. He's always had interesting ideas for shows: one year he did three shows called "Three Colours Hammo" (like the Three Colours movie trilogy. Obviously.) that could be taken individually or to tell a whole story. Another year he did a show that was an actual play. This year's show was called ( Read more... )

Spontaneous Broadway involves a group of improvisers taking song title suggestions from audience members and turning them into songs from imaginary musicals. The best received song is then used as the basis of a full blown, improvised musical, which is a tons of fun. This year, there was a different cast from the usual people who have been involved ( Read more... )

Each year, I used to attend a whole heap of shows at the month-long Melbourne International Comedy Festival, but in the last two years, I've cut back a bit and I'm less... well, less interested in attending. This year, I saw a grand total of five shows. (Which still seems like a large number).

Fiona Scott Norman's follow-up to her hysterically ( Read more... )