Triple J Hottest 100 of all Time

Triple J have once again decided to poll their listeners on their favourite songs of all time and have decided to have it over a whole weekend over July 11th and 12th instead of the annual Australia Day event. It's not what I'd call a great idea as it makes it hard to plan a bbq around but I am still looking forward to the event and curious as to what will take out the top spot. The safe guess would be "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as it was the winner of the previous countdown in 1998 and still one of the most popular songs ever among Triple J listeners. The playlist at Triple J has changed a lot though in the last 10 years and it is easier than ever to vote so it will likely receive entries from a lot people who don't necessarily listen to the station. I grew up listening to Triple J and still consider it Australia's best radio station, even though I don't listen to it as much as I used to. It is the only radio station that plays most of my favourite artists and their excellent live music recordings have kept me listening in recent years.

The big question is then, Will the countdown refect the music Triple J has played over it's illustrious history or will new music be featured heavily in it's place? After all 100 songs isn't a lot and there will be some great songs that miss out. I am finding it to be an impossible task to pick my Favourite 10 songs out of over 15,000 that are currently in my music library. Whatever the result, I am sure we will be treated to some great music over the weekend and we'll have an indication of what songs from the past 20 years or beyond are still relevant to the majority of listeners. I have picked 10 from my favourites shortlist to vote for in a poll on my blogs main page so cast your vote. Click this link to vote in Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time and to see previous years countdown's. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100_alltime/voting/.

Here are some of the great live videos that I have been watching from the fantastic Triple J website.

Dark Was the Night - Various Artists - Album Review

Dark Was the Night is an excellent double cd featuring 31 exclusive tracks including a number of covers. The profits for this release go to benefit the Red Hot Organization – an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture. This is is their 20th year of releasing compilations and this is the 20th release.

It features a who's who of alternative artists, the highlights being tracks by The Arcade Fire, Spoon, Bon Iver, My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists and Stuart Murdoch from Belle and Sebastian fame. My favourite track on the album is Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch's beautiful rendition of the Bright Eyes track "Lua". Below is the tracklist and a few choice selections provided by the website.

THIS DISC
1 Knotty Pine – Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2 Cello Song (Nick Drake) – The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
3 Train Song – Feist + Ben Gibbard
4 Brackett, WI – Bon Iver
5 Deep Blue Sea – Grizzly Bear
6 So Far Around the Bend – The National
7 Tightrope – Yeasayer
8 Feeling Good (Nina Simone) – My Brightest Diamond
9 Dark Was the Night (Blind Willie Johnson) – Kronos Quartet
10 I Was Young When I Left Home (Bob Dylan) – Antony + Bryce Dessner
11 Big Red Machine – Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12 Sleepless – The Decemberists
13 Stolen Houses (Die) – Iron and Wine
14 Service Bell – Grizzly Bear + Feist
15 You Are The Blood – Sufjan Stevens

THAT DISC
1 Well-Alright – Spoon
2 Lenin – Arcade Fire
3 Mimizan – Beirut
4 El Caporal – My Morning Jacket
5 Inspiration Information (Shuggie Otis) – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
6 With A Girl Like You (The Troggs) – Dave Sitek
7 Blood Pt 2 – Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8 Hey, Snow White (Destroyer) – The New Pornographers
9 Gentle Hour (Snapper) – Yo La Tengo
10 Another Saturday (traditional song) – Stuart Murdoch
11 Happiness – Riceboy Sleeps
12 Amazing Grace (traditional song) – Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
13 The Giant Of Illinois (Handsome Family) – Andrew Bird
14 Lua – Conor Oberst + Gillian Welch
15 When the Road Runs Out – Blonde Redhead + Devastations
16 Love vs. Porn – Kevin Drew

Bon Iver - "Skinny Love" Live on Letterman

This was one of my favourite songs of 2008 and this live version which I saw on Letterman late one night is the shit. There are three drummers playing in perfect rhythm and adding harmonies to the lead singers awesome falsetto vocals.