Triple J Hottest 100 2018 - Getting Old?
Usually I write a post about my votes for Triple J's Hottest 100 music poll before the countdown is announced in late January. This year, I didn't get around to it, due to a combination of work/laziness/nappy-changing. The upside is that I can share my reflections of not only my votes, but also the countdown as a whole. And that's kind of telling, because this year, for the first time during the countdown, I felt old.
Granted, choosing your top-ten songs for the year is quite a different exercise to guessing what the 'nation' will vote for, the latter being somehow similar to a Keynesian Beauty Contest. The point is that my votes are usually not *too* far off the general population's opinion, with most if not all of my ten featuring in the Hottest 100, and usually at least one in the top-ten. Rationally or not, I've found this reassuring, because Triple J prides itself on being something of a non-mainstream station (despite it hosting the world's biggest music poll!), and is especially well known for discovering indie hits and new, local artists. But this year my finger was so far off the national pulse that, well, I can't think of a clever way to finish the metaphor. You get the idea.
This is the first year that I haven't liked the number one song. I almost never pick it, but I usually like it, or at least appreciate it. But I genuinely can't stand listening to Confidence by Ocean Alley. I don't know why it grates on me so much; maybe because it feels the record is stuck in the introduction for four minutes, or that the writers just forgot to finish the song. Have a listen and make up your own opinion.
(Though, having just embedded the video, I have to admit that the music video is pretty cool. I generally like any music video featuring roller skates - Chet Faker's Gold, Robbie Williams' Rock DJ and Flight of the Conchords' Ladies of the World come to mind.)
But it wasn't only the number one that had me befuddled. Number two (Fisher's "Losing It") is a huge club anthem. Great for my twenties or commercial radio, but not what I would have expected for Triple J. Numbers three and four are by the rappers Travis Scott (featuring Drake) and Childish Gambino, respectively. I had to check if I was on the right station. There are more rap songs near the top (what sort of name is "A$AP Rocky"?!), while Ocean Alley's crew have another two in the top 20, both of which feature what I can only assume is their signature style of bridge-aversion.
I'm not so dogmatic to say that these songs are 'bad'. Music opinions are subjective, and we all have their tastes. I just didn't expect these songs to be so popular among Triple J listeners. This is not only the indie station of Australia. When Taylor Swift fans hijacked the poll in 2015 to get 'Shake It Off' voted in, the station responded by banning Taylor Swift songs from the countdown for being too mainstream. One writer wrote that music like Taylor Swift "seems antithetical to Triple J's self-representation as a place for exciting new music, with a supposed focus on emerging Australian talent."
Ironically, though, my picks seem a good fit. They mainly feature fresh bands or artists, several with a steady beat and clear 'danceability', and largely alternative genres. That being said, as per usual there's a mixed bag and one wouldn't normally be in the mood to listen to all ten in one sitting. There are dance tracks, songs verging on pop, a bit of folk and even a minimalist, almost a cappella number.
Despite this, only five of my ten picks made it into the Hottest 100. This year, my Facebook friends were as confused as me, with some commenting that they had no idea who the top artists were ("Did Ocean Alley suddenly just appear out of an alley?" - groan - and "Since when do the voters entirely consist of sixteen year olds?"). So what happened?
What happened is, I got old. My peers have, too. And quite frankly, we are probably just out of touch. I listened to the radio the least frequently of any year since I was 16. It's telling that after writing that sentence, I'm more concerned about whether it's grammatically correct than whether I've become uncool. Though I guess if grammar now tops music, the answer's pretty clear. In any case, here are/were my top songs of 2018, together with their rankings in the Hottest 100 countdown (DNR = Did Not Rank):
1. "Dinosaurs" - Ruby Fields (#9)
Ruby Fields is the textbook Triple J story. Busking in Sydney since she was 11, she was discovered in 2017 through Triple J's 'Unearthed' station, released her first EP last year, and straight away cracked the Hottest 100. 'Dinosaurs' is a beautifully written song with relatable lyrics and a mesmerisingly folky vibe.
2. "I'm Good" - Wafia (#14)
Wafia is a Dutch-born, Brisbane-based musician of Iraqi-Syrian descent. Quite a mix. She apparently started writing songs to escape the monotony of studying biomedicine at university, or so Wikipedia tells me. Her songs are typified by upbeat sounds to complement serious lyrics, such as "Bodies", written on the day her family was denied refugee status in Australia. "I'm Good" fits that mould, and is as close to pop as I've come in this year's votes.
3. "Lightenup" - Parcels (DNR)
Parcels was my favourite new band for 2018. It's described as a mix between Electropop and Chillwave, neither of which I knew was a music genre (but then again, I'm old and uncool). The members formed in Byron Bay but are based in Berlin - perhaps I fell for the Aussie/German connection? Anyway, for some reason all of their song titles have no spaces, such as "Tieduprightnow", which was on my shortlist. But Lightenup is my favourite from their EP. Is that a flute at the end of the track?
4. "Over & Out" - Sparrows (DNR)
No music video to this one yet, unfortunately. This is the second-'poppiest' of my picks. Still, it has a nice party vibe without being too clubby, the vocals are silky smooth, and the lyrics are surprisingly rich.
5. "Love Is The Weapon" - Go Freek (DNR)
The 'danciest' of my votes. When I first heard it, I could have sworn it was by PNAU, whose 2017 hit Chameleon has a similar vibe, as does Bang, which made my list last year. Those two tracks have amazing music videos (check out the links). It's a shame this one doesn't yet, but it definitely hits that same upbeat party flavour.
6. "When The Party's Over" - Billie Eilish (#8)
It's never going to feature in the same setlist as the previous songs, or indeed any of the other votes in my list. But we all have those moments when we wish we could pull down the blinds and put life on pause. Billie Eilish's minimalistic track puts her haunting vocals and lyrics at the forefront, with only a hint of piano and electronics to garnish the mood. The music video is somehow creepily appropriate, though perhaps put on something else before you go to bed. I'd suggest the next video clip.
7. "The Perfect Life Does Not Exist" - Ball Park Music (#39)
Amazingly, Ball Park Music is the only artist in my list that I'd heard of before last year. The group is also based in Brisbane, my old/new home, with a sound similar to The Panics and in the same vein as Two Door Cinema Club, San Cisco, British India,... basically any good indie band in the last decade (if these names mean nothing to you, you're probably not going to like this song. Skip ahead.). Ball Park Music was discovered by Triple J about a decade ago, but I remember their 2014 track She Only Love Me When I'm There blowing me away. Since then, I haven't come across them, but when I heard The Perfect Life Does Not Exist on my stream, I immediately thought (a) That's Ball Park Music! and (b) This is going to be a hit. And, for a change, most of Australia agreed.
8. "Ginger" - Riton & Kah-Lo (DNR)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctxgzPGIXCo
My guilty-pleasure track for 2018. I'm nowhere near cool enough for this song, but it's totally addictive. It's house, it's percussive, it's trippy, as the lyrics "Who has the ginger?" resonate throughout the heavy electronic pulse. Singer Kah-Lo was asked in an interview what this so-called 'ginger' is - her answer "Hype, to be turnt, to be lit" reinforces to me that I'm way out of the loop. Oh well, I'll listen on repeat anyway.
9. "Humility" - Gorillaz Ft. George Benson (DNR)
Here's a weird one. I've always liked the Gorillaz, the world's most successful 'Virtual Band', created by former Blur frontman Damon Albarn. My mum likes George Benson, a jazz singer-songwriter from the sixties. But a track featuring both of them?! No way! It's not my favourite Gorillaz song by a long shot (that honour goes to Feel Good Inc.), but the music video does feature both chess and Jack Black. Enough said.
10. "Groceries" - Mallrat (#7)
This was my vote that I felt was most likely to feature in the countdown, and there it is at number seven. Another born-and-bred Brisbanite, and the seventh female artist in my list (the lack of female representation in past Countdowns has been the source of much debate). Mallrat's voice sounds a lot like the lead singer from Daughter, another of my favourite indie bands in recent years. But "Groceries' is sweeter and more upbeat, and I'm a sucker for music videos set on Australian beaches.
You can listen to these 10 as well as the 14 other tracks on my shortlist on my Spotify playlist:
