A little while ago my Wise Brother asked me what my top 10 Australian albums were, prompted by Triple J's recent poll. I had to dwell on it for a while and then set myself some ground rules. Here are the rules:
- No pseudo-Oz Kiwi bands.
- Only one album per artist.
- No "Greatest Hits" or "B-sides" type collations. Which is a shame because some of my favourite CDs are in this mob but it's not really an album is it? Feel free to assail this decision in the comments section.
- I must actually own the album to nominate it. If I don't like it enough to own it, well...
Cat Empire - Two Shoes. Joyous chaos.
The Cruel Sea - The Honeymoon is Over. Dark swaggering.
Mia Dyson - Parking Lots. On the shady side of the street.
The Herd - Summerland. Opinion columns to a beat.
Lazy Susan - Long Lost. Anecdotal.
Professor Ratbaggy - Professor Ratbaggy. Unscientific experiment.
Powderfinger - Internationalist. First half: rock epics. Second half: zap gun duel
Josh Pyke - Memories and Dust. Extroverted introversion.
The Simpletons- Matter. Sign of things not to come.
Something For Kate - Echolalia. Black humoured life.
Some things jump out at me about this list. It's surprisingly narrow, dominated by music that got played on Triple J in the late 90's, early 00's, mostly because this was when I had a job (hence could buy music) and also listened to the J's in my car to and from work. Since then I've been either incomeless or radioless or both, so I've strayed far from the rock of mainland Oz.
Nevertheless this list would be one I would happily take on a long driving holiday. They're all musically rich and lyrically interesting, at least to me. They're all albums that very quickly got put onto high rotation on ye olde NAD 510, and hence are intrinsically entwined in my memories of those times.
I'd be interested if a few of my Gentle Readers would post their own top ten lists as comments for perusal.
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4 comments:
A good list, the one notable exception being Nikki Websters, "Strawberry Kisses".
But even the best of us mistakes. Don't get too cut up about it.
Oh yeah, I had that on cassette but now I can't find it so I didn't think it was eligible. Maybe I'll just get it on iTunes.
If you own an album on iTunes, which you bought legitimately (but do not own the hard copy), can you include it in your list?
A salient question. My gut feeling is that I wouldn't allow it for myself but also that I wouldn't begrudge it in someone who was a more active iTuneser.
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