LIKE backyard cricket, an esky full of beer, and sausages sizzling on the barbie, triple j's Hottest 100 is an Australia Day tradition. The Standard's MATT NEAL explores the possibilities and controversies surrounding this year's countdown of the "world's largest music democracy".
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Unlike '09 (Little Lion Man), '11 (Somebody That I Used To Know) and '12 (Thriftshop), there is no clear favourite for this year's poll. Aussie electro duo Peking Duk and their track High is definite possibility, ticking three of the big boxes - it was triple j's most played song last year, Sportsbet have it as favourite, a survey of social media puts it as a winner, and it crossed over into the mainstream after initially breaking on triple j, spending five weeks in the ARIA top 10. Their tune Take Me Over is also likely to poll well. Similarly, Chet Faker (who has appeared in the last two countdowns) has a good shot - triple j listeners deemed his album Built On Glass the best record of 2014, his singles Talk Is Cheap and Gold both charted, social media analysis rates both songs highly, and Sportsbet lists it as second favourite (if you don't count Taylor Swift, which we don't - more on that later). Far from being a two-horse race, you should also keep an eye out for the Mark Ronson-Bruno Mars jam Uptown Funk (fourth favourite, currently #1 on ARIA charts), Adelaide hip-hop veterans Hilltop Hoods' Cosby Sweater (third favourite on Sportsbet, listeners voted their album in at #4, peaked at #4 on ARIA charts), and German duo Milky Chance's Stolen Dance (lots of airplay, recent visitors to Australia, 26 weeks in the charts, fifth favourite).
Never has a lone woman topped the countdown - we've had "featured" females (Kimbra), brother-sister duos (Angus & Julia Stone), and bands with lady bits (Spiderbait, The Cranberries), but the solo female artist has become the long-awaited Holy Grail of the Hottest 100. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like happening this year, despite all this Taylor Swift kerfuffle (and let's be honest - how disappointing would it be if the first solo female artist to top the poll did so due to some bizarre hashtag-led semi-joke campaign and not due to her own awesomeness?). The most likely woman according to music site FasterLouder is Lorde with Hunger Games soundtrack tune Yellow Flicker Beat, but as they rightly ask 'if (her track) Royals couldn't take the title (last year) does Yellow Flicker Beat really stand a chance?'. Social media analysis (done by a bunch of computer boffins) rates Aussie DJ Alison Wonderland's I Want U as the only solo female track to make the top 20 (at #19) while one of the most played songs on triple j last year was Thelma Plum's How Much Does Your Love Cost?, which the social media analysis says won't even make it into the Hottest 100. Keep an eye out for Lana Del Ray and Meg Mac to perform well, but don't hold your breath for a woman winner.
triple j can claim ineligibility on two fronts - Swift's Shake It Off was never played on the station and KFC's support of the campaign goes against the rules. As a third reason, it's their damned competition and they can probably discount whoever the hell they want. While I can't imagine Swift will be counted in the countdown, if she is, I'm pretty sure triple j will pull a swifty (pardon the pun) and play Milky Chance's Like A Version cover of the track instead, just so they can hold to their "we don't play Taylor Swift" ethos. Which has nothing to do with snobbery and even less to do with sexism, despite what some critics say. triple j's charter is to provide something different - an alternative to the mainstream. Yes, some of their playlist crosses into the mainstream, but 99 times out of 100 that is because of the mainstream catching on to what triple j is doing, not the other way around. Really all this Taylor Swift campaign is trying to do is troll the Hottest 100. Shake It Off is definitely a great song and if it had been played on triple j and was legitimately voted to #1, that would be totally cool. Hell - if this Buzzfeed Oz campaign hadn't happened and Shake It Off still hadn't been played on triple j, yet it managed to sneak into the poll due to the unprovoked and uncampaigned willpower of triple j listeners, that would also be totally cool. But it only came into contention when Buzzfeed Oz got involved and hashtags were unleashed and that feels wrong and un-Hottest 100 like - no one should be telling us who to vote for and triple j should quite rightly kick the whole thing to the curb.
According to the excellent Unofficial Hottest 100 Database (www.hottest100.org), if you give bands 100 points for #1 and 99 points for #2 and so on you come up with a fascinating list of the best performing Hottest 100 artists of all time. But will we see any of these seasoned veterans on the countdown this year? It's unlikely. Foo Fighters (#2 on the best performing list behind the now-defunct Powderfinger) released an album last year led by the killer single Something From Nothing but social media analysis predicts it has zero chance of making the countdown, although other pundits disagree. The highest place act on the best performers list likely to fare well is Hilltop Hoods (#11). The only other bands that are a) still active and b) released songs last year are Smashing Pumpkins (#18), Missy Higgins (#29), U2 (#31), Beck (#35) and Coldplay (#42) - all of whom are more likely to be heard on Double J than triple j these days.
Over the past 10 countdowns, Aussies entries have made up an average of 45.5 per cent of the Hottest 100, with the most being 52 in 2007 and the least being 36 in 2009. This year should be above average thanks to triple j's continuing dedication to local music, particularly through its championing of unknown acts via Unearthed. Many pundits are tipping an Aussie-heavy poll, and if Peking Duk, Chet Faker or Hilltop Hoods (or any other Aussie act for that matter) tops the table it will be the fourth time in fifth year that an Australian act has won - a perfect outcome for Australia Day.
1. Peking Duk feat. Nicole Millar - High
2. Chet Faker - Talk Is Cheap
3. Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
4. Milky Chance - Stolen Dance
5. Hilltop Hoods - Cosby Sweater
6. The Griswolds - Beware The Dog
7. Chet Faker - Gold
8. alt-J - Hunger Of The Pine
9. Peking Duk - Take Me Over
10. Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat
