I’ve been a big fan of Hot Chip for at least a couple of years – probably since first hearing ‘Over and Over’ on the radio in early 2006. For some reason their eclectic mix of nerdy synth, whiny lyrics and boombastic riffs. One of my fondest memories of last year’s Big Day Out was stumbling over the end of their set after the Streets had finished in the Boiler Room, and my one gig-related regret of last year was missing out on tickets to their August tour.

So imagine my glee in December when I heard new Hot Chip in December! Their third album, ‘Made in The Dark‘ comes out this week, and the first single from it, titled ‘Ready for The Floor‘ has already been doing the rounds for the last couple of months.

It’s a bit of a departure from Hot Chip’s previous work, but then the band seems to reinvent itself every six months. Watch the video and decide for yourself. The only real shame is that it was technically released last year, which makes it ineligible for this year’s Hottest 100 (drawn Australia Day ’09) – a poll that I personally believe it could have done quite well in.

Pete

I was really quite excited – I thought I had voted for both the number 100 and number 1 songs, but it turns out I didn’t vote for PNAU afterall. Oh well – I still did get 98 and 1.

So Australia day was awesome fun. Had 50 or so people over, and much merriment was had. Thank you to all those who made it, and to those who didn’t – you missed a hell of a bash.

Anyway I got up at 7am this morning after hitting the sack at 2 to clean up for another BBQ that the parentals are holding tonight. As such I am knackered, sore and have massive bruises on the soles of my feet that will not heal in time for the big day out tomorrow. Oh well, looks like another day of discomfort. I’ll live….

Pete

So Hewitt and Baghdatis played until 4:34am yesterday morning. Yes, it may have stuffed up channel 7′s viewing numbers and probably pissed off a few thousand fans who couldn’t sit around until just before dawn to see a match that really shouldn’t have extended beyond 1am. And it probably did affect their body clocks somewhat – I challenge anyone to stay up all night and then claim that they are fine. However, Lleyton and Marcos are both professional athletes. Hewitt now has had 30 hours to recover. If he loses (and I will be surprised if he doesn’t lose to the frankly awesome Novak Djokovic) tonight he tries the “I played shit because I was up until 8am yesterday” excuse, it’ll be very disappointing to say the least.

Straight sets is my bet. First exit in straight sets at the open for 8 years I believe. I hope I’m wrong.

Pete

Just as a side note, I bought a turntable this week. Instead of spending my mediocre uni-student budget on a good turntable in bad condition, I decided to go for an older, less prestigious brand in good nick so bought a 20 or 30 year old AKAI turntable (belt driven, auto return, good condition stylus) from some bloke on eBay. I drove over to pick it up this morning, and the guy even had it hooked up to his own system as a demonstration for my arrival. Anyway the thing plays wonderfully – its just a pity I have all of about two vinyl EPs to play, and no LPs. To make matters worse both my parents got rid of their frankly awesome collections years ago, so I’m basically starting from scratch. Such is life I suppose.

Anyway the reason for my post is the sour taste in my mouth tonight. It’s been a long time since triple misery has befallen me, but tonight three separate instances have left me feeling sad and dejected.

Firstly, the Australians, after stacking on almost a hundred runs after being 8-253 lost the third test to India by 72 runs. Granted, they played us off the field, but the cricket forums around the world, especially BBC’s 606 debate forum are being merciless – I suppose its half tall poppy syndrome, half deserved retribution. The poms are just pissed we whitewashed them last year I suppose.

Secondly, after showing up the world number 1 to the point of enjoying a 2 sets to 1 lead at the start of the fourth, Janko Tipsarevic lost his composure and succumbed to bloody Federer in 5. I honestly think its the first 5-setter I’ve seen Federer play in about as many years. It was nail-biting stuff – I just wish more people saw Sir Roger as the fraud he really is. Talented fraud, but fraud nonetheless… HE’S SWISS FOR GOD’S SAKE!

And finally, at right about the same time as Tippo lost to Federer, the black gravedigger James was voted out of Survivor China. The only cool guy in the actual outfit. I hate that bloody show.

So, three for three. It’s also been raining all day although that is, I suppose, a good thing. The farmers will be happy at least – especially if they are also of Indian decent and happen to love Federer and his perfect tennis.

Pete

I went to Southland today with Smellanore, and narrowly avoided wandering into JB Hi-fi to spend more money I don’t have. Last time I went in there I came out with the sixth (and frankly shit, although admittedly not as shit as the current) season of Scrubs, as well as an album by one of my surprise favourites at Falls – The Soft Tigers. Anyway long story short, Elé has had my bag since I last saw her on Friday, and so the first chance I have had to listen to this new album has been this evening. It turns out I knew a lot more Soft Tigers than I gave myself credit for, especially the very catchy Mr. Icecream, which all you indie kids worth half your weight in unsigned bands will surely know.

Anyway the point of this rather circuitous post is that an irrefutable truth has come to light. I have discovered that, judging by popularity of songs over the last year, there is a buzzword – a word that, if slipped into the title of otherwise mediocre songs would attract MASSIVE popularity, at least on the J’s. That word? Icecream.

Think about it – that brilliant if not slightly annoying New Young Pony Club had the presense of mind to put a track called ‘Icecream’ on their debut album, released in July. They even released it as a single TWICE! and the reception was great – although not as good as ‘The Bomb’ or ‘Grey’, it was played constantly on radio last year, and the bassline is admittedly very sexy.

Then there was the aforementioned Soft Tigers, whose set was set alight with ‘Mr Icecream’, and I can promise most of you will recognise the chorus at least.

And finally (at least by my memory) was the song that is my bet for the top-dog spot on Australia Day’s Hottest 100, Shepparton boy Muscle’s ‘Ice Cream’. Catchy, Australian and insanely popular for a good 3 months in the later half of last year, which is primetime for Hottest 100 contention.

So – was ice cream the winning formula for last year? Or maybe (and I accept this as the more likely alternative) was this whole theory and blog post just another brainfart from the vacuous realm that is Pete’s wandering mind? The answer is out there….

Pete

The second test was by all measures an…. interesting match. Umpiring cock-ups are an inevitability in all sports, and although it was a pity that so many questionable decisions were made (especially considering the overwhelming majority favoured Australia) the match was still a brilliant one, with an unbeaten 162 from Symonds in the first innings salvaging what would otherwise have been an abysmal start to the match; Laxman/Dravid and Tendulkar/Ganguly stunning with brilliant partnerships resulting in centuries for both VVS and Sachin (who also remained unbeaten on 154); and Anil Kumble – the oldest man in either team – collecting 8 wickets of a possible 17, including both openers in the 2nd innings. Then of course there was the spectacular finish, where India, 2 overs from salvaging a draw lost three wickets in spectacular fashion off 5 balls to lose the match with just 8 minutes to go.

Sounds like a great match, no? Well when you dig a little deeper, Andrew Symonds heroic 162 should have really been capped at 30, where he was caught behind off an inside edge, but incredibly Steve Bucknor didn’t deem it out. Then there was a contentious catch of Michael Clarke’s on day 2 that wasn’t referred to the TV umpire, even though considerable doubt has been cast on the legitimacy of the catch since, even with the benefit of TV replay’s. Furthermore, Symonds was bowling after lunch on Sunday when a ball was given out caught behind, that quite clearly clipped pads, not bat.

And if you thought that may have been the end of it – some dodgy decisions but a result nonetheless – think again. The Indian team has lodged a complaint to the International Cricket Council requesting that field umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson be sacked from the rest of the tour, and more recently have threatened to boycott the rest of the Australian tour due to the 3 match banning of Harbhajan Singh for calling Symonds a “big monkey” on the last day – a racist insult in reference to his Afro-Caribbean heritage.

Although I’ll be the first to admit that such a hefty ban is ludicrous, racism cannot be tolerated anywhere, particularly in elite sport. Although the Indian media and public are furious, calling the Australians unsportsmanlike and the umpires incompetent, the simple fact is that Bhajji was unsportsmanlike and sank to racism to ease his frustration, and has been penalised for it. The argument should stop there – allegations that there is no proof of the act or that it is simply Australia attempting to remove its main antagonist from the 3rd and 4th tests are ludicrous, although I suppose the world loves a conspiracy.

Then of course you can look at the Indian fans. I understand whole heartedly just how much cricket means to the country, but the behaviour that has been reported in the media here including effigy burning and protests is, to be blunt ridiculous. Just taking a look at the BBC message boards, Indian fans are coming out of the woodwork and are pretty bloody upset.

It shocks me that harbajan is banned for 3 matches on something that the umpire “believes” was said he has no prove one way or the other, it reeaks of coruption in my opinion

Although the truth is that a proper tribunal took place, which in my mind demonstrates that guilt beyond reasonable doubt was proven, it seems this sort of view, along with THIS…

…is fairly common place. I suppose in the Indian’s defence we did win the match, which makes a fairly big difference. Who knows what sort of rubbish I’d be spewing if we were in India’s position. Come to think of it, I’ve always wanted to burn an effigy…

Pete

They really are whipping by pretty quickly. I trust everyone made it to the New Year safely enough – I almost came a cropper on the 30th during Paul Kelly, where I was seeing double and probably not making much sense, but needing to drive home from Falls on the morning of the 1st, and wanting to be relatively with it to enjoy Kings of Leon during the midnight slot, I decided to take it easier on New Years Eve, and boy was I rewarded -although the day was as hot as hell, every act from The Cops onwards was well enjoyed, and the late evening Girl Talk/KoL/Midnight Juggernauts back-to-back-to-back was particularly awesome. Anyway a good New Year’s Eve was had.

So – its usually about now that I unveil a new theme for this blog and start the New Year with a bang. I tried – honestly I did, it’s just nothing looks as good as the current theme, so after much deliberation a decision was made to keep status quo, at least for now.

That does however mean that I need to actually come up with more interesting stuff to yammer on about. How about a plug for the #1 event in January? That’s right kids and kiboodles, the Hottest 100 is only around the corner, and voting is now open for what at least used to be the largest music poll in the world. So collect up your list of favourite tracks from 2007, whittle them down to ten gems, and VOTE!
As added incentive this year, everyone who votes goes into the draw to win a ‘Golden Ticket’ – a double pass to every single Triple J sponsored gig and music festival for 2008 – which is significant to say the least. To get you started, here’s my list – which isn’t predictions for top tracks, but simply the songs that I enjoyed the most, and that in my mind have at least a chance of polling come Australia Day.

Decent, even if I do say so myself.

Pete