All-Time Top 100 Songs Written by People with Penises: Was the Poll Sexist?

Following on from my post yesterday, looking around the blogosphere and twittersphere, there has been some really interesting commentary regarding the lack of female representation in the hottest 100 list, with many people attempting to find reasons for the gender imbalance.

An article by “Kim” at Mark Bahnisch’s Lavatus Prodeo raised my ears to the issue. Furthermore, Articulate talks about the issues, asking if we can blame the lack of female representation on the listeners.

The Enthusiast goes into a lot more detail and provides an interesting run down on the phenomenon. However, near the end of the article, Mel Campbell suggests that the people voting are inherently sexist for the emergence of list characterised by a lack of females.

“That ought to remind us that participating in a public poll like this makes a public spectacle of our taste in music. Perhaps voters simply didn’t want to be embarrassed by their choices. Perhaps they felt more comfortable admitting they liked mainly sexist rock music.”

Without a doubt, this is a very interesting debate and one that is hard to find any concrete answers of whether the latest hottest 100 countdown consciously excludes females.

In terms of gender representation there is no doubt that there is a severe lack of representation, but was it ‘sexist’ as the above posts would tend to suggest? There are a variety of definitions for being sexist, but basically we can accept that it is a belief that one gender is superior to another and that there are lines of discrimination based on such a belief.

Based on my limited understanding of feminism (which in itself is a sometimes very inconsistent body of ideas that revolve around gender distinctions), I get the feeling that you cannot say that the results of the hottest 100 poll are sexist. Feminism itself isn’t exactly about ‘rights and representation for women’. It is about gender equality, a subtly different concept.

I believe that the charge shouldn’t be ‘Were the results of the Hosttest 100 sexist’ or even ‘was the process used to bring about the results inherently sexist?’ – I think the real question is ‘Are the people who voted in the poll sexist?’, and that is a very hard question to answer.

I have some suspicions that the way in which the votes are calculated advantages certain common popular songs that can be seen as essential to the target demographics musical evolution (for instance, songs people liked ten years ago). I think a fairer way to find out if the pollsters were sexist would be see the gender statistics of every voters top two or three songs, rather than the entire ten.

Then again, does the gender of the artist really matter? Am I’m discriminating on the basis of gender if I happen to prefer The Beastie Boys “Sabotage” to Bjork’s “Hyperballad”? I hope I wouldn’t be.

I know I personally do not think about the gender of the band or performer when considering whether I enjoy a piece of music, art or a book. And I think this view can be a feminist one. People like music because of the emotions they receive from them – the melody, timbre, harmonies, lyrical content and a vast number of other considerations. The fact that a song is sung by a male or female is, most of the time, irrelevant.

In fact, I could think of many reasons why concentrating on the gender of who is producing a piece of art is inherently anti-feminist. By simplifying the results of the poll to simple questions of the sex of the performers who put out a tune, could one ask whether these people are inherently making judgments on art based on gender distinctions and drawing boundaries based on sex? Aren’t we forgetting the content, messages and persuasions of the artists who made the music that what was produced in the hottest 100? I’d wager that, regardless of gender, these musicians and their fans would be the people most likely to support feminist ideals.

By saying this, I perhaps run the risk of accusations that I’m subverting and manipulating the ideals of feminism. I hope I’m not because I have the greatest respect for the ideals of feminism and hope that I’m consciously aware of the pervasive effects of overt and covert gender distinctions that still exist today.

I also note that while this gender distinction has been raised on a number of blogs, I haven’t seen much talk with regards to race or other reflexive ‘isms’ being discussed, a phenomena that is also interesting to note.

Would be interested in hearing your perspectives on what I’ve just written – perhaps I’m wrong. Convince me!

Kiedis and his Scar Tissue

It is hard to believe that Anthony Kiedis is still a functioning human being.

I’ve just finished his biography “Scar Tissue” and it is a great little read. It focuses from his birth up until the period just after the release of the Red Hot Chili Peppers eighth studio album “By the Way”. And yes, if you haven’t figured it out already, it is the biography of Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of super-rock-funk group “Red Hot Chili Peppers”.

I hope to not put any large spoilers in my brief discussion here, but if you’re hell bent on not knowing anything about Kiedis’s life, you’re advised to close your browser window now.

Kiedis’s existence is defined by three competing relationships – music, women and drugs. While Anthony’s drug taking is a trifle extreme – some events bordering on insane – I wasn’t aware of the extent it permeated his band’s reality, and how drug abuse can threaten to destablise entire lives. Not just of the user, but also their relatives, colleagues, band companions and life-long friends. You come away with a great insight into how the dreams of some ordinary, if not a bit crazy, guys like Kiedis and Flea can be realised despite some serious personal problems.

I’m not the hugest Chili Peppers fan boy – I have a few albums, I like some of the songs and I think Flea is an excellent bassist – but the book gave me some new appreciation of their music. They are obviously extremely passionate about the music they produce and to trundle on despite such set backs is a testament to their integrity particularly as musicians. The death of their original guitarist is tragically described by Kiedis. He doesn’t seek to glorify such an incident or imbibe it with overt sentimentality, but takes a very matter-of-fact approach. The reader is overwhelmed with a true sense of sorrow.

I was particularly fascinated by his insights on the ups and downs with his various long-term girlfriends and in many ways could see some of my own life reflected in the various struggles he had – though my own are definitely on a much less grander scale.

The book ultimately is redemptive and triumphant. It left me with the sense that someone can succeed despite so many setbacks. Sure there is some luck involved, but in the end passion, enthusiasm and a lust for life are the virtues that drive Kiedis. And while I may never be the biggest Chili Peppers fan, I respect them for what they have achieved despite the obvious turmoil that characterised the band’s past.

The moral of this story is: kids, don’t do drugs.

Thanks Zan: Acoustic Phoenix

Gods, I love Zan Rowe sometimes. I particularly love the little tidbit she shared with the world today - some acoustic Phoenix sets.

Here is an acoustic version of probably my favourite Phoenix song "One Time Too Many".



There are a few more on Zan's blog - "Lisztomania" and "1901". I cannot wait to see them in Sydney in early August.

And Zan, if you happen to read this, fancy getting married?

It is All Over: Latest 'Top 100' Songs Compiled.

I’ve just got back from a few days with some friends in Byron Bay where we just kind of lazed around, visited Nimbin, went hiking at Minyon Falls (great little hike up to a great waterfall, despite all the leeches), and watched 'Bruno’. Unfortunately, it was raining most of the weekend so little time was spent on the beach (hence, Bruno). All the while, the Triple J’s Hottest 100 ‘of all time’ was being played through the speakers of the car stereo as we toured back roads of northern New South Wales.

For what it is worth, I was genuinely surprised at what emerged within the top one hundred. I cannot deny that many of the bands and artists that made the list happen to be some of my favourites. As I had predicted, Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” came in at number one. No big surprise as it had taken the honours the last two times. It is clearly a song that has meant so much for so many people over the last twenty years. Rage Against the Machine made it at number two, Joy Division at number four, and Radiohead had a bunch of songs in the top twenty.

I had predicted that the nature of these sorts of poll as well as the Triple J hype machine would mean that the ‘Kings of Leon’ of this world would dominate, but thankfully this did not really occur. It would seem that the audience realised that a lot of these songs have not reached classical status yet, or simply don’t deserve such status. You can view the entire list here, and you’ll note that the majority of the songs on the list are at least five to ten years old.

It was great to see band’s like ‘The Shins’ and ‘You Am I’ making it, along with 'Midnight Oil' as well 'Massive Attack'. However, it is obvious that the list is dominated by alternative rock music; entire genre’s missing or woefully under-represented.

Jeff Buckley’s cover of Cohen’s "Hallelujah" made it into the list at number three. I must admit that I do have some slight reservations about its inclusion above songs such as “Paranoid Android” (number 5). I’m not arguing that it is not a great cover – arguably the best of all the pretenders - I just think that perhaps "Paranoid Android" deserved to be ahead purely on the basis that it is an original piece of work. I’m a bit outraged that Hilltop Hood’s "Nosebleed Section" made it into the top twenty – an indictment on the state of hip-hop in the current climate. You can probably blame Jay-Z, Kanye West and all those over-commercialised clowns with their violent, misogynist and somewhat confusing messages for drowning out the music of great hip-hop acts like Jurassic 5. It seems that people have become disillusioned with the genre, it isn’t doing anything ‘new’ or interesting anymore, probably because of the fans it tends to attract nowadays. Australian hip-hop is even worse, being extremely formulaic (rap about beer/peace, add beat, add panpipe sample).

While I mentioned that there were a lot of my favourite bands in the list, virtually none of my favourite songs managed to make it in. For the record, here are the songs that I voted for: Guided by Voices - Game Of Pricks / Radiohead - Let Down / The Replacements - I Will Dare / Roy Orbison - Crying / The Cure - In Between Days / Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart / The Cardigans - Lovefool /The Clash - Lost In The Supermarket/ The Beach Boys - Don't Worry Baby / The Beatles - We Can Work It Out

You'll note that only Joy Division’s track was in my list.

While I believe that, in general, the songs that made the top 100 deserve their status when you take into account the TripleJ listener demographic - this obviously doesn’t mean that they are the best 100 songs of all time (look at the extreme battles that went on in the hottest 100 music forums on the TripleJ website). The fact remains that it is impossible to compile such a meta-narrative due to the subjectivity of music appreciation.

New Live Music Venue for Brisbane City: The X & Y Bar

Well well well, there seems to be another new kid in town - the X & Y Bar. Opening this week presumably in the abandoned building right next to the carpark entry to Rics Cafe - basically on Ann street opposite Cloudland. I hear some of the guys and girls from Skinny Jean are dj'ing on the opening night. A-nice-a as Mario Mario would say.

This is excellent news! More venues mean more places for bands to play, and that means a greater variety for the punters and more opportunities for up and coming bands.

Lets hope the manage to avoid the growing pains of our other new venue. Fasterlouder has some further information on the venue.

In other news - new Future of the Left album. Sweet-as.

Music and International Politics

Hi everyone. Once again I’m asking for a request from y’all. As you may or may not know, I’m currently doing my masters in the field of international relations, a field that primarily looks into the politics and social framework of the international community.

Being somewhat interested in popular music, I’m very curious of the contribution music plays to forming political identities. I can think of countless bands that have used music to comment on the state of the world and the other transnational political issues.

Off the top of my head I can think of a few obvious ones – The Clash, the Dead Kennedys, Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down, Midnight Oil. It would seem that the Live Aid events in the 80s and of more recent times also demonstrate the role civil society plays in bringing issues such as global poverty to the forefront of international politics.

However, on first glance, there seems to be little scholarly work written about such groups/events and the effect on encouraging political dissent or sharpening perspectives on foreign policy – areas I’m looking to investigate in my next semester (subject to certain contingencies).

What I’m after is source material – album suggestions, band suggestions, and biographies, newspaper articles etc by groups and individuals involved in popular music which comment on domestic or international politics. If you have any suggestion, please leave me a comment here or send me an email to iamtheporkfireman AT the mail that is hot dot com (you know what I mean, I hope!)

Shameless Self Promotion.

Yeah, have been uber busy the last week with work and all that, and thus, haven't had a chance to write anything of material value on this blog. I do have a bit of 'me' news - I'll be playing Open Mic this Wednesday at the Music Kafe in West End. I haven't played in front of people for about 2 years, and never done it solo before. I'm slightly nervous and don't think I've practiced enough. I'm planning to murder a Magnetic Fields cover as well (my favourite MF song - "I don't want to get over you"), plus two 'me' originals, and hopefully slip a song from my old band in there somewhere.

Kudos to the Guitar Repairers in Red Hill who fixed the pickup problem in my Maton (pictured above). Took them about 2 mins and they didn't charge me for it! Awesome guys.

Fishing For Bass Riffs

Hi all. Not many people would know but recently I've turned my hand to some bass playing. A friend of mine was looking for a bass player and I thought I'd put my hand up. While I've played guitar for the past 15 years, I've never really dabbled with the low-end, except for the odd tipple with JM Donellan's super bass rig during rehearsal back in the Geeban days.

Just wondering if any old bass hands (for some reason, the preceding words conjure images of people with bass for hands) could point me in the direction of some good bass riffs to practice, or any other tips, tricks and pointers. Furthermore, I'll probably need a good bass amp in the future - the one I have is pretty mediocre.

The HiFi: A Few Months In

The HiFi has been operating in Brisbane for a few months now. It seems that people are not wholly sold on the venue. Several associates of mine have been less than impressed.

For instance, an online friend's legitimate concerns about safety at the venue were answered in a rather off-the-cuff and arrogant fashion, as you can see here. It would seem that the tone adopted by 'general manager of operations' Scott Ahpee is not one that would win "best email response to the concerns of customers" at this years webby awards. Probably wouldn't even get nominated.

Another friend of mine was supposed to be reviewing a Tiki Taane gig at the HiFi for local radio 4ZzZ but was refused entry and inferred to be a liar by the security staff. Lucky he has a sense of humour and wrote a hilarious "review of the gig he didn't go to".

I've only been to the HiFi once, and that was for the opening night. I won free tickets to get into the venue on opening night but through a small error I missed out on receiving the tickets. However, I have to say, the girl who I dealt with in rectifying this error was extremely helpful and apologetic for the slip up. I was fairly pleased with this. Other than that, the venue was nice, though the line for the bar was enormous - but that wasn't a huge problem for me. I would go again if any band I was interested in seeing actually played there (there doesn't seem to be many that I would go see, but eh, can't please everyone all the time, right?).

What I'm asking is are these just isolated incidences? What have been peoples general impression of the HiFi since it opened and now has a few gigs under its belt. Interested to hear, so comment away.