2008-01-28 - 7:28 p.m.

As far as Hottest 100 #1's go, on a scale of "No Aphrodisiac" being a 10 (I'm not talking about the song itself, but how good it was having it at #1) and "Pretty Fly For a White Guy" being a zero, I've decided that Muse's "Knights of Cydonia" deserves about a 7. I really didn't know the song before Saturday, and I've been of the opinion for a while that old Muse (also known as new Radiohead) was better than new Muse (ie the saviours of prog. rock), but having illegally downloaded the album I quite like it in spite of it's overblown extravagance. And I'm happy that the masses with whom I'm quickly losing touch with see Muse as the new big thing, and not My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. Plus, with the exception of Franz Ferdinand, when as predictable and overplayed "Take Me Out" was I wanted it to win because it defined the year, it's generally good to see a bit of an upset (silverchair already won everything under the sun this year right?)- as long as the upsetting song isn't crapper than the favourite.

That's the wankiest paragraph I've written in here for a long time.

I didn't enjoy the countdown as much as last year, some years are just great vintages (2004 and 1997 spring to mind), and some years I'm just really out of touch with what's popular (this year, 2002 & 2003 spring to mind), but two days later I'm already using the list to discover bands that the kids these days have known about for years, like Kings of Leon, and that JBT are pretty good when their songs are short and to the point (ie "Better Than").

For the record, I voted for:

Ben Kweller- Penny on the Train Track (#68)

Cold War Kids- We Used to Vacation (did not chart, and wasn't even in the voting list- it certainly wasn't any more 2006 than Muse was).

Cold War Kids- Hang Me Out To Dry (#8)

Dappled Cities- Holy Chord (a travesty that such a unique catchy local song didn't make the final list)

Feist- 1234 (surprised but not at all disappointed that this only made #34, especially since it was on an iPod ad)

Grinderman- No Pussy Blues (wanted to give the old guy some support, but not really surprised this didn't make it in)

The Long Blondes- Once And Never Again (maybe too early in the year, but another catchy chick rock gem that should have made it in)

Patience- Lee Remick (I thought the kids loved her, and such a cool cover version, but no cigar)

Sarah Blasko- Bye Bye Pride (also missed out, which surprised me because she's a certified JJJ darling and people usually vote for them regardless of the song. I mainly voted for it as it's my favourite Go-Betweens song and it's referenced in Smudge's "Don't Wanna Be Grant McLennan")

The Shins- Phantom Limb (again I can only think that this was too early in the year, as the follow up, "Australia" made it in but this did not).

Usually about 70-80% of my songs get in- I'm definitely getting old.

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