Apple is now the number one music retailer in the US, surpassing Wal-Mart in January 2008. Apple now sells 19% of all recorded music in the US, Wal-Mart 15%, Best Buy 13% and Amazon 6%. Hat-tip to Daring Fireball.
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Will the real Brendan Nelson please stand up? Is it the man Annabel Crabb saw on Tuesday, the mild-mannered doctor with “substantial empathy for those suffering from misfortune” whose “attention is drawn disproportionately to the Gothic end of the human suffering spectrum”? Or is the rabid Bon Jovi fan?
Eavesdropping highlights from the last 24 hours:
- “Somehow I suspect book lovers feel the same way about Harry Potter as music lovers feel about Jeff Buckley.” (Alastair Rankine)
- Overheard while walking past a house where young boys were playing noisily: “I’m the birthday boy so I have to be team leader.”
- “Someone in my office just said ‘cyberspace’. I hope I’m not paying them.” (abacab)
- In response to my comment, “Stilgherrian is thinking about things that geeks think about”, someone who should probably remain nameless said: “Most geeks I know think about banging Natalie Portman in a blow-up-pool filled with custard…”
- “Stilgherrian, one day in the future, your life will confuse historians.” (Nick Hodge)
Thank you, Richard, for showing me the oddest Deep Purple rendition I’ve ever seen.
Back when Triple J’s Hottest 100 voters could choose the best music of all time, not just the current year’s releases, Joy Division‘s Love Will Tear Us Apart won top spot for the first two years, 1989 and 1990. Certain floppy-haired boys played me this melancholy pop song endlessly late at night. It was good, sure, but that significant? Having seen Director Grant Gee’s new documentary Joy Division, I now know why. I really know.
This. Is. A. Magnificent. Film.
Just watch the trailer to get a taste.
Ask and it shall be done! Who is the ultimate pop princess?
In alphabetical order of first name, we have 9 nominees. As usual, if you disagree with the shortlist you can take it up in the comments.
- Amy Winehouse: “For the kids who don’t like ‘mainstream’ pop,” says the Snarky Platypus. “Never mind the fact Amy is probably more mainstream than Dannii Minogue.” I trust his judgement in these things.
- Anthony Callea: OK, OK, he’s fading fast. But it gives me a chance to make a pathetically gratuitous gay reference and waste 15 minutes looking at his photos. It was either him or Elton John, and there’s only so much my stomach can take.
- Björk: Yes, her music’s bizarre, but she knows how to deal with intrusive journalists.
- Britney Spears: Where to begin? She’s got it all! And it’d be polite to say something nice about her at the moment, she’s had a rough week.
- Dannii Minogue (not pictured): Since she did so well in our poll for Governor-General, she must be included. I didn’t bother with her photo, though. Just look at Kylie, squint and grimace.
- Kylie Minogue: Neighbours and Stock Aitken Waterman to… superstardom. Not even cancer can stop her! She even inspired our new national anthem.
- Madonna: I suppose there’s some life still left in the old hag.
- Melissa Tkautz:
“She is kinda obscure to non-Australians / trash pop culture junkies / E-Street watchers,” warns the Snarky Platypus.“She’s kinda obscure to non-Australians,” warns the Snarky Platypus. “Actually, obscure to most people, except for trash pop culture junkies & E-Street watchers” However this gives us a chance to introduce Melissa to a wider audience. Read my lips! [Beware, there is rap. Sort of.] - Olivia Newton-John: Another oldie, but she’s the closing act for Mardi Gras this year so presumably someone thinks she’s worth it.
- Someone else? Discuss!
As usual, go to the website to vote — scroll down to find the poll on the left-hand side.
Previous results: Most people reckon Australian of the Year is worth keeping, but only if they choose more relevant people. We shall return to this subject in December…
[poll=18]
Pablo Casals’ 1950s performances of Johann Sebastian Bach are heaven on a stick. Someone has found archival 35mm footage of the Suite No. 1 for Cello, Part 1 and Part 2. I am a puddle. Hat-tip to 3 quarks daily.
And as one final Australia Day tribute before the clock strikes midnight (if I type fast enough), here’s Olivia Newton-John’s Tutta La Vita, the feel-good opening number to her musical tour of Australia called Olivia Newton-John Down Under. Enjoy! The Royal Australian Navy will never be the same.
Today cartoonist Michael Leunig challenged us to write a new national anthem. His 54-word limit is a bit too limiting. So the Snarky Platypus and I have penned (well, typed) a new National Anthem for Australia.
Won’t you now sing with us? We know you all know the tune…
US research shows that country music fans have the highest suicide rate. “The results of a multiple regression analysis of 49 metropolitan areas show that the greater the airtime devoted to country music, the greater the white suicide rate. The effect is independent of divorce, southernness, poverty, and gun availability.” Hat tip to The Road to Surfdom.
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