Why does triple j continue to release compilations? It seems like every year the youth broadcaster releases some sort of retrospective album, and of course, the perennial juggernaut that is the Hottest 100 always warrants a double CD. It’s relentless, especially considering most of the ostensibly zeitgeist-documenting compilations comprise the same usual suspects, such as Pixies, Joy Division, Nick Cave, Radiohead, The Avalanches, Powderfinger, et al.
However, by seeking to compile the most relevant songs of an epoch, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation are essentially creating historical documents not swayed by commercial interests. To us as listeners, these are just cool songs we’ve heard one million times before. But in 30 years time we’ll look back on the period from 1975-2015 and think, “Wow, music that people listened to was so definitive. We were all avid investigators into musical culture, refusing to settle for what was fed to us by mainstream media outlets.”
When our children are doing university assignments on this era, they will look to historical documents like triple j’s 40 Years Of Music compilation and learn that the artists and songs that resonated with Australia’s 18-24 year old demographics included everything from Devo’s Whip It and Rage Against The Machine’ Killing In The Name Of to Outkast’ Miss Jackson and Peking Duk’s High.
So go out and buy triple j’s latest historical document; not so you can listen to 80 songs you already own, but so when your children and your children’s children ask what it was like to be an indie-aesthete, you can simply hand them this compilation.
BY DAN WATT
