So its season where we look back at the year that’s been to think was it really any good?

From game changing debuts, to instant classics from old favourites it really would be impossible to deny that 2013 has been a stunning year for music lovers.

And here are winners, a round up of the best music 2013 had to offer.

Peace - In Love

Arctic Monkeys - AM

Jake Bugg - Shangri La

In Love - Peace

From the first psych guitar swirl In Love the debut offering of Birmingham’s Peace takes the listener on a rollercoaster ride through the heady heights of wild sex and toxic love. Perfectly recreating every desperate heart wrenching moment with each jangly note and crashing beat. From the dizzying heights (Higher than the Sun), to the crashing lows (Lovesick) it charts the dangerous paths of relationships, making you feel you’re not that alone. Its psychedelic almost eerie tone emulates the drug like hook of love; the sounds calming ebb and flow come surging power it dangerous uncertainty. With infectious tones and fierce reality who wouldn’t fall In Love with Peace?

Shangri La - Jake Bugg 

Shangri La, Jake Bugg’s follow up to 2012s self title debut shows the beginnings of a new direction for the 19 year old.  While maintaining many of the qualities which made his debut distinctly his own, the raw honest lyrics, nasal tone and acoustic guitars Shangri La develops an increasingly rocky element . Opening track There’s a Beast and We All Feed throws you right into the deep end with rock and roll feel and powerfully punchy lyrics, all over in under 2 minuets, leaving you hungry for more! The rocky feel continues with singles Slumville Sunrise and What doesn’t Kill You delving you further into the album, with heavy guitar riffs and catchy beats. But he doesn’t stop there. For any lovers of Bugg’s country and acoustic side, gems Songs About Love and Simple Pleasures offer a calming rest bite from frantic defiance of the early tracks, showing an artist who can turn his talents to any topic he chooses. More attitudes, more power, more experience and more grit, who wouldn’t want more Bugg?

AM - Arctic Monkeys 

If there’s one thing we have learnt about the Arctic Monkeys over the past 7 years its that they are never afraid to make an impact, and with the release of 5th album AM earlier this year they did just that. Taking influences from the whole musical spectrum from 70s rock to hip-hop the album saw the band creating a style which is distinctly their own. Oozing sex appeal, from the first pulsating base line to the final falsetto the album takes us on a sweeping journey through the dirty nightlife we all secretly crave. Parties, girls and booze something’s about the Monkeys never change, but now there’s an unashamed glamour and decadence, which makes the album a little more illicit and a lot sexier. One thing that has remained a constant throughout the Arctic Monkeys ever developing sound however is the wit and originality of Alex Turners lyrics. Stand out moments include “she’s got a helter-skelter round her little finger and I ride it endlessly” (Arabella) and “been wondering if you’re heart’s still open / and if so I wanna know what time it shuts" (Do I Wanna Know?) proving that for Turner making music isn’t just a job its an art form. 

As Mick Jagger reaches the big 70 this Friday the stage is set for the age old debate; "how old is too old to be in rock n'roll?"

The determination of the Rolling Stones to remain at the top of the popular music scene has been the cause of much controversy since, the late 1980's. Frequently  they disappear from the public eye and the population breath a sigh of relief as we all expect there 50+ year career to be on its death bed. But like an aged aunt who just wont die they bound back dominating the music news with their surprise revival.

Should we complain though, or is this something for us all to be grateful for? After all they are rock royalty, the voice if a generation.

Last years release latest singles of "Doom and Gloom" and "One More

shot" showed that the Stones still had their ability to write a good old fashioned  rock n' roll track. It seems very well and good but the cynic in me asks is it not causing more harm than good? 

With dinosaur bands cashing in on their past success; constantly evoking a sense of nostalgia in the public, new bands are falling to the wayside. It is hard enough for a new musical generation to break through in the face of illegal downloads without having to go head to head with their past idols. 

The Rolling Stones; voice of a generation, yes, but not this generation!

It is finally time to say goodbye to the nostalgia once and for all, and start to appreciate our next generation of artists; because who know which bad will be the Rolling Stones of the future. 

David Bowie is.....

Last year NME conducted a poll to crown the ultimate icon of its lifetime. Bowie came third. A respectable place yes, but looking at his company it seems his talent was overlooked. Beaten by Liam Gallagher who, despite being in an undeniably good band, is now more remembered for his offensive and small minded opinions, it seems unfair to even compare a revolutionary artist as Bowie to such a person, let alone have him rated as less of an icon.

 Outraged by this I brought the debate to the arena of a sixth form common room. Inspiring such quotes as: "he might of been an icon in the 70's or something, but people have forgotten about him now"; "I can't see how his influence has lasted" and "I don't even know what he sounds like" I began to wonder, were they right, has Bowie really been forgotten?

But this was 6 months ago now, and times have been changing! After a decade of almost complete silence and minimal public appearances, Bowie burst back into the worlds eye in January with surprise new single Where Are We Now? His new album The Next Day debuted at number 1 in the UK album charts selling 94,048 copies in its first week—the highest weekly sale of any album in any week so far in 2013.

And then there’s David Bowie is… the V&A’s exhibition breaking box office records with over 50,000 advanced tickets sold! A journey through the mind of a master, it is less of an exhibition than a sensory experience. With unprecedented access to his achieves the exhibition has over 300 never before seen pieces, from original lyrics to personal photos and artwork.

David Bowie is inside.

When you arrive you're met by one of many original costumes, no glass, no barriers, all that’s stopping you touching it is the force field of awe inspiring respect. Visually its feast, a mix of technological genius and. A Favorite piece being a mirrored chamber with the famous Ziggy Stardust Top of the Pops performance, reflected so many times over it saturates the minds eye. In the centre the costume that shocked the world and changed the future of music, its stance pointing right at you.

David Bowie is daring you not to reassess everything you have seen before.

Its dark, like a chasm of time and surrounding you the most eclectic mix of influences from Oscar Wilde to the moon landings. A periodic table of Bowie, colour codes those who influence him and those he has influenced, it reads like an encyclopaedia of post enlightenment culture with Bowie at its centre. The variety of influence is seen in his costumes which loom at you each shockingly tiny yet undeniably powerful.

David Bowie is “the prettiest clown at the circus”, hamlet, androgynous alien Ziggy, the Thin White Duke, Halloween Jack…

And then you are engulfed in his performance, each wall covered in a projection, he is performing for you, all his key moments; “this is Not only is this the last show of the tour, but it's the last show that we'll ever do” Ziggy before Rock n’Roll suicide “When I first played here in 1971this had just been released” before Changes Glastonbury 2000. Performance after performance and each one as powerful as the last, until  it is almost impossible to drag yourself away.

David Bowie is everywhere.

David Bowie is runs from 23rd March to 11th August V&A

NME Awards 2013

The morning after the night before …. The NME Awards took place last night at Troxy, London where a hard years Rock n’Roll  is put under scrutiny by the best (or most critical) minds in music journalism.

Over 24 categories music legends old and new battled it out to receive one of the converted NME awards; everyone from Ronnie Wood to Jake Bugg partying together showing good music truly does transcend the barrier of time!  

And the Winner Are…..

Best British Band supported by SONOS
Arctic Monkeys
Kasabian
The Vaccines
Biffy Clyro
The Maccabees
The Cribs

Best Album supported by Hoxton Gin
Frank Ocean, 'Channel Orange'
Jake Bugg, 'Jake Bugg'
The Maccabees, 'Given To The Wild'
Alt-J, 'An Awesome Wave'
The Vaccines, 'Come Of Age'
Tame Impala, 'Lonerism'

Best International Band supported by Rekorderlig Cider
The Killers
Tame Impala
The Black Keys
Odd Future
Crystal Castles
Foo Fighters

“Thank you very much. Britain’s got a lot of great guitar bands, always have and always will. We’re fucking bulletproof,” they say.



Best Track supported by Blackstar Amps
Arctic Monkeys, 'R U Mine?'
Haim, 'Don’t Save Me'
MIA, 'Bad Girls'
Foals, 'Inhaler'
Palma Violets, 'Best Of Friends'
Tame Impala, 'Elephant'

Best TV Show
Breaking Bad
Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy
Fresh Meat
Sherlock
The Thick Of It
Doctor Who

Best Music Film
Searching For Sugar Man
LCD Soundsystem: Shut Up And Play The Hits
Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Patty Schemel
Marley
The Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane
Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day

Best Reissue
Manic Street Preachers, 'Generation Terrorists'
Blur, '21'
Prodigy, 'The Fat Of The Land'
Interpol, 'Turn On The Bright Lights'
Smashing Pumpkins, 'Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness'
Ian Brown, 'Collected'

Best Solo Artist
Jake Bugg
Noel Gallagher
Florence Welch
Miles Kane
Grimes
Paul Weller

Best New Band supported by Spotify
Alt-J
Peace
Palma Violets 
Django Django
Alabama Shakes
Haim
“No way! This is amazing! I can’t believe it
Thanks everyone at fucking Rough Trade,” says Chilli. A little pissed??


Best Music Video
Grimes, 'Oblivion'
MIA, 'Bad Girls'
David Bowie, 'Where Are We Now?'
Arctic Monkeys, 'R U Mine?'
Haim, 'Don't Save Me'
Tame Impala, 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards'

Best Festival supported by Farah Vintage
Reading & Leeds Festivals
T In The Park
Bestival
Primavera
Latitude
Isle Of Wight

Best Live Band
The Maccabees
The Cribs
Blur
Biffy Clyro
Foals
The Rolling Stones

Best Dancefloor Anthem
Mosca feating Katy B, 'What You Came For'
Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch, 'Sweet Nothing'
Psy, 'Gangnam Style'
MIA, 'Bad Girls'
Kanye West/Jay-Z, 'In Paris'
Solange, 'Losing You'

Best Twitter
Muse (@muse)
Fred Macpherson, Spector (@fredmacpherson)
Theo Hutchcraft, Hurts (@theohurts)
Alana Haim, Haim (@babyhaim)
Wiley (@EskiDance)
MIA (@MIAuniverse)

Best Book
David Byrne, How Music Works
Neil Young, Waging Heavy Peace
Mike Skinner, The Story Of The Streets
Tim Burgess, Telling Stories
The Rolling Stones, 50
Peter Hook, Unknown Pleasures : Inside Joy Division

Music Moment Of The Year
David Bowie returns
The Stone Roses play Heaton Park
Olympics opening ceremony
The Rolling Stones play London's O2 Arena
Green Day's secret set at Reading Festival
Pussy Riot's punk prayer

Hero Of The Year
David Bowie
Bradley Wiggins
Pussy Riot
Barack Obama
Frank Ocean
Dave Grohl

Villain Of The Year
David Cameron
Harry Styles
Skrillex
Psy
Fred Macpherson
Azealia Banks

Best Small Festival
Swn
The Great Escape
Field Day
Festival No.6
End Of The Road
Constellations

Worst Band
One Direction
Muse
Mumford & Sons
Alt-J
Justin Bieber
Ed Sheeran

Best Fan Community
Muse
Hurts
30 Seconds To Mars
Manic Street Preachers
The Killers
Enter Shikari

Best Film
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Ted
iLL Manors
The Dark Knight Rises
Skyfall
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower


Godlike Genius Award 
Johnny Marr

A few of the tributes:
“Tonight we hail the legend that is Johnny Marr,” says NME Editor Mike Williams. “He completely ripped up the rule book with The Smiths.

Noel Gallagher sends a video message: “You can’t imitate Johnny Marr. He’s in a class of his own. He makes the very difficult look easy”.

Brett Anderson: “Possibly the greatest guitarist of his generation.”

Ronnie Wood : “What a great guy. I’ve known him since he was a little chap. He’s just an innovator. Nobody deserves it more than him”

Acceptance.... “Woah, that was amazing seeing all that. Thanks very much to the NME – we go back a long way. Any 15 or 16 year olds reading the NME trying to get a band together, keep doing it. Don’t give up. Thanks very much I’m very touched. Thanks Ronnie”.

Brits 2013 The Winners!



He has become known as the surprise double BRIT winner but looking back at Ben Howards year we really should have seen it coming. With a Top 5 Album, unique sound and constant radio play it was hard to escape his talent. He has been on a constant sell out tour for the past year and recently had a crack at American supporting double Grammy winners Mumford and Sons on their arena tour, something he said helped prepare him for his astonishing Brits performance last night. When picking up his second Award he said “this is bizarre” showing genuine surprise and joy at winning. Being both breakout artist and male of the year it is safe to assume Ben Howard is probably pretty proud of his year.

 

Other less surprising winners included Mumford and Sons for Best British Band, and Emeli Sande for Best British Female and the coveted Best Album of the Year. One Direction ended an astonishing year for British music globally, with 4 out of the 5 top selling albums in America being made by British Artists, by winning Global Success Awards. Fittingly the boy band are currently number one in 63 countries around the world with their Comic Relief Single, One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks), mash up of the punk classics by Blondie and The Undertones. The ever deserving Adele walked away with best Single for Skyfall but was unable to attend the event, instead sending a video message in which she jokingly ended; “I won’t keep you, I don’t want to interrupt the best album speech” referencing James Cordons presenting faux pas from last year.

 

The Winners

British Breakthrough Act

Ben Howard - WINNER
Alt-J
Jake Bugg
Jessie Ware
Rita Ora

British Female Solo Artist

Emeli Sande - WINNER
Amy Winehouse
Bat for Lashes
Jessie Ware
Paloma Faith

British Group

Mumford & Sons - WINNER
Alt-J
Muse
One Direction
The xx

British Live Act

Coldplay - WINNER
Mumford & Sons
Muse
The Rolling Stones
The Vaccines

British Male Solo Artist

Ben Howard - WINNER
Calvin Harris
Olly Murs
Richard Hawley
Plan B

BRITs Global Success Award

One Direction - WINNER

British Single

Top fifteen British singles based on the biggest sales success in 2012.
Adele - Skyfall - WINNER
Alex Clare - Too Close
Coldplay & Rihanna - Princess of China
DJ Fresh Ft Rita Ora - Hot Right Now
Emeli Sandé - Next To Me
Florence & The Machine - Spectrum
James Arthur - Impossible
Jessie J - Domino
Labrinth Ft Emeli Sandé - Beneath Your Beautiful
Olly Murs Ft Flo Rida - Troublemaker
Rita Ora Ft Tinie Tempah - R.I.P.
Rizzle Kicks - Mama Do The Hump
Robbie Williams - Candy
Rudimental Ft John Newman - Feel The Love
Stooshe - Black Heart

Special Recognition Award

War Child

Critics Choice

Tom Odell - WINNER
AlunaGeorge
Laura Mvula

International Female Solo Artist

Lana Del Rey - WINNER
Alicia Keys
Cat Power
Rihanna
Taylor Swift

International Group

The Black Keys - WINNER
Alabama Shakes
Fun
The Killers
The Script

International Male Solo Artist

Frank Ocean - WINNER
Bruce Springsteen
Gotye
Jack White
Michael Buble

MasterCard British Album of the Year

Emeli Sanda - Our Version Of Events - WINNER
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Mumford & Sons - Babel
Paloma Faith - Fall To Grace
Plan B - Ill Manors

British Producer of the Year

Paul Epworth - WINNER
Damon Albarn
Jake Gosling

With award season nearly upon us it’s time to take a break and look back at some of the best breakthrough artists of 2012, and our best tips for 2013.

The Nominations:

Jake Bugg 
From; Clifton, Nottingham
For Fans of: Don McLean, Arctic Monkeys, Bob Dylan and Oasis
Key Tracks; Lightning Bolt, Trouble Town and Taste It

It’s been impossible to escape the dulcet tones of music’s newest teenage icon in the last six months. From Lightning Bolt accompanying Bolt at the Olympics and constant Radio play; Bugg seems determined to make fans out of us all. With the likes of Example and Noel Gallagher already amongst his fan base you can be sure you’re in good company. After a series of hit singles, his debut album shot straight to the number one spot beating Leona Lewis in a chart battle that really summed up what he stands for; to keep “that x factor s**t of the top spot”. And he’s not getting complacent, recently turning down a drink with Radio One DJ Nick Grimshaw “cuz that second album isn’t going to write itself”. Expect to hear a lot more of this young man in years to come!


Rita Ora
From; West London
For Fans of; Rhianna and Gwen Stafani
Key Tracks; Hot Right Now, RIP and Radioactive

Rita Ora made her name in a series of viral you tube videos back in 2011, while working on her debut album. In Dec 2011 Ora and DJ Fresh released the music video for “Hot Right Now” and the track proceeded to go straight to number one on its release in February 2012. A big year, which included supporting Coldplay and a series of UK number ones and culminated with the release of her album “Ora” in August, which debuted at the top of the UK charts. She’s not taking a break after all her success however, and has been quoted saying: "I definitely know what I want more and it's pretty straightforward with what I'm trying to say with this second album”. Sounds like we will be hearing more from Rita in the not too distant future.

Alt-J 
From; Leeds England
For Fans of; Everything Everything, Two Door Cinema Club
Key Tracks; Tessellate, Breezeblocks and Dissolve Me

Alt-J may have been adopted by a predominantly indie fan base but their unique sound comes from influences ranging from folk to hip-hop. In fact their debut album, An Awesome Wave, is so comprehensive many have said its’ only glue is lead singer Joe Newman’s distinct vocal style. The album may not have had the best chart success of the nominations, but it has already stacked up a collection of awards from the prestigious 2012 Mercury Prize to BBC Radio 6 Album of the year. Arguably the most experimental of all the nominations (look out for high school keyboard sound effects on opening track Intro) this album really represents a step forwards in modern alternative music.

Ben Howard
From; London, England
For Fans of; Bon Iver, Charlie Simpson, Mumford and Sons
Key Tracks; Keep Your Head Up, The Wolves and Only Love

With Ben Howard’s first EP Games in the Dark being released independently way back in 2008, and his debut album Every Kingdom coming out in October 2011, he is not strictly “breakout” artist, but the brilliance of his music means we can forgive this oversight. Adored by Radio DJs and listeners alike Howards popularity sored during 2012 and he embarked on a hugely successful tour supporting Willy Mason. With no number ones or previous awards to speak of, Howard may be the underdog in this year’s Breakout Battle, but that just makes us love him even more. Will this be the Year Ben Howard gets the recognition he truly deserves?

Jesse Ware
From; Oban, Scotland
For Fans of; Disclosure and AlunaGeorge
Key Tracks; If You’re Never Gonna Move (previously 110%) and Wildest Moments

Jesse Ware, favourite Radio One Breakfast Host Nick Grimshaw, may have the smallest back catalogue of the contenders for this year’s breakthrough act, but this doesn’t make her a weak candidate. Combining a blend of Soul and R&B, Clash magazine called her “the missing link between Adele, SBTRKT and Sade"  making future chart success sound guaranteed. Her debut album Devotion reached an impressive Number 5 in the UK album charts, and she is the third of out breakthrough artists to be nominated for the 2012 Mercury award. Consistent radio play makes us think we will be hearing a lot more from Miss Ware in the coming year.