Top Ten Albums
1 Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve – The Soft Bounce
2 Nancy Kerr- Instar
3 Minor Victories – The Debut Album
4 Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker - Overnight
5 Lucinda Williams – The Ghosts of Highway 20
6 Luh – Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing
7 Lisa Hannigan – At Swim
8 The Wedding Present – Going ,Going ...
9 Blair Dunlop – Gilded
10 Metallica – Hardwired ... to Self-destruct
Top Ten Gigs
1 Muse, Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
2 PJ Harvey, The Eden Project
3 Brian Wilson, Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
4 Savages, The Junction, Cambridge
5 Preservation Hall Brass Band, Preservation Hall, New Orleans
6 Eliza Carthy and The Wayward Band, Glee Club, Nottingham
7 Wilco, Albert Hall, Manchester
8 Stick In The Wheel, Village Folk, Derby
9 Lake Street Dive, Scala, London
10 Lucinda Williams, The Plug, Sheffield
Individual performance worthy of mention – Dr Ruth Skipper of Moulettes rocking out with her bassoon, an instrument previously unknown to rock out with.
Top Ten Festival Appearances
1 Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker, Derby Cathedral, Derby Folk Festival
2 Peggy Seeger, Derby Folk Festival
3 The Human League, Splendour
4 Bat for Lashes, End of The Road
5 Goat, End of The Road
6 Broken Social Scene, End of The Road
7 Primal Scream , On Roundhay
8 Fairport Convention, Derby Folk Festival
9 Teenage Fan Club ,End of The Road
10 Whitney , End of The Road
Worst and Best Musical moments – (sadly) David Bowie dying and then hearing all the great music he made being played everywhere for the next week. The intro to 'All The Young Dudes' still brings a tear.
Annoying developing live music trend - People talking during shows. It easy folks, music is designed to be listened to, sung along with, danced to, or all three, not for being talked over. Talking whilst a musician is playing is disrespectful to the musicians and annoys other audience members who have paid to hear the musician, not you. Stop It Now.
Best Song – Riding The Low 'Heed'
Best Film
Hunt for The Wilderpeople
Alisdair Whyte
