2013: Records. Themes. Gigs. The Lot.

Like every other self-respecting music freak, I'm more than partial to the annual December list-athon, but what I cannot fathom are those which instantly speculate how a given year will be remembered. Sure, it's an intriguing aspect to the whole discussion, but alleging certain records will remain classics for years and decades to come is ultimately a hiding to nothing. Who's to say that Yeezus, for example, won't gather dust as its production tricks and shock value succumb to age, or that come 2020 we won't snigger at Modern Vampires of the City as an "album of the year" catastrophe? On the other side of the coin, how can we be sure we've not dismissed another Odessey and Oracle or Velvet Underground & Nico; an overlooked gem whose early obscurity masks a future cult classic?

With these and other bloopers in mind, I prefer to avoid declaring which LPs we'll view as "the best" or "the most important" with retrospect, and instead focus on the patterns and events which have unquestionably left an impression on the here and now. Without further ado, then, here the themes which have shaped my own musical year, together with a selection of personal favourites from what present impressions suggest has been another solid 12-month innings...