Year In Review: Ten Of The Best Tracks You May Have Missed In 2017

Words: Saam Das

Attention may be starting to move towards the best tracks of 2018 thus far, but we thought that before entertaining that option, we'd look back at some of the best songs you might have missed from 2017. Stellar tracks like 'Don't Kill My Vibe' from new Scandi star Sigrid and 'Love' from the evergreen Lana Del Rey could have appeared but their popularity means that we've decided to focus on some potentially overlooked gems instead.

Surfacing: LUMP [New Band]

Words: Saam Das

LUMP is a new meeting of established musical minds, pairing together the diverse folk talents of Laura Marling and Tunng co-founder/composer Mike Lindsay. Listen to choice cuts from their forthcoming self-titled debut album, 'LUMP' below.

Festival Preview: Six Top Acts To See At Are You Listening? Festival 2018

Are You Listening? Festival 2018 (various venues across Reading, 28 April '18) // Words: Saam Das

Music festivals and Reading - name a more iconic duo. Okay, you probably can name several but that shouldn't take away from the popularity of Reading music festivals of which Are You Listening? is now firmly established. This April's edition is the festival's sixth, and increasingly, an important stop in the UK festival calendar.

Year In Review: Saam Das' Top Tracks Of 2017

Words: Saam Das

How do you solve a problem like summing up the best songs of 2017 into an easily digestable list? Well, you take a while and then mercilessly cut it down to your top ten tracks of 2017. Showing my working, efforts like Mikey Me's advert-soundtracking 'Doin' Me' and Dan Black's dreamy return can count themselves unlucky to miss out. After much deliberation, here's my top ten of 2017:

Year In Review: Saam Das' Top Ten Films Of 2017

Words: Saam Das

The Oscars will be arriving shortly, celebrating the best in film over the last year or so, and with that in mind, it seems there's still time to reflect on my top films of 2017. Check out the list below, alongside some honourable mentions:

Year In Review: Rajan Lakhani's Top Ten Albums Of 2017

Words: Rajan Lakhani

Following up my top tracks of 2017 comes a list of my favourite ten albums of the past year, including promising newcomers and returning giants. The YouTube playlist below will also handily take you through a song from each record.

Festival Preview: Eight Of The Best Acts To See At Rockaway Beach 2018

Rockaway Beach (12-14 Jan '18, Butlin's Bognor Regis) // Words: Saam Das

Few music festivals can claim to offer top bands, a roof over your head, and a water-based adventure park all included in the (very reasonable) ticket price, but Rockaway Beach has stepped up to meet these unique needs. Now entering its third year, the first major UK festival of the year kicks off this weekend, featuring the likes of Gang Of Four, Alabama 3, and one of the final performances of the departing Wild Beasts. We've picked out some potential festival highlights across the 2018 edition of Rockaway Beach:

Year In Review: Rajan Lakhani's Top Tracks Of 2017

Words: Rajan Lakhani

Kicking off our Best Of 2017 features with a selection of my favourite tracks of the last year, many of which soundtracked (and helped ease) the commute into work. In no particular order, here are thirteen of the best tracks of 2017, accompanied by a YouTube playlist for your viewing and listening pleasure:

Year In Review: Eight Of The Best Films You May Have Missed In UK Cinemas In 2017

Words: Saam Das

We're approaching that time of the year when the "best of [insert year here]" lists come out and in light of this, we figured it would be a good time to also showcase some of the underexposed movies that might get missed off those lists. These films each made it to the big screen in the UK in 2017, but may have only been on a limited release.

Year In Review: Tips For 2016 Revisited

Words: Saam Das

It's fair to say that few would have predicted a double whammy of Britain exiting the EU and a Trump victory in the US Presidential Election last year, so perhaps the business of prediction is something of a fruitless exercise. But I do have a soft spot for lists, so here's an assessment of my shortlist of tips for 2016:

Year In Review: Saam Das' Top Ten Films Of 2016

Words: Saam Das

With the 2017 Oscar results now finalised, I suppose I should also get around to celebrating the best in film in 2016. As per usual, our top ten list is based on UK release dates, meaning that Best Picture winner 'Moonlight' and multiple Oscar winner 'La La Land' will have to wait for my consideration. It should be noted that I would have liked to have caught the likes of Jim Jarmusch's 'Paterson' and Richard Linklater's 'Everybody Wants Some!' but nonetheless, this list represents the cream of the crop from over 50 movies seen in 2016:

Year In Review: Rajan Lakhani's Top Ten Albums Of 2016

Words: Rajan Lakhani

Before we jump right into my top ten albums of 2016, here's a collection of my top tracks of 2016 (some of which can be heard below):

Suede - 'No Tomorrow' / The Weeknd - 'Starboy' / Christine And The Queens - 'Tilted' / David Bowie - 'I Can’t Give Everything Away' / Jamie T - 'Tinfoil Boy' / Clare Maguire - 'Spaceman' / Mitski - 'Your Best American Girl' / Weezer - 'Wind In Our Sail' / Rae Stremmund - 'Black Beatles' / Band Of Horses - 'Hag'.

Year In Review: Simon Opie's Top Twenty Albums Of 2016 [Part Two: 10-1]

Words: Simon Opie

Following Part One of this best of 2016 albums, featuring the likes of Sub Pop's Heron Oblivion and the now departing Dillinger Escape Plan, comes ten quite exceptional albums that really could have been placed in any order. But here they are, for the purposes of presentation, from 10 to 1:

Year In Review: Simon Opie's Top Twenty Albums Of 2016 [Part One: 20-11]

Words: Simon Opie

It’s been a quite turbulent year, as they say, and I rather doubt next year will be any calmer. That may be good for music as artists have a cause to create, but in fact 2016 was already a really good year for music. Here’s my list of my favourite 20 albums in descending order – preferences naturally change so I’ve tried to be honest about which records have really inspired my listening this year. I think it’s a cracking collection of geographically diverse albums – hope you enjoy it too!

Futuresounds: Ones To Watch For 2016

Words: Saam Das

Why bother publishing a ones to watch/tips for 2016 list mid-way through March? Well, because a) the early year hype has died down, and b) because we can and want to support artists that deserve some added attention. And c) because we're mavericks. That said, three of our following ten bands to watch for 2016 did appear in our nominations for January's Blog Sound Of 2016, although only one of my chosen acts made it to the long list.

Year In Review: Saam Das' Top Ten Films Of 2015

Words: Saam Das

The 2016 Oscars are imminent, celebrating the best in film during 2015, so I figure that despite the relative lateness, I can still present my favourite ten films of the past year. I caught about 75 films released in UK cinemas in 2015 from January's eventual Best Picture Oscar winner 'Birdman' to December's 'Star Wars Episode VII. Both of which are worth a watch but neither of which made my best films of 2015:

Year In Review: Saam Das' Top Ten Albums Of 2015

Words: Saam Das

From Iain Woods' psychologist album released on 1st January 2015 to Archy Marshall's King Krule follow-up released as December drew to a close, 2015 was certainly an interesting year for album releases. With honourable mentions to Young Fathers, Errors, and Lanterns On The Lake, read below for ten of my favourite albums from the past year:

Year In Review: Lauren Johnson-Ginn's Top Ten Films Of 2015

Words: Lauren Johnson-Ginn

10: 'Jurassic World'

Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? And, more to the point, who doesn’t love Chris Pratt? This ambitious revisiting of the celebrated franchise was a true CGI-fest with a couple of questionable plot holes – but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable, particularly when combined with popcorn.

Year In Review: Rajan Lakhani's Top Ten Tracks Of 2015

Words: Rajan Lakhani

10: Julia Holter - 'Night Song'

It was difficult to separate this from Tobias Jesso Jr’s 'Without You' for the final spot in my top 10. But I went for 'Night Song' - it’s a stunningly beautiful ballad from a brilliant album. When she sings heartbreakingly “What did I do to make you feel so bad?’, forgiveness is inevitable.

Year In Review: Jordan Andrew's Top Twenty TV Shows Of 2015 [Part Two: #10-1]

Words: Jordan Andrew

Yesterday's part one of my top twenty TV shows of 2015 contained the likes of big US superhero offerings 'Arrow' and 'Daredevil', as well as 'No Offence' and 'The Great British Bake Off' from closer to home. Finishing off the list, here are my top ten programmes from the past year.