And now for something a little different.

List-fatigue notwithstanding, looking back over a year can be rewarding. When it comes to music, something I spend an inordinate amount of time consuming, it is a chance to pick through my last.fm stats, return to records that had fallen off my main Spotify playlist (this is collaborative, so feel free to add things), and look through some other ‘Best of 2014’ lists to take a look at what I’d missed (thanks to DiS I now know I missed, somewhat unbelievably, a new record from The Twilight Sad).

In terms of live music I haven’t seen as much this year as I’d have liked to, but in terms of highlights they included Anna Calvi at the Troxy back in February, 65daysofstatic celebrating a decade since releasing The Fall of Math by playing the whole thing live, and British Sea Power getting the bears out again in the intimate surroundings of The Quarterhouse, Folkestone.

And so once again I present to you my tracks of the year! (2013 selection is here) As you might guess, Liars – MESS is my undisputed record of the year. Inventive, ludicrous, unhinged. Just how I like it.