Us Brits may moan about the weather and the tax, but when it comes to live music, this tiny island is a delight. From where else in the world could we nip off to Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Copenhagen or, er, Minehead to indulge our burning desire for live music and still scrape into work on a Monday morning? And where else could we hop between a 60,000-seat football stadium packed full of air-punching Bruce Springsteen fans and a miniscule bar where a fragile Edwyn Collins plays a secret set to 50 tearful Dundonians (and one TLOBF writer)? Eight of the site’s most obsessive gig-goers present their picks of the year’s live music. Continue Reading

It’s that time of year again… We’re making our list and checking it twice, trying to find out who’s been naughty or nice. Yes, it’s our Album of the Year! More coveted than a shiny penny, more famous than the winner of last year’s X-Factor and guaranteed to start debate!

This year, to shuffle blame away from TLOBF HQ, we’re getting YOU, yes, YOU the reader, to vote for the albums YOU think are the best 2008 had to offer. We’ve whittled down a mammoth list of prospective albums to a mere 50. It’s tough work, but someone had to do it.

So, mouse button at the ready - get clicking! You can pick as many albums as you like, there are no limits. If you feel it’s worthy of “Album of the Year” status, then do the right thing and cast your vote.

If you need some help making that all-important decision, you can read our take on the albums listed in our 2008 archive here.

The poll will close on Friday December 12th.

There is a prize up for grabs for one lucky reader. Some very kind record companies behind the following 50 records have offered up a selection of prizes including: ultra-rare vinyl, posters, t-shirts and CDs by some of the nominees, plus a pair of tickets to see the sold-out Fleet Foxes show at London Roundhouse in February 2009. To be in with a chance of winning this mammoth and hugely exciting prize, enter your details at the bottom of this page. The lucky winner will be notified via email. Competition closes on Friday 12th December.

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Fuck Buttons

This is most probably my last ever gig at the Astoria before they knock it down to pave way for shops and cafes or the new Tottenham Court Road station but it’s shaping up to be a goodie. It all begins with Bristol’s Fuck Buttons, who radiate their brand of towering, pristine experimental electronic doom with their Casio keyboards and Nintendo game boys. They drop the twinkling ‘Sweet Love For Planet Earth’ which ascends into brutal fuzzed anguish. Glorious. The one drawback though is they do tend to indulge an awful lot. Where songs seem to stay on an infinite loop but don’t show any progression and a couple of songs do begin to border on being dare I say, tedious? Continue Reading