2013 Summarized and 2014 Predicted

Once a year, usually as the month of December fades out into the dawn of a new era, I get visited by three ghosts. The Ghosts of Music Past, Present and Future come to visit as the midnight bells chime twelve..... Ok, I'll stop now as I'm sure there might be copyright laws involved at some point.
However it is that time of year when every music publication, blog, podcast etc review the best events of 2013. I have decided to tackle mine with also making predictions of what will occur in the future*, so here goes;

Best Album Releases

The Next Day - David Bowie

Past:  The King of Pop and personification of rock 'n' roll had been in self-exile since his 2004 'Reality' tour. After leading everyone into thinking that the era of Bowie had been and gone, he carried out the most simplest of publicity stunts which just consisted of popping down the road for a pint of milk. The media were whipped up into a frenzy but even they couldn't predict the sudden, surprise release of 'Where Are We Now?' on the Thin White Duke's 66th Birthday, 8th January, with the announcement of a new album. The Next Day reached Number 1, Bowie's first since his 1993 album 'Black Tie, White Noise'.  

Present:  Bowie and Visconti are still holding all Bowie fans in a state of limbo by releasing contradicting statements over the possibility of live performances. 

Future: Different versions of 'The Next Day' will be released over the next five years with the promises of unheard tracks and remixes of original versions. Despite the controversy over the title track, The Pope will release a statement saying that he is a fan. 

Rewind The Film - Manic Street Preachers

Past: After waving farewell to the Welsh musicians at the O2 arena in 2011 as they announced they were embarking on a UK hiatus, I immediately began suffering Manic withdrawal symptoms (see what I did there?).  Remedy and much excitement came in May of this year however as James Dean Bradfield  announced to NME that recording was in progress of two new albums, with one being almost purely acoustic. Rewind The Film was nostalgia in its purest form for everyone involved as the Manics explored the ideologies that had moulded them as a band.

Present: Nicky Wire is carefully selecting his wardrobe for the tour of the second album. Milkman outfit or leopard print skirt, or both?

Future:  30 Year War will be used as the official song for Margaret Thatcher's memorial service in 2014 due to an embarrassing mix up on behalf of the Tory Party.

 

 New- Paul McCartney 

Past: It seems that 2013 should go down as the official year for musical nostalgia as Paul McCartney released his sixteenth studio album to express his memories of the days before The Beatles as well as more recent events in his life. Selecting producers such as Mark Ronson, McCartney went against the grain of what was to be generally expected of him by making a fun-loving pop album. 

Present: 'New' reached number 3 in the UK album charts and I wouldn't be surprised if DJs everywhere are selecting tracks from the album to put on their New Year's Eve Party song list. 

Future: Paul McCartney will go down in history as the most successful Post-Beatles Beatle.

Best Live Performances

 Roger Waters - The Wall 

After sharing air with the legendary Roger Waters and seeing performed live one of the most famous albums in British history, I predict that I will still be wearing the Tee Shirt when I'm old and frail. On a more serious note, the concert has also inspired me to get more involved in politics and hopefully one day I will get a chance to teach impoverished children in third world countries so that they can have a fighting chance in this world. 

Beady Eye -BE 

'You're not a mod,  you're just a c**t in a Parka coat' I thought to myself as Liam Gallagher swaggered onto stage at Kingston's New Slang. Kudos to New Slang for getting a Gallagher brother up onto their stage but the night for me just contained pure comedic value. You can imagine the crowd that they drew for their acoustic set and although I had managed to wiggle my way to the front, Liam was sat down on a stool so that anyone from the third row back couldn't see their Britpop hero. Cue shouts of 'STAND UP YA PRICK', 'NOEL WOULD STAND UP' and the wittier 'SIT DOWN IF YOU LOVE MAN U' .  I predict that Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will turn up at Kingston in a demonstration of 'whatever our Liam can do, I can do fucking better...a''ight?' 

Magistrates

The Magistrates had it all together back in 2009, on the verge of huge success. Unfortunately the promise of a debut album never actually materialized and the band went their separate ways. Last month the band were on stage together once more with their new(ish) single 'When We're Apart' as they tested the water. The band create a vibrant, party atmosphere with their electro-dance beat which enables the crowd to just let go of their inhibitions. Hopefully 2014 will see a release of an album to accompany them on their tour. 

Best Moments

Leaving work one night, I had a couple of hours to kill before heading over to New Slang to see The Front Bottoms, my favourite American band. There was no point in heading home so me and my boyfriend decided to amble round Kingston before we spotted Brian, the lead singer of the Front Bottoms, come out of the club. He was rather restless before the gig and so we gave him a quick tour of Kingston. It was rather surreal as we chatted away about many different things, such as explaining to him why it is not okay to be a Milwall supporter. We ended up giving him our Kingstonian scarf to make sure that he went away supporting a decent 'soccer' team. My 2014 prediction is that one day he'll turn up on the terrace to see Kingstonian play. 

My inability to grasp modern technology manifested itself on the worst possible day. My camcorder would chose not to work on the day I had my first ever live interview wouldn't it? However it was fantastic getting the opportunity to interview Mutineers as it felt just more like a friendly conversation, even if I'm still struggling to get the footage from my phone to my computer. I can see Mutineers making more of a name for themselves in 2014 with their upcoming tour whereas I'll be beginning a one-woman war against technology.












*not actually psychic