A RUDDY GOOD TUNE – Azealia Banks ’212′

SO. VERY. CATCHY.

This track has been on repeat. Can’t get enough. Another BBC’s sound of 2012, definitely one to watch. The next Missy??

A RUDDY GOOD RECORD – The War On Drugs ‘Slave Ambient’

Ok so we felt bad not handing this incredible record a whole day of festive devotion, so kick back and enjoy it’s perfect layers and lulling guitar.

Ok so we’re starting to get a bit worried – there’s only 5 days left and we’re not entirely sure that’s enough to fit everything in. So at this point we’d like to give a massive shout out to The War on Drugs and their LP ‘Slave Ambient’. However 20th December has to be handed over to

A FINE AS ALBUM – Kurt Vile ‘Smoke Ring For My Halo’

one word – YES!

A CRACKING MUSIC VIDEO – tUnE-yArDs ‘Bizness’

We’re willing to forgive this lady’s irritating play with upper case / lower case because quite honestly she rocks. This video is amazing, and in the best possible way, looks like an overly curious child has eaten an entire box of crayola crayons and thrown them all back up. This is a good thing – we promise. Check it out for yourself.

A RUDDY GOOD GIG – Josh T. Pearson Brixton Academy

Crowned Rough Trade’s album of 2011, Pearson’s ‘Last of the Country Gentlemen’ is lush in a really unnerving way – listen to the lyrics. But it’s classic country at it’s best and it makes no apologies. Supporting The Kills at BA earlier this month, Pearson completely won over the less than likely country loving crowd. Highlight – JTP’s unashamed plugging “Ima just gonna keep repeating my name – Josh T. Pearson – buy my shit” between each song. We love this man and we ruddy love this record.

A FINE AS ALBUM – Balam Acab ‘Wander/Wonder’

This release continues to amaze, taking on different dimensions every time you listen to it, depending on your mood. It’s both amoebic and completely self defined. Huge amount of love for Balam Acab, high five!

A RUDDY GOOD GIG – Anna Calvi

We’ve seen Anna play at least 5 times this year and every single time was amazing so it’s hard to pin point the best one BUT if pushed we’d have to say the Great Escape gig at Komedia. The band were exhausted from the album campaign and pretty much asleep until the very moment they got on stage at which point the energy was suddenly tangible and they blew the crowd away with an epic set. Definitely one of the most interesting and exciting releases of 2011.

A FINE AS ALBUM – Pure X ‘Pleasure’

A beautiful album. The perfect companion to a lazy day where all you want to do is listen and stare into space, thinking. A bit cheeky but, it’s all put so well, that at this point we’re just going to rip straight from the PR of the LP -

“The aspiration was to capture songs in their purest form, mistakes and all, as they were being written. Chasing a vibe in the studio allowed the songs to form themselves; structure and formula lost their rigidity as the songwriting process became more about meditative evolution than meticulous intent. Patient, sparse and never any less than heartbreaking”

A RUDDY GOOD TRACK – The Luyas ‘Too Beautiful To Work’

Not only do we LOVE the title of this track but we get lost in the layers of sound that just let you float away and well, forget you had any work to do. Another mind blowing release from the Secretly Jag legends, this time on Dead Oceans. Enjoy, its rather magical.

A RUDDY GOOD SLEEVE – Blood Orange ‘Coastal Grooves’

It’s also a damn fine album, we’re starting to believe that Devonté Hynes is some kind of musical wizard. If you missed this release, now is your chance. Chilled out disco grooves galore. Saying all of this, it was one of our fave gigs too (see – WIZARD) the highlight of which was Dev jumping into the crowd for a guitar solo. Winning!