Lee Wakefield

Purists insist the art of crate-digging is fading due to a new crop of DJs bubbling to the surface. You do wonder if those same gatekeepers have been lucky enough to catch a HAAi set before.

For a record that was birthed out of just "mucking around", it ranks as one of the year's best.

Christmas lights were made cool this year with four in store performances on Oxford Street from the likes of Ray BLK, Novelist, Kara Marni and more.

Undoubtedly a phenomenal addition to the landslide of blistering pop records we've been blessed with in recent years, Tommy Genesis should reign somewhere near the top.

"No matter what band you’re in or your style, sometimes you’ve got your blinders on and are in way too deep..."

Radiohead affiliations, Mica Levi collaborations and Southbank residencies may catch the eye, but cellist, composer and producer Oliver Coates is a formidable artist in his own right.

A rare long player that captures the sheer fearlessness of its creator.

Quickly approaching its 10th anniversary in 2019, read our account of how Farr Festival is starting to change as well as which great parts have remained the same.

"I felt that I was pulled into a genre tag that's considered easy to reproduce and kind of cheap, which is what I don't consider my music to be..."

...I'm All Ears is a confident next step, as Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth sharpen their effortless knack for a hook and return with shimmering pop smashes that bristle with identity.

"It is a vanity project in a sense, but I hope it's one where the doors have opened rather than being exclusive."

Growing steadily since its inception nine years ago, the team behind Farr have earned their reputation thanks to immersive production and balanced line-ups, see what's in store for 2018.

A disorientating but ultimately rewarding listen.

XOYO continues its tradition of vital residencies.

This collection of tracks are uncluttered, stripped back and minimalistic in approach, resulting in a concise and purposeful twenty- five minutes.

Daniel Avery takes over York Hall for a massive eight hour set that climbs from a sparse start to an explosive finish.

"Some people have a fixed idea about what music should be and it's actually quite restrictive and it's rewarding to get past that..."

It's nothing short of euphoric to witness Peggy Gou’s reinforcement of her position as one of the dancefloor’s greatest interpreters in 2018 and beyond.

Summer may be a hazy memory but the Loleatta Holloway-sampling title track is primed for smouldering festival sets, and it looms large over this body of work too.

“For me, I get feelings from music that I don’t get from anything else, like I’ve never experienced before.”

Princess Nokia has garnered a reputation as a formidable live performer and it’s impossible not to be utterly engrossed.