大象传媒

It's a difficult choice to make - there's no set of style/genre rules - I've just singled out what I firmly believe to be the best acts of the year based on the sheer amount of music that I've listened to (and I've listened to EVERYTHING that has been sent in). If you've listened to as much as I have - I'd like to think you'd come up with the same results! I also worked on the basis of "if I remembered the song, it must be good!" so tried not to look down a list...

We first discovered this Kidderminster girl when she uploaded her music to bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/introducing - and we almost blew the stereo system. Then we decided to up the stereo system and stick her on at Nozstock. There, she blew everyone away - and on stage looked fantastic. So much so, her picture is currently being printed out and put up on our studio wall to represent who we are and what we do at 大象传媒 Introducing. When it came to editing the session for the website - the track was so immense, we passed it onto 大象传媒 Radio 1Xtra who added it to their playlist within a week!

Every year, people are constantly surprised that a 鈥渟igned artist鈥� isn鈥檛 writing better songs than some random person from randomville. But this is chosen purely on our own choice - and tracks like Burn just didn鈥檛 come anywhere near my top 100. But the work she did here with Calvin Harris just had an energy of its own - and pressing play on this in a nightclub all these months later is still a sure fire way of getting everyone鈥檚 arms in the air. And they don鈥檛 care she鈥檚 from Lyonshall nr Kington (or the fact we were the first station to ever have her play live on-air).

Naughty But Nice were major catalysts on the house music scene in the 90s - and all of the biggest DJs on the planet played in Hereford. After a decade off, the team got back together to write music - and when we booked them for a live session in the Spring, it became apparent they were a who鈥檚 who of the club world. Judge Jules has also recently featured them as his ones to watch out for.

When I first heard this track, I thought I was listening to a hit I鈥檇 heard before, so out popped Shazam. Then I realised it was someone we showcased as a folk artist several years back - who鈥檚 turned to Americana. When we put the Worcester group on at the Droitwich Music Festival - we were almost embarrassed that we鈥檇 put on a band with such a big track in such intimate surroundings.

Every year it seems he features in the top ten. He just can鈥檛 stop writing chart-worthy material - and he hates commercialism (or so he says!). Andy Robinson has played on festival stages for us, we took him to Abbey Road studios for the 大象传媒 Introducing Musicians鈥� Masterclass - and he鈥檚 also been living in LA. This Worcester bloke has been all over national radio with his music - and Janice Long claims to be his fairy godmother!

Well, I thought my New Year鈥檚 Eve gig was pretty epic - with everyone鈥檚 arms in the air. This band didn鈥檛 even need deodorant to impress - not only are they known for swinging the double-bass above their head, none other than Robert Plant joined them on stage for a sing-along in Wolverley last weekend. Their style resulted in us choosing them for the Wychwood Festival in June - and rightfully deserved too!

They were mega upset last year when they didn鈥檛 feature in our top ten - and no, we haven鈥檛 caved into pressure. The problem last year was they were a great band - but without that killer track. So we waited...and waited...and waited...then BAM! But we鈥檝e always loved this Worcester group - and as a thank-you, we let them welcome the flame听into Hereford for the Paralympics.

These Worcester chaps have been gigging all over recently - but it strikes me that they鈥檙e a band who are out there to have fun, rather than to make money. But then they needed to finish their studies by making a music video. So along came Never Alone - which turned into a massive hit online with its anti-bullying theme. It鈥檚 been a while since we鈥檝e heard a McFly or a Busted - yes, this isn鈥檛 the greatest of compliments - but I sure hope they sell as many records, because this is as catchy as it comes.

Puffin - because he suffers from asthma, Ethics - because he likes to create rap and poems about positive life. This Hereford lad has got a Rizzle Kicks-type sound mixed with drum & bass, which we thought would be perfect for our stage at Nozstock - and it was! It鈥檚 been a while since he uploaded any tracks to us - but we definitely want to hear a whole lot more.

I haven鈥檛 heard anything like this in the entire time I鈥檝e been doing the show - and to get yourself heard, you must stand out from the crowd. Robert achieves exactly that - in a year we鈥檝e seen artists like Jake Bugg get big. All of the festivals this summer seemed to specialise in swing - and nationally, artists like Caro Emerald and Paloma Faith have really turned heads by bringing back vintage. I can鈥檛 help but think of the American diner in Mars Attacks, when I hear this track, in the dusty desert that surrounds Area 51. If I鈥檓 to bring a curve-ball to this year鈥檚 top ten, this is it - a song that wouldn鈥檛 normally cut through the mainstream.

Armstrong & Stayte produced a mind-blowing Sophie Ellis-Bexter-esque track that ended up on the 大象传媒 Hereford & Worcester playlist, Becky Rose stole the show at Wychwood with her dubstep track Don't Settle Me Down, Bwalya continued to bleed soul in her song Putting Me First and Cantaloop just missed the top ten with their In The Frame (which seems to be re-released every year!).
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Basket-making musician Clyde Jefferson had the recording of the year with Girl, DJ Dreem's Ibiza (What It's Doing To Me) shined like Avicii's Levels, Ellen Louise produced a rather cute Silver Linings and Goldman's Closer was very close to the top ten - although had been in our charts in 2011.
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Isolated Atoms' Hold On passed the Old Grey Whistle Test, Gypsy Lee Pistolero's No Rose But Fades didn't fade in my mind, Justin Time's Out Of My Mind had me dashing for my Shazam to make sure it wasn't already a hit, Peter & The Harmonics' Tumbleweeds was harmonic genius and Rubicava's Recruit Me sadly didn't get a position in this year's top ten - after narrowly escaping the countdown last year, too.
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Scarlette's No Going Back was a close contender, Season's Something Between Us was so in fashion at the start of the year - as was SemTex's Hadoken, with their sampling of Game Boys and Speak & Spells! SHARKSvBEARS encountered the same fate as Rubicava, Muchuu spin-off Sign Of Angelo didn't quite have the success of their former group, SubLixx's Neon Mind was instrumental genius and The Audacity's I'm Not Stalking You But had us rolling around the floor laughing.
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The Dale Von Minaker Bands' Jackie Let Go was let go just short of the top ten (for the second year running), The Misers' Fine Line didn't quite enjoy the success this Bromyard group has enjoyed in former years, The Roving Crows' Dirty Habits could have easily been number 11, Tom Forbes' Another Story Of Love oozed such a quality and so did Kamos' Prometheus. If we hadn't have had 4,475 tracks sent in to 大象传媒 Hereford & Worcester on the uploader - these would have definitely been higher up our charts!
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Which brings me onto my "ones to watch out for" - including former X Factor contestant Ellice's No Passenger with it's Nashville sound, Bekki Cameron's Just Me continuing our dance/country theme, Done By Sunrise's eponymous track produced by MAS Records in Kidderminster, easyexcess' Alpine Voice ended up being played in clubs by me with it's genius use of the human voice as a sampled instrument and Lisbee Stainton returned to being on fire with Red Dog Running. Cher Lloyd also blew us away by teaming up with Sean Kingston on Rum & Raybans and Peace did an awesome rock version of Binary Finary's 1998.
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Thank you to all who uploaded their songs to us in 2013, happy new year, and who knows what these next 12 months will bring. But if the last year is anything to go by, it's going to be a very exciting time indeed!