Essential

Our Essential Listening 2012 series concludes today with The Albums.

From the ‘cohesion through experimentation’ of Tame Impala’s ‘Lonerism, through the ‘muscular power ballads, stirring, keyboard-led harmonies and call-and-response choruses’ that inform The Killers’ return with ‘Battle Born’, to the ‘sheer magnetism and unwavering belief’ which made ‘Blunderbuss’ such a successful solo debut for Jack White, we feel this rundown highlights some of the year’s truly outstanding releases that everyone should make an effort to check out.

And don’t forget, there’s only room for one place each on our Essential Listening Series, so if your favourite artist of the year isn’t included in this particular rundown, make sure you check through our previous lists to see if they’ve made an appearance elsewhere. And after that, if they’re still nowhere to be seen, maybe you should leave a comment below to let us know about it.

And now for the tracks…So many have crossed our path this year, and with the introduction of our hugely popular New Tunes Guide, we’ve been able to highlight hundreds of brilliant tracks, singles and EPs during the course of 2012. Plenty more besides have been included with track reviews, Presents features and Soundbites articles, meaning pulling just 25 out for a special end of year mention has been one tough task. As always, when you’ve been through our list of recommendations, make sure you let us know which tracks and singles have been soundtracking your life during 2012.

Live4ever’s Essential Listening 2012 series so far is available in full at the end of this article. Next week, it’s the Albums.

During the past year, writers, guest reviewers and photographers have been out covering gigs in cities from Melbourne to Glasgow, Austin to London for Live4ever as we paid witness to some of 2012′s biggest live music events, as well as some unexpected delights. Whether it’s four Manchester legends returning home and creating history in the process, or a bunch of last minute, bandana-clad Kiwis stealing the show in Austin, we’ve brought together just some of our highlights for the next part of Live4ever’s Essential Listening 2012 series.

Don’t forget to leave a comment below letting us know who has provided your favourite live experience of the previous twelve months.

For the latest installment of Live4ever’s Essential Listening 2012 series, we’ve picked out some of our favourite music videos of the past year for you to enjoy. Some might be here for the quality of the promo, and some because we’re simply in love with the track itself, but all are included as they’ve proved to be among the most popular with our readers during the course of 2012.

From tomorrow, the business end of our annual lookback will begin with the Essential Gigs of 2012, when a select few of the many shows Live4ever has paid witness to these past twelve months will be highlighted with both live reviews and photo galleries.

Got a music video you think everyone should have been watching this year? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

There’s been so many sublime albums, tracks and EPs which have made themselves known to Live4ever’s radar screen during the past twelve months that it would be impossible to give them all a mention. But we’re going to have a damn good go. Here, we’ve picked out ten of our essential releases which made their way into our Radar section this year; with debut albums, EPs and interviews all featured within.

Live4ever’s Essential Listening 2012 series will continue tomorrow with some of our favourite and most popular videos of the year, and stay tuned for plenty more Radar bands when we look back on our Essential Tracks, Gigs and Albums during the next few weeks.

Live4ever’s Essential Listening 2012 series begins today with ten of our own favourite debut releases of the year. Stay tuned over the coming weeks for essential music videos; EP, track and album highlights from the many bands which have featured in our Radar section during the course of the year; as well as the pick of the gigs Live4ever has witnessed over the past twelve months. And don’t miss our wider, main Albums rundown next month to see which, if any, debuts have also made it on to that list.

Is your favourite debut of 2012 missing from our Essentials retrospective? Remember, we’re recommending, not preaching, so make sure you highlight your pick of the year by leaving a comment below.

So it’s 2012 and it’s time for another jubilee.

This time it’s the turn of The Rolling Stones, who are celebrating 50 years since their first ever gig at the Marquee Club in London on July 12th, 1962. They’ve begun the festivities with a photographic exhibition whilst making coy noises about a possible forthcoming anniversary tour and maybe even a new album.

To show our appreciation, Live4ever counts down five of our essential Stones albums of all time – one for each decade.

Summer 2012. We’ve just had the wettest June on record, the festival season has been fractured by a series of cancellations, and album sales have fallen in their millions.

And yet, for every music fan, there’ still reasons to be cheerful.

The Stone Roses have just completed – with no major hiccups – the fastest selling weekend of live music in UK history, Blur have deemed us worthy to sample the fruits of their studio labours, some faith in humanity was restored when The Voice had its live tour pulled and, most importantly, for seven months now artists both new and established have been releasing a steady stream of truly impressive albums, proving once again that, if you’re prepared to look hard enough, quality is still out there in abundance.

So, take a look through just some of those releases we’ve pulled together for our latest Essential Listening rundown, and maybe you’ll spot something which will soon occupy a prominent place in your own record collection for the remainder of the year. And when you’ve been through the list, why not do the same for us by leaving a comment below highlighting your own favourites of 2012…so far.

Debut albums. Get them right, and their impact can change the world. Some mark the starting point for even greater things to come, others make such a lasting impression their legacy becomes an almost unbearable burden on the shoulders of its creators.

Many bands have got it very right on their first attempt; defining eras, inspiring generations, or simply becoming cult classics for an instantly dedicated fanbase. Here, we’ve sorted through the long-list of enduringly classic debuts to present 25 of our own essentials, all of which have left an indelible mark on the musical landscape.

When you’ve been through our rundown, leave a comment below letting us know which debuts you keep going back to time after time, and which records not included on our list you feel deserve a mention.

And so to the third and final part of Live4ever’s 2011 retrospective. A year packed with some genuinely outstanding releases, 2011 has enjoyed some of the most unanimously acclaimed records of recent years; PJ Harvey has won seemingly every award up for grabs thanks to ‘Let England Shake’, Kate Bush has wowed everyone with her first record of the decade, while the likes of The Boxer Rebellion, FIGO and The Minutes have come to the party with equally impressive, under-the-radar efforts just as deserving of your precious time and attention.

To celebrate another year of great music, the Live4ever Ezine is offering two readers the opportunity to win a pair of Boom earphones; a prize packed with both style and sound quality. So to be in with a chance of winning, when you’ve been through the pick of the LPs which have been taking up our space throughout the year, leave a comment below telling us your own Top 5 Albums of 2011 to be automatically entered into our giveaway. Good luck!