So, the curtain has near closed on 2009. It’s snowing, Rage Against the Machine are number one and Simon Cowell is left weeping in a corner – alas, all is generally well this December. Now time to look back over the past year and pick out some of our favourite albums of 2009.

Arctic Monkeys – Humbug

Arctic Monkeys returned this 2009 with a whole new sound to their name. Produced by the demigod that is Josh Homme, Humbug showcased a darker, more sinister side to the previously happy-chappy Sheffield quartet. Still brimming with Turner’s brilliant lyricism, the music is a whole lot more creepy, a lot more obscure in nature, and alas a lot more challenging to listeners.

Graham Coxon (pictured top)– The Spinning Top

Not content with merely reuniting with fellow Blur band mates this 2009, lo fi punk Graham Coxon also released his seventh solo album titled The Spinning Top this year. The 15-tracked record narrates the life and death of a man, all via a dreamy acoustic soundscape. Switching his typical power chords to finger picking folk pleased and amazed certain fans, but undoubtedly scared many others off.

La Roux – La Roux

The Jedward-haired electro pop starlet, complete without a smile, had a fantastic success of a year with her digital 80s beats tainted with heartbreak and pain. She put synths and oversized cameos back on the map, gaining hoards of fans with her gameboy hits such as ‘Bulletproof’ and ‘In for the Kill’. Undoubtedly one of the girls of the year.

The Boxer Rebellion – Union

The Boxer Rebellion scored themselves a number one hit over the pond on America’s iTunes alternative chart with second album Union, beating the likes of Kings of Leon and Coldplay while they were at it. Not bad for a band whos drummer used to give me music lessons. The album is truly immense, exploding with beautifully crafted, hypnotically gracious indie tunes.

Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

An exotic dalliance with 60s inspired psychedelia rightfully earned Kasabian a Mercury Music Prize nomination this 2009. From the stomping hit of ‘Fire’ to the trance-esque ‘Where Did All the Love Go?’, Kasabian at last confirmed themselves to be one of Britain’s biggest guitar bands this year.

The Horrors – Primary Colours

The Horrors lost the Elnett and gained immense critical acclaim in replace of it this 2009 with their brilliant second album Primary Colours. The Southend goth-punks drove their new record in a whole lot more serious of a direction, dropping the Dracula garage rock and instead reaching out for moody yet mature post-punk come new wave sound.

Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More

Mumford and Sons recently showed wannabe folk artists how it’s really done this October with their rich, homely bluegrass. Warming banjos, dobros and double basses have thrown this hearty thud of a folk album into best of lists across the board.

The Dead Weather – Horehound

The greatest super group to spawn from 2009 (prior to Them Crooked Vultures), The Dead Weather, as led by Jack White and Alison Mosshart, caused a stomping furore this year. Their debut album, Horehound, is a sticky 45 minutes of dirty fingernail rock and roll at it’s absolute attitude-filled best.

White Lies – To Lose My Life

White Lies are a thrilling little trio who take tips from the throbbing darkness of Echo and the Bunneymen and Talking Heads to name but a few. The epic debut from the London-based band featured immense, stadium-worthy hits ala ‘Death’ and ‘Farewell to the Fareground’ and was certainly one of my personal highlights of 2009.

White Lies‘ year just seems to be getting better and better, what with their huge new tour, and now this: a remix from the amazing M83 (who, I, well, love).

Download and let us know what you think in the comments below.

MP3: White Lies – Nothing to Give (M83 Remix) (via Stereogum)

One of this year’s biggest break through bands, White Lies have announced their biggest headlining tour to date for the end of the year.

Tickets go on sale on Friday (12th June) at 9am. Catch the lads at:

Wednesday 18th November 2009 – Bournemouth Opera House
Thursday 19th November 2009 – London O2 Academy Brixton
Sunday 22nd November 2009 – Leeds O2 Academy
Monday 23rd November 2009 – Norwich UEA
Tuesday 24th November 2009 – Sheffield Academy
Wednesday 25th November 2009 – Nottingham Rock City
Friday 27th November 2009 – Manchester Apollo
Saturday 28th November 2009 – Glasgow O2 Academy
Sunday 29th November 2009 – Newcastle Academy
Tuesday 1st December 2009 – Portsmouth Guildhall
Wednesday 2nd December 2009 – Bristol O2 Academy
Friday 4th December 2009 – Cardiff University
Saturday 5th December 2009 – Birmingham O2 Academy

Looking for a review of the Saturday of the Big Weekend? Click Here.

BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend is an annual musical festival with bit of a twist. Every year, the 2 day event takes place in a different town, with past locations including Dundee, Preston and Maidstone. This 2009, Radio 1 will be bringing their Big Weekend to Lydiard Park, Swindon, on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th of May. Tickets to the event are free, and are obtained through a random lottery on Radio 1’s website (registration has now closed). Lucky winners will blag a pair of tickets to their selected day (Saturday or Sunday), with Swindon residents receiving allocation priority in order to make the event more accessible to locals.

Every year the event has boasted an impressive line-up (past artists include Madonna, Muse and Foo Fighters), and this 2009 is absolutely no exception. Snow Patrol (pictured top), Kasabian (pictured right)and Dizzee Rascal will be headlining the ‘Main Stage’ on Saturday, while Lily Allen, Akon and Franz Ferdinand will be taking over the top slots on Sunday. Other artists who will be featuring within the main arena over the weekend include The Script, Calvin Harris, The Wombats, The Saturdays, Scouting for Girls, Ne-Yo, Alesha Dixon and N-Dubz.

Meanwhile, headline acts hitting the smaller ‘In New Music We Trust Stage’ on Saturday include Basement Jaxx, Doves and Jack Penate, while Sunday will be tastily offering up The Enemy, Maximo Park and Gossip. Further impressive artists appearing on this stage across the May weekend include Friendly Fires, Florence and the Machine, Fightstar, Enter Shikari, Ladyhawke and White Lies.

Should you fancy checking out some new music while at the event, why not head over to the ‘Introducing Stage’, where you can get up and close with a range of upcoming talent including Stornoway, The Temper Trap, Bombay Bicycle Club, Thee Vicars, Gallop and Marina and the Diamonds. And if that’s still not enough, you can catch a wide-range of top DJs spinning the decks over at the ‘Outdoor Stage’, with Radio 1 favourites including Chris Moyles, Annie Mac, Tim Westwood, Zane Lowe and Rob da Bank all making an appearance.

Registration for tickets to the event has now closed, but never fear, as the BBC will be broadcasting highlights of the festival on Radio 1 and BBC Three across the weekend. You’ll also be able to catch footage online, as well as on your trusty red button. If you’d like more information on the event, along with a full line-up, head over to the Big Weekend’s website now.

Top photo comes from Radio 1’s Flickr Stream.

We all hear about the major summer festivals taking place across Blighty this ‘09 – but here at There Goes The Fear, we like to bring you previews of those smaller, little known music events too! This week, we’d like to tell you about Evolution 2009. The festival, which started back in 2005, has grown rapidly in both size and popularity over the past few years and Evolution ‘09 looks set to be the biggest and best yet!

The Newcastle-based festival is certainly ahead of the big name summer events in the calender stakes, taking place across the May bank holiday (Sunday 24th – Sunday 25th May). Still, the outdoor shows, which will take place along Gateshead’s quayside, are fully expected to attract a crowd of around 60,000. Judging by the line-up, we can see why!

Headliners confirmed so far include Dizzee Rascal, The Wombats (pictured right), Mystery Jets, The View and The Maccabees. Other impressive TGTF-favourites playing the Evolution Weekender include White Lies, Ladyhawke, Esser, Friendly Fires, Little Boots, Twisted Wheel, Marina and the Diamonds, Chapman Family, VV Brown and The Big Pink.

(And breathhhh….!) Impressive, don’t you agree? You can even catch headline electronica acts such as Boys Noize, Chase & Status Live and Kissy Sell Out over at the dance stage too, should something a little less guitar-based take your fancy.

If it couldn’t get any better, a weekend ticket for Evolution 2009 is priced at just £15! You can also grab a day ticket for £9.50 (note : only weekend tickets are on sale at the moment – day tickets go on sale Thursday!). Furthermore, a contribution of the ticket price will be donated to WaterAid. If you’d like to learn more about the festival and general ticket info, check out Evolution 2009’s website.

After the brilliant ‘Unfinished Business EP’ the hype surrounding this debut couldn’t have been much higher for this London three-piece. A brilliant single in the shape of ‘Death’ provided the band with further exposure, the release coupled off with a brilliant b-side and sprinkled with two uber-cool remixes courtesy of Haunts and Crystal Castles gave this band the ‘hotly tipped’ title for ‘09. Their debut effort ‘To Lose My Life’ is a fulfillment of potential and overall a quality piece of musical composition.

Their haunting vocals and mellow rhythm would tire quickly for another band, but just when you think that the sound is tiring in come the drums or bass and transform the drone in to a post-punk raving outburst of sound, turning the record in to disco night on The X Factor. I would rather fittingly describe it as Glasvegas on LSD, their themes aren’t of broken Britain but of broken hearts and the such.

Tracks such as ‘E.S.T.’ and ‘Unfinished Business’ are the best displays of their capabilities and song writing strengths. Though not on the album, ‘You Still Love Him’ is in my personal opinion one of their finest tracks, displaying their varying tempos and musical development perhaps better than any other.

The band have also geared up quite the reputation as  alive band, playing at festivals from the underage to airwaves in Iceland. Despite just releasing their debut the band have already toured the US twice with a good reception, watch out for their UK and Europe tour through this month and the next.

Overall whilst it might be met with a mixed reaction, the record is a solid tribute to the bands reputation built up prior to release. It’s highly reccomended and is unlikely to dissapoint, it would be criminal not to give it a listen..

Everytime I hear Ealing band, White Lies, I truly get a sense of excitment rush through me. They are undoubtedly one of the bands I am most excited to hear from this year and I’m not surprised that they’ve gained a place in the BBC’s Sound of 2009 poll.

White Lies effortlessly draw you into their world of dark and mysterious indie thanks to the addictive hooks tinting the choruses of their epic tunes. You may have heard the track ‘Death’, released in September last year. “Yes, this fear’s got a hold on me” frontman, Harry McVeigh gut wrenchingly wails. Such single defines the band’s music perfectly – beautifully twisted tunes consisting of gritty bass lines, techno synths and deep vocals. They are poetically gloomy, but not in a My Chemical Romance, emo way. Think more vintage Echo and the Bunneymen and Joy Divison – or Editors, The Killers and Interpol if you want more current comparisons. Pretty exciting, huh?

The band’s album, appropriately darkly-titled “To Lose My Life…” is released on January 19th. You can pre-order the album now over at Amazon. While you’re here, why not check out the video to the band’s awesome debut single, ‘Death’:

Top Photo is taken from Danny North’s Flickr Stream under the Creative Commons License.

I know, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts.

First up, following on from Mike’s posts about his tips for BBC’s Sound of 2009 competition (part 1 here, part 2 here), they’ve announced the longlist, which features no less than FIVEartists we have already featured on TGTF. The longlist sees Dan Black (who we featured here and here, and is pictured, right), Florence and the Machine (who we introduced here), La Roux (who we introduced here), White Lies (who we gave details of their tour here).  VV Brown has also been tipped in comments around the site too. On the longlist, they’re joined by:The Big Pink, Empire of the Sun, Frankmusik, Kid Cudi, Lady GaGa, Little Boots, Master Shortie, Mumford & Sons, Passion Pit and The Temper Trap.

Phew, there’s a lot of new music there! To conteract the newness of those, we bring you an oldie but a goldie: Tom Jones, but as you’ve never seen him before….

If that’s not some clever CGI, I don’t know what is…

Our friends over at Gig Junkie have pointed out that they have a lot of pretty amazing competitions going at the moment – if times are tight for you, pop on over and enter a competition or two – they have the chance to win tickets to see Kings of Leon, VIP style.

It seems rather a lot of you love Nickelback (pictured, right, and who incidentally are on tour next year… see my seamless link there?), so you might want to check out some exclusive tracks they played in the USA recently. I’ve had “Gotta Be Somebody” stuck in my head recently, and got to admit that slowly they’re getting under my skin!

Our friends over at Winston’s Zen have just posted their new monthy Zen list of all things great and free in MP3 land – check it out and have a listen.

Right, I think that’s it for tonight… I’m off to have a listen to those of the BBC Sound of 2009 longlist nominees that I don’t know much about, and Winston’s Zen’s new MP3s….

NME have announced their annual NME awards tour next January and February.

The frankly amazing lineup sees Glasvegas, Friendly Fires, White Lies and Florence and the Machine all take to the road together for what is surely going to be one of the most epic tours known to mankind.

The tour culminates in the NME Awards show at Brixton Academy on Wednesday 25th February.

Tickets go on sale from 9am tomorrow, Wednesday 12th November.

Catch the tour at:

Thursday 29th January – Liverpool University
Friday 30th January – Glasgow Academy
Sunday 1st February – Newcastle Academy
Tuesday 3rd February – Sheffield Academy
Wednesday 4th February – Birmingham Academy
Friday 6th February – Manchester Academy
Sunday 8th February – Leeds Academy
Tuesday 10th February – Lincolnshire Engine Shed
Wednesday 11th February – Nottingham Rock City
Thursday 12th February – Norwich UEA
Saturday 14th February – Cardiff University
Sunday 15th February – Bristol Academy
Monday 16th February – Brighton Dome
Tuesday 17th February – Oxford Academy
Thursday 19th February – Portsmouth Pyramid
Friday 20th February – Cambridge Corn Exchange
Saturday 21st February – Brixton Academy

Wow.

White Lies, the rapidly getting big NME hype band have announced another string of UK tour dates for late November.

Two days after their Koko show they’ll be back off around the UK, supporting Glasvegas on their trek around the UK.

Tickets are on sale now, priced between £6 and £11.50.

Thursday 20th November – Gloucester Guildhall
Friday 21st November – Southampton Joiners
Saturday 22nd November – Hull Welly Club (Club NME)
Sunday 23rd November – Stoke-On-Trent Sugarmill
Wednesday 26th November – London Koko