Features / Music

Another year, another year-end roundup from SPB. This is the tenth year of our existence and it's perhaps fitting that the album we've voted the best of 2013 is by a band which holds lots of significance for SPB. But no spoilers! Read on to see the list of the … Read more

It's been another strong year for music in 2014 just gone – we've seen comebacks, unexpected debuts, strong follow-ups and soon-to-be classics from old and new bands alike. In this, our annual sitewide list, we've averaged and assembled our individual contributor's best-of-2014 lists into one superlist, amalgamating all of our … Read more

It's that fabled time of year – SPB's favorite albums of the last twelve months. In this list, assembled by combining all of out staff writers' individual lists (no editorialising!), we show you the best music of 2015 including old favorites, new artists and a couple of other twists. Read … Read more

As years go, 2016 was a cruel one. We lost tons of musical heroes: Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Sharon Jones and other iconic performers departed. Before they left us, though, we were treated to a few final pieces of music. Likewise, once-dormant bands returned to prove that their best wasn't … Read more

It's been a strange year. Global turmoil, political unrest, uncertainty and populism dogging every decision and public event. Who knows what 2018 will bring? But political scientists we ain't: what we do know is music. Here's our annual list of the best music to come out of the past twelve … Read more

It's been a great year for music and we're here to tell you what you should have heard in 2018. Fear not – we've diced and sliced the numbers and lists to assemble this, our writers' guide to the best music released during the past twelve months. Read on to … Read more

The end of a year and the end of a decade – 2019 is done and it's over to SPB to tell you about the best albums you heard (or didn't) over the past twelve months. Read on to discover the 25 records our staff collectively voted on as the … Read more

What a year. The (probably apocryphal) curse goes "may you live in interesting times" and we're truly learning what it means to be alive during a period that history will constantly look back on. For all of the struggles the world faced with natural disasters, racial injustice, the global pandemic, … Read more

Pity the bands releasing new records this year, right? Another twelve months of uncertainty: will they be able to tour this album? Can they even get inside a studio? Will Adele's monopolisation of the world's supply of vinyl mean it can't get a 12" release?! But on the other hand: … Read more

Another year crossed off as the planet inches one more step closer to imminent destruction and chaos. We've lost musical heroes and watched Twitter turn into the internet dumpster fire, and from our lofty position at the centre of these two particular crossroads of music and tech, we're uncertain what's … Read more

Another year is over. You yawn wearily as January beckons, trying to remember what your job is and clinging onto those hastily-made new year's resolutions. Maybe one of them was to listen to more new music this year? Better slow down there, buddy. Before you start diving into 2024, you … Read more

It's 2025, somehow. When did this happen?! Okay, okay, four days ago. But honestly. It feels like 2012 was only a few months ago. Is it just SPB who's feeling a little, well, timestruck? But don't worry – we've got you. Did 2024 pass you by, too? Still not caught … Read more

It's August 27, 2008. The more politically minded of you will recall that date to fall within the time of the DNC ? the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO where I currently reside. The idea of this event was fascinating to me. I come from Canada. We don't have … Read more

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SPB's top 5 favourite Swans records (in alphabetical order) 1 Filth The first Swans full length appeared in 1983 and signified a huge shift in the post-punk landscape. The evocative artwork that speaks in deep and dirty atmospheres and Gira's ability to draw you in whilst repulsing with his soundtracks … Read more

Following a year in 2014 that not only saw Tyler, the Creator get arrested for “inciting a riot” during a show but also a tragic event in which an intoxicated driver plowed into a crowd, injuring close to two dozen and killing four, many people I talked to expressed the … Read more

An Esquire article written immediately after the event describe South by Southwest 2016 as “the worst-attended, least buzzy version of the...festival in more than a decade.” Having volunteered at the Austin-Texas-based festival for my fifth consecutive year, I can somewhat agree with that sentiment. Originally started in 1987 as a … Read more

A year after the standing President of the United States attended and lectured at the South by Southwest Festival, politics were again front and center for much of 2017's event. This is unsurprising considering the mess of an election cycle that Austin, Texas, a city described by some as being … Read more

The year's third month is always a crazy time to be in Austin, what with the South by Southwest Festival taking up March's middle third, but the overall level of chaos seemed to have been raised significantly in 2018. In the day's leading up to the South by Southwest Festival, … Read more

To me this is the most exciting time of the year. It is also a very expensive time of the year. Yeah, I spend a lot on gifts around Christmas, but this is when I catch up with everything I have missed. Every music site is publishing lists of the … Read more