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Hello! If you heard my show in the week before Christmas, you would have heard me talking about my favourite albums of 2009. Just in case you missed it, here's a cut-out-and-keep round-up...

The xx - xx
(Young Turks)

My favourite album of 2009. Beautiful, minimalistic, deep and extra special beats and vocals stand out a mile from everyone else.

Paul White -
(One Handed Music)

A new producer who has been championing. I heard him for the first time recently and am hooked on his beats!

Golden Silvers - True Romance
(XL)

Their debut album dropped this year, big joyous pop tunes without need for a guitar, made my ears very happy. THey worked hard too, gigging loads and gaining new fans.

Nite Jewel -
(Human Ear Music)

Got this in America, promoted by No Pain in Pop records over here, this was etheral, dubsteppy beats and luscious vocals. Not a million miles from The xx, but with more melody and more flow.

Sky Larkin - The Golden Spike
(Wichita)

I went on tour with this brilliant band from Leeds at the start of 2009 (with Pulled Apart by Horses) and then this came out; punchy, lyrically eloquent, big guitar indie.

F*** Buttons - Tarot Sport
(ATPR)

The Bristol band are fast becoming cult heroes thanks to a 'playing to nobody's rules but their own' music-making manifesto, and this album on ATP (live promoters also), took their journey into sonic experimenting even further.

Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose
(Island)

They did a session at the start of 2008 for my show, but the wait for this, their debut album, was well worth it. Contains my favourite single of the year, the excellent Always Like This.

Noah & The Whale - The First Days of Spring
(Young & Lost Club)

It takes guts to make your second album a soundtrack to an arty film full of opera, folk, orchestras, baring your soul. This was very special indeed.

Girls - Album
(Turnstile)

A band from San Francisco who took you by the hand, clutched you into their bosom, and cried when you stopped listening to them. Lush.

So there you have it. That's all from me. Merry Christmas and happy listening!

Listen to Florence and the Machine's cover of Last Christmas

On Tuesday of this week, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing hosted a very special Christmas gig at a tiny London venue to celebrate what has been a fantastic year for new music. You can read all about it in my previous post and check out the photos.

Headlining the gig was a good friend of ours, Florence and the Machine. Our love affair with Florence began back in March 2008 when, unsigned, we took her out to Texas to perform at the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing showcase at South by Southwest, where she was introduced by Steve Lamacq. She's gone from strength to strength since then, enjoying phenomenal success this year. So we were extremely proud when she came to the gig on Tuesday night to thank us by performing an acoustic set to a packed out pub. To say it was 'intimate' would be putting it lightly.

The highlight of Flo's set was undoubtedly her hauntingly beautiful and forlorn rendition of Wham!'s Last Christmas. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and harp, Flo's incredible voice had us all transfixed.

It's been proving popular on Radio 1 this week, where Greg James and Huw Stephens have both been playing it, but for those of you that haven't heard it yet, here it is in all its glory. If this doesn't get you feeling festive, nothing will...

Best of 2009 - Download six free MP3s

But wait, there's more! After our end of year gig this week, we've all been in a rather reflective mood at Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing HQ. It's been a busy old year. Our stage went to all of the summer's major music festivals and we welcomed some incredible new talents through the doors of Maida Vale studios to record sessions for us.

So, as our Christmas present to you, here are six of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing's favourite songs from 2009, yours to download for free. Merry Christmas.

• Sound Of Guns - Architects (Live at Radio 1's Big Weekend, May 2009)
• Engine-EarZ Experiment - Introspector (Live at Glastonbury, June 2009)
• Beatbullyz - Skills (Maida Vale session, July 2009)
• Young Fathers - Mainframe Disaster (Live at T In The Park, July 2009)
• Stornoway - End of the Movie (Maida Vale session, July 2009)
• Kid Adrift - Red, Green and Blue (Maida Vale session for Electric Proms, October 2009)
  

Update: the links above have now expired, and the downloads are no longer available. Thanks for downloading!

Last night, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing hosted a very special Christmas shindig at a tiny little London venue, The Flowerpot. On the invite list were friends we've made over the course of 2009, plus some very special guests.

It was our chance to look back over the past twelve months and celebrate what has been a fantastic year, packed with incredible new bands, memorable performances and some great success stories.

What better place to start than with a completely new band - so new, in fact, that they'd never performed together before. For Bristol's , our Christmas party was the first time they'd all played together on stage! The quartet, formed in October 2009 after parting ways with previous bands, uploaded a couple of tracks to us on 18th November. Toby Field from Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing in Bristol immediately picked up on their obvious talent, forwarding their songs to Huw at Radio 1 and Tom at 6 Music, which led to us offering them a slot on last night's bill. Despite the rather surreal setting for a debut gig, they played a cracking, tight set. Sure we'll be seeing more of them in 2010.

Up next were Hereford siblings, Muchuu, who were the first band to be broadcast on Radio 1 as a result of uploading their songs via our website. Since introducing themselves to us back in March 2009, they've been played by our shows all over the country, supported by their local show on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Hereford and Worcester. More recently, the duo recorded a session at Maida Vale for Huw Stephens. We love their quirky blend of synth pop to bits and their festive set last night went down a treat.

Third on the bill were The Temper Trap, who were simply unmissable in 2009. Their track Sweet Disposition seemingly spent months in the Top 40 chart, peaking at no. 6. After recording a session for us in December 2008, fronted by Radio 1's Zane Lowe, the Aussies played at Radio 1's Big Weekend in our tent and later in the year gave us their tips for emerging artists. Last night their acoustic set was warmly received, as was their surprise cover of Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark. Thanks, chaps!

And finally, to recognise her remarkable success in 2009, we welcomed our old friend Florence Welch and her Machine back on to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing stage. There to introduce her was Steve Lamacq, who had inteviewed Flo earlier in the day on 6 Music (you can listen again to the interview on Ö÷²¥´óÐã iPlayer until 22 December).

The number of people in the tiny venue seemed to double as Flo took to the stage last night and she didn't disappoint, belting out versions of Dog Days, Cosmic Love and Rabbit Heart as if she were headlining Wembley and finishing with a cover of Wham!'s Last Christmas to send us all home with a festive glow. Lovely.

We'd like to thank everyone who came along last night. And if you're reading this, thanks for your support. We've got a feeling next year is going to be even greater than this one.

Check out more photos in our gig gallery.

Time and again at Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing we hear from musicians who've recorded an EP or album at their own expense and are still searching for a record label to release it. My Website Of The Week, allows bands and artists to release their recordings worldwide as digital downloads via , , Napster, , and the at less than 30 quid for an entire album.

Tunecore charges an annual subscription for this service plus small flat fees on each release - while the artist gets to keep 100% of the income. And since most musicians prefer making music to wrangling with and codes, the company takes care of all that for you as part of the service.

Of course, whether your music actually sells will depend on how much promotion it gets. But since a legitimate release date is also essential to even have a hope of getting reviews or serious radio play in this country (see my advice video on this topic), a release via Tunecore can help break the logjam and get things moving.

There are plenty of other similar distribution services including , , and that can give your music a valid digital release (see the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing links page for more). The deals on offer vary, generally according to how much you pay up front and how much of the income you get to keep from sales, so take a look around and see which service suits you best. In the meantime, because it puts your songs in world's biggest music stores and passes on 100% of the income to you, I've made the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing Website Of The Week.

In addition to Tom Robinson's Website of the Week feature on Mondays, Huw Stephens is going to start bringing you his DIY Label of the Week in the form of a link-friendly blog post every Thursday after this show.

Regular listeners to Huw's Radio 1 programme and podcast will already be familiar with the feature, which, we hope, doesn't really need much explaining. We just thought it would be a good idea to start recording Huw's weekly pick for posterity on this 'ere blog.

Running a label is no easy feat. Just ask , founder of the and (home to Martha Wainwright, Brett Anderson and Bat For Lashes). In a , he was asked to give his advice for budding entrepreneurs thinking of creating a new label. His response?

"Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. [...] If you want to start a label, then be prepared to make no money and discover that the music business is a mess and full of unexciting forms and dated concepts..."
Drowned in Sound.com founder, Sean Adams.

He may have a point. But despite what Sean says, there are still hard-working people out there who are fanatical enough about the music they love to start a label of their own, and with Huw's help we're going to show them some love. Take it away, Huw....

Richard

*

How, when, where and why was the label set up?
was born 3 years ago. Dub connoisseur and A&R man Tony "Moody Boyz" Thorpe met Martin Love (of ) at a dubstep night at London's nightclub and they decided to start a label dedicated to sonics and quality beats, and this became Studio Rockers.

Where did your name come from?
The name came about from Tony's love of the seminal record label, and wanting to go with an authentic name which showed the direction the label was heading in. It was almost named "Studio Nutters", but thankfully they went with Studio Rockers in the end!

What's the ethos of the label?
The ethos behind Studio Rockers is finding and developing new artists and constantly trying to break the boundaries of bass. Tony opts for a hands-on approach to his artists and he's like the chief medical consultant in the Studio Rockers' surgery.

What releases are coming out soon on the label?
The artists currently signed to Studio Rockers are: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Our latest releases are:
Ans - Everyday Bulls****
MRK1 - Going down
Pempi - Positive mind
Nuphlo - Subliminal

Gig-wise, MRK1 has a gig at Chester's City Bar on 20th December.

If your label could sign any artist, who would you pick and why?
It would be a toss up between The Clash and Public Image Ltd. Both legendary pioneers in music. The way those two bands blended musical genres into one amazing sound is just what Studio Rockers is trying to achieve. Plus the royalties could keep the label running for eternity.

And finally... if your label were an animal what would it be and why?
A Puffer Fish. They're poisonous little things but if cooked properly, very tasty.

Links

Listen again to Huw Stephens on Radio 1 to hear tracks by Cotti and Decyfer from the Studio Rockers roster.

For the last couple of years, Tom Robinson and his crew at 6 Music have been trawling the web looking for music-related sites capable of making your life just that little bit better, easier, or more entertaining.

It's no easy task; a quick Google for the term '' returns and eye-watering 2 million results. Gulp. And still, Tom and team continue in their mission to bring you news of a genuinely useful website every week on his show. Hats off to you, Tom.

To make sure Tom's suggestions reach as many people as possible, we've asked him to write us a little post about his chosen site every week. So, if you're making music of your own, or just like to indulge in a bit of web geekery from time to time, be sure to you check back here every Monday for his Website of the Week.

Now, over to Tom with this week's pick:

Richard

***

Sooner or later the day comes when we decide to move up from a basic or page to a professionally designed website. And that's the day we discover that the world of web design contains just as many sharks and charlatans ready to prey on the unwary as the music industry itself. That's where our Website Of The Week comes in.

is a global marketplace where you can hire, manage and pay experts to do almost any job imaginable in the online environment - whether you're looking for experts, developers, specialists - or simply someone to set you up with a basic pain-free webpage at the most competitive rate on the planet.

You post a job, however small, and contractors from Bangalore to Baltimore will make competitive bids to do it for you. You review their CVs and previous work, pick your professional, agree a fee and pay it to Elance.Ìý

Under their so-called escrow system, they hold it in trust till you're 100% happy with the finished job - and only then release it to the contractor. You can be sure the work will be done to your satisfaction - while the person doing it can be sure they're going to get paid.

It's one of the simplest ways we've seen of getting difficult work done at reasonable rates - though of course if you know of others, we'd love to hear about them, too (you can post your suggestions in the comments section below). Meanwhile, is our new and highly deserving Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing Website of the Week.

Links

You'll find an archive of Tom's past Websites of the Week selections on his 6 Music site

Every year since 2003, the Entertainment team at Ö÷²¥´óÐã News have been asking a panel of music industry experts to name the artists they believe will be next year's biggest success stories.Over 100 UK DJs, music critics, editors, producers, presenters and bloggers name three acts, with the acts obtaining the most votes forming fifteen-strong longlist. Gradually the list is whittled down, with the overall winner being announced in January.

Although there've been a few acts over the years who, looking back at it, you might not remember -Marcos Hernandez? Kubb? Sadie Ama? - the list boasts a pretty good success rate so far. The previous winners include 50 Cent, Keane, The Bravery, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mika, Adele and Little Boots.Ìý

There were 165 voters on , including our very own Huw Stephens and Ras Kwame. Their votes have been counted and the Sound of 2010 longlist has now been .

I won't reveal the full list here, but here at Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing HQ we're pleased for nominees Marina and the Diamonds, Everything Everything, Two Door Cinema Club and Stornoway, all of whom have performed on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing stage this year.Ìý

Back in May, Stornoway headlined day one of Radio 1's Big Weekend in Swindon, introduced by 6 Music's Tom Robinson.

In July, we weclomed them to Maida Vale studios, where Huw Stephens met them for a chat before they recorded four brilliant tracks.

The following day, Marina donned one of her trademark glittery leotards and took to the stage in front of a packed tent.

Later in the year she provided us with heaps of useful tips for our advice section.

Finally, you might remember Everything Everything from Reading and Leeds, where their performance was impressive enough to earn them some daytime airplay on Radio 1 for a week.

Congratulations to all of the artists on this year's longlist. Keep an eye on the over the coming weeks to find out who comes out on top.

Are you a vinyl fan? In a world of MP3s and, obviously, CDs, it's getting rarer and more expensive to press up 7" and 12" vinyls, but bands and dance acts still choose to do it. Arctic Monkeys even pressed their recent single, Cornerstone, and sold it only through .

For the first week, it was Two Door Cinema Club's new single, I Can Talk and when I popped into Scott Mills's show recently, I was on the bike playing Unfaithful by Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing session band, Stornoway.

If you missed the bike making her big debut, here's how it sounded:

Now, dear readers, we need your help - our beloved bike needs a name. We had a couple of ideas on the show last week like Betty or Sally, but if you've got a better name for her, suggest it below!

Keep an ear out for the bike on the show in future (hopefully when I've had more practice) and don't forget to tune in to tonight's show to find out whether we've settled on a name.