Before thoughts turn to further gluttonous over-consumption during the forthcoming New Year’s celebrations (and before you have to wade through acres of tedious ‘Hot Tips For 2011′ articles), how about one final glance back over some of the writing that was on ANBAD, but not directly about a specific new band?

Here, then, are the pick of the various articles written by me and the generous contributors over the course of the year:

A Triple Threat of articles first; a quasi-provocative couplet of articles in the shape of:

The Trouble With Live Gigs [Part One and the even less …

I nuzzled up against the creative people behind the advert and, accompanied by legendary band-troubler James Endeacott – who signed The Libertines and oversaw The Strokes’ UK career, we settled down with tea, biscuits and moderate harmony to go through the shortlisted bands.

In the end, the decision was a complicated one due to the high quality of the bands that submitted tracks. Still, after much heated discussion we came up with a favourite. The winner, tantalisingly, will be announced in the new year.

In …

Now that you’re lying comatose in front of the fire and pondering on the fact that your intestines are now 80% solid Turkey meat, why not drag yourself away from the dull repeats on the TV, and read some excellent repeats here on ANBAD?

Wait – unless it’s Die Hard on TV. Watch until the end of that, and then read on.

There was a glut of interviews with exciting and thrusting young bands this year on ANBAD, all of which gave us a glimpse into the thrills of belonging to a new band. Here are four of the best:…

Isn’t it nice to be nice? Isn’t it nice to find out your favourite band of 2010 is nice?

Thus, prepare to feel appropriately festive as you are smothered with pleasantries in this exclusive, nice, and exclusively nice, interview with ANBAD’s Band of 2010, Youthless.

To prove that they are such good sports, they answered all of my overwhelmingly facile questions with good grace, a sense of humour and with stories about nearly upending whole buses…

Youthless, you’re ANBAD’s favourite band of 2010. How has 2010 been for you?

Alex: 2010 has been excellent! Gig-wise my highlights have …

There are many ways in which to judge a band. To over-analyse a song is to kill its very essence, and so plumping for simple gut feelings is usually as good a place to start as any.

What, then of Youthless, a band for whom my gut feelings screamed Big Hearty Hugs, Please when I looked back at their contribution to 2010?

Their songs – like Golden Age – are warm, caring, thoughtful and snappier than a swimming pool filled with primed mouse traps.

Songs like these don’t usually write themselves, though you may be forgiven for wondering if …

To over-think is to destroy creativity. It is also the anti-matter of opinion, reaction and criticism. And yet wrapping one’s self up in thoughts is as alluring a prospect as any.  D/R/U/G/S recognise this complicated quandary.

D/R/U/G/S were the band that, more than any other in 2010, shot out bolts of pure excitement every time they took to the stage. This elation stemmed from the fact that D/R/U/G/S are careful – achingly careful – not to over-complicate their music.

Each time I saw them play – be it to an increasingly thrilled crowd at In The City, or …

When narrowing down the 200 or so bands featured on ANBAD this year to the final few, I tried to consider the words I wrote about the bands at the time as much as how much I like them now.

This way the band has been reviewed twice: with fresh and familiar ears. I’m sure I’ve missed a number of brilliant bands who deserve to be listed. Please leave a comment if you feel that any poor souls have been unkindly overlooked.

The selection is entirely arbitrary, of course – just as it was at the time of writing. A …

Continuing from yesterday, ANBAD takes a look back at a thrilling year of music. Today, the second bunch of runners-up are revealed…

Looking back over a whole year of bands is a sobering experience, partly because there are so many of them, and partly because I can fairly accurately calculate just how many days I have spent over 2010 writing about new bands. I won’t publish that figure. I value my sanity too much.

This long trawl through the last 12 months also revealed a few other interesting details:

1. The default musical setting for this writer – that is,

…

Starting today, ANBAD takes a look back at – hyperbole aside – a thrilling year of music.

As we go through the count-down over the next few days, there’ll be some explanations of how ANBAD’s Top Ten Bands Of 2010 were calculated, as well as a few fleeting  thoughts on the bands. Today, the first bunch of runners-up are revealed…

There are plenty of ways to recap on the past year. Most music blogs will publish a ‘Best Of’ list, and in that respect, ANBAD is no different. Most of the bands on this list won’t appear on anyone …

The Crown Paints Get-Your-Band’s-Music-On-A-TV-Ad competition has been running for less than two weeks, and has already been flooded with entries.

Trawling though the entries has had a happy secondary effect, in that a whole raft of hitherto-unknown new bands have been discovered.

So, excited – and slightly overwhelmed – by this New Band Glut, ANBAD threw caution to the wind, and decided to ask some of the UK’s tip-top and most influential music blogs – namely the thrice-brilliant Von Pip Musical Express, Bowlegs and The Devil Has The Best Tuna – to suggest their tips for the …