Liverpool music 2014: Highs, lows & best of the rest

Liverpool International Music Festival went off with a bang

After another stellar year for Merseyside music and culture, Getintothis’ Adam Lowerson and Steph Niciu reflect on the highs and lows.

To say 2014 has been an up and down year for Liverpool would be an understatement. We’ve waved goodbye to one of our favourite establishments in Mello Mello, while the threat to the Kazimier and Nation remains a real possibility. But as the circle of life goes, as one life ends another begins and new venues such as the rejuvenated Jacaranda Club was reborn, and the team behind the Kazimier launched their new project the Invisible Wind Factory at a spectacular party.

The flow of exciting new music pouring from the city has continued, with the likes of Hooton Tennis Club and Lapsley signing major record deals, and others like All We Are gaining national recognition ahead of releasing a debut record next year.

Our festivals have had a big year too, with Sound City, Creamfields and the returning Liverpool Music Week picking up a host of nominations at the UK Festival Awards. Now with Sound City’s move to the docks next year looking an exciting prospect, 2015 is already shaping up to be another great year for music on Merseyside.

It’s been a huge year for ourselves at Getintothis HQ as well, and as you can tell from the barrage of links and photographs below, our writers and photographers have been on top form.

End of Year Round-Up

Everybody’s favourite part of the year, the end of year list period. There has been a huge amount of great music released throughout the years, and deciding which of it is the best would be near impossible to do. So we’ve come at it from all angles, and collected the opinions of our contributors and Liverpool’s finest music heads, industry professionals and musicians.

Interviews

We love to talk at Getintothis‘, and this year have had the pleasure of having a natter with Liverpool icons the Coral, the infamous Sneaky Nixons and the GIT Award 2014 winner Forest Swords.

Top 10

We’ve caused plenty of disputes this year with our Top 10 countdowns of some major artists. The Flaming Lips in particular had a lot of people arguing about some huge omissions. But we can’t please everyone!

Live Reviews

Live music is our bread and butter, and this year our writers and photographers have covered more gigs and events than ever before. From the new, small acts from Liverpool to the major, worldwide names that have visited the city, we’ve seen it all.

Courtney Barnett in the Zanzibar at Sound City 2014

Picture Galleries

Pictures speak louder than words (that’s a saying isn’t it?), and this year our snappers have captured the action with some stunning photographs to accompany our writing.

Tea Street Band at LIMF

The GIT Award

It’s been another big year for the GIT Award, with Forest Swords winning in 2014, and a huge line up of record label bosses, national journalists and industry professionals already announced on the judging panel for the award as it continues to go from strength to strength.

Introducing

As the Liverpool music machine continues to produce exciting new bands, Getintothis remains at the cutting edge, introducing you to the west coast psych sounds of Holy Thursday and the intricate electro-pop of Loveless.

On It

A lot has changed in Liverpool this year with some exciting new venues opening, and Sound City revealing big plans for 2015 moving away from the city centre. It’s fair to say next year is already looking like to be another good one.

Liverpool Sound City at Bramley Moore Dock

Pop Life

It’s not all about reviews, you know. Getintothis loves a good argument, and this year we’ve tackled the big issues from the government sucking the cultural diversity out of Britain and reflected on some huge albums from the Manic’s The Holy Bible to Blur’s Parklife. Get your teeth into these.

Labels of Love

We’ve taken a closer look at some of the labels behind our favourite music.

Liverpool Music Week

Liverpool Music Week returned for its 10th edition bringing some of the biggest and most talked about shows of the year. From Caribou to Hookworms, it was a week people won’t be forgetting any time soon. In fact, it isn’t even finished yet, with the War on Drugs‘ highly anticipated show being postponed until February.

Sound City

The end of an era as Liverpool Sound City’s time at Wolstenholme Square came to an end with a bang. We didn’t miss a minute of this year’s instalment, and are already looking forward to being there for the new chapter where Belle and Sebastian and The Flaming Lips will headline at the new dockland site.

An artist’s impression of how Liverpool Sound City 2015 will look when the festival moves to the Docks.

On Track

Along with keeping tabs on all things new coming out of Liverpool we’ve continued to follow some of our favourites and more familiar names in the city.

Unknown Pleasures

Our new column by Getintothis regular Patrick Clarke debuted this year and has introduced us to some weird and wonderful obscurities from the depths of the music world. Long may it continue into 2015.

Reel Music

Music and films go together hand in hand, and this year we’ve discussed some of the best soundtracks, film music and films about music. We’ve seen Pulp talk about life, death and supermarkets and anticipated the return of Twin Peaks.

Singles Club

Our regular column Singles Club has enjoyed another year with Chris Burgess at the helm, ranting and raving about some of the big singles of the year. To celebrate hitting its 100th edition Getintothis contributors confessed their first single purchases. Some make pretty embarrassing reading.