Celebrating David Bowie Opera House, January 29 This was not, absolutely not, don’t even think of using the term, a “tribute” – ooh, spit it out right now – show. That’s what we were told in the pre-tour media blitz, essentially as a matter of pride. These were not just any old musicians getting up for a jam on a golden catalogue, an upmarket version of the shows which fill mid-size venues every weekend with tributes to Zeppelin, or the Beatles, Adele or Queen before audience

DAVID BOWIE No Plan EP (Sony) While essentially an addendum to Black Star, the final statement/album from David Bowie released just over a year ago, this four-track, post-death release fleshes out not just the final year or two of Bowie’s life but also any “message” we took from Black Star. That final period was when, knowing he was dying but not necessarily certain it would happen quickly, Bowie was working on both the album and a stage show based on the character he played

The best songs of the year were all over the shop as numbers 11-20 showed, and numbers 1 to 10 are no different. Brandy Clark tops the list with something sharp and punchy (and closes the list with something sad but potent, if you remember) which sounds nothing like the pulse-and-sooth of Underworld or the Indo-Australian hip hop melange of L-Fresh The Lion. Clark is not the only country act on the list but at this end of the table she’s sharing space with the liquid R&B of D

First, but not last, end of year thing from this pen/keyboard. A summation of a year dominated by people who won't be making music again but not ruled by it because it was also a year driven by people who made music socially and politically relevant again, Also a top 10 that somehow doesn't include Nick Cave's Skeleton Tree. Still not sure how that happened. Can I have a Top 11 please? (I'll be writing about the top 10, or 11, or 20, elsewhere soon.) BLACK DAYS, BLACK STAR

As I said in an earlier post, I had to pick 50 songs from 50 years to mark a landmark that we don’t need to go over again here thank you very much (cos I still feel like the 13-year-old and I sure act like him often enough). Only one song per year, one song per artist, each with some significance for me. There was a CD, so along with the songs these are excerpts from the liner notes. (Of course there were liner notes.) The first tranche takes us from 1965 to 1989. 1965: The