SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Music and Wine
Blue Six
This is bliss captured and given musical form. A mouth-watering and classy slice of soulful House music that got me grooving in my car more than any other record this year. Everytime I played it the summery vibe wrapped around me like a cool breeze and my humble little Toyota was transformed into an open top Triumph cruising around the South of France with the sun beating down on my face. The slinky beat sinks into your hips like that warm feeling you get inside after your third vodka and you find yourself gliding around the dancefloor in a state of heavenly rapture. God bless 'em, it even has a flute solo.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Mama's Gun
Erykah Badu
Album of the Year was a two-horse race between Birdie and Broadcast until this came along in late December and blew the two of them out of the water. In the long gap between this and her debut album a whole host of female 'neo-Soul' singers - Jill Scott, Angie Stone, Macy Gray - had come along and parked their bootys on the turf she had staked out as the Poet Goddess/Earth Mother/Amazon Queen of modern soul music. Ms. Badu put herself firmly back at the head of the tribe by reaching into her big hat and pulling out this dazzling and freewheeling melting pot of soul, funk, rock and jazz that slices up the competition, burns down their vilages and kills their first-born male child. Long live the Queen!

SINGLE OF THE YEAR BY A FORTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD MOTHER OF TWO
Music
Madonna
While "Hey Mr. DJ put a record on, I wanna dance with my baby" may not exactly be worthy of Yeats you'd have to be a pretty surly bugger to resist the beat of this one. You know, music does make the bourgeoisie want to rebel, so this isn't just just a silly pop song but a Marxist critique of...oh, alright, it is a silly pop song. But sometimes silly pop songs can be as insanely great as this one and make people all over the world want leave their drinks at the bar and go dance their socks off while they wonder what the hell "bourgeoisie" means. The best thing Mrs. Ritchie has done since "Into The Groove."

NEW POP THRILL OF THE YEAR
Birdie
There's something spooky about Birdie's album "Some Dusty." It feels so instantly familar that it's hard to believe that it was freshly created by two people who exist in the here and now when it sounds as if it has been conjured whole from some corner of your memory. This act of musical deja vu mixes the pop freshness of Saint Etienne with the rainy day melancholy of Karen Carpenter to create a sound that feels as comfortable as an old pair of jeans. The alchemy created by the mellow warmth of Debsey Wykes' voice and Paul Kelly's fuzzy guitar playing is the kind of magic to your ears that usually only exists in the dreams of pop geeks like me. If it is only a dream, don't pinch me.

GLOOMY BRITS OF THE YEAR
Broadcast
While they may sound as if they've teleported here from another ghostly dimension, Broadcast in fact hail from the charming city of Birmingham, England. A picturesque place most famous for it's motorway system and concrete shopping centre. Their fabulous debut album "The Noise Made By People" was a collection of moody little ditties laced with eerie radiophonic bleeps and hums that sound like Stereolab playing the theme music from 'Doctor Who'. Lead singer Trish Keenan comes across like a council estate Francoise Hardy on Prozac, with a dry nonchalance that reminds me of a bored schoolgirl who's trying desperately hard to be unimpressed with life. It's grim up north, you know.

LABEL OF THE YEAR
Naked Music
In 2000 Naked Music made a name for themselves (at least in my house) as the Motown of Deep House with a string of classy singles from Blue Six, Lovetronic, Petalpusher and Lisa Shaw plus a series of great compilations (all with the same luscious and naughty cover art.) Their signature sound is as smooth and creamy as vanilla ice cream with sensuous beats and textures that wash over you like an orgasm. This is club music like your mother used to make – strong songwriting, soulful vocals, sophisticated production and so much hip-shaking sexiness your pants will explode with delight. Naked-Music.com

CUTE GIRL WITH A GUITAR OF THE YEAR
Mascott
(aka Kendall Jane Meade)
Think of Girls With Guitars and several images come to mind: There's the Alanis/PJ Harvey she-devil who'll stick a knife in your ribs just for forgetting her birthday, another is the sensitive folky waif epitomised by Jewel. Kendall Jane Meade is neither of these, she's a folky chick but she's also a pop tart – part Joni Mitchell and part Dusty Springfield. The charming songs on her debut "Follow The Sound" contain a few of those bastard boyfriends that populate the works of other female singer/songriters but instead of whining about them (or threatening to kill them) Kendall has a direct and wide-eyed tone that suggests it's all part of life's rich tapestry, she'll get over it and write a lovely song about it. His loss.