THE JOPI AWARDS for 2012

And unlike some lesser awards shows, these are given for and therefore named after the year in which the work was done rather than the year we're a few weeks in to....


SONG OF THE YEAR: Merdan Taplak - On The Rocks
Nothing has compared this year to the pure, unbridled joy of On The Rocks. Nobody makes dance music like this any more and actually, i'm not sure anybody ever actually did. Merdan Taplak's quirky electro synths and an unrelenting beat came together to produce the best Summer anthem for years, and barely anybody heard it outside Belgium.

Also of note... In what has been a year of the M artists, Miike Snow's Paddling Out is a similarly joyous experience with luscious deep dish production that feels as warm as a perfect summer sunset and Misha B's Homerun is without doubt the most inventive single ever to be released by an X-Factor contestant. All are compelling listening in what has been a highly erratic year for music.

SINGLE OF THE YEAR: Errr.... Ummm....
Aside from a heavy rummage through some bargain bins in various Belgian branches of Free Record Shop, i've scarcely bought any physical format singles this year. It has now been made pretty much impossible to buy vinyl or CD singles over the counter in the UK and the coverage of HMV's online service is very patchy. I still find it hard to believe that well specified CD singles (particularly for dance and urban artists where remixes are often numerous) would not have a market. I was also quite disappointed by the offerings made available for Record Store Day this year. Just because a single has only been pressed in a tiny quantity doesn't give sufficient reason for it being a tenner. That is nothing but profiteering by record companies.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Das Pop - The Game
I know this category should be renamed "Jopijedd's album of the year, a year late", but what a fucking awesome album. Das Pop have matured from their wonderful eponymous album to produce this broody, multi-layered, synth laden sound which calls on a whole host of influences, from mid 80s library electro to 70s punky pub rock, calling at many stops in between. You'd think the result would be a mess, but the glorious result is so much greater than the sum of its parts. If ever there was an album to completely lose yourself in, this is it.

Also of note... The debut album Entropology from School Is Cool is a marvellous mixture of anthems, apocalypse and real indie rock. When so many British bands seem incapable of writing a chorus or hook to save their lives, the likes of New Kids in Town and The World Is Gonna End Tonight are jaw-droppingly strong and full of drama.

RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR: Errr.... Ummm....

It has been a very difficult year for me to quote any particular radio station as my favourite. In truth, i haven't spent enough time listening to Belgium's Studio Brussel to honestly declare it the winner again and for the whole year, i've skipped around the radio dial picking up gems amongst the brightly coloured rubbish. Here follows an overview of my thoughts...

The conclusion of Chris Moyles' stint on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show brought about a raft of changes at the station which have seen 75% of the daytime weekday output become unlistenably awful. Radio 2 sparkles with Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo, but stinks with Chris Evans, Jeremy Vine's Argument Show and Steve Wright. XFM has benefitted from Danny Wallace's refreshing take on breakfast, but suffers from a playlist that doesn't quite know what it wants to be. BBC Radio Bristol is occasionally brilliant (Yabbo, Martin Evans, Elise Rayner), but suffers from far too many cliches of awful local radio worthiness, particularly the shouty moron phone-ins. All our local ILRs are unashamedly terrible - Heart (bland and overcommercialised), Crapital (brainless), Breeze (bland and tedious) and Kiss (chavtastic) all heavily rely on networked programming and demonstrate nothing of any value whatsoever. The only station to demonstrate any innovation on their playlists (Jack) carries no human continuity outside of peak hours and is just an iPod on shuffle, but with adverts.

MUSIC RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: De Afrekening (Studio Brussel)
The spirit of the traditional British Indie chart lives on in Studio Brussel's vote powered chart show De Afrekening. Each Saturday, thirty of the best current alternative records get an airing. Imagine Zane Lowe without all the hype, shouting and a more open mind and you're pretty much bang on for the playlist. It makes a refreshing change for a show about new music to actually let the music take centre stage.

FACTUAL RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Iain Lee (BBC Three Counties Radio)
The recruitment of Iain Lee has been a revelation on the normally sleepy backwater of BBC Local Radio Breakfast. His several years of experience with late night zoo phone in programmes on LBC and Absolute, combined with refreshing honesty and straight talking give the 3CR Breakfast show an entertaining edge which is lacking on many sleepy BBC Local breakfast shows. Lee is a classy broadcaster who has moulded his talents to bring something new to an otherwise tired format. Oh, and he dares to have an opinion on the music he plays too...

COMEDY RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Matt Edmondson (BBC Radio 1)
Matt Edmondson's Wednesday evening show on Radio 1 has now concluded as Edmondson moves to weekend mornings, but for near on two years there has been an hour of scripted studio sketches, daft features and comic interviews which, free from the shackles of daytime content guidelines has been able to sound far edgier and lively than anything else on Radio 1. The show has been far more entertaining than it deserves to have been, given Edmondson's limited experience in radio. Time remains to see how his talents will adapt to weekend daytimes.

BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR: Danny Baker
Just about the only person who has caused a "did you hear that?!?" moment this year was Danny Baker. Having learned of BBC London's intentions to dispose of his services via sources other than from the management, Baker launched a two hour tirade against spineless management, strangely reminiscent of the end of the dinosaur era on Radio 1 in the 1990s. Quite correctly, he criticised the focus on "making people scared" which BBC Local Radio is so often guilty of, albeit under the guise of "telling us your stories", which has notably become the focus of the new nationally networked evening show headed by Mark Forrest. Baker took a stand for two things he believes in, namely radio providing some escapism and joy away from the sometimes harsh and miserable realities of a city like London and management being honest enough to at least admit when they're cancelling your show.

MUSIC RETAILER OF THE YEAR: Tony's Muziekhuis (Pas 36, Geel, Belgium)
This was pretty much a foregone conclusion from February onwards. The last of a generation of large, sprawling independent record shops with stock from floor to ceiling, Tony's Muziekhuis is a wonderful experience to the music loving child of the 80s who still half expects to see Rival Records every time he walks down the Corridor in Bath. Its just a shame that it involves a 1,300km round trip to go there...

HOPE FOR 2013...
Not so much hopes, more an observation of the mainstream scene at the moment.
Pop music is dead. It seems that the only acts capable of getting a substantial pop hit are reality show graduates and this is a sad state of affairs. Urban music is also looking decidedly sickly, with the British movement that had so much momentum behind it five years ago now all but having fizzled out of the mainstream view. So what about Indie? Well that looks screwed as well with the precious few guitar bands who do make daytime radio seemingly incapable of writing a decent song to save their lives. What is left is a bland mix of American Urban acts, plastic reality pop, songs from TV commercials and other dirge championed by Heart. As demonstrated by the most pissweak BBC Sound of... poll ever, 2013 holds little hope for improvement with none of the top five acts having serious mainstream crossover potential.

I'm sorry it hasn't been more upbeat, but i don't believe in praise where it isn't due and this year i've hit something of a crisis with the mainstream chart music scene and the wireless. There are very few distinctive voices on the FM dial in the West Country, even on the supposedly prime time breakfast shows and those who are distinctive are irritating rather than compelling.