It’s been a busy year at REAL GONE. Over the past twelve months, we’ve shared over 150 reviews, a truckload of streams and videos, and countless news items. In the usual style, we’ve tried to mix the populist with the obscure and the new with the old, to bring a typically varied source of entertainment. It was great to get back to live gigs in the second half of the year too, and our piece on Martin Rossiter’s farewell show in London proved to be very popular. Overall, it’s been the site’s most successful year to date. We hope you’ve found something to enjoy.

As we prepare to call “last orders” on 2021, here’s a traditional treat: The Real Gone End of Year Sampler!

Right from the early days, our sampler has always been really popular. The early freebies were offered as a download (with hours of planning and a lot of co-operation from bands and labels), but as the times changed, we had to move with them. As with the last couple of samplers, the 2021 edition is presented as an online stream. With apologies to those who don’t have Spotify, but this really is the easiest and most effective way of advertising the year’s musical champions.

We hope you find something new here to fill your ears. If there’s something here that catches your ear, please support the artists by buying a CD or download, or heading over to Bandcamp if appropriate.

Happy listening!