2009 was the year of the supergroup, and The Dead Weather were its first. The latest brainchild of rock polymath Jack White, the band launched in March comprising Kills singer Alison Mosshart, Raconteur Jack Lawrence on bass, Queens Of The Stone Age's Dean Fertita on guitar with White drumming and providing additional vocals.

The Dead Weather bucked the supergroup trend and actually went on to be wildly successful, releasing critically acclaimed album Horehound and hitting audiences with some storming live shows (live From The Basement was our favourite).

March also saw Austin, Texas’s SXSW festival’s biggest year. We blogged the event live - both the awesome shows and the awesome Texas Guitar Show.

Speaking of events, the announcement of The Beatles: Rock Band was a big ‘un - news that there was to be a themed edition of the ridiculously popular game franchise featuring original Beatles recordings took everyone by surprise, and was the first chapter in what was to be a very good year for the fab four (skip to September…).

Over on the hi-tech side and Ableton Live 8 was the first of the year’s big DAW updates to get a public airing, being released to beta to loud critical applause.