Listen to Florence and the Machine's cover of Last Christmas

On Tuesday of this week, BBC Introducing hosted a very special Christmas gig at a tiny London venue to celebrate what has been a fantastic year for new music. You can read all about it in my previous post and check out the photos.

Headlining the gig was a good friend of ours, Florence and the Machine. Our love affair with Florence began back in March 2008 when, unsigned, we took her out to Texas to perform at the BBC Introducing showcase at South by Southwest, where she was introduced by Steve Lamacq. She's gone from strength to strength since then, enjoying phenomenal success this year. So we were extremely proud when she came to the gig on Tuesday night to thank us by performing an acoustic set to a packed out pub. To say it was 'intimate' would be putting it lightly.

The highlight of Flo's set was undoubtedly her hauntingly beautiful and forlorn rendition of Wham!'s Last Christmas. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and harp, Flo's incredible voice had us all transfixed.

It's been proving popular on Radio 1 this week, where Greg James and Huw Stephens have both been playing it, but for those of you that haven't heard it yet, here it is in all its glory. If this doesn't get you feeling festive, nothing will...

Best of 2009 - Download six free MP3s

But wait, there's more! After our end of year gig this week, we've all been in a rather reflective mood at BBC Introducing HQ. It's been a busy old year. Our stage went to all of the summer's major music festivals and we welcomed some incredible new talents through the doors of Maida Vale studios to record sessions for us.

So, as our Christmas present to you, here are six of BBC Introducing's favourite songs from 2009, yours to download for free. Merry Christmas.

• Sound Of Guns - Architects (Live at Radio 1's Big Weekend, May 2009)
• Engine-EarZ Experiment - Introspector (Live at Glastonbury, June 2009)
• Beatbullyz - Skills (Maida Vale session, July 2009)
• Young Fathers - Mainframe Disaster (Live at T In The Park, July 2009)
• Stornoway - End of the Movie (Maida Vale session, July 2009)
• Kid Adrift - Red, Green and Blue (Maida Vale session for Electric Proms, October 2009)
  
  

Update: the links above have now expired, and the downloads are no longer available. Thanks for downloading!