Suede‘s debut album gives arse-thumping and faux-bisexuality a good name for the first time since Bowie‘s heyday, and proves the perfect antidote to Yank complaint rock, despite the fact that The Auteurs‘ ‘New Wave’ is miles better.
Gone: Sub Popped in, sold out – MTV grunge is finally being crushed underfoot by a growing anti-glum, pro-glam contingency led by Suede.
Album of the year: Debut – Bjork
Single of the year: Big Time Sensuality – Bjork
Band / Artist of the year: Suede
1993 belonged to: Suede and their pale, shimmying, lip-glossed disciples. Oh, and Michael Jackson, who released ‘Dangerous’ this year. It sold a fair bit, you know.
Key event: Huggy Bear on The Word. In an otherwise lacklustre year for pop sensation, someone telling Terry Christian to fuck off was about as good as it got. 
Blur go mockney on ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’, while – with recession setting in – half-arsed post-punk political activism seems like the order of the day for about a week as S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men lead the short-lived New Wave Of New Wave revolution.
Recommended
And speaking of fiery but transient pop scenes, Huggy Bear and Bikini Kill combine the fact that they’re women and they’re a bit miffed and riot grrl is spawned. A tiny space-imp from Iceland called Bjork steals their thunder, however, with her debut album, er, ‘Debut’.