He clearly relishes the heightened emotion of his source material, the album wisely avoiding cheap campiness in favour of respecting the music's rich sense of drama.

This engrossing union of pianist Matthew Shipp and alto saxophonist Darius Jones is an important addition to the aforementioned and fascinates for its emotional and conceptual richness.

A record fizzing with ideas, tight melodies and loveable sass.

Whatever the case, those years out of the spotlight have served TPF well: every second of Buffalo is wrought and layered with artisan care, and if ever you were looking for a record to banish the winter, this could be it.

Admire the riches this national treasure has bestowed upon us.

Who would have thought the musical accompaniment to a film about a series of Idahoan murders could be so beautiful?

While it lacks the freshness that saw it named one of Pitchfork's best albums of last year, there's no doubting that Palomo's best efforts retain their charm a year since they were first heard.

Gravity the Seducer isn't the ultimate Ladytron album, a title which still belongs to Velocifero. It's too uncertain for that, with the slight wobbliness of someone injured learning to walk again.

Tribal contains 16 deeply detailed, fidgety tracks--but it's never hard work. It's a warm, gently funny album.

Smart but not showy, clever but never at the expense of a catchy hook, this is 'indie' par excellence.

The overall impression remains of a bunch of clever chaps who are able to avoid over-intellectualisation and weave bags of charm and fun into their complex pop songs.

The performances are terrific, and although the songs are from the more obscure end of the Western Swing repertoire, with the exception of Corrine Corrina and Right or Wrong, it’s an excellent introduction to this music--a delightful blend of country, swing and jazz.

At just 28 minutes long, Cat's Eyes certainly doesn't outstay its welcome. Hopefully this is the start of a very glimmeringly troubled yet wonderfully disturbed relationship. Amazing.

They’ll soon become enraptured by what accompanies these highest-of-profile pieces: music that embraces the listener with a silken touch and seduces them with a beguiling beauty that, still, sits prettily beyond the clamour of convenient categorisation.

It is, frankly, classic Eno. Holland too emerges from it well, though his contributions tend to be less immediate.

Elysium could be Pet Shop Boys' warmest, wisest album yet.

It continues the band's long-running, idiosyncratic and distinctively creative career path.

Songs as bold, honest and passionate as these shouldn’t have any trouble fitting in.

While much here can be summarised as more of the same, when Lennox's natural quality control operates at such an admirable standard, that's precisely why Tomboy is such a chilled-out triumph.

Mercer's gently off-beam pop songs are lit up colourfully by the duo's choice of arrangements.

An outstanding debut album that's been a long time coming.

Justin Bieber's new album not only finds him becoming an artist for adults on his own terms, but showcasing impressively distinctive tones and translating an innate charisma across many styles.

There are many more moments of magic on this triumphant third album. Among them, The Girl is Gone proves Mystery Jets can do melancholy in as confident a manner as they do happiness.

It is beautiful and bereft and hard to listen to with easy joy--as are much of the best of these essential recordings.

Elements create a thick, clotted atmosphere which is enveloping but sometimes almost claustrophobic.

Cadenza is so much better than alright: it's more than a little brilliant.

At Night We Live is the best and the most confident album of their two-part career. It is also, admittedly, more commercial-sounding, but there's no shame in that if it's done with integrity, dignity and passion.

Rispah is brilliant enough for the listening public to find it naturally, in their own time.