[An] impressive debut album.

On El Camino, mariachi, C&W, gospel, psych rock, blues and soul all mash together into a warm and occasionally dazzling torrent; their appeal is less in fresh sounds as fresh composites of old ones, wrapped around classically dusty tales of errant womenfolk and addiction to love.

While nowhere near as immediate as Johannsson's string-based albums for the 4AD imprint--IBM 1401, A User's Manual and the sublime Fordlandia--The Miners' Hymns is far more complex in its use of dynamics while succeeding totally in its evocation of time, place and message.

It's a mark of the album's strength that there aren't many standouts: there aren't any weak tracks either.

Nevertheless, what the album lacks in depth, it more than makes up for in the length and breadth of Weller's imagination.

Hyro Da Hero has created a fresh and interesting blend of music and clever wordplay which broaches topics of prejudice and respecting the world we live in with notable humour and intelligence.

With Route One or Die they have managed to destroy not only their previous releases, but potentially anything else released in 2011.

It is Coleman's sax, Jonathan Finlayson's trumpet, Tim Albright's trombone and Jen Shyu's voice that make the strongest impact.

The Mosaic Project offers, simply, some of the best jazz around.

This is an ambitious work, and all of its aims have surely been fulfilled.

There are better tapes, better performances--but the strength of this collection is proving that in whatever company, be it President or criminal, Johnny Cash couldn't help but be himself.

The results are expectedly analogue of warmth (exceptions: the 8-bit insistence of No Distance's bleeps; the crackle-and-squelch of Unknown Host), but just as enveloping as the best today's modulator manipulators can produce.

Pop Tune finds the Japanese three-piece in fine form, exhibiting a wide-eyed freshness all the more remarkable when you consider that they have been a going concern since 1981.

Whatever expectations a solo album by a saxophonist conjures up, Saltash Bells is likely to belie them.

Repeated listens of this finely realised album are therefore an enjoyable must.

For those hankering for the lost summer of 2012, solace could well be found in the rays of musical sunlight that burst out of every hook and melody of By Your Side.

Meir is an album that will be regarded with such reverence that it’ll be a marker for other acts’ work to be compared to in the future.

This is dark, feverish garage rock as it's meant to be played.

It's both refreshing and exciting to hear an artist so vividly committed to exploring new frontiers in such a rewarding way.

An album wracked with spirit and a ferocious refusal to let anything slide away. Every track's an anthem; every second's precious, each breath as breathless as the last.

She is, by no means, ‘retro’ in her art; it’s just been a long time since anyone sang soul music as passionately, wittily and inventively as she does here.

Torche have always been a good band and sometimes even a great one, but with Harmonicraft they've found the songs to match their extraordinary sound.

A majestic return and, let us hope, a harbinger of more to come.

Looping State of Mind barely outstays its welcome, and its beatific state of mind may prove to be a welcome refuge for many more than for the musical vanguard, like Seefeel, that inspired it.

Though all are blessed with a wry and dusty charm that's hard to dislike, too many are rolled out in a way that seems more to do with autopilot than passion. Narrow Way and Duquesne Whistle mighty be jaunty toe-tappers but they're also examples of the lightweight fluff that blows around the album.

He still swaggers with the best of them.

Until the Quiet Comes further catapults Ellison into the cosmos and away from all things terrestrial. He's the king of his domain, and there is no runner-up.

Rather than insolently demanding your attention as most rock albums do, Open Your Heart possesses a wonderfully self-indulgent, insular quality.