[The closing track is] evidence of a big pink heart and of these musicians' ability to transcend their beats-based mindset. In other words, time for the boys to really future this.

There's plenty of care taken with these covers, the players evidently keen to not tarnish their own memories of the songs in question.

This feels like an album by, for and about himself.

If only all bands had the guts and honesty of The Maccabees, maybe they'd get round to making third records as good as this.

Glowing Mouth is a polished, well-arranged album that could find a happy home in countless collections.

Watson's ability to create whole worlds, entire lifetimes in the listener's imagination, beyond the moment of recording, comes to the fore.

An indispensable guide to an iconic band.

Jarrett has separated the ingredients into bite-sized chunks. With an audience as ecstatic as the one at the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, where his new album was cut in April 2011, this works to the advantage of both. Jarrett builds a rapport with his public, and they can more easily adapt to the changes of mood and genre as his ideas develop.

He merges his raw lyrical roots with No I.D.'s voluminous soundtrack, resulting in a decent album far more celebratory than his previous work.

Ecstatics proves to be only half the album it thought itself capable of being.

936 is a delight, a ray of welcomed sunshine as the wintry outside fades into shades of grey.

He does the classics to an accomplished standard – some perfunctory and forgettable, some bubbling deliciously – and everything is professionally packaged.

By the end of these 17 tracks the head is heavy with images of the Smash robots battle-rapping against a crew from whatever planet The Clangers call home.

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.

It layers on the schmaltz but stops short of choking the listener with sentimentality by revealing a wickedly singular wit and some snappy expectations-eschewing cuts.

This is the sound of the Noughties – electro enough without being harsh, interesting without being over-cool, quirky without being weird. Empire Of The Sun have cracked the perfect blend of fond reflection and sexy new frontier frisson. If this is what the future sounds like, then it's going to be beautiful.

Rocky's managed to keep it trill so far, but now comes the hard bit.

It's a bewitching album that gives pause for thought throughout.

This is primarily a celebratory set of greatest hits to appeal to casual and obsessive fans alike.

There's nothing bad to be said for Soul 2, and with Horn on production everything shines brightly like the first snowflakes of a new winter.

Louisville/Seattle trio has delivered an album that every fan of extreme music should own. Bravo.

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

It's a set that does reward investigation, perhaps not with lasting love but certainly first-few-plays impressions which will last into the New Year.

Finally Famous is sporadically fun but adds nothing to the ongoing evolution of hip hop, in the mainstream down.

A wonderful grab-bag of anomalous sounds that pilfers magpie-like from genre after genre as it charts its 41-minute course.

In Case You Didn't Know doesn't surprise, but it certainly fulfils.

It's a pleasant, head-nodding mood record which deftly pieces together a wash of sound; but the best moments are when there's a defining thread to follow.

In other words, it's a perfect match.