It's a mesmerising album which confirms that Björk can weave dumfounding wonders from Silly String--whatever's placed before her, she can turn to her advantage, taking her audience on a trip the likes of which no other contemporary artist is capable of planning, let alone embarking on. In a word: amazing.

This is as good a debut album from a British metal band as you're likely to hear in 2011.

Its most successful examples retain some Radiohead DNA, but reconstituted into a new form.

This is an album that delivers more and more with every listen, showcasing an artist maturing with grace and poise.

It's when the outfit really attack their instruments, however, that sparks start to fly from the Wild Flag sound.

Scott's permanent air of wonder, and respectful, well-crafted arrangements, allow him to get away with even the most fanciful of tales.

It sounds so much more raw and harsh, more real and vulnerable.

1977 may be a blip for this artist in regard to its genesis, but for anyone other than his ex-wife (and perhaps himself) it's an utter pleasure.

The results are, almost inevitably, meditative and cinematic, but also, more unusually for music of this so-called 'post-classical' stripe, rich in melody and genuinely haunting, numinous atmosphere.

Perhaps inevitably, the overall tone is reverent, verging on precious--everyone adheres faithfully to Williams' template of rugged three-chord structures, twanging guitars, weeping violins and keening pedal steel.

Big Troubles seem happy to drift along in a melancholic haze or a sun-drenched lackadaisical dream and let their well-produced but ultimately forgettable songs dissipate around them.

Raucous boot-stompers kick up the dust around soppy slowies, with many a chorus dripping with the sort of gooey gobbledygook that typifies a thousand rom-coms.

Neighborhoods could easily have been a disaster--that it's not, and actually a very successful endeavour, is worthy of substantial praise.

The mid-section lets him down, slumping into the bad habits of his debut solo album.

Should you be keen to pick your way through the evolutionary process of one of rock's greatest ever long-players, hearing every fuzzy demo and work-in-progress chorus, now you've the chance like never before.

Trans-Love Energies is a fine return and a worthy addition to the catalogue of a band whose path has become more of a fantastic voyage than a standard career.

On much of The Old Magic, he's Richard Hawley unplugged.

He knows great stories can be found in even the smallest moment, and that is something worth cherishing.

The Duke Spirit still sound like The Duke Spirit.

It's actually quite hard to decide whether Complete Me is a dreadful pile of over-processed, overloaded frippery, or if it's a work of genius. It could purely come down to whether you've got the stomach for it.

This is a strong record, there's no doubting that--but it still feels like the best is yet to come from Danilova.

Zig Zaj is predictably unpredictable, something else again for the artist.

It has the feeling of a band progressing in their own rights, under their own terms.

There is nothing quite as uplifting as those previously mentioned numbers, but Metals remains as wonderfully organic and distinct as its predecessors

For all of the fine craft on display, there's little obvious emotion. No matter, though, as there's room for everyone, and this makes for ideal driving music and it should sound sensational in a club.

The Less You Know, the Better isn't a bad album at all, and will likely grow into something far more impressive, something that isn't quite evident on first play.

+ will give Sheeran's rabid fanbase a lot to love, but it'll also make him an easy target for critics hungry for new directions in pop, as it fails to really gel the man's loves of folk and rap.

It's a pure, you're-only-as-old-as-you-feel joy to hear British hip hop's most original and inspiring voice hitting his peak as he approaches his 40th year.