All told, this is arguably The Advisory Circle's most fully-realised set to date (accompanied by a typically eye-catching sleeve by Ghost Box's in-house designer, Julian House), exhibiting a stronger sense of (dis)place(ment) than before and, as such, constitutes the perfect entry point for anyone looking for a way into Brooks' enchanting, wistful realm.

If you thought him too weird for your tastes previously, Tha Carter IV is the album to introduce you to the never boring world of an artist whose importance remains so significant that, should he finally collapse like the star he is, he's likely to take half the rap game with him.

It comprises 11 tracks that sound like intros in search of songs. It is bland of lyric and tinny of sound. The rhythms plod alarmingly.

Portamento is simplicity redux, to the point of composing songs that sound too alike, and too like the last album.

Tinariwen continue to shift perceptions of what 'world' music can be.

A fine place to sample much of Smith's considerable oeuvre.

File him beside Frank Ocean as an RnB star set to climb to new heights in 2012.

For Fitz and Co, few if any post-60s developments in black dance music are acknowledged. Still, when it's good and exciting, as on the standout Don't Gotta Work It Out, with its simply thrilling keyboard coda, considerations of originality become irrelevant.

You wouldn't expect soul from a Glen Campbell record, but it takes many forms. A veteran who needs help to express his memories of a life less ordinary, but ironically sounds on the top of his game, is clearly one of them.

Yes, the videos still display awkward, cringe-worthy naivety that could inspire the next The Inbetweeners movie, but this music is a mature mix of jaunty and jaundiced.

The Golden Age of Apocalypse seems specially made for a long, hot, daydream-filled summer. Here's hoping.

I'm With You is a solid, decent enough 10th album, but it's far from vital.

Not only does it offer a bejewelled porthole into the flair of Alice Gold, but it's an album that transcends any accepted conventions of 'female singer-songwriter', and lays the foundations for a rock star.

Overall, then, From Africa With Fury: Rise is a pretty solid second effort.

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

Overall, The R.E.D. Album stands as a solid return for its maker, as long-time listeners will connect with his no-frills lyrics and unsettling artistic demeanour.

Whether you could go so far as to call Guetta an auteur might be pushing it, but it's a cohesive effort, if not quite a work of art.

This swift follow-up, which portrays a band still with shoulder-shrugging faux-teenage inarticulacy high on their agenda, amidst a delivery of doped-out Ramones-y monomania which can make this album's 36 minutes feel like an hour.

To call it a career highlight would be a little excitable, but Mirror Traffic feels like one of those records that'll tempt fair-weather fans back to the Malkmus name. Which is probably a happy thing for all concerned.

No moulds are broken here, but the occasional breeze drummed up by the couple's galloping minds is in many ways cool.

La Liberación is so fixated on exhibiting its sense of fun that it forgets how to finish ideas in the process.

The state of the art recording ensures that this is another unmissable feast of song from an artist seemingly unstoppable in her continuing quest to present something new to her worldwide audience.

Ultimately, despite its makers' impressive credentials, this debut long-player is destined for the homes of listeners with more Basshunter in their collection than Burial.

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

The pleasure in Beirut's music has always largely been in what it evokes – a kind of melancholy tempered with optimism and sometimes celebration. And it evokes marvellously here: whatever current Condon found himself caught up in that led to the creation of these songs, it's one you feel he's happy to coast a while yet.

Too patchy to warrant genuflection just yet, thanks should nevertheless be given for the exquisite moments that Young the Giant serve here.

Parton's 41st studio LP sparkles with the enthusiasm of a debut.

Philip Larkin memorably once noted, "What will survive of us is love". Whilst that's undoubtedly true, in Martyn's case there are also these glorious songs to savour and celebrate.