It’s easy to see them as a very promising one act; a band taking familiar styles and crafting them into a memorable, accessible whole, with a strong stream of creativity flowing throughout.

It’s unassumingly loud, and intensely physical, wrestling with the listener in a swarm of noisy sax blasts, gnarly riffs, and often surprisingly catchy math themes. Nonetheless, it feels unfinished.

There’s no slack on the album--from the starting gate to the finish line, Chorusgirl bristle with static and nerves.

It’s an astounding record from a trio still at the most embryonic of stages. We’ll go on record and get this out there now--it has the potential to be a world-beating album.

Severe and melodic, Time the Teacher is a shapely journey to the byzantine innards of DeCicca’s mind.

There are flaws in the album, as some songs could be shortened a little and not every song connects, but once you start trying to add that individual polish, you would risk losing the essential character of the whole. As a solo debut, it is an album of assured intelligence.

The Distant Sky EP is what happens when a lone wolf suddenly needs to reach out and touch. It’s the chaotic scream around loosing a child. It’s a careful help me into the darkness. It’s an invitation to come closer, to hold hands--at last, be close to our St Nick. And it’s fucking glorious. It could have done with a better mix, though.

This, like the other excellent records he has given us since his belated emergence into the global limelight, is a work of quiet--but nonetheless defiant--beauty from a true great of contemporary classical music, who we must all continue to cherish for as long as we can. Essential.

Put simply, CollectiV is a masterclass in supremely executed rock and roll.

Those who don’t want to trawl ebay and other such sites for the out-of-print singles will be happy to have these fabled tracks available to them. It’s just a shame that a release a mere month ago would have allowed more people to fit 'David Christmas' on their festive playlists.

Wakin' on a Pretty Daze is one of those rare examples of an artist’s uninhibited self-indulgence resulting in an LP which plays firmly to their strengths.

Nearer My God is daring, flamboyant and consistently thrilling. It won’t make Foxing the biggest band in the world, but it probably should.

Whilst Hot Thoughts may divide fans, it stands as proof that class is permanent. Spoon are still one of the most forward-thinking rock bands around, and we’re still very lucky to have them 25 years later.

It's fair to say Smoke Ring...'s reliance on gloom and loneliness rarely lets up. But he's trying to find beauty in it, which I guess is the point.

While Wild Light correctly prioritises focus over twists, there are sections that catch you by surprise.

Whilst so many hazy albums of this kind struggle to engage on a level beyond superficiality, Sea When Absent--if you’re willing to genuinely invest in it--throws up a plethora of fresh subtleties with every listen.

Matador is a precise work of outstanding talent. While it may recycle the emotive wild card a little too often for some, any keen ear will be able to tell you this isn't some half baked solo project.

Historian feels like a universe that exists before time, somewhere to reach up to when you need to express something greater than yourself. And Dacus shows us the way, with grace and patience and the quiet confidence of writers twice her age.

In the midst of the beautiful descending piano chords of the Twin Peaks referencing ‘Leo Needs a New Pair of Shoes’ a blade of static erupts without warning, coming to life with an extremely high-frequency version of a distress flare’s hiss. Once this has faded the track’s coda becomes the most beautiful section of the album, clean descending string-playing blending with a more frenetic bowing and echoing wolf cries.

Rather Ripped is what you'd expect from a Sonic Youth that's getting back to the cool rock 'n' roll sound they trademarked years ago, completed by a tagline of frenzied feedback and chiming guitars.

While Erickson provided the 'text', Sheff had to present it with the right level of reverence, being careful to highlight, and not undermine, this record of struggle and redemption.

It's Blitz reveals just how much the trio have grown and how well they know exactly the strange angular planet that their music inhabits.

In There is Love in You we see one of the last decade’s most early pioneers reminding us all that he’s still just as important as ever.

Brothers goes straight into the chase for the finest traditional rock album of the year so far, and with a slight trim to its 15-strong run would be a front runner.

PUP’s second record is one of moments and contrast--huge musical and lyrical leaps forward, some magical trickery and sleight of hand, a few stumbling mis-steps and finally a huge bright, beaming light offering this budding band a path to follow down which they can flower, grow and hey, maybe one day, not be quite so fucking hard on themselves.

This is the most immediate album Cocker has put his name to in ten years.

Yes, there’s technically more instrumental breadth in most episodes of Sesame Street, but this is a deeply, troublingly emotional record.

This is clearly the album that removes any lingering doubt that Chelsea Wolfe is a very special artist; one who is capable of the visceral and the surprisingly soothing in the same stroke.