It’s a strange collage of effects and affects that sometimes don’t coalesce and sometimes do.

Tongue ‘N’ Cheek is a vacuous but fun party record, one that suspension of disbelief aids immeasurably.

A band's influences should whisper in your ear, not smack you round the face. That's not to say that there isn't anything new or really of themselves in there, it just takes a little while to figure out what it is.

In the midst of all this evolution, Pulled Apart By Horses are still fun, and the enthusiasm with which they pummelled through their earlier efforts is still present here.

Familiar ground is where they’re most comfortable, and they still haven’t worked out how to successfully expand their horizons beyond that.

On Art in the Age of Automation they are back to their best and clearly enjoying this newfound vigour for their craft.

He lives and breathes it [music] like very little people today do, but for all the guitar work, humour, snarling vocals and at times great writing, there is consistently a level of cringyness that goes with it.

It is a blazingly enjoyable record, the most purely fun album the band has made since Fever to Tell.

Too much of Not Real is nondescript and dull.

There is something for everybody here. That he seems to pull off every style he tries his hand at with such assurance is a testament to his talent. Here, finally, we have an artist who seems to make it his life’s mission to move with--and reflect--the times.

It is very easy to get lost in this record, but there is a miraculous balance that holds everything together.

Ultimately it’s a response to sugary summer pop songs that won’t keep you warm then the sun goes down.

While that’s frustrating the good stuff here is very, very good, and the less impressive fare on offer shouldn’t dissuade curious ears.

'Capture/Release' may not be the jolliest record in the world, but perversely, it’s damn good fun and a heck of a lot more.

Far from the bold reinvention initially promised, its restless energy masks over most missteps.

Close to the Glass isn't quite the luxurious auditory and emotional jacuzzi the Notwist's albums have been in the past. It's more a wading pool made of obligation and diffidence.

When it breaks down to an exquisitely put-together choral section it feels like the band are soundtracking a Tim Burton film, they manage to out-Sufjan Sufjan Stevens on a Christmas record... no mean feat. The admission price is worth paying for this alone.

At its core, Bad News Boys is a joyous celebration of all things rock'n'roll by two guys who seem to have it running in their blood.

This is the best album Garvey has worked on since The Seldom Seen Kid.

Even in the context of what is turning out to be a stonking year for electro-pop, YACHT have concocted a record to match their peers in Metronomy, Cut Copy and Friendly Fires.

Half one is lovely folk, half two is slightly less even, slightly more idiosyncratic folk.

This is the album Morrissey could have made if he'd been treated to MDMA and burgers.

At its best Home Economics tries to find some kind of ascension from this harshness of life. At other moments what is being said, what is got at is lost, and easily passed by unnoticed.

Minor criticisms aside, this is still a highly enjoyable record that knocks spots off most of the competition still tripping over each other's shoelaces to be the most shambolic lo-fi band in town.

While much of the album has you spitting out quicksand, the clear escapism theme of ‘Noah’s Ark’ is a hand dragging you out of the quagmire. And with the amount of misery The Body are offloading here, you’re gonna need a bigger boat.

Last Days Of Summer marks the point where White Denim left behind their schizophrenia and started speaking in one voice.

Sure, there’s less humour here than Conor Oberst or Okkervil River, but there’s also less caricature, and if Damien Jurado continues to play second fiddle in terms of success, he no longer does so in terms of atmospheric arrangements, captivating tunes, and dark poetry.