Maybe at some points the eastern influences are more prominent, on tracks like 'Panic In Babylon', but on the whole it's classic BJM.

The twelve songs of Nightlife rattle by the listener with alarming speed, and at only thirty minutes long the record seems to be over just as soon as its begun.

Boo Boo is fascinating as an exercise for Bear, and proves that Toro Y Moi has yet another viable direction to take their music in. At some point, Bear may need to chart a clear course for the project but for now it’s fun to hear him freely experimenting with new sonic palettes.

The only real ‘surprise’ about Rihanna’s eighth album is just how challenging it is, not to listen to but to enjoy. Sonically, Anti is defiantly low key with very little to quicken the pulse.

She's made a solid album of pleasant, though slightly conventional, country pop songs, and done a good job of it. But after showing such early promise, it seems like a shame that more people won't get to hear what Alessi Laurent-Marke is capable of.

All said and done, it's the kind of enchanting, quietly literate indie rock record you could build an intricately compelling life story from, while retaining a fascinating jumble of half-told, quarter-understood anecdotes, stolen glances and sad, gleaming characters for leftovers. Lovely stuff.

Less pretension, more tickling the perimeter of pop perfection next time please, Planningtorock--you can skip the beer belly though.

She & Him treat what could be needless and indulgent with care and soul. Volume Two will surprise and charm in equal measure.

For a record bristling with ideas and extraterrestrial fervour the overall result is a little confused.

The album is recognisable in name only. Only a few songs register in their entirety as actual conceivable moments that the artist would have presumably been comfortable releasing.

This album isn’t for you if you like your music handed to you on a plate. It’s not for you if you want constant twists and turns. It is for you if you’re seeking a suite of songs to immerse, and ultimately to lose yourself in.

Considered as a retelling of McCombs’s career thus far, A Folk Set Apart mostly agrees with the original tale, but adds some new aesthetic information.

If you boarded the good ship 'Jaxx back in the Nineties, Crazy Itch Radio won’t see you throwing yourself overboard any time soon. If you were waving it away from the shore, though, this won’t see you splashing your way through the sea to catch up.

It may not be a timeless classic - much like a lot of his immediately great yet throwaway peers - but for all Baldi's youthful exuberance, he's proven himself an honest and remarkably mature set of hands.

You Were Right is never more than solid and, whilst it’s immaculately polished, tired and forgettable lyrics combined with a general sense of 'good enough' about the tunes suggest that Benson is looking forward to The Raconteurs’ return sooner than the rest of us.

Ellipsis isn’t a career-defining album. ... This is a worthy addition to their catalogue and a couple of songs are their in years. For a band on album seven, that’s still an achievement.

Tunng have been moving towards this downbeat place slowly, and their arrival here shows a real cohesion in them as songwriters and as a band. It’s less the sound of a band losing their edge and more the sound of them finding their zen.

It's Central Market, his second full solo release, that sees him coming of age in a manner that befits the familial myth.

If you love Zappa, Unknown Mortal Orchestra could be your artist of the year.

The truth is that, for possibly the first time in Yo La Tengo’s discography, they're a bit boring.

There is not much here that jumps out of the speakers, or that makes you want to scream with excitement; instead it is a release that slowly gets under your skin, and most importantly, doesn’t force its concept down your throat.

There’s filler for sure, but with the 13 tracks being sleek as they are such fluff merely makes for a more rounded proposition.

Though occasional glimpses of that trademark Beta Band brilliance appear, Astronomy For Dogs fails to act as much more than a reminder to listen to Anderson and company’s former glories.

Why Oneida need a concept to rock out for two hours is still a bit of a mystery, but it never tires... if only all shameless self-indulgence sounded this good.

It’s a beguiling mixture of the unknown and well established, and as a cohesive whole it demands your utmost attention for the duration.

Where Adele sounds like a method actor, Marling weaves secretive threads of thought that suggest she’s agonised over things long enough for them to come together with a thud in plain-spoken full stops.

The lack of any real experimentation does mean that it fails to match the very best of the Joan Of Arc, but the consistency and restraint on display puts Life Like in a lot, lot better light then some of the group's hugely varied output