This is their best yet and possibly the best of the year.

When it works, Long Black Cars condenses the finest elements of The Wave Pictures into some impressive moments.

It's an unabashed throwback, but it's a throwback that's accomplished, likeable, and a lot more fun that it probably should be.

However you choose to describe it, or whatever your preconceptions of Hawley and his music, this is definitely an album you should bend a considered ear towards.

Even for those who already have both of the previous volumes, Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions is a fascinating look at one of America's greatest writers.

All are decent enough but, when placed alongside the album's standout moments, they aren't quite as dazzling. Not like that really matters though, because there are standouts throughout.

What sets Traxman apart from most of his current footwork peers is an ability to preserve the tenderness when he's strip-mining house, soul, disco and Prince... This should not detract from his equal skill at conjuring unruly, drums'n'samples raw bangers, of which Da Mind Of Traxman has plenty.

Amidst the overstuffed yet predictable arrangements, the middle-of-the-road sentimentalism and lack of killer tunes, these brief moments can't prevent Ways To Forget itself proving to be largely forgettable.

A surefire contender for metal album of the year and certainly worthy of some crossover recognition, Sentenced To Life deserves some adulation purely for reminding us that metal doesn't need bells and whistles to be thrilling, even in 2012.

It's undoubtedly complex, awkward and occasionally without direction, but it also produces moments of astonishing splendour, each with the capacity to bring neck hairs bristling to attention.

To call it album of the year at this stage wouldn't so much be pre-emption as an actual understatement.

She's made an album that only she could have made, and frankly it's refreshing to hear a female singer from a folk background whose most obvious and overwhelming reference point isn't Joni Mitchell via Laura Marling.

[There are no] outstandingly bad offerings, just several more forgettable ones than can be briskly ignored.

Electra Heart is a reasonably fun listen, and even if it falls short of its stratospheric ambition, still has more to say than many of Marina's contemporaries.

Keepers of the Light is a rarity for a double album: its indulgence (seriously, 144 minutes?) rarely grates, and its individuality doesn't cramp its funkiness.

This is a modern masterpiece, it's as simple as that.

This is a hard, dark, inventive record that strongly suggests that give or take an imaginary sister and some fiddles, Jack White is pretty much the same boy we've always known.

He circumnavigates his more common interest in black humoured songs in favour of playful experiments removed of vocals but layered with electronic production.

It's not a monumental leap forward from the band's previous work, but Harmonicraft displays the signs of consistent refinement and revels in that fact.

The Money Store thrills like no other set heard this year.

The good far outweighs the bad here, and with Generation Freakshow Feeder have created another strong addition to their mostly impressive back catalogue.

Ty Segall and White Fence haven't reinvented themselves, nor have they revolutionised garage rock, but Hair stands as a welcome reminder of how enjoyable guitar and drum music can be both to play and to hear.

Master of My Make Believe has the feel of being made deliberately difficult to listen to; obstructionist for the sake of being obstructionist, confrontational without really having anything to argue against - except what might, ultimately, be self-imposed expectations.

A record that leaves no seam un-burst in its insatiable quest for mainstream adoration and success.

Not so much a natural progression as a foray into new fields, Skyline is a wonderful album brought about by a sense of restlessness and curiosity.

It'll take about half an hour before you are asked to leave, but it'll be avery special half an hour that you'll only slightly and in some ways regret.

Fin as an album appears to be the requisite cross-over hit of the year, following in the footsteps of Caribou's Swim and Pantha Du Prince's Black Noise.

There are some brilliant tailpieces on Black is Beautiful and some wonderful impressions of a travel sick Alan Clavier, but they're hampered by too many dead ends and retreaded ground.