three of the five new tracks are worth getting hold of, but the rest will be familiar. Does it hang together as an album? Definitely--it's a pretty accurate summation of the band's career so far, and would be a terrific way to introduce yourself to them if you haven't already done so.

Comforting, unsettling, danceable; one way or another Macaroni is a record to make you sweat.

All in all, With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery has the air of a project to it rather than a vital artistic pursuit.

Ataraxia/Taraxis reinstates Pelican at the top of the instrumental food chain and, if they continue like this, they show no sign of coming down.

There really isn't much not to like about Time Capsules II; it would take a lot of energy to summon up any hatred for it, like hating a new-born puppy, or your own child.

Despite all the kooky, twee melodies that make up Beware And Be Grateful, despite the glossy production and multitudinous fragments of ideas that feature on it, even despite the fact that it's hard to think of another band that Maps & Atlases particularly sound like (maybe Grizzly Bear, a bit), this album fails the ultimate test – it's no fun.

It is, all in all, a pretty solid front half of a Spiritualized album that sort of transmits intermittently in the middle and then totally falls on its arse for the last three tracks.

Weekends is an inspired assortment of astutely executed ideas packed into 12 flowing pieces that deserves a wider audience than its likely to receive.

Telling Tales gladly succumbs to its own whimsy, has no stylistic compass beyond the inherent tones of a female vocal harmony group and is a delightful series of songs that are both beautiful and bizarre.

Inventive and playful, their songs play out like animated thought processes, you're invited to figure things out with them as they try to make sense of the world around.

In the cold light of day the album feels flat and utterly predictable.

When it's good, Rhine Gold has got everything you want. There's ambition, surprise and innovation. It's just that it feels like COYB go on autopilot at certain times, which detracts from the album as a whole.

Despite the quality of the execution, it's difficult to shake the sense that A+E has been done before.

It's as if Hospitality are using these songs to channel gnawing anxieties about their futures on one hand, while using insightful lyricism and breezy pop stylings to romanticise the plight of barely scraping together rent on the other

If you are willing to be patient it offers more surprises than you'd expect, flourishing on repeated plays.

Like all Ward's best records, his eighth solo album plays like an intimate knees up. You'll swoon. You'll smile. You'll spin it over and over again.

Most of the tracks here would sound great in that context, but put together here and it leaves you wanted something a little more ragged.

Although not quite out of this world as its title suggests, Interstellar represents a haughty development in Frankie Rose's artistic capabilities.

There are moments worth latching on to but for the full effect, go stand in a club with him and watch him perform.

The best record Orbital have made in the past 15 years and up there with their very best.

It's damn smart and it's damn catchy.

Classic Futureheads tracks are reimagined with quadratic complexity, with polyphonic rhythms weaving in and out of time, and piercingly tight multi-tracked vocals. On a technical level, it is brilliant... But let's face it – Rant isn't the sort of album you're going to listen to every day.

They have an eerie guitar pop sensibility that instrumentally makes for a pleasantly surreal ambience layered with intriguing lyrics and gratifying vocal harmonies.

Most impressively of all, it comfortably lives up to the promise that Auerbach apparently made to the Doctor that he would help him craft 'the best record you've made in a long time.'

It's just as loveably imperfect as its predecessor. The only shame is that it isn't more so.

The way it continues to go to the extreme within more conventional confines seems to have extracted both more emotional engagement as well as energy from The Mars Volta.

As it turns out, the defining feature of Out Of It... is this lack of a subtle affliction or blockbuster cataclysm with which to gel these 11 tracks together. Dig deep enough and you'll find a sketch of significance, a glimmer of greater worth but it's too ill-formed to really make out meaningfully.

While Hooded Fang's two-and-a-half minute pop songs are absolutely fine, you'll struggle to find the time for them when there are already so many better ones out there.