Artists who operate within a distinct or limited musical template can risk getting stuck in a creative rut, but on this evidence Junior Boys are just too damned good at this game for any such risk.

. This isn't an album you listen to in a conscious sense: it's an album you put on and switch off, allowing it to carry you on a journey through the wilderness. It's O'Death's most accomplished work to date, and a fine piece of work at that.

It will do for the festivals but not without considerable help from their back catalogue.

Above all, I can't help but feel that Wiley is still too much of a creative character, one relentlessly trying new and different things, to offer the sort of polished and succinct singles that would stick with a daytime radio audience. This unrelenting originality at least is something to be celebrated.

With the best of the bunch already out there, the rest simply feels disposable by comparison. You can't help feeling Is Tropical may have made a mistake by playing their aces too early. Lucky they've got that video then.

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.

The first half of Torches is its collective zenith, and although things pick up towards the end of the album by the strategically placed 'Pumped Up Kicks', you can't shake the feeling that Foster has simply stretched the party vibe over as many songs as he can before the momentum runs out.

It is wistful in tone, but it's no nostalgia trip and summer or not it's a consistently blissful and thrilling EP that bodes well for any forthcoming album.

Sound Kapitol is a successful, if slightly creatively stifling refinement of a fruitful and unique musical partnership.

Sugar Daddy Live reveals a picture of a storied band that is still finding ways to reinvent itself.

If At Echo Lake hit the jackpot, Sun & Shade is more hit and miss. Still, I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Family Sign is a strong continuation and addition to a powerful series of modern rap albums. It's bigger than past records and heavier, a nice combination that genuinely puts the listener into an emotional flux.

There are a few weaker offerings scattered across There Is A Way, 'Good Time' and 'Apostrophe' are the main offenders, but nothing that spoils a clearly accomplished record.

While the ground The Coathangers find themselves treading is well-worn, it's their approach and general unpretentious demeanour that makes them and Larceny & Old Lace a delightfully engaging collection, even if the underlying message bears a hallmark of sadness and loss.

Indeed with such a raging fire burning through their bellies, this stands up alongside 60 Second Wipe Out as possibly Atari Teenage Riot's most potent collection of songs to date, and what's more, in a climate besieged with apathy and despondence, their relevance today cannot be underestimated.

It might tend more towards solid songwriting than reinvention, and might not quite reach the heights of lunatic brilliance of its predecessor, but as far as most people's dream of what a proper pop album should be, Lupercalia certainly comes closer than most.

Justin Vernon and his crew have changed things up here for sure, but the results are every bit as beautiful as you might expect.

Now stripped of their manufactured aura, WU LYF no longer have a platform but instead stand naked and shivering alongside hundreds of other bands with debut albums that don't satiate the need for instant greatness.

Just as Shuman himself demands attention within the crowded QOTSA line-up, Mini Mansions should shine in their own right regardless of their imposing origins. All they require are your ears. It would be rude to turn down such a delectable request.

Sure, there are imperfections along the way, but this is an immeasurably intriguing and constantly developing journey that's best experienced alone.

Although perhaps a bit overbearing at 11 songs, Bachelorette is a worthwhile collection of distinctive orchestrations that should propel Annabel Alpers even further into the limelight.

Ultimately, depending upon how you felt about their last record Mirror Mirror is either a return to, or continuation of, form.

I can't say if you liked Preteen Weaponry and Rated O then you will like this for sure, because it is a departure. Nonetheless if you were minded to like those two records and if you are after a record that is in pretty much every sense a 'challenging' listen then Absolute II should tick all your boxes.

On its own terms, Ear Pwr is a record that, while occasionally poorly structured and a little draggy, offers a rapturous sundown forestfull of perfectly nice pop nuggets, and perhaps the most unexpectedly 'normal' album of the year; a breakneck jolt and a right-turn for the conventional.

Overall, D is a measured if occasionally overcooked beast that proves difficult to digest as a whole.

The Errant Charm is marked by subtle beats and expansive drones that underpin most of the tracks and add an interesting new dimension to the band's sound.

Musically speaking, it's a perfectly logical progression from Fucked Up's second album, 2008's The Chemistry Of Common Life, which itself strode recognisably onwards from their 2006 studio debut Hidden World.

For all its awkwardness, for all its outrage in major chords, it's ultimately hopeful. Sure, there are some bum notes, but it's music with passion. It makes you want to DO something, and that is what a real protest album is really about.