No Geography is a great Chemicals album, for it balances the hedonistic big numbers with sentiments of real substance, fighting its corner with vigour in the face of chaos. ... It ranks as one of the Chemical Brothers’ finest achievements.

To date, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes have blended buzzing Stooges punk, thick Queens Of The Stone Age riffs and winking alternative rock into something resembling Arctic Monkeys circa Humbug, as seen through a funhouse mirror. All of these sounds are here on End Of Suffering, and more besides.

This record has been a long time coming, as Fabiana first appeared as one to watch in 2017, but with her development as a singer, songwriter and producer it’s surely been worth the wait.

Render Another Ugly Method is an album which demands careful listening, almost as it pushes away the listener, inviting interpretation as it rejects it. Often thrilling, it is rarely less than compelling.

This is an extremely fine piece of work, another auspicious addition to the already impressive Border Community canon.

The recorded experience of the band is entirely different to that of seeing them live of course, but these last two albums are perhaps about as close to the bone shaking, mind expanding, air shifting onslaught as has yet been committed to tape. Somehow, Pyroclasts is more stripped back than Life Metal, but that merely adds to its live and immediate feel.

It’s a strange and often beautiful record, proving that Charli XCX is indeed the perfect artist to soundtrack this new twist on Brontë.

Not all of the 11 tracks here strike gold, but they glitter and glow with positivity.

Beach Fossils is the sound of life being enjoyed for the simpler things and getting over the rest. It makes for a languidly pleasing bout of escapism at the very least.

A great album full of songs both uplifting and danceable, emotional and cerebral.

At just over half an hour, it’s a short, sharp shock to the system which contains some of Stern’s best songs to date.

There’s a new sense of optimism shining through the songs, especially on tracks like Hey I Won’t Break Your Heart and Tell Me, but it’s always tempered by a wistfulness that only experience can bring.

There's just enough pop influence to catch the audience's ear along the way - the refrains on Chocolate Makes You Happy, Dear God, I Hate Myself, and This Too Shall Pass Away (For Freddy) are as infectious as any mainstream pop song.

Overall, this is a fine debut album that does exactly what it says on the tin. While they won't win any points for innovation, Two Door Cinema Club are going to find their way into a lot of people's hearts during 2010.

What’s most impressive about Black Hours is how Leithauser can bounce from one style to another without disrupting the flow of the album.

This is, without cliché, a life affirming record. It is easy to share in the wonderment at such a young life when Weeks phrases his vocals as he does.

As a standalone album From Scotland With Love is good, but found wanting in areas of length and substance. As a soundtrack to a film, it’s wonderful. The context to choose is the listener’s.

Adam Pierce has concocted a cogitative brew, a fountain of trills 'n' thrills, that has the noisy echo of '80s New York noise bands, glimpses of the Fusion and Latin flair that transfixes the likes of Fila Brasilia and Jimpster, and the gossamery drift of Scandinavian techno-pop.

When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go? is a startlingly good introduction to Billie Eilish, an album full of attitude but with the talent to back it up. Where she goes from here will be fascinating to see.

Becoming Undone is a twisted, thrilling ride, at once stylish and unhinged, showing that more sophisticated production techniques haven’t taken away any of ADULT.’s edge over the years.

There are numerous highlights to be found across these songs but Herod 2014 and Fetish stand out in particular.

Me And Ennui… is pure articulation. Just when you think that Sarah Mary Chadwick has shone a light on every one of her warts, here comes the ‘and all’.

What we ultimately get with New Moon feels in part like a Best Of retrospective, but also in part a surreptitious and rather voyeuristic peek at Smith's innermost workings and thoughts.

This is a fantastic record, and yet another reminder of how good this band are. Nothing seems out of place, not a single riff or beat is wasted. New styles are performed with vigour, and the band sound energised and refreshed. An essential release.

Two decades on, Formentera sees the band still going from strength to strength, evolving their sound as time goes on, while retaining all the elements which make them such an enjoyable listen.

Sisyphus is a compositionally superb production that adeptly mixes the members’ unique styles.

Both Lights [is] both a complex and fascinating listen in equal measure.

Laura Veirs makes an excellent case for herself as one of the most under-recognised singer-songwriters working today and the album's summery soul lingers long after first listen.

This is a tremendous album that provides a new favourite each time you listen.

Girl Friday are quite clearly on their own path, and all the better for it.

Brothers is a woozy, murky album, fat as a tick, and riled up like a kicked hornets' nest. Whatever growing pains they've gone through as a pair has been worth it; Brothers hits harder than either of their solo albums.

That Golden Time is undeniably a slow-burner of an album, and like much of Villagers’ previous output, it’s more than likely that a few repeat plays will pay dividends.

Overall, The Border is an exquisite collection of tracks that not only emphasises Nelson’s artistic longevity (he’s 91) but also demonstrates his enduring ability to craft or convey profound and relatable narratives through song.

The resulting wash of sound makes for an escapist experience par excellence.

Demon Days as a whole is a thing of considerable depth and melancholia and offers rather more soul than the cartoon gimmick would suggest.

Memoria is a substantial listen, and could probably be broken down into two shorter LPs of different styles, but its creative verve provides quality as well as quantity.

It's a journey through the West Country trio's brand of infectious bluesy garage rock and evocative of a head on collision between The Kills and the Arcade Fire.

Perhaps not a headphone masterpiece, but a generous slice of frank and thought-provoking tracks regardless.

Soulful, sexy and captivating, Mind Of Mine hints at the flexibility, focus and character required of the brightest solo stars.

Home Video is also Dacus’ most immediate, accessible album to date. While the general tone is quite downbeat, but she can switch to crunchy power-pop on tracks like Hot & Heavy and First Time.

For body and mind, then, this is a powerfully affecting release, one that cements Rival Consoles as one of the brightest jewels in the heavily studded Erased Tapes crown.

Odd Blood peaks in the middle, with two marvelous extended tracks which take the raw materials of '80s soul and funk and somehow manage to inject the mesmeric, insistent rhythms of Krautrock without making a terrible mess of things.

Given the number and variety of artists appearing on EGOLI it could have been easy for it to feel uneven, but it flows brilliantly and should be hailed as a significant achievement.

Overall The Return is a vital addition to both the budding career of Kamaal Williams, and to modern jazz as a whole.

Although Pull Up Some Dust... delves deep into both North and South American musical history and moves rapidly from style to style, there is scant scope for quibbling over Cooder's honesty or authenticity.

This is purely primal, instinctive rock and as derivative as it may be, it still sounds awash with originality.

Gang Signs & Prayer does a brilliant job of introducing the world to the full scope of his talent, dismissing any notion of him being a one-trick pony.

The album’s initial momentum is not quite there by the three quarter distance, but Woman is an album that more than merits time.

It's a subtle collection of tracks that is surprisingly both intimate and ambitious at the same time.

Mostly, Love In Constant Spectacles is one of Weaver’s most successful albums – it may not have the instant ‘wow factor’ of The Silver Globe or the nods to the dancefloor that her last album Flock had, but these are some beautifully intricate, thoughtful songs that deserve all of your attention.

R Plus Seven is as singularly compelling as any of his previous releases, but in his desire to transcend glossy hyper pop and introspective electronica into something new and fascinating, Lopatin has delivered a masterful debut for his new label.

With Wish Defense, FACS have made a record that is as much a piece of Steve Albini’s legacy as it is to their own magnum opus. It is challenging, confrontational, and relentless – but for all its darkness, something striking emerges. Not beauty in a conventional sense, but something raw, vivid, and impossible to ignore.

Flock is a massive step forward musically. Paul Noonan's superb lyrics now have some powerful musical backing, throwing in all kinds of references from disco to funk and good old-fashioned rock.

The Hawk Is Howling is a record that shows Mogwai's lips to be sealed, but speaks volumes about their depth and ingenuity.

Far is her best album yet, and while it's a long way from early works such as Soviet Kitsch or 11:11, it perfectly illustrates the evolution of a woman who's becoming a truly great artist.

These are songs that can sashay straight past you if you're not careful, but producer Stuart Matthewman (whose work with Maxwell sounds equally poured over) slips in subtle moments such as the twinkling percussion on Morning Bird and the slow-burn backing on opener The Moon And The Sky.

For everyone who felt that eight year break was an eternity, Take Her Up To Monto will be manna from heaven. It’s yet another gloriously odd missive from Ms Murphy.

Hyperdrama is a well thought through album, bringing a real shot of adrenalin in its outer sections. The suspicion may be that Justice have applied just a bit too much studio gloss to the end product, but that should see it work brilliantly in the live environment. One thing is for certain – Justice are more than happy to take the French dance music mantle and run with it. Two decades in, their beats are as strong as ever.

Though his aims of presenting this as a robust, high-concept album aren’t necessarily met, this is still wonderful pop.

The record feels as if a lot of time has been spent on it – getting the sound just right, making sure the collaborations work – and the result is a triumph from a producer whose sound has lost none of its flair.

Certainly short and in places sharp, Schlon is just the right level of sweet, too. With increased variety in his arrangements and a willingness to explore slower paced rhythms, Souleyman underlines his ability to fulfil a passionate mission for bringing joyous music and its message of love to ever wider audiences.

ts concise nature, glossy finish and sense of clarity (something that even extends to the band photography) suggest that, as strange as it might seem, this is not a return to Sunn O)))’s metal roots, but is instead, for all intents and purposes, their pop album.

It means Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds end the year as they began it: demonstrating they are a band in very fine health.

Smart and funny. Bold and layered. Witty and affecting. Roll on the next reinvention.

Red Barked Tree is a proud and unapologetic album; as it shifts between sounds there's conviction in every noise and word. It's the sound of a band still having a lot of fun. And there's not an ounce of nostalgia.

Theirs is an easily digestible, less angst-ridden take on grunge, with a fizzing, infectious youthfulness to it. Definitely one to keep a close eye on this year.

If you’re coming to Kings Of Leon expecting something experimental or anything really out of the ordinary, you’re a bit of a numpty (see also: Interpol, The Killers, &c.). But come to Can We Please Have Fun with an open mind and an open heart and you’ll find it’s more than worth a shot.

While Any Port In A Storm is unlikely to make a superstar out of Dermody, it definitely feels like the arrival of a new cult hero.

[A] belated, frazzled, intense and sometimes overwhelming follow-up album delivers on his promise.

Blood Rushing is a beautifully lilting, melodious album.

Fast forward to 2011, and third album Looping State Of Mind is a markedly more complex development of his sound.

Yes its weighed down by some empty dancefloor tat, but it's probably the strongest record work Tricky has put out this decade; definitely much more of a comeback than Knowle West Boy was.

For all its archness and sophistication, the music here has a very clean, mainstream sound too.

This is the sound of a talented songwriter doing what she’s very good at doing. This particular palace is festooned with treasures.

At times Pick Me Up Off The Floor feels like a welcoming musical refuge. It’s an intimate, empathising support mechanism of an album, well-placed to respond to the emotional needs of listeners during these turbulent times.

Weller has found an ideal blend of experience and a quest for more that provides for an optimistic album for an English summer.

The album works best listened to in its entirely rather than separating each cut from one another.

Let Me Come Home is a very straight faced record, yet for all of its apparently bleak subject matter; it is an album that revels in the restorative healing power of music and song. It is also beautifully written and performed and deserves to be up there with this year's best.

How they pack so much emotion and feel into so little is nothing short of magical. Their previous bands might have dazzled with sheen and noise, but Until The Hunter impresses with the bare minimum from start to finish.

Better then anyone could have hoped.

Despite her self-confessed lack of confidence when it comes to crossing musical boundaries, Tunstall proves that in the guise of her Tiger Suit she can achieve anything she puts her mind to. For her at least, 2010 is the year of the Tiger.

There’s A Riot Going On takes longer to reveal its treasures, but ends up being an enduring and rewarding listen, their best since 2009’s Popular Songs.

This is an album that need proffer no apologies for its dramatic, overwhelming and salutary take on darkness and light.

Sadness may remain her true love, but when she flirts with other emotions, the effect can still be magical.

Chewed Corners is a perfect comeback. It’s an album full of vivid, reflective, yet inventive electronica that ties together all of Mike Paradinas’ influences.

The album becomes more expansive in scope the further through you listen.

Korn have succeeded in bringing mainstream producers to inject freshness into their songs, without entering into a Faustian bargain and compromising their music.

Whilst the songs can feel painful and direct, there’s also a sense of euphoria and celebration here too, and the overall sense is one of healing and catharsis. This is Frazey Ford’s best album to date but it really feels like she is just getting started.

Chubbed Up is a fairly relentless critique that, were it not for Williamson’s way with words, would be phenomenally depressing. Fortunately, these songs are mostly loaded with an equal share of pinsharp comedic observations and scathing invective.

Processed it may still be, but the emotions this time round feel more human, and, as a result, make a deeper impact.

Admittedly, this is pretty much Bruce does karaoke, but when it’s done this well and with so much obvious love for the source material, it’s irresistible. Volume 2 can’t come quickly enough.

Sometimes the music allows itself to just be childlike and wonderful, such as on the closing moments of final track Sue’s, but for much of Sun Racket, there’s a constant tension that makes these songs worth revisiting over and over again.

Safe In The Hands Of Love is a fascinating synthesis of rock, plunderphonics, bass music and noise from an artist that remains stubbornly undefinable.

Stylistically Avalon Emerson was taking a risk on & The Charm, but with this engaging, surreal, infectious music it pays off massively.

Let It Sway proves that SSLYBY are still a power-pop force to be reckoned with, and that they're nicely outgrowing the offhand irony of their name.

The only caveat with the music of iamamiwhoami is that there is now a lot of R&B influenced electronic pop music around, increasingly from Scandinavia, and it seems to be the 'go to' sound of left of centre pop music in the middle of 2012. The good news for the duo, however, is that their particular take on it puts them right near the front of a crowded field.

Owen and Hobbs could have just rewritten their debut note for note, but instead they have chosen to take us on a journey that many of us know all too well. Here's waiting for the next instalment.

It turns out to be much more than just the sum of its influences. It's evocative when it could just be shamelessly retro.