Brash, poetic, and romantically obtuse, even from the grave Alan Vega is as challenging as he is charming.

There are no secrets, just affecting music. Paper Airplanes is another breath of fresh air from a now legendary band.

From this irrepressible debut, we can deduce that Katy B is a genuinely exciting UK urban vocal talent, the like of which we haven't seen in some time.

The world of CEO remains an intriguing, if frustrating, place.

While the debut was clouded in hazy and understated dreamy melodies, Confess is far more direct and intense.

This is an album to be enjoyed whilst snuggled up in the arms of the love of your life.

A Certain Ratio’s 2024 model is a lean, mean, fighting machine that delivers one of their very finest albums to date – and for a band who have been in existence for more than 45 years, that really is saying something.

SweetSexySavage, despite its gung-ho title, turns out to be a fine album, albeit a couple of songs too long.

So, the jury is still out on Conor Oberst. His loyal fans will be slightly puzzled by the easy going roll of the music but rewarded by several choice lyrical nuggets, while his critics will point out that Dylan had already released Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde before recording John Wesley Harding.

Some may listen to Songs From A&E and dub Jason Pierce a one-trick pony. Which may be true, but what a trick he's managed to perfect.

It's the record of a band who have plenty of experience, a good track record and know what makes a good album.

The magic of this album is its transient nature.

It feels great to have them back with us, and their forthcoming live shows promise to be awesome, vital affairs. But it remains to be seen how many moments from Hug Of Thunder will make their way onto people’s Ultimate Broken Social Scene playlists in coming years. The thing with songs for now is that they’re not always songs for tomorrow.

It’s a strange sort of record which doesn’t exactly grab you from the off, but has quality enough to keep you coming back, and at least suggests that Ryley Walker’s next move will be intriguing.

From this you'll gather that Ferndorf charms and frustrates in equal measure.

There's no reason why this can't nestle snugly alongside Norah Jones in record collections around the world, and it certainly deserves to.

There’s an effortlessness to their interpretation that stops them from sounding too calculated, though--you get the sense that these are four blokes whose enthusiasm for the grungey alt-rock bands of 20 or so years ago is so great that they can’t stop the influence bleeding into their own music.

The whole thing whizzes by in just over half an hour, making it perfect for repeat listens. Reatard may not be for everyone's taste, and some tracks do find him coasting along, but it's an album bursting with confidence and energy.

For most of its lengthy running time, though, Easy Come, Easy Go is terrific.

A La Sala succeeds in the way that a good AC/DC album does: more of the same, done well.

The reality that Vanishing Point is such a vibrant and quintessential Mudhoney album makes it a real triumph.

Like a lot of her previous albums, The Breakthrough is overlong and spoilt by too many producers sticking their oar in.

When even the track titles are difficult and unclear it is evident that one is dealing with a band that demands dues are paid. If you choose to do so, the time and effort spent may well ultimately pay off.

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

All in all, this is a long overdue return from one of Britain’s most underrated performers, who has matured gracefully from the life-affirming exuberance of his teens into a more reflective but no less compelling voice. Read more at http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/roddy-frame-seven-dials#mgY2PWI5W0BoSmam.99

It is, perhaps, a measure of Wrangler’s combined abilities that they’re able to coax their formula into subtly-defined shapes and guises without LA Spark descending into repetitious indulgence.

A few mis-steps aside, this is yet another strong showing from a band in the midst of a creative whirlwind, one that fortunately shows little signs of blowing itself out.

This is an intriguing piece of work that has a strange allure, asking more questions than it answers – in a good way. It is satisfying to witness a new dimension to Bryan Ferry’s artistry, an ability to use old canvases to create new paintings with the help of Barratt’s evocative prose.

The best thing about Malachai is that they're delightfully odd.

By exposing his sensitive underbelly on album number two, Tiga builds up some impressive strength in depth, while pushing the electro-house intersection for all he's worth. It's a winning ploy.

Not all the singing is charged in this light but the moments of unabashed, emotional melodies are akin to that of the endearing two-piece garage rockers, Japandroids - and in a world of indifference, it's a refreshing change.

Totems Flare is his best album to date, sparkling with man made brilliance but sounding natural and organic at the same time.

English Electric--both melodically and artistically--stands as a rich, dignified entry in OMD’s catalogue.

Even when his quality control slips slightly, the music remains utterly beautiful, like glittering light on a river, or gossamer threads floating through the air on a summer’s day.

Plastic Anniversary is yet another masterwork by a duo that have been on the top of their game for longer than some producers have been alive, and long may their reign over sample-driven electronica continue.

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.

No one around sounds quite like Clor at the moment.

Although The Morning After's mood is distinctly downbeat and does not have the same direct appeal as The Night Before, the songs are often touching and grow more so with each listen.

Though it has become something of a tired old format in much incidental music for the moving image, Greenwood shows how the string orchestra remains a descriptive force in the right hands.

In among these sporadic highlights, however, are numerous slices of tossed-off nonsense.

There’s more than sentimentality to these songs; they resonate at a more fundamental level.

Although each track sounds different, there's an admirable flow across the whole album.

As ever with Amos’ more recent albums, it’s a bit overlong and some songs, especially in the album’s mid-section, float by without ever making much of an impression. ... Yet when Tori is on form, she still sounds as vital and exciting as she did 25 years ago.

Unsound is a smile-inducing slab of post-punk awesome.

In both being muscular and sparkly, they have made a brilliant album that makes being in a band sound like the most fun thing in the world.

Ultimately Into The Lime is a fun, if rather unexciting album.

It’s difficult to find much at all wrong with Hooton Tennis Club’s first long player. In fact, it’s ace.

This is a beautiful album, a lovely complement to the best of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra and a strong statement on the part of the new generation, reaching greater emotional depths and expanding the structures impressively. The penguin isn’t out of its comfort zone after all.

Encores is a clear illustration of Nils Frahm’s ability to work both in small and large structures, with plaintive piano nuggets and broad electronic canvases enjoying their proximity.

Dreamers Are Waiting is a very welcome return for a band who have been away for far too long.

He’s going for a darker sound, one which explores different themes than he is used to, but some of the resonance is negated by a reliance on grandiosity. Some judicious editing and pruning might have been preferable.

Complex yet accessible, and best experienced when fully immersed in it. It’s possibly Braids’ best record since their debut Native Speaker – a record that reveals more delights the more times you listen to it.

The acid test for an album such as this is to play it on a grey day and see if it can still work its magic. Begone Dull Care certainly does that, and is all the more remarkable for doing so with only eight tracks to draw on.

Falling Down a Mountain: enough classic Tindersticks to keep die-hard fans more than happy; and enough new stuff to everyone else think twice about relegating them to the cabaret circuit.

This is the most professional, mature, clean-sounding hit of saccharine pop the band have ever delivered, and it’s certainly their best album since Day & Age.

It is a hugely exciting album that forges new ground for its maker to stride forth over.

It would seem that Destroyer Of The Void is an album that manages to both impress initially and continue to reveal virtues well into repeat spins; a trick that ensures the satisfaction of all manner of listeners, and one that reflects Blitzen Trapper's growing reputation as something of a must-hear.

You'd have to say that III is a good Crystal Castles album. But given that II was a great Crystal Castles album, the trend isn't going the way that you'd hope.

No matter how classy, considered or stylish the album is, it’s nothing more than a curio, designed for those fans that hang on her every word.

Two Suns is a dense, intricate album that features at least six brilliant songs, two of which are pure pop gems.

Hurry Up, We're Dreaming may have its flaws, but minor niggles aside it is a testament to the fine songwriting skill of Gonzalez.

Lost Girls is hardly uncharted territory, yet Khan manages to embolden it with her canny narrative, some truly beautiful sonic touches and her trademark gorgeous harmonies.

Much like their debut, it'll take a few listens to be pulled towards Myth Takes by the force operates at its core.

Choice Of Weapon sees The Cult back to doing what they do best, which is producing slightly dark and remarkably catchy rock 'n' roll.

Shriek is a powerful reminder of how refreshing and affecting bands can be if they have the confidence, self-awareness and ambition to look beyond their usual horizons.

Ultimately, Inter only solidifies Obsidian as an album with independent parts that are quite inspired on their own but only form a seemingly infinitely confused whole.

Where Avery was perhaps a little formulaic with his previous record, Song For Alpha, here he is inventive and reinvigorated, and Illusion Of Time stands out as an emotional and enjoyable, if bracing, release.

There’s not a bad track on British Road Movies, and those who have been pining for years to hear Jackson’s voice again will be more than satisfied. It may not be the return of the Long Blondes, but this could evolve into something even better.

One of the Decemberists’ finest albums. Even at this stage of their career, where they can comfortably be described as veterans, Colin Meloy and company still have the power to enchant and inspire – As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, indeed.

With the singles and two other best songs placed at the front end, how does the second half fare? In direct comparison, poorly.

Overall there’s a risk it may ultimately prove too personal and introspective a listen for some.

For those with an adventurous sensibility, it will be a pure delight.

Phase Zero might not be as rough around the edges as its predecessor, but it’s still a strange and unusual beast. It is debt to its influences at times, but also idiosyncratic and mysterious enough to stand on its own two feet.

It could so easily have been an ill-fitting coat worn loose on the shoulders of the original’s stark beauty. But these slabs of noise, where Cale picks at the wires like a scab, scarring and slashing old canvases to remake the old, add to rather than re-hash his legacy.

Clocking in at a nifty 38 minutes, Obey is a solid release, though it trails off near the end with tracks that are clearly less inspired than the others. In these sections the minimalism is stretched too far and the arrangements are too loose, but the album has great moments elsewhere.

This is an album that demands attention. An album that is experiential--at once lo-fi and richly textured--where the listener is a fly on the wall, mesmerised by minor-chord introspections that come in waves – some lap gently; others overwhelm.

When an album’s quality level ranges from intolerable to merely tolerable, it’s not a positive sign. Middling.

Real Emotional Trash fails--beautifully and melodically, yes, but it fails nonetheless.

There is nothing particularly ground breaking or original about Solar Bears, and their music can feel a little samey at times. Despite these shortcomings, Advancement is still a thoroughly enjoyable, lushly textured record that rarely fails to absorb.

Apparently, No Más is completely sample free, with every sound painstakingly worked on to make it sound like it came from an old sample. It's this kind of logic that makes No Más an oddly compelling listen, in the sense that you're never quite sure whether what you're hearing is amazing or awful.

It's an album of consistently high quality from start to finish.

First Mind is an album that can be played time and time again without ever sounding tired or laboured, and it wouldn’t be a huge shock to see it on many people’s end of year lists come December.

While the later tracks on Songwriter do start to feel slightly samey and Cash by numbers, they remain highly listenable, with impeccable performances from the band throughout. The arrangements and production merge seamlessly with the original demos, proving how intimately the key players knew Cash and his music, with the man himself in fine voice, sounding simultaneously both sonorously world weary and vibrantly fresh.

The album does not quite have the same frisson of avant weirdness that the best Sonic Youth records have, but there is more than enough quality here to once again establish the eternally youthful Thurston Moore as one of alternative rock’s most vital voices.

These are songs to throw yourself around the moshpit to – it’s the sound of a band realising their potential and loving every minute of it.

A satisfyingly down and dirty album that works up a sweat reeking of the Big Apple.

Fans of Animal Collective and Panda Bear will obviously love this album; another creative triumph for the boys from Baltimore.

Although none of the tracks on Welcome 2 America stand up to Prince at his mid-late ’80s best, there are some songs which come close.

Yet for all these noisier moments, tracks like Desperately and IWR sit at the other end of the spectrum, striking a more consonant, conciliatory tone. It’s this ability to seamlessly blend opposing sounds and balance beauty with tension that makes for such an intriguing album, and very much confirms the old adage that good things are worth waiting for.

A fine return for an artist who seems as vibrant as ever, even in his eighth decade. Newcomers who have yet to discover the genius of David Byrne are possibly better directed to the Talking Heads back catalogue but long-term fans will find this to be an invigorating and often joyous addition to his discography.

Sour Soul doesn’t quite push any boundaries, but ultimately it doesn’t really matter, because even if there was potential for it to be so much more, it still just about ticks the right boxes.

Once again, this is the sound of Wrekmeister Harmonies reporting back from the edges of existence and experience where, on this evidence, it’s both terrifying and beautiful.

It's an anarchic mix which is fun, exuberant and passionate.

In essence Superabundance falls short of being either super or abundant.

Try it once and you'll be back for more--even if you're a long term convert to the beautifully sculpted world of Apparat.

Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis (a husband and wife duo from Madison, Wisconsin, the latter formerly a member of Numbers) have toned down the noisier elements of their sound without sacrificing interest or depth to create this, the most successful of their two full lengths so far.

They don't offer much that's new, but this album is far too enjoyable to squabble over that.

The problem here is that all these competing styles result in a bit of a lack in a distinctive voice for the band.