Considering the album starts so strongly, Them Crooked Vultures could have delivered a classic, finely toned EP; but, as it is, it's a little flabby.

The key to this album is that whilst the original concept of Mariachi El Bronx remains in tact, things are changing slowly and given time, could easily evolve into something truly fascinating. They feel like they’re on the cusp of the something here.

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.

The only problem with Inside Problems is that it’s possibly too arch and mannered to appeal much beyond those familiar with Bird-lore.

These are expressive pieces that fit together to form one overarching musical meditation, exploring the extremes of emotion experienced in a dark and treacherous world. Because of this Songs Of Silence is not for every moment in the day, but when you listen it carries great meaning, in spite of the lack of words.

The echoes of previously heard themes, motifs make for a compelling examination of memory and experience as much as for an effective soundtrack.

Super, as you will have gathered, is both old and new. It is old in the sense that all the Pet Shop Boys’ calling cards are here--the vocal clarity, the production precision, the wry observations on daytime ordinariness and night time escapism. Yet the nostalgia trip is a good move, with Price giving their beats a firmer kick.

Melodically, too, To Be Still is both more sophisticated, more confident, and, above all, more convincing (if encountered in a less than fan-like frame of mind, the previous album could appear more than a little monotonous).

Maybe not an essential purchase, but if you're already counting the days down until the official third album The Crying Light is released in January, this should more than satisfy you.

It still sounds like them--just an improved, sharpened up them. And it’s wonderful for it; their best yet.

The decision to segregate different moods and styles into these contrasting releases was a risky one, but it pays off in that both records remain interesting for their duration. Princess Nokia is for the most part a great rapper, but can sometimes lapse into an artless earnestness, as this enjoyable but patchy diptych demonstrates.

It [There’s Always Been A Bird In Me] brings a very successful return to a close and confirms how these sonic voyagers still have much to offer.

As on most of the tracks, Wainwright sounds terrific, her voice swooping and hollering at times, and quietly understated at others. No matter the tone though, the emotion is always unmistakeable.

Whilst not engrossing for the entirety of its running, Many Moons is still a pleasurable listening experience. It takes a few listens to get to the lyrical gems, which can often be remarkably revelatory.

It's another debut album laid low by ravages of hype.

I Was A Cat From A Book represents a significant return to form for James Yorkston. His music is more inventive, instrumentally diverse and accessible than ever before, arguably straying outside the realms of pure folk into the outer confines of indie-rock for the first time.

Ultimately, Fiction have all the ingredients to work, but they don’t click together as much as they should on The Big Other.

As long as you come in solely expecting to be treated to top-notch instrumentation and heartened by the (sometimes-vague) familiarity of your favorite tunes, Walking Shadows will prove to be one of the year’s most satisfying jazz listens.

For all its blaring noise and sneering obnoxiousness, its probably ATR’s most accessible album; playing Reset feels like lighting a fuse and detonating something.

As debuts go, there are flashes of brilliance, but Elsewhere is not consistently excellent.

It’s an album that stands up on its own and remains, musically at least, a positive, upbeat and highly enjoyable album.

A masterfully constructed – and sequenced – collection of songs to get lost in over the coming months.

Its calmness in the face of life’s trials is truly inspiring. That something so thoughtful and positive could come from such a turbulent time is someone’s life is astounding, and showcases just what a great songwriter Alain Johannes is.

Electronic Music Improvisations Vol. 1 does what it says on the tin, but transcends curio status through Miller and Jones’ unique musicality and verve.

As far as third albums go, this is definitely more of an Ultra Mono than a Skinty Fia – a consolidation of their position rather than a leap at greatness.

Overall, this is arguably the most consistent album Flowers has ever been involved with.

It's a creative, intelligent and serious work that also has moments of considerable fun.

Cigarettes After Sex have released an excellent album. After you’ve heard one song you might think the next one is similar, or even the same on repeat, but once you delve down a little deeper, you will categorically not be disappointed.

For one of Black Mountain’s principal strengths is that they don’t just create rock music, they use a lot of different styles alongside it, complementing and contrasting. Unfortunately on IV they lose their essential focus, giving us plenty of style but rather less content.

For large parts of this record, perhaps for the first time since the group's inception, Animal Collective sounds like a band doing little more than going through the motions.

25 is very much Adele playing safe.

The Inevitable End, whilst more reflective and introspective, is little different. If this is the end of this current stage of the Röyksopp story, it’s a pretty classy way to bow out.

Humbug is another intriguing step in the evolution of Britain's most exciting guitar band.

Tales Of A Grass Widow won’t alter opinions; if anything it’ll cement them. But for those who enjoy CocoRosie, album number five is every bit as intriguing and fulfilling as they’d hope.

It is the penultimate songs that show some signs of invention.

Combat Sports is their shortest album yet, with none of its 11 tracks straying over four minutes, all in bursts of compact energy. Each song has a short guitar solo, while riffs and hooks abound, in stories of combative love and sex couched in Young’s characteristically wry lyrics.

It is also a daunting record--when is an hour and a quarter of ambience not?--but a thoroughly rewarding one.

It makes sense that the conceptual gravitas behind an album like this wouldn't have enough fuel for 11 songs (the originals of this scene weren't necessarily known for their full-lengths) but it certainly would've been amazing to see him pull it off. Specific, loving, authentic, but limiting, it may leave us wanting more--but there's no doubt that John Maus made the album he wanted to make.

It means that the album’s instantly accessible and familiar to anyone who’s ever smoked a cigarette, flipped the bird to The Man or nailed the pastor’s daughter in the churchyard; but is subject to the law of diminishing returns which kicks in every time the fuck-you teen persona is reincarnated.

Whatever your interpretation, it's clear both parties have a deeper understanding of one another's music than any outsider could ever hope to comprehend, a synergy that has only strengthened over the 20+ years of their acquaintance.

It politely demands your attention; it wants to transport you elsewhere, to a place in which to daydream and reflect. Hindman and Versprille were absolutely right to go it alone; they’ve made a beautiful album.

This is an intriguing record whose rewards come slowly but which leave a lasting impression. There is a restless quality to Sam Eastgate’s songwriting that feels very much of the times in which we live, but there is a warmly soulful side to balance it.

Thanks, in no small part to Spank Rock producer Armani XXXchange, Midnight Boom also possesses of this air of modernity and experimentation which is never less than startling.

You probably wouldn’t have started 2018 predicting that a 50-something bunch of grunge-era survivors would produce one of the most startling, exciting and vital albums of the year, but the sheer strangeness of the times dictates that that’s exactly what’s happened.

The band's formula is nowhere near broke, and while this tenth album might not necessarily expand on that greatly, it doesn't mean that anything about the band's music is in need of fixing.

This is a young band not taking themselves too seriously, and you can really picture them as they rock out and enjoy themselves.

An intriguing and powerful release, Simian Mobile Disco prove with Murmurations that they are still as vital as ever.

Whilst nothing on The Light Of You is quite as sumptuous or ornate as the best moments on Deserter’s Songs, it does demonstrate that Mercury Rev are a band still able to engage the senses.

While it’s a consistently strong collection, with no real missteps, certain tracks on Beginners really stand out. The quality peaks with the mid-album triumvirate of Unforgivable, Northsiders and Twin Souls.

As things stand, a lot of people are going to fall in love with this new young talent, and her ambitious and creative debut. But Lykke Li is likely to stay a cult curiosity for now.

Weird and wonderful in roughly equal measure.

Childs doesn’t always find the music industry an easy place to be, but when the end results are as likeable and appealing as those found on Situation Comedy, you hope his restless creativity never truly goes away.

It is the work of a group of musicians finally comfortable in their own skin, with all the elements coming together in perfect harmony.

It probably won’t lead to any sort of career revival, but you get the impression that Lloyd Cole’s perfectly happy just following his path and seeing where it leads at this stage.

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.

Sex & Food might be reluctant to fully reveal itself, but in being the most uncompromising album in Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s discography it also feels like Nielson’s most honest musical statement to date.

Noisy and chaotic, passionate-sounding, complicated and confusing as it is, it nevertheless emerges as something a bit more than the sum of its manifold parts.

It has a satisfyingly gritty texture, more stripped back than a Stones album, and reveals a surprising amount of vulnerable feeling underneath the gunslinger swagger.

4everevolution is a multi-faceted, varied album that will not please all the people all of the time.

In amongst the filler of the album's latter half, he still manages to hold his own with Jay-Z on the pounding Light Up, and sit back and admire 'Lil Wayne's oddly compelling flow on Miss Me. Self-obsessed, paranoid, fleetingly spectacular and always interesting, Thank Me Later does indeed mark the arrival of rap's newest superstar.

This album ought to further Bibio's reputation as a talented producer, capable of bending his music to fit several styles at once without making it sound forced, which is quite an achievement.

An album almost bursting with ideas and one that, given the time, you’ll want to live with for months to come. The best album from Darkside to date.

Love Yes is a memorable listen, if just a bit too busy at times.

Save Rock And Roll is not only Fall Out Boy’s softest album yet, it is also their least memorable.

It’s quite something for an artist of Bragg’s age and standing to still remain important and vital but, most of the time on this album, that’s exactly how he sounds.

The trip-hop stylings have been toned down to a murmur as traditional Latino structures and devices come waltzing gloriously to the fore.

Eclectic, calming and yet strangely energetic, his music is well worth getting acquainted with.

It successfully establishes an effective common ground between the musical traditions of Africa and the Caribbean. It's also a sweet, appealing and vibrant set delivered with a satisfying combination of energy and sensitivity.

While the music he creates on Universes is not quite from another planet, there’s definitely a spirit of exploration that makes it a joyous listen throughout.

White's second fling with The Raconteurs is quite the party, and perhaps one that may leave Meg a bit jealous.

The more you let yourself bathe in this unsettling aural shower, though, the more its weird beauty will captivate you--the sort of album you’ll keep coming back to without quite knowing why. If you’re willing to invest the time, this is the most beautifully strange journey you’ll take all year.

Some of the songs are a little dull and a few of the lyrics can be a little embarrassing, but the better tracks make up for them.

[Cursed is] a rare misstep in an assured record that brings out the best of both collaborators.

Huge swathes of uplifting, chest beating, and grandiose magnificence populate this album, and it is almost impossible not to get swept up in the sheer pomp of the performance.

While this may not be the best place to start investigating the man, it's still another reliably wonderful chapter in the life of one of the country's best songwriters.

It's good to see Belle and Sebastian back, but let's hope their next album sees a positive progression as opposed to more of the same.

Ultimately it's impossible not to get swept away by the emergency room blues of Leviathan, or the electro-swamp-psychedelia thrum of Tiny Grain Of Truth and not marvel at Lanegan's damaged genius in the process.

We've all heard soundscapes before, certainly, but rarely has there been anyone that fuses two genres so perfectly that they compliment each other to such a degree.

It’s a debut album that’s been well worth the wait.

Callahan is never anything less than consistent, however, and Apocalypse has an identity of its own.

Bleak memories are retold here, and at times you really have to stick with Bayley with a sympathetic ear as the album extends to 16 tracks, including childhood interludes. But it’s delivered in an exuberant manner and, despite some very profound lyrics, songs such as singles Heat Waves and Your Love (Déjà Vu) would have had kids dancing at the festivals in the summer sunshine.

It features some undeniably strong songs but is lacking a vitality which would make it a convincing listen. Nonetheless, it’s fascinating in its own way.

It's not the most instantly winning of albums, but its rewards become evident after repeated listens, its subtleties revealing themselves like an unfolding paper fan.

The personal attachment to the material shines through.

The Best Day is neither derivative nor weak. In fact, it’s another enduring release from an always reliable rocker.

Migration Stories is a slight album, and a brisk listen – but it is a totally accomplished project.

The album’s sense of propulsion is so strong even the weaker tracks don’t drag at all.

There probably won’t be too much on Gravity Stairs to attract any new fans to Crowded House, but after 40 years that’s probably the last thing they’re bothered about. Their heyday in the ’90s may be behind them, but this is a welcome reminder that the Finn family are still going strong.

Red Kite is bound to be a hushed, understated, and at times rather lovely soundtrack for the (hopefully) balmy summer days ahead.

Embracing the participatory rather than lurking in personal mistrust, and supplementing their formerly disconsolate narratives with unusually contented flourishes, these diverse new manifestations substantially demonstrate that Xiu Xiu still exist in a universe of their own design, but that maybe they’re ready to temporarily negotiate ours once more.

In this age of bonus tracks and seemingly endless ‘deluxe’ versions, at just 40 minutes and 10 songs long, it never overstays its welcome. If this new, compact, less overblown Machine shows what Florence Welch is capable of, may it run for another 10 years.

The result is warm, dreamy, evocative and beautiful, a worthy successor to 2005's self-titled debut and an album to savour under the late evening sun, once the summer arrives.

If you are approaching Souleyman’s music from the Modeselektor direction then this is a great place to start. If you’ve followed his career for years you may feel the electronic dressing smooths off a few of the appealingly rougher edges of his and Sa’id’s sound--but if anything they show just how far ahead he remains stylistically.

It's a joyful sound when she cuts loose, and wedded to an attitude you wouldn't mess with, works a treat.

Fundamental is the thinking person's electropop album of 2006 so far.

It's a blistering, at times thoughtful, scattergun grab-bag of magpie musical styles and broken beat rhymes that somehow hangs together with irrepressible energy and invention.

It is no doubt a big risk leaving behind many aspects of the sound that made her name but on Interstellar, she advances her sound so expertly and compellingly that it is a risk that was well worth taking.

Wall Of Arms is an expansive, confident second album that takes The Maccabees from indie also-rans to genuine contenders.