Ward is one of this genre's best: playful, diverse, and endearing, he has the crucial thing needed to make it work: charm.

For the most part, this is a fizzing, fuzzing album that manages to sound both younger and older than the band that produced it.

Strangely, this record might be the first grower they’ve ever made, sacrificing some immediacy for subtlety and, presumably, greater endurance.

Lament is a deep and complex album. It is not so much a piece of music, as a work of art.

While a few of the songs could do with a harder edge, that’s not Salvat’s style. What he has delivered is a record that is heartfelt and tender, direct and emotionally challenging, while still sporting enough tricks and flourishes to fill the dancefloor with bangers to spare.

By the time Making Sense Of It All’s wobbly notes dissolve into reverb it’s clear that Overflow, while not entirely justifying its runtime, is a serious work from an intriguing producer.

The Unfolding is an album with a broader purpose that conveys its egalitarian, inclusive message with discretion, confidence and superb musicianship. It succeeds in balancing the beautiful with the cerebral, simultaneously existing as both head and heart music.

There are plenty of moments where the sheer brilliance of his musical intuition and technique are nothing short of breathtaking. It’s an album that deserves to find an audience beyond drum enthusiasts.

It’s all very sedate and relaxing, and while that works beautifully throughout the album, sometimes you just want to hear Regan turn it up a notch. Yet, maybe that’s not the point – it’s possibly Headphones that sums up the album’s ethos, a song about being literally wrapped up in music, and it’s that immersion that O Avalanche is best experienced in.

Ringleader Of The Tormentors is the sound a man with a new sense of purpose, and in this extraordinary record he's produced a masterpiece.

Listeners who enjoy acts such as The Flaming Lips, Pavement, Dinosaur Jr, Superchunk and Neil Young would also enjoy Built To Spill. No, really, they would. And There Is No Enemy would be a pretty good place for those listeners to begin their investigations.

Art Brut have retained their cheeky nature from earlier albums--the riffs and grooves are tight, and the lyrics are clever.

This feels more polished product and will no doubt have a broader appeal as a result, but it is a treasure of a thing and the more people that hear it the better.

Even though it has some misfires, this album is still understatedly fun, driven by a pure zest for blues music that is impossible to shy away from.

Orla Gartland recognises this and knows she’s just like the rest of us, embracing our imperfections and focusing on self care and emotional transparency. If you’re feeling the same way then this is a smart and considered alt pop record that cuts deep and promises a bright future for a new star.

What can be said for Alberta Cross's debut LP is that it does what it does very well, and the good and great of songwriting deserve recognition regardless of how conventionally they reach their goals.

It’s a tough genre to make a lasting impression on primarily because guitars are somewhat limited as instruments, but the strong presence of electronica clearly makes a difference here where it is less evident in other shoegaze/dream pop acts.

She over-eggs the pudding occasionally, but that’s a small price to pay for adventure.

Shadow Of The Sun marks another triumph for the rapidly becoming essential Moon Duo, or Moon Trio as they should now be known.

It’s perfectly easy to listen to Porches on a superficial level and find beautiful hooks to hang on to, but the real joy of this album is to dip beneath the surface, and see what’s going on underneath.

Creative and fascinating.

Pe’ahi may well have arrived softly, but you can’t criticise the size of its stick, nor its ability to do different and interesting things with that stick.

If shiny, overstated hooks and operatic melodies are your thing, stick on the Twigs’ latest LP right away and you’ll have a ruddy glorious time. But for many, Songs For The General Public will be an overwhelming, even frustrating listen. The brothers wear their huge list of influences so prominently on their sleeves that it’s hard to put your finger on who they really are – and what they’re trying to say.

Smalhans is simply another disappointing album from a producer who once seemed poised to become one of the more significant of his generation.

Plastic Hearts is a change in direction that works really well. With names like Billy Idol and Joan Jett guesting, there’s even a sample of a Stevie Nicks song in case you were any doubt that this is a Miley Cyrus album that your dad would feel comfortable listening to.

There's a party to be had and Dizzee's in charge, but don't forget to engage your brain for at least some of it.

With Skyer, the Swedish trio have created their own dreamlike gossamer world where the exaltation to “take me to the clouds above” is almost realised.

Their music is always beautifully rendered, and there is plenty of interest for the listener, but the hang, their most distinctive weapon, feels underused, its tones not bought into the foreground as much as might be expected.

In truth, the only weakness to Choir Of The Mind is its length – at 13 tracks and clocking in at just under an hour, it’s a long time to spend with an album that’s so resolutely downbeat. Yet there’s a lot to admire with Haines’ second solo effort (not least the quality of her production) and it makes a decent calm counterpoint to the swirling storm of Metric.

It is when the album starts to sound like a Saint Sinner record produced by Tycho that the problems arise, but it remains worth a listen for those who appreciate immaculate soundscapes.

Even at its most introspective, All The Colours Of You is an often invigorating return from a band who, despite their veteran status, still have their collective finger on the pulse.

Lonely At The Top is a complex and elusive album: indulging in the sensualities of aural texture whilst retaining a depth of communicative potency.

It never quite matches the standard of its predecessor and ultimately it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that their sound is just a little too different and unconventional to see them rise above the status of a minor cult band.

It combines such a variety of disparate styles that it really should not work, but Yeah Yeah Yeahs manage to tie everything together seamlessly into what is possibly their most assured and unique record to date.

For every sledgehammer track, there’s a garlic crusher, destructive in a lightweight and cosmopolitan kind of way.... It’s this lightness of touch and ecleticism that makes the album such a refreshingly undemanding listen.

An album that’s more mature and focussed than Stealing Sheep’s debut, harnessing all of their interesting quirks within a showcase of excellent songwriting.

Their debut slots into a middling no-man's land with very few defining characteristics, positive or negative.

Eccentric and idiosyncratic while still being enjoyably accessible, this is an album that reinstils the ideas that Warp's early releases did: that electronic music can be thought-provoking and stir emotion as well as moving people to make shapes.

It is certainly worth investing raw, unprocessed time in exploring.

The deeper resonance of the piano is boosted further by judiciously deployed synth sounds and the effect is slower and more dreamlike. Quando eu era Pequenina is particularly beautiful, with its expansive piano chords and haunting synth sounds, while Os meus olhos são dois círios, rooted in electronics, is flatter but, thanks to Lina’s vocals, scarcely less beautiful.

Not since The Strokes exploded into our consciousness in 2001 with Is This It has a band delivered such a sharp and concise debut.

The Notwist is an apt example of a band that is making good music for no other reason than because making music is what they love to do, which Close To The Glass demonstrates in spades.​

It's the perfect end to a blissfully gorgeous album--one that showcases Ane Brun as being at the forefront of the new wave of Scandinavian pop music.

As down-to-earth and likeable as its creator, this is an enjoyable collection that mostly avoids the pitfalls of solo albums by members of successful bands that are still very much a going concern.

These are songs recorded tens, if not hundreds, of times before, and are by no means definitive versions, but in the attempt to capture something of the historical importance of the railroad, Shine A Light’s songs tell their own story; one which will prove excellent company on any similar expeditions, whether across the plains or the 08.16 to Euston.

Annual feels like a one-paced, indistinctive first step into a new world and one that is begging for just the odd about-turn to maintain interest.

Working on many levels: entertaining, thought-provoking, musically satisfying and yes, still pretty funny too in parts; YACHT might not be genuinely looking to save your souls, but they certainly have more to offer than most other sects that you might care to join.

On the evidence of The Glow, DMA’s are more than ready to stand on their own feet, with a sell-out show at the Brixton Academy having already confirmed. Welcome to the party.

It’s an emotionally exhausting listen at times, but it’s also a frequently stunning one.

This is a quiet triumph that is remarkably captivating and doesn’t need any up-to-the-minute technological tools to improve it further.

Trouble is an album of bewitching treasures, equally at home in the bedroom or in the throes of the most intense club dance floor--an extremely impressive debut that introduces TEED as one of the UK's premier electronic artists.

At times, the low-key, downtempo atmosphere may threaten to overwhelm, but Nocturne is an album that both solidifies and enhances Wild Nothing's growing reputation.

Stephen Merritt and his many collaborators have made a wildly varied and highly entertaining album that reads like a book of poetry and plays like a soundtrack to a particularly fun (barely remembered) summer.

It's certainly nothing unfriendly, and none of it would sound out of place on the duo's traditional weekend slot at Lovebox.

Both Ways Open Jaws is an album that is best when taken as a whole and wholly intriguing trip into that most treacherous and elusive of terrains: the happy marriage of eccentricity and pop song craft.

There is little filter on the creativity here as White’s legacy allows him to explore and indulge odd ideas, but it could do with some productive channelling. Hence Fear Of The Dawn ends up a partially enjoyable but partially frustrating listen.

True North is a decent album, but one with no real standout tracks.

We have an album that opts to cater for the variety of fans that flock to support Rihanna in her time of trouble. It's a diverse work. But this so happens to be its biggest setback.

While not offensive, it’s watery childlike-ness is like a kid’s paddling pool--no deep end and replete with a drop or two of unwanted warm yellow liquid.

A monstrously grandiose, ridiculously gargantuan and stunningly inventive work from start to end.

There's enough talent here to suggest that the hype around The View at the moment is thoroughly justified - hats off to them indeed.

Twenty One is an excellent album replete with brilliant, clean, original production and instantly memorable songs.

The Bells is a mixed bag of accomplished piano pieces that could do with a bit more subtlety in those passages where the intensity rises. It's those softer, more intimate asides that have the greatest impact.

This is music to come home to, to guide you back through the darkness at the end of the evening and deliver you to the doorstep of a nice semi somewhere in Middle England.

As frenetic as it is instant, melodic and catchy.

Like many victims of the cut-throat mainstream pop game it wants to join, Heartthrob falls down more often than not because the songs capture the immaturity of its target audience a little too well.

Admittedly there are a few misses (Changing All Those Changes for example), and it is sometimes a little too languid, but generally Peyroux’s homage to a masterful musician finds the right tones.

K-X-P II is much more than an experiment in tinkering with vintage instruments and influences. The balance of a big, yet primitive sound is ripe for filtering south beyond the confines of the world’s second most northern capital.

While Thought Forms impress, it is Esben And The Witch who in two tracks, in 15 brief minutes, absolutely stun.

Its strength is the number of differing styles it turns to largely satisfying effect, reasserting Mugwump’s status as a producer who knows how to entertain and charm in equal measure. This satisfying, toe-twitching debut-of-sorts will only enhance those claims.

Warm, melodic and acutely observed, Cradle To The Grave is a convincing return from two of our very finest songwriters.

Essentially this is an album packed with genuine nuggets of pop gold.

All This Life won’t win any album of the year awards, nor will it garner much critical praise, but how good it actually is comes as a surprise. It’s all too easy to knock the likes of Starsailor, but with the new album largely reflecting the sound of a rejuvenated band, let’s not write them off just yet.

With this widescreen delivery Moby has made an album at once more profound and more substantial than anything we have heard from him in a long time, and certainly more personally meaningful than Play.

Elephants On Acid is far from perfect, and at points its short tracks sound like sketches that could have been fleshed out more. But it is a worthy addition to their discography, and shows development of their signature sound.

It’s an expression of what we should all do with our trauma, which is open up, share, and react to each other with the greatest of support. And that is so unbelievably beautiful, we’re left at the end with a single phrase. Thanks, Keaton. Thanks.

Taken as a whole, Deep England is a remarkable, memorable thing. Disquieting and disorientating for sure, yet offering plenty of strange, macabre pleasure.

his album is a playfully flawed triumph. There are more than enough highs to satisfy both fans and casual admirers, while the lows are not quite low enough to founder the project.

These are earthy songs to be played on the road, to be enjoyed around a roaring fire. These are new songs that sound well-worn and well-loved – much like Crazy Horse themselves. If not that surprising a listen, it’s nearly always an enjoyable one.

There may not be anything hugely original to be found on Raving Ghost, but Olivia Jean has charisma by the bucketload, which makes this album such an enjoyable listen.

He remains an important figure in the rock scene, even if his albums play second fiddle to The Strokes’ material – and albums like this make it still more of a shame that that’s the case, for this is a winner.

There may be no real surprises on People Who Aren’t There Anymore, but that hardly matters. They may no longer possess the surprise factor that delighted David Letterman so much, but Future Islands remain as affecting and impassioned as ever.

The new interpretations confirm the timeless quality her songs possess, offering new perspectives on youth as now seen through experienced eyes. It can only be hoped that she has a suite of new songs up her sleeve, for on this evidence she remains one of the very finest vocalists in British pop music.

Lovely stuff.

For the time being it's very hard not to fall under Exitmusic's intoxicating spell. Best not to try.

In an age where musicians are constantly looking toward a more futuristic sound to portray their craft, The Greenhornes are living proof that looking back is sometimes the best bet.

Honora stands apart as a fascinating, if sometimes flawed, labour of love.

With material as good as this, we can bear to do without Pixies for a while yet.

The album does seem to tail off a bit towards the end – as nice as Light It Up and Tough are, they both seem disappointingly sedate ways to bring the album to a close compared to the succession of instantly engaging anthems that preceded them. Other than that, though, there’s enough evidence on Real Love that the fire that inspired Gossip is still burning as bright as ever.

This album changes nothing in terms of her previous work; if anything it’s more minimal and darker, but as long as she continues to feel the pain expressed here, her hurt is our gain.

At its best this is a confident début that will doubtless please lovers of hooky, carefully crafted guitar pop.

The band have assembled a great selection of tunes that showcase a wide variety of styles, and Deleter is highly recommended for those on the intersection between electronica and rock.

Overall, If You Wait is an accomplished first LP, one that features a number of spellbinding singles and some moments of genuine, heartfelt emotion.

More dancefloor domination beckons for the Danish trio--and these tracks should once again work a treat live. Let's just hope they don't leave it too long.

The Queens treading water is still better than watching so many others horribly drowning.

Skit I Allt is another commendably audacious example of Dungen's commitment and musicality. Yet for all their skill with both melody and with improvisation, Dungen risk ending up being too esoteric to be a pop band and too dreamy and light textured to excite committed psych listeners.

Consistently melodic, it’s packed full of hooks and almost suspiciously on-trend.

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