Both Roedelius and Schneider have developed their own language and way to communicate with each other through sound. It’s this symbiotic and serene balance that makes listening to Tiden a largely enriching experience.

Love Your Dum And Mad is certainly not an easy listen and demands close attention. But give yourself over to the close, fascinating world Shah inhabits and you will be utterly enthralled.

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

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.

Slow Focus is unmistakably Fuck Buttons, the logical continuation of the music produced by a duo who never strive to do something expected.

The Argument is a highly laudable effort--literary heads will enjoy its attempt at condensing the complexities of the epic poem, while many will take pleasure in the story Man’s downfall sounding so varied and tuneful.

Overall, Bugbears is an album that reveals something new on repeat listens.

There’s too much spirit in this cocktail for the mixer to spoil it.

At only 31 minutes long, there is absolute bewilderment at how varied the output on Stills can be; it’s an exhausting listen in general.

A thoroughly decent album from start to finish.

The Orb’s lazy beats count too much on Perry’s meaningless, abstract ruminations, or Perryisms, to add some sort of absurdist (anti-) meaning to a (mostly) boring collection of songs.

Although there are plenty of adrenaline-infusing moments on Jungle Revolution, Congo Natty fails to keep up the momentum throughout

Me Moan is a flawed work, but even those who decide it’s not for them are likely to concede that no one else quite sounds like Gibson right now. With genuine originality at a premium these days, that’s to be wholeheartedly applauded.

In Perfect View, Lust For Youth have immersed fuzzed-up ’80s synthpop in an unnerving ambience, infused the whole thing with shades of house and come up with an album that’s a challenge, but a completely mesmerising one.

It’s a consistent and, at times, deeply thoughtful record that is pleasantly familiar while offering occasional surprises. This easily stands up with the better end of Pollard’s work.

On Magna Carta... Holy Grail, Jay comes off as even more pretentious than Kanye.

A strange end possibly, but The Dusted Sessions seeks to encapsulate the essence of the vast landscapes the band experienced and does so quite incredibly.

Electric finds Pet Shop Boys more daring and accomplished than most pop stars half their age.

Waxahatchee’s second album is one to immerse yourself in, to lose yourself in and generally marvel at the raw emotion that’s so beautifully expressed.

Major Arcana is certainly not a perfect debut and does have some flaws, but it succeeds in establishing Speedy Ortiz as a band with promise and scope to build on.

Vicissitude is such a wispy, bloodless record that it’s hard to find anything to recommend about it.

If one yearns for bigger and better things from Goldheart Assembly, it’s only because Long Distance Song Effects suggests they really do have the potential for greatness.

Tides stakes an admirable claim to being a first tentative step in building a more advanced, melodic palette.

Although the writing credits on all but one of the album’s tracks is given to Pressnall and Fackler, thereby excluding Bohling, it is her mesmerizing vocals that form the basis of the album, and leads to its artistically collaborative success.

With prevalent lyrical themes of death and loss, Ceremony is not music for those seeking sunny summer escapism. Yet when compared to UK gothic revivalists such as Esben And The Witch, it’s an album of striking confidence, immense compositional flair and colossal, richly cinematic arrangements.

For those prepared to take the rough with the smooth, there are many moments of exquisite beauty to enjoy on this record.

Once again, they have come up with a lovingly crafted tribute to the idiosyncrasies of England’s summer sport, and those who approach it as a bit of harmless fun will be humming these songs with a smile on their face at least until the final ball of the Ashes series is bowled.

Too many songs spend too much time doing precisely nothing.

The Archer Part 3 is the work of a band fascinated by sound and the possibilities of contrasts. Here are two musicians who never seem to go for the easy, comfortable option.

Although unlikely to ever achieve anything anywhere near their most clear points of reference, they have created a decent debut that may be the springboard to considerably greater success, should Dimou not suffer from cold feet once again.

Palms then is so much more than the sum of its constituent parts. It won’t please everyone, particularly those with preconceived notions. But with any luck, this collaboration will continue beyond a single album, because on this evidence they’re really onto something.

While Bass Drum Of Death is stripped back and wins many points for commitment to a certain aesthetic, it’s also a largely successful album in terms of tunes.

For him, music is all about expression and collaboration. On The Visitor, he has crystallised those principles into a richly beguiling and inventive work that crosses musical boundaries effortlessly.

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.

It’s just 13 killer tracks hovering around the three and four minute mark originally designed for maximum 12” impact rather than a living room listen. But popping on headphones helps appreciate just how much Boo manages to squeeze into his tracks.

In Without Your Love he shows that he’s evolved from sinister experimentalist to a creator of powerful and highly original songs.

This album is a fine addition to his collection of socially conscious afrobeat. It’s a sound and approach that pays debt to his father, but is forged in Femi Kuti’s own singular identity.

At times Lightning Dust produce some sublime moments on Fantasy but there are too few of these to warrant repetitive plays of the album as a whole.

Soft Will marks a further refinement of Smith Westerns’ sound, resulting in one of the year’s most straightforwardly enjoyable indie-rock records.

In less skilled, less ambitious hands, this record could have been derivative and hackneyed. Instead it is an unqualified triumph for a young band who, with a little luck, should go on to achieve widespread acclaim in years to come.

If they only had slightly better tunes, the temptation to highlight the supposedly novel elements of their act might prove easier to resist.

In spite of its impassioned politics and firebrand title, Statement Of Intent for the most part pursued a more mature writing style with greater depth and subtlety. Everything We Hold continues this trend, whilst also offering strong, affecting songs that might increase this band’s commercial potential.

Yes, Love Undercover does sound a bit different from The Coral’s material, with a more soul and R&B influence, not to mention Merseybeat, but there is nothing particularly distinctive in the music.

At its most nondescript, it’s the sound of a band falling between two musical stools. At its best, I’m Leaving is the sound of a band smartly prolonging its sell-by date.

Even the very best double albums--London Calling, The White Album, Tusk – have their lulls, but this record has too many.

A lean, 40-minute LP that’s big on melody and small on post-production .

Whilst the prettiness in Tunng’s music can often be deceiving, it can also become a little oppressive after a while. The sound world can feel a little too bright and cute.

It may not rock your world but, against all the odds, The Conversation presents a Texas which you can imagine falling a little bit in love with.

There’s no wild pretension and little real originality here, and it’s not going to change your life or make any critics’ Greatest Album lists, but it’s a lot of fun, and sometimes that’s all you want.

The sense of rhythmic looseness and American country lilt, showcased most obviously on My Rose Coloured Friend, coupled with Mulcahy’s lyrical sensibilities and questioning of his own troubles and existence, make for not a particularly life-changing but pleasing listening experience.

The songs and melodies may be brighter, but there is a nagging sense throughout that something special has been lost somewhere in the process.

Yeezus is a divisive album, one that contains some of West’s most inspired samples, collaborations, and racial observations to date while at times being insufferably misogynistic and confoundingly lyrically lazy.

The most impressive thing about Long Way Down is how, despite being an album based on a simple, almost naïve set of concepts--being in love, falling out of love, the raw emotion of being young and not understanding the world yet--it sounds accomplished well beyond Odell’s years.

For an album that was certainly not recorded spontaneously, Desperation sure sounds spontaneous.

Yes, it’s true, the music stands up more than well by itself. But this is an album designed for listenwatching. So listenwatch.

Tthe Icelandic trio has now adopted darker musical stylings to create a record that’s every bit as transcendental as their best work.

Nothing here quite matches the excitement of Feel It Break highlights The Beat And The Pulse and Lose It (although Home, Forgive Me, Painful Like and Annie (Oh Muse You) all come close). But this doesn’t stop Olympia being a sizeable step up from its predecessor and a fine album in its own right.

It’s compelling stuff; we need more musicians who are prepared to go nuts in this delightfully joyous way.

As real big-bucks contenders, Kodaline aren’t quite there yet. But as a debut, In A Perfect World manages to find its feet with ease.

It’s an album that comes from an older, more mature band than the Jimmy Eat World that yearningly whined on Bleed American, one that has refined their melodic craft.

This is exhilarating from start to finish, and it makes Hyetal stand out from what is an overcrowded market.

Invisible Enemy // Crescent Moon is a brave attempt from its creator to change direction, but ultimately KT Tunstall’s limitations are laid bare on a record that meanders pleasantly without ever leaving a lasting impression.

It is perhaps slightly too long and lacks anything as thrilling as Drop The Other, but it nevertheless represents Emika as a fascinating artist with immeasurable promise.

Young Fathers are exactly as their name suggests: firstly young, but more noteworthy, brutally honest father-figures who show the music world that, when you take musical and topical risks, you get noticed.

Howlin is an intoxicating first showing from a band with bags of potential and, although it loses its way somewhat towards the end, it is brimming with the confidence of a vastly more experienced band.

The music on Field Of Reeds is certainly not easily accessible but, at its heart, this is a supremely evocative album.

It’s easy to dismiss bands that receive so much hype before they have even got going, but with Peace, the early signs are definitely promising.

The whole thing just feels so lightweight, as if the remaining members of CSS are struggling not to play their instruments but to get any magic out of them.

Gold Panda has come up with another fine album with some standout moments, but overall Half Of Where You Live doesn’t quite have the coherence or impact of its predecessor.

Feel The Sound provides, when they’re on form, a reminder of how reliable they can be at creating crowd-pleasing indie pop.

At times, it is a little overwhelming over the 17 tracks, but there are plenty of beautiful moments here, the sort of moments which continue to propel BOC well ahead of many of their IDM contemporaries.

Even if Settle quiets the unreasonable expectations surrounding it by offering a solid collection of smart dance tracks, some songs do not fully live up to the hype.

Overall, June Gloom is an accomplished return from Big Deal, one that shows they are more than worthy of their name.

Yet despite its flaws, this is still an impressively confident debut from a band that sound far older than their years.

This album is the full realisation of his talent as a bass player, musician and, most importantly, a songwriter. Apocalypse is, in short, a supreme triumph.

No matter how many times you listen to Nightmare Ending, you will probably never figure out why it was given its title: sad or happy, deaths and endings are not treated on the album as nightmarish, but as natural to humanity as is emotion.

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.

This is an intelligent and deeply human album and it would be no exaggeration to say that it’s already a modern classic.

Vår manage to save a plodding midsection with tracks like the creepy, droney and dark Boy, proving they’re jacks of multiple trades.

The joyfully unabashed massiveness of it all is what makes Big Black Delta such a promising prospect.

Had Crystal Fighters not taken their foot of the pedal towards the end, Cave Rave could have been their breakthrough album. Instead, it’s just a very good one.

At times, he runs out of ideas, but that shouldn’t detract from the fact that he is clearly going somewhere--even if that might be more often than not the past.

This is at once an enjoyable effort and an opportunity missed.

Despite the distinct swerve in direction, there are still numerous killer blows to be found on ...Like Clockwork.

This fanzine-ish dedication to the music they love spills over into the record, making it ooze with warmth and wit--and it’s catchy as hell.

With Images Rolling he has made an intriguing and, at times, inventive step up from his previous work.

Lesser Evil is an album that is a bit too cluttered and patchy to stand out as a classic debut.

Field Report’s debut maintains a wondrous sense of ambiguity while still creating an unbelievable urgency.

Luckily, there’s enough energy imparted by the snappy drums and darkly driving basslines to keep it interesting, giving structure to the more ethereal elements without overpowering them. If the thought of trawling through the ’90s again leaves you cold, pop this on and party like its 1980.

The feisty personalities and powerhouse vocals have stayed intact, making it even more of a shame that the very essence of the group seems to be absent on London With The Lights On.

False Idols confidently returns to a simpler, yet contemporary version of Tricky’s working formula.

Overall however, listening to Saltwater you realise that, while the album contains nothing seriously off-putting, you grow tired of Brazos’ style when listening to it.

The album works best when they pick up the pace, cranking out two minute gems like My Mind Is Like An Atom Bomb and They Kiss Like Humans, with its genuinely disconcerting backing bellows.

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.

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

Dancing is certainly Nancy Elizabeth’s best work to date.

Cold Spring Fault Less Youth is an album that’s as purposefully awkward as its title: cleverly put together, but occasionally just not very much fun.

While Slow Summits might not set your pulse racing it’s a fantastic example of a band throwing themselves into making a record as lush and pretty as they possibly can.