The album is very cleanly produced, though at times it has an unfortunate tendency to become ignorable rather than interesting, Guidance and La Force De Melodie with LouLou Ghelichkhani being the chief offenders. However, the beat switch-up in the middle of Music To Make You Stagger--which turns it from a chilled dubby number to something approaching drum and bass--is very enjoyable, as are the chilly textures of Water Under The Bridge with frequent collaborator Natalia Clavier.

It’s atmospheric, after a fashion, but it feels overproduced and it’s often physically difficult to listen to.

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's all surface no feeling.

There are too many tracks on here that seem unfinished in a way, content to noodle around for far too long without making too much of an impression.

Like Oberst, the strength of her songwriting sometimes overshadows the rather interesting things going on in terms of production.

While there could have been an effort to eliminate some of the canned percussive elements and other recording anomalies, Elf Power have crafted a wonderful album, filled with plenty of catchy hooks and interesting musical ideas based on simple progressions.

Unfairly or otherwise, Lights will be consumed by many with the weight of expectation hanging heavy around it. For the most part, the strength of the songwriting should keep the doubters at bay.

This isn’t a concept, or a wild divergence from his earlier work. Rather it’s a bigger push musically and collaboratively with less emphasis on the politics that have dominated his past.

Although the songs on – never really rise above a mild trot, there’s still some musical variety.

For Idlewild fans, especially of the older school, there is more than enough here to warrant a pilgrimage to your local record shop.

It is personal without actually being personal.

Whilst it might not reinvent the wheel, Vessels is a rewarding slice of indie rock with a pleasing amount of dark psycadelic twist.

Josh T Pearson’s latest experiments have made for his most uneven record yet, but among the less characterful songs, there’s still some of that old miserable magic to relish within the directness of it all. The Straight Hits! may not be his finest, but maybe the purge was a necessary one.

Let's hope they carry on with that form of expression, as Replica Sun Machine has created an early blast of summer sunshine--playful, majestic, reflective and content, all in the same record.

With much to enjoy on this collection that has preceded their goodbye it would be music's loss if this were to once again genuinely signal the end of this quirky, characterful band.

Aside from its undertone of paranoid desperation, however, the album is a largely by-the-numbers exercise and seems almost certain to quickly fall off the public consciousness.

If you're a fan of Burnett's sound or just plain curious you'll find this a welcome project that does exactly what it sets out to do.

It’s probably their most ambitious effort since Brain Thrust Mastery, delivering a sprawling and colourful collection of pop songs which are sure to leave a smile on your face.

A pretty decent record if by no means a great one. Shiny And So Bright, Vol 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. neither offers the chance to dent Corgan’s ego or inflate it in any significant way.

This is a quiet, dignified record which, while maybe not being the most exciting album you'll hear all year, would make a cracking Christmas present for the more mature relative in your life.

There's no personality here, nothing to cling on to and love.

There’s no doubting Middleton’s way with a skewed tune and a wry look at the world, but Summer Of ’13 is buried beneath the sheen of production that sits uneasily on his shoulders.

Cosmic Egg is the kind of album you'd quite happily pop on for the first part of a road trip while you're full of enthusiasm, but it'd quickly get changed at the first toilet stop.

This is a remarkable album in every sense.

With not a dot ball or an overthrow, The Duckworth Lewis Method is an unqualified success.

Ultimately, by the end of Word Of Mouth, there is a feeling that it is more interesting conceptually than it is musically.

My Sad Captains do have an unfortunate tendency of allowing their subtle, crafted melodies to occasionally lose focus and meander.

Overall, Planet Earth is a competent collection of songs that are certainly too good to be given away free.

Gedge and Albini is a match made in heaven, and El Rey is an excellent follow-up to one of their finest works together.

X is more filler than killer.

Let There Be Morning may be all too familiar to some, but with its driving guitars, catchy choruses and infectious melodies, this solid effort ensures that the band is set to become a household name.

It's not quite the tour de force they seem to be capable of.

If the world wants to point at the band's best album it's easily Planet of Ice, but if we're in the business of recognizing a group's ethos, Omni stands as the prime example of what Minus The Bear want to achieve.

Full of derision that the less talented one out of Oasis is going to be found out on his own? You won't be dissuaded.

Songs come and go, often built on little more than O’s voice and the brushed strum of an acoustic guitar, seemingly competing to see which can retreat furthest into the shadows.

A slight whiff of missed opportunity perhaps, but this is by no means a stinker.

While not as groundbreaking as the first Blueprint was, this is nonetheless a strong record, its A-list guests and production tempered nicely by the inclusion of in-the-now collaborators of the order of Young Jeezy and Empire Of The Sun front man Luke Steele.

With Transfixiation now becoming the band’s fourth album, the formula of overwhelming noise was becoming perhaps a little too familiar. There are still elements of their early guise present, but the need for change is clearly reducing the decibel levels.

The album, like their live set, is shot through with fun, infectious wit and a desire to create perfect pop while not taking themselves too seriously.

The collection of 11 tracks are both majestic and effortless--qualities that give the album a feeling of natural progression, perhaps bettering what's gone before.

Despite Kiss Land being The Weeknd’s major label debut release, what was once a breath of fresh air now sounds rather played out.

Quarters is such an inventive, smartly composed album that complaining about its lack of emotional clout feels like nitpicking rather than the exposure of a serious flaw.

It may not be an album you’ll come back to again and again, but it shows off a refreshingly different side to Alexis Taylor.

There might be a song here entitled Failing At Fun Since 1981, but this album is stupidly good fun and, on top of it all, an unmitigated success.

It may have taken some time to arrive but Two Trains is a strong personal statement that should find wider appreciation.

It’s an undeniably pleasant background to a warm summer’s day. But, like the output of many of the chillwave notables it resembles, once Headroom has finished playing, precious few details remain lodged in the brain.

Ultimately, Join Hands gives a decent impression of Congratulations’ sound, even if it becomes a bit too much over the course of an album. However, there’s enough songwriting prowess demonstrated here to hint that there may be even better things in the future from Congratulations.

Overall, Hard Candy lacks subtlety and is overworked and overproduced.

Rockstar is, at heart, a well meaning, fun spirited album. It just pushes the joke just too far. There’s still time for her to make a great rock record, but this isn’t it.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has just abandoned her electropop comfort blanket for a smothering duvet of clichés and ineffectual romanticism.

It will no doubt be the soundtrack of the summer for many people, but the lack of originality, warmth and soul may well leave some feeling rather underwhelmed.

Perhaps one of the telling strengths of LAX is that despite all star guest appearances from the likes of Ludacris, Travis Barker, Nas and the aforementioned Ice Cube it is very much The Game's album.

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

While Tedder can on occasion craft lyrics that strike the perfect balance between simplicity and grandiosity, he flounders a bit too often on Native.

As a collection of songs, this eponymous effort goes a long way to restore the singer to her rightful place as purveyor of some of the most carefree, feelgood pop around.

You’ll gather from this that Shake The Shudder is very much business as usual from !!!, though there is extra spice to their modern disco this time around, an all-inclusive party that gives the middle finger to those who dare to stand in its way. It is a wholly affirmative illustration of music’s unifying power.

Full of lyrical and musical contradictions, such as the exhortation to 'join the revolution' in Yang Yang, it isn't exactly rabble rousing - but has a strange allure nonetheless.

Darker than its predecessors, the harrowing Meds is as close Placebo have come to that perfect album.

Love 2 is a triumph, effectively representing a now veteran act capable of returning to its roots yet managing still to produce novel results.

It adds up to a disjointed, uneasy compilation of songs, with the band seemingly refusing to conform to expectation.

Sadly, too much of the Easy Eighth Album sounds a bit hollow and empty, the sound of a band wanting to move on, but without the energy to properly capture the old glory days.

Horses And High Heels is another impressive entry in her catalogue, as genuine as anything she's done since the 1979 classic Broken English.

Lost Sirens makes for a welcome parting shot; a sugared pill to take before slipping away into happy dreams where Bizarre Love Triangle plays from now until eternity.

As a concept Top 10 Hits… is frequently confusing, often brilliant and at times downright awful. Ultimately, it adds up to a very intriguing album by a band that is quite impossible to pin down.

Fans who have been frustrated with recent output will be able to find a lot to like here.

The pedigree of the singles can't be disputed, and they both hit the bullseye--the trouble being that the nine tracks that follow are too often found on the outer reaches of the board.

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

The ingredients might be mixed correctly, but the cake hasn’t quite risen.

Domesticated is a blissful trip, managing the enviable feat of being inventive and comforting at the same time, and is highly recommended for all electronic music fans.

For all its merits AIM is a muddled record, and her divisiveness is sometimes counterproductive.

As interesting as Garratt seems on the surface, his debut is constantly attempting to straddle the line between being edgy and different and achieving widespread appeal. Ultimately, it is the latter that wins through and the end result is a record that is highly accomplished, but lacking in any real adventure.

Overall, Rice has produced a release which equals and perhaps even surpasses his debut, a album that takes you through emotional highs and lows you are unlikely to hear anywhere else this winter.

If much of this is catchy, however, you can’t help but miss the Noah And The Whale who could be emotionally devastating.

Around is low-key, yes, but revealed to be full of those cries and swoops, flutters and chimes that are unmistakebly Verlaine, and weirdly engaging.

This is not an album that you're going to come back to again and again. It's tuneful in places, but ultimately pretty vapid.

Vision Valley doesn't really offer anything new or exciting.

It is odd that something so standard provides the denouement to this album, trying to span over a decade of fan loyalty. Will they buy it? Undoubtedly. Will they like it? Who knows.

If anything they're more powerful this time.

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.

Here I Am is the epitome of cheap and cheerful R&B, 40 minutes of precision-tuned pre-club glossiness--without a doubt perfectly serviceable.

It doesn’t have the timeless quality of her classic material, but it’s good to have her back nonetheless.

Even if you weren't expecting much from everyone's favourite four part harmony-peddling pension queue, this record would be something of a mixed bag.

These songs show him in a newly redemptive prime, and will satisfy both short and long term devotees.

She [Louise Wener] sounds more at ease in her delivery, and the knowhow is natural. On occasion with their less successful single releases you felt Sleeper were trying a bit too hard, but here it is refreshingly instinctive. The addition of more power to the lower end is very welcome too.

It's Robbie The Rogue's least immediate album and needs several listens to get to grips with, but Intensive Care feels like Robbie has allowed himself freedom of expression, even if he doesn't always know how best to use it.

In the context of a studio recording, Cage The Elephant's premiere isn't far off insufferable.

Tender Opposites is undoubtedly a solid, cohesive and enjoyable first album from the Montreal band.

It’s warm, delicate; a real feast for the ears.

It might be damning with faint praise, but Hotel Surrender would suggest that Murphy is at his best in shallow artistic waters, and ventures further out at his peril.

It is impeccably produced and sheened, but it sounds polished to the extent of being soulless.

In Waves is not Trivium's finest moment by any stretch of the imagination but it does point towards the band having found direction and its own voice for the first time in quite a while.

Battle Born is music played in the past tense.

What you do get with Dr Dee is a fleetingly beautiful record that is baffling and bewitching in equal measure, and one that should inspire people to see the accompanying opera as it tours this summer.

Forget the furore around Fifty Shades Of Grey; this is Tellier's Fifty Shades Of Blue, and it is a whole lot sexier.

One hopes that the Austin band takes lessons from both the successes and failures of Fellow Travelers: taking risks here and there often pays off, but don’t mess with a vocal formula that works.

Some thrills and spills, then--like West Ham--and the first fifteen minutes are as good as you could hope for from a band coming back to life after an extended period on the sidelines.

They are a band who want to form a real lasting connection. Diver only sporadically does this, but this is still an album that shows vast promise.