While Street Horrrsing may never scratch the surface of the mainstream, it is going to make an indelible mark on all those interested in ground-breaking underground music

As a document of its time, then, Stainless Style is remarkably successful. Taken on the base level of being an enjoyable pop album, it also triumphs handsomely.

For fans of "St Elsewhere" and general mash-ups of styles, The Odd Couple will contain a few splendid tracks, a few decent offerings, and a few duds.

Sonic landscapes shift around behind Deschanel across the length of the album; as tunes introduce elements of pure indie pop, old timey slide-guitar country, rattling tin-ally piano, and light rock, the singer keeps her cool and holds everything together throughout the course of Volume One.

Few other modern musicians are as adept at taking such a tried and tested genre and making it utterly their own.

This is an album that definitely deserves your interest, one of the best that New Weird America has thrown across the Atlantic in a long, long time.

There is much to admire here the more you listen, the more it will grow on you.

There's nothing complicated on this album, but then when did things ever need to be complicated?

The Unfairground is a short and sweet collection of ten tunes, rich with strings, original ideas, lovely melodies and a whiff of what used to be.

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

Go Away White is an unevenly inspired valediction.

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

Autechre albums have been famously challenging in the past, but Quaristice is an easier way in, and impresses with its structure, its continued innovation in texture and in the way every sound remains vital, even in the course of a seventy minute album.

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.

After a couple of listens it reveals itself as Goldfrapp's most subtle, affecting and rewarding album to date.

The songs lack the emotional pull of the duo's debut. Seeds of greatness are still evident, but this direction just seems like a dead end.

Lust Lust Lust is a record that explains why sometimes guitars need to be turned up to their max and faced into amps, and why humans need to get down and dirty.

The Golden Age is a bewitching and thoroughly addictive record that proves that even when they push themselves out of their comfort zone, American Music Club can still come up with a classic.

Disjointed maybe, obtuse certainly, but listening to this album is continuously rewarding, new images, new storylines, and new moments of disbelief at Darnielle's lyricism on every listen.

Flock is a massive step forward musically. Paul Noonan's superb lyrics now have some powerful musical backing, throwing in all kinds of references from disco to funk and good old-fashioned rock.

It's rare to be so gushing about a debut album--yet after living with this album for a few weeks, you'll be hard pressed to find any flaws.

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.

It also feels like they've become a little too cosy in their favourite slippers, so that while Dive Deep is a pleasant album, it swims in familiar and safe waters.

When you're listening to Some Racing, Some Stopping you're caught up in a safe, warm, fluffy little world. It's only when you get back to harsh reality you realise that Headlights haven't really written much in the way of hooks.

At its core, throughout the course of Come Into My House, No Kids remain a group of talented musicians with excellent, compelling ideas.

It's just impossible to hate something so glorious.

Little Death is indie for the fanzine generation, 12 blazing little fires of warmth that'll connect stylishly with the masses too.

You can almost feel the wind and rain outside, and this adds to the mixture of melancholia and euphoria throughout, the latter realised most obviously on 'Waving Flags.' And that's the spirit that runs through this fine album, staying with the listener long after the final stanzas of 'We Close Our Eyes' bring it full circle.

Whilst this isn't the album many may have expected, it should match their hopes in a different and, ultimately, fulfilling way.

Detours may not be the most musically edgy album you'll listen to this year, but there aren't many people better at producing radio-friendly rock/pop.

Perhaps it's fair to say that sometimes it all sounds a little too comfortable for, erm, comfort (the line "growing old, it's hard to be an angry young man" is pretty telling).

For Dead Meadow this is growth of a kind, and it is certainly a move away from their old sound. Whether this is positive growth or not depends on what you want from the band, but as a soundtrack to getting well and truly caned, you can't go far wrong.

Smart and funny. Bold and layered. Witty and affecting. Roll on the next reinvention.

From beginning to end Circular Sounds feels familiar. And with only one track (just) over four minutes, Stoltz holds true to pop convention in length as well as arrangements.

This is a superlative third album, which builds on its predecessors while looking to the future.

In places almost carnivalesque, this is a good times album that celebrates positive aspects of the world.

It's Xiu Xiu's strength--as well as their weakness--to assault the listener with specificity, giving Women... a deeply voyeuristic sheen that can detract from the often thrilling musical invention at work here.

Ultimately, Rain is slightly too smooth to count as a complete success.

This is a debut album of startling originality, that seems set to cast its spell most acutely on a hot summer's night.

Hey Venus!, then, is not the type of progressing heavyweight that has marked the output of later day Super Furries. As a shorter, lighter effort, though, it is every bit as tantalising, thickly coated in SFA-brand special sauce and still worth its weight in goal.

Rooted in the past this album may be, but it has genuine moments of original inspiration, both musically and lyrically, and a scope of ambition most bands would be scared to try out.

Marshall may appear more stylish, her striking face and poker straight hair gracing many more magazine covers than it used to, but the music making is clearly totally safe in her hands, and anyone predicting a creative nosedive any time soon should be in for a very long wait.

Hugely enjoyable and wonderfully disposable pop for the listener, who will turn round and return for more, no question. An auspicious debut.

Aside from the album not standing out from the competition the individual tracks have trouble standing out from each other.

Generally, this is a perfect introduction to the talent of Liam Finn - and even at 14 tracks, it never outstays its welcome.

Most of the songs have plenty to give in these spheres, so for fans this can be viewed as a qualified success, if never quite approaching previous highs.

So, from bed-bound broken foot casualty to creator of the finest debut album of the year in just over a year.

A bit more edge would have been good to distinguish this from the wide range of comfy female songwriters out there right now.

Lupe Fiasco's intelligent lyrics and strong beats keep him a comfortable arms-length away from hip-pop, without displaying any signs of the arrogance of a Kanye West, just an intelligent social awareness.

On hand, as ever, is sister and mother to crank-up the feel good factor, and a more life-affirming live album you'll not find.

For an enjoyable 'kickaround' of an album this is a cheeky little blighter that will continue to tickle ears, raise a smile and brighten any listen for a while yet.

Frank is a superb debut album that announces Amy Winehouse as a major young talent. With hardly any weak tracks on here, it's frightening to think what she could produce in the years to come.

It's enjoyable, fast-paced and delivered with an undeniable amount of skill. But it isn't memorable enough.

Efterklang have managed to locate the sweet spot where the organic meets the electronic, and have carefully stuffed each track full to bursting point with a gorgeous mix that at times seems to require a new musical format, just to deal with the sheer bandwidth of sonic invention on display here.

A nice Christmas present for that hardcore Killers fan in your life, but most casual observers will be happy to give this a miss and wait for the third album.

LCD Soundsystem's many fans will want this principally for the bonus tracks but will probably already have the rest of 45:33.

Despite the intro being borrowed from the trailer to American Gangster it essentially reclaims the genre Shawn Carter helped to pioneer from the studio gangstas and plastic pimps that hip-pop is swamped with.

It may not be music for the ringtone generation, but for anyone who appreciates the understated power and drama that Sigur Rós can do so well, this is an essential purchase

Tom DeLonge does have talent, and maybe one day he'll make an album that deserves all his self-proclaimed hype. This, however, isn't it.

Untrue is complex, stark, tender, blurred and breathtaking. Burial has managed the impossible and improved on his faultless debut.

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.

Shotter's Nation has no stand-out moments. Delivery is about the best of the bunch, but it's no rival to anything The Libertines ever did.

Anyone looking for another 'Hurricane' will be disappointed--but, for sheer eclecticism, the record hits a number of highs.

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

All involved have created one of the most unusual and surprisingly moving records I have heard in some time.

On closer inspection and at a suitably stupid volume, however, Preparations rocks and lurches in grand fashion.

It makes for a wonderfully life affirming record, capable of humour, joy and reflection. Every home should have one.

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.

The album has undoubtedly been an opus of dedication but essentially there is no spontaneity.

This is an album that exceeds expectations and is unlikely to disappoint those who do bother to listen to it.

By turns danceable, blissed out romantic, familiar and new, it's technologically and musically fascinating. Its juxtaposition of orga and mecha is one of its many well executed contradictions. Packed but sparse, thrilling, complex, innovative, simple. Without even a dud bar never mind a filler track, In Rainbows is more than any fan could hope for.

For anyone seeking a new sound, in this case a vibrant take on Balkan folk through the eyes of a Westerner, there will be no disappointment.

For a 21st century rock band, there isn't a single moment here that threatens to turn into an 'anthem' to be balled out at the Nestle-Monsanto Rock Festival at a mud-pit near you next summer.

This is an incredibly well fused and structured album that taps into a wide range of emotions.

There's so much of this record that causes a big smile to split your face that it can't be described as anything other than a success.

An album filled with singles that should be instant hits.

Such is Tunng's appeal, the ability to do the unexpected but also to make you smile with their lyrical vignettes and musical slights of hand.

Constantly brilliant. White Chalk is an amazing album, racked with beauty, stricken with fragility and haunted with something otherworldly.

This is another fine album from Grohl and company.

For aficionados of his gnomic genius, and there are many, this new collection provides further reasons to invest time and money in his eclectic works.

An instant classic for some, a slow-burner for others; this is what we've come to expect of Stars.

Jose Gonzalez may not be doing anything any differently, but he's also not doing very much wrong.

Both foreground and background listening are equally rewarded.

DFA are back on track with this chilled, intriguing record. As a compedium of two previous records, this is a sign of where Harte was.

He hasn't quite developed the dexterity to match his grand designs yet, but there is enough on show here to suggest he soon will.

Although Brown is to be commended for braving topics that other songwriters would fear to tread, he has a habit of expressing his sentiments in the most laughably simplistic terms.

While the songs aren't particularly complex and won't be to the taste of anyone after something challenging, the band impress with how easy they make straightforward songwriting look.

Just when you think things are getting a bit too glossy and radio-friendly, there's a reminder of the edge that makes her such a good listen.

The Meanest of Times is a lyrically dense album, but in spite of it all Dropkick Murphys know how to turn a wake in to a party.

At times it's hilarious, especially the song openings, which evoke poodle-rock heroes in mock affection, but the tracks then go somewhere inconceivably cool, twisting, shimmering and generally rocking in drool-worthy style.

Ripe is a disappointingly bland affair. None of the songs have any edge to them, the tunes are predictable and the lyrics are mundane.

The most pleasing element of the album is those earlier demos floating around the internet, have for once been well produced. Songs such as Bandits now have an added edge with more strength, depth and substance to the original foundations.

Strawberry Jam doesn't promise to be something for everyone, but it will certainly please those with an ear for the strange and surreal--even if you will have to sleep with your light on.

Proof Of Youth does lack the immediacy that Thunder Lightning Strike possessed in spades, but that is not to its detriment. Ian Parton has done it again and made an addictive, memorable second album.

Bluefinger is, then, a simple, accessible and enjoyable album of rock and blues by a formidable artist rediscovering his scream while maintaining his cultured songwriting abilities.

Playtime Is Over is miles forward from the Wiley of 'Wot U Call It' and 'Who Ate All the Pies' but it sits uneasily behind Sway's One For the Journey and Kano's The Mixtape projects

It's difficult to detect any flaws in Attack Decay Sustain Release. Simian Mobile Disco have created a seamless electronica album that can carry the torch for the New Rave movement, and prove there's a great deal of substance beneath the fad to be found.