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.