All in, this is a strong if straightforward album packed with effective if safe earworms, albeit from someone whose very name suggests twists and turns.

There are many joys to be found within its brittle, opaque sounds but it’s undoubtedly an album that must be lived with for an appropriate length of time for these to fully surface. Yet, this isn’t a bad thing.

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

As excitingly promising a solo debut as any.

This album shows him to still be in thrall to the possibilities of composition and unafraid of tackling the bigger issues it can so powerfully address.

It has an unnerving, visceral impact--it is fragmentary, destabilising and confounding but all in the best possible way.

You don’t often have to wait as long for debut albums, but by taking their time and perfecting their first full length release, THOAP have created something truly memorable.

It is consistently fresh, inventive and beguiling, showing a band surely at the summit of their powers.

The album is no attempted revisiting of past glories but shows The View exploring a more varied sound with a mellower vibe.

From the outset, A Situation is a black hole of an album: cold, dark, even nihilistic. It’s easy to get drawn into the music but it doesn’t offer any obvious exits or conclusions.

It’s a fun, if inessential, listen and more proof, if it were needed of course, that Lambert is an excellent interpreter of other people’s songs.

It picks the world apart in a way that evokes both horror at our present and an underlying optimism for our future, expressed in a way only music can. Here is confirmation that Suzanne Vega remains one of our musical treasures.

Just occasionally the music gets over-produced, with the beefed-up strings on Retreat smothering the Bach-like arpeggios of its piano, but mostly we breathe the outdoor air in a meditative state. For this is Moby at his most effective, with no need to play to his audience, simply offering private musical ambience to soothe and console.

In Boarding House Reach White gives himself a free hand, and the result is a more experimental and surprising work.

Breezy pop structures are undercut by experimental sound design, a playful spirit buoying up the record throughout.

It’s A Holiday Soul Party is, for the most part, smooth and subtle enough to be enjoyed at any time of the year.

This is very much a fans only album, much like Missy's other efforts.

Spirit is, ironically enough, sometimes lacking in that, with a few too many downbeat, mid-tempo brooding numbers for comfort. For a soundtrack to a revolution, we’re going to need to party more.

The only caveat with the music of iamamiwhoami is that there is now a lot of R&B influenced electronic pop music around, increasingly from Scandinavia, and it seems to be the 'go to' sound of left of centre pop music in the middle of 2012. The good news for the duo, however, is that their particular take on it puts them right near the front of a crowded field.

While occasionally you miss the humanising influence of an analogue drum, or Void’s bowed guitar or even a voice which sounds more flesh and blood than silicon, the sheer force of will that drives 25 25 batters you into submission.

They do make thoroughly exciting music that becomes quickly airborne, able to move the listener to a different plane with disarming ease.

Part of the difficulty with this is, simply, that--taken as a body of work (album) rather than a collection of individual tracks--interest can start to wane. This isn’t helped, either, by the chiefly indistinguishable lyrics: that character-and light/shade-drenched vocal might be enormously listenable, but for most of the time we aren’t able to make out what it is articulating.

The Golden Archipelago is an admirable achievement: a project that has been meticulously prepared and executed with passion and flair.

Arguably one of Dutch Uncles’ greatest strengths is that their music never sits still and is devilishly difficult to categorise, thanks to the intricate tapestry of expertly woven threads painstakingly constructed on each song so adroitly that it all fits together perfectly, without any single element being allowed to monopolise the listener’s attention.

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.

With their eclectic cocktail of rock, pop, blues, jazz, soul, funk and traditional African music, these grandparents can still knock out an irresistible groove to match the best, but perhaps they need to be reminded that they should do it alone a little more often.

Wasted Years features another 16 blasters to add to your ‘essential punk’ playlist.

By the time the spine-tingling hidden track after the closing Wanderer Wandering has faded out, you’ll be convinced you’ve heard one of the best albums of the year.