What may at first come across as a bottled up effort does in fact reveal astounding complexity on repeated listening.

Even when he doesn't quite get the dynamics right, Sivu's gift for melody never deserts him.

An album that finds Nesbitt in the midst of personal and artistic self-discovery. She’s almost there, just a few more seasons.

This album is an acquired taste that may struggle to win a larger audience. If you’re a Grumbling Fur fan, though, you might just like this effort more than any of his other solo collections.

The rock history books have not been as generous to Live Skull as to their contemporaries, but with luck this crazy melodic record will go some way to restoring them as kings and queens of the urban jungle.

While perhaps lacking the simple yet intricate beauty of his purely instrumental work, In The Furrows of Common Place is another strong release from Ghedi, and fans of Chris Wood, Alasdair Roberts, Seth Lakeman and other modern folk luminaries will find much to enjoy in this confident and atmospheric collection of songs.

Philips is very much the band’s driving force. Her musical persona is a collage of punk-rock heroines and sliver-screen starlets. She has the rebelliousness of Kathleen Hanna with the lusty charm of Poison Ivy.

Throughout this eventful record Flohio keeps a clear sense of lyrical and stylistic integrity, and by the time Against The Grain’s glitchy percussion cuts out to reveal solitary reverbed chords we’re left with one of the standout rap albums of the year.

While Meighan’s Liam Gallagher-like machismo may not have been to everyone’s taste, his vocals undoubtedly had much more presence than Pizzorno’s rather bland voice, which does little more than carry the songs on Happenings along, and is indicative of a broader lack of musical personality combined with a lack of truly memorable songs.

It possesses that raw energy that was present in two other exciting debuts, Is This It? by The Strokes and Definitely Maybe by Oasis.

Fragments does not outstay its welcome, but only because it isn’t distinctive enough to be consciously welcomed in the first place. Recommended for owners of trendy cafes and companies in need of hold music.

For a debut album, Quarter Life Crisis is a remarkably confident, assured record, even if it does feel a bit front-loaded by putting most of the more immediate pop bangers in the first half of the album.

The melodic writing is good but not always as memorable as Daft Punk’s pop sensibilities would suggest. Yet there is much here to enjoy, and to suggest the next chapter in Thomas Bangalter’s career will see him flourish as an orchestral composer.

A sweet, cheery and summery collection of folk tunes that sometimes verges on a more commercial surfy sound akin to Jack Johnson while still remaining on the right side of lovely.

Get Back is a really great record, and one that goes some way to cementing McBean’s name amongst the legendary lifers that he’s trying (successfully) to emulate.

This is a fantastic, passionate and wonderfully eccentric debut album that's also a thrilling advert of what's to come.

Anyone with even a passing interest in Royksopp--whose ears have been pricked by an Eple or Poor Leno--could do far worse than immerse themselves in one of 2009's greatest releases.

Speculation aside, the music that Childs and Blake have produced here is gentle, unassuming and good humoured. It won't change the world, but it will warm the hearts of those fortunate enough to hear it.

Sure, it may be playful, uncomplicated and slightly honey-glazed but there is plenty here for music lovers of all ages to enjoy.

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.

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

For now, Held In Splendor is a promising, if limited, stepping stone.

Innundir Skinni is still a worthy achievement, it's emotional but not melodramatic; understated yet grand. But it is a mixture rather than a whole and lacks the cohesion of Arnalds' inspiring first album.

Hibbert’s voice certainly sounds older, perhaps even a little weaker, but it still has a communicative power that sometimes allows it to sit at the forefront of the music.

It hangs together well and the songs are decently written. But most listeners need something more, an undeniable quality that is completely unique to a band. A Unique Selling Point, if you will. Hospitality have not found theirs yet.

The loud, distorted, lo-fi West Coast tone dominates the album, and this is the terrority where Goldstein performs most engagingly. Where he attempts a more stripped-down approach (on Fall, or the ukelele-led title track) the results are less successful.

The liberated, enlivened music on You Have Already Gone To The Other World proves they are still one of the genre’s indispensable players.

Thankfully, McCartney appears to be grasping the nettle and squeezing the most out of life and his apparently never-ending songbook. A definite thumbs up.