In what has already proved to be a strong year for breakthrough artists the duo have gone and raised the bar once again, and in doing so, created one of the most essential albums of the year.

The point really, as it is with all of You Can Have What You Want, is that regardless of what era Papercuts are paying (unintentional) homage to, they always sound relevant and never out of step.

With instantly infectious attitude and a seemingly unending supply of irresistible hooks, Brand New Eyes comes close to perfecting the emo-rock art.

Harmonium could quite easily have been a sterile exercise in musical pastiche. What The Soundcarriers have turned the album into is a living, breathing entity that restores the listener's faith in music.

With a little less mess, and a little more hook, the band might find some truly zealous followers.

Welcome Oblivion might have worked with some edits, but ultimately fails as an LP.

Shulamith can still be considered a worthy addition to the band’s back catalogue, even it just doesn’t quite reach the heights of their excellent debut.

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.

For all the development in their sound, this new Peggy Sue is less lovable than before, the whimsy and the wit, the colour and the life a little buried, and whatever their final lyrics say, a touch too troubled now.

While Mvula has a great voice and is a skilled musician, she plays it far too safe on her debut LP.

What we all need is a great new rock band that draws on a forgotten corner of the music of yore, and The Orielles definitely could be that band – but there’s nothing here that will make you put away your old records just yet.

While there may be nothing to touch Goddard’s finest solo moment (that would be the sky-scraping collaboration with Valentina, Gabriel) or most of Hot Chip’s immense back catalogue, Harmonics is still a distinctive, often exhilarating, record from Goddard and his host of friends.

The result is both classic Decemberists--all folk pop whimsy wrapped up in darker lyrics than their surface suggests--and a new direction, using the '60s/early '70s folk foundations to follow their logical path into that odd corner of the English genre that somehow crossed over with Heavy Metal.

Render Another Ugly Method is an album which demands careful listening, almost as it pushes away the listener, inviting interpretation as it rejects it. Often thrilling, it is rarely less than compelling.

Less predictable was her now clear desire to take risks and step off the all-too-well-forged path of safe, agreeable background music. Instead, on The Fall Norah Jones chooses to defy categorization.

Some people may see Songs In The Dark as a curio, simply recorded for in order to keep the legacy of the McGarrigle canon alive and well. Yet it’s the black humour and obvious love for the material that lifts this into another sphere.

While there’s nothing that tugs at the heartstrings as much as Metarie did all those years ago, Dear Life is a reminder that Brendan Benson remains a terrific songwriter. He’s still too much of a quirky proposition to make it big, but Dear Life is a great big burst of sunshine in an all too dark world.

In general there is less percussion than previous Austra albums, which heighten the intimacy in songs like How Did You Know. The exception is the clattering set of drum fills towards the end of It’s Amazing, which disappears in a swirl of harp-like ripples. Yet HiRURiN, as with previous Austra albums, is all about the voice.

The album’s relative drop in quality towards the second half is a minor quibble though. Obits have long since made their point.

The fact that they've managed to record an album so strong, consistent and downright impressive is proof positive that, after much promise, The Subways have come of age.

This album will prove to be as addictive listening come the end of the year as it is right now.

If he can place more focus on songcraft, his tunes will soar majestically; but at the moment there's not a lot under the surface to make him anything other than intriguing.

It is not quite playful enough or quite inventive enough to truly excel, but it is a largely fine effort from a man who anyone with an interest in UK electronic music would surely find to be well worth investigating.

An often spectacular document of pain, no doubt, but it remains a record to admire rather than invest in, turning you away with its bleakness when it promises comfort

The record doesn’t just match the standard of their first, it surpasses it.

While it seems silly to complain about the lack of a singer on an instrumental album, she did lend many of the songs an emotional weight which, while not lacking here, doesn’t quite have the same impact.

Divorced from the context of the North Korea shows the purpose of these songs seems a little unclear, even factoring in the wordplay of “How do you solve a problem like Korea”, so the final few tracks are crucial to the album.

This album shows that Times New Viking seem more likely to be comfortable in front of a crowd rather than a mixing desk; it is worth an enquiry but with a little more application it could have been much better.