McGuinness is having a fantastic time on this album, but the try-too-hard attempts at shock value and relatively derivative riffs occasionally detract from what is an otherwise fantastic recontextualization of British alternative rock into older trends.

While Innocence might be easily lost in the pool of “alternative,” despite its flaws it is a strong addition to the band’s already prolific catalogue.

Judging by Rose Windows’ now final album, the shame is that differences, whatever they were, could not be overcome because a growing, developing collection of musicians was just beginning to dent the consciousness of a much larger audience. Instead of eagerly anticipating their next move, we are therefore left to cling to their last hurrah.

Exceeding an hour in length, though, some may find it a little too lacking in variety and be soundly asleep before the end--which would be a shame, as it’s one of the better psychedelic albums to reach our ears this year.

The only problem is that, at 20 tracks, it’s far too long, and while there’s nothing particularly bad here, the weaker tracks seem a bit like filler.

Despite their faults, The Black Keys do have something to offer the world in terms of reliable, entertaining garage rock. Just don't expect innovation.

The album is largely built around two (very similar) styles, and can blend into one cloying whole, but this music is built for the summer. It’s tailor-made for being on in the background while you drink, dance, barbecue and copulate your summer away. On that level, it all works.

What could just be another run through a well-worn genre becomes an album that is worth a place in any serious library.

Some of these tracks are cruel in their brevity.

Once again produced by Stephen Street, Coxon has created a work full of guileless charm with a deceptive simplicity that masks some intricate musicianship, while its English pastoral ambience is interleaved with some more exotic influences.

There’s more than enough here to establish Ryder-Jones as a serious solo artist--all it needs is one more notch on the self-confidence dial, and that potential could translate into astounding results.

V.V. Brown is a prodigious talent who deserves to have a hit record, even if it's just to reward all the hard work that has clearly gone into this debut.

The Path Of Totality is overall quite an interesting and largely rewarding proposition. Whether it manages to please dubstep or Korn fans however is another matter.

Whilst obviously not the best album of all-time, Different Creatures adds considerable weight to the band’s growing ambitions.

All in all, this is an odd, but certainly not unlikeable, package of songs.

Under The Spell Of Joy didn’t quite achieve the transcendent ritualistic occurrence Death Valley Girls pointed to, but it should still win them a few zealous new converts.

Sweep It Into Space is as solid a selection of songs as they’ve ever produced and broadly typifies why they are so beloved.

Daniel Avery has a specific set of tools in his arsenal and these are sometimes spread a bit thin, but Song For Alpha is still a worthy follow-up to 2013’s Drone Logic and an enjoyable listen.

Perhaps, but there do seem to be less of them these days, and Being Funny In A Foreign Language represents a gradual, encouraging maturation for the band.

A leisurely 77 minutes of beautifully orchestrated ballads, electronic experimentation, spoken word interludes and callbacks to previous Del Rey songs. Like the vast majority of her previous albums, there’s almost too much to take in, but you have to admire the sheer bloody-mindedness to do things her own way.

Gallagher is never going to win awards for originality, but he has definitely progressed musically with this solo debut.

It's really rather good.

Most of Body Talk Pt 2 is more of the same, but Robyn does occasionally take some significant risks.

It's the musical equivalent of the death of Bambi's mother: exquisitely rendered, but, once experienced for the first time, you need to steel yourself for subsequent visits.

She’s come a long way from those more quirky days, but Remember Us To Life is a good reminder that Spektor is still more than capable of conjuring up moments of magic.

Ultimately it’s likely to work best on a cold winter’s night in a remote cottage with just the wind, a raging log fire, a glass of the strong stuff and sad memories for company.

Their debut self-titled LP is one that is puzzling, slightly strange, sometimes irresistible and a bit frustrating.

It's clear from Flamingo that Flowers accounts for the lion's share of talent in The Killers, and if they ever go on definite hiatus, their fans can look forward to more consistently good material in the form of Flowers' solo albums.