It's not everyone who can give Slim Shady a run for his money, but Minaj more than holds her own here, sounding both menacing and cartoon-like and even dropping into an approximation of a cockney accent at one point.

This is an album that works incredibly well turned up loud.

A Work Of Heart [is] the positive, life affirming work of art its creator clearly wants it to be. On it Ty feels like an older, wiser brother who doesn’t preach--but who also has your back at all times.

Because 24 7 Rock Star Shit is just a great record. The requisite acoustic number (Sticks And Twigs) is heartfelt and pretty, there’s a sleek poppiness which can’t help but shine.

This is a delightful record, plain and simple.

Rewild is a decent debut album with enough promise to justify keeping a watchful eye for the future.

It's admirable that they have made such a shameless ode to that which they deem most important to their musical output, or at least what they thought might sell, but the way in which it seems so forced and uncomfortable is the opposite of what anyone would have expected.

Bigger, bolder but still retaining an engaging charm, it is a highly impressive melodic triumph.

It's not spectacular but it is a reliable and solid effort. Whether this is a pivotal moment for the genre remains to be seen.

Does You Inspire You has a few high points, most of them hidden in the quieter corners of the album. In its more strident moments, though, it's just plain puzzling.

What impresses most of all about this album, however, is the accomplishment and confidence with which it's constructed, and the economical way Merziger and Kammermeier make use of the huge array of colours and sounds at their disposal.

There are admittedly a few throwaway one minute efforts dotted around the tracklist such as the piano and melodica-tinkle-tinged Thank You Very Much and The Oasis, but luckily the highlights far outweigh them.

I defy you not to enjoy this album.

If Antonoff can add more of his own personality into songs as beautifully crafted and well produced as these, they could unleash something special.

In The Wild has some super solid additions to any electronic music playlist--the singles mentioned previously are pretty damn hot--but exploring it front-to-back is simply too much to handle.

Less inquisitive and much more personal [than 'Silence'], Security Screenings' giddy mosaic of psychedelic disorientation has the morning-after effect of tweezing dream from memory.

It may not make the strongest impact initially, but repeated listens reveal more in the way of deep thought and renewed optimism for tomorrow.

By virtue of the last track sitting in such stark, depressive contrast to the rest, Spiera probably accidentally, but definitely effectively, makes you want to skip back to the start - an analogy for the underlying feelings he gives away over Beau Velasco.

LP4, without a shadow of a doubt, is the most self-indulgent, unpredictable record of the year so far.

A brightly uplifting record.

Long Black Cars retains a common sense of cohesive purpose throughout.

Rateliff works best exploiting the depth and range of his voice against a spacious backdrop that doesn’t have to be downtempo to be dull.

This won’t go down as one of his classic recordings, but nevertheless The Traveller is an enjoyable journey that shows its narrator still has plenty to say.

It’s certainly a confident step-up from Garageband Superstar and if more of Hibberd’s musical personality is allowed to shine through next time around, she could produce an even better album.

This is the sound of a talented songwriter doing what she’s very good at doing. This particular palace is festooned with treasures.

For anyone who still thinks Cast are nothing more than a band specialising in meat-and-potatoes jangly indie pop, Yeah Yeah Yeah demonstrates why they’ve endured so long over the years.

This album’s half-in-half-out approach is unsatisfying.

Asher is manifestly talented, so perhaps Aquaria is best described as a tentative testing of the water before his next big production job. But there’s not a lot of fun to be had by the listener here.