It’s certainly Holter’s most accomplished and imaginative album--indeed, there hasn’t been an album this packed with ideas since tUnE-yArDs' w h o k i l l a couple of years ago.

Darker than its predecessors, the harrowing Meds is as close Placebo have come to that perfect album.

More than anything else, there's a sense of contentment and pleasure that purveys the Things Of The Past that could have been lifted from the Summer of Love itself.

Weighty topics, then – but don’t think for a minute these difficult subject matters do not make for a good album of pop music. For BC Camplight is an incredibly smart songwriter, capable of channelling deep-seated thoughts and emotions into pop songs that work just as well for the surface level listener.

Simply put, When The Cellar Children See The Light Of Day is one of the best albums of the year.

While it may be a tremendously personal album for Barwick, you can get lost in Nepenthe for not only its sheer beauty, but for its ability to evoke visual cues and tell stories with its music.

The message might be shorter this time around, but it is just as pointed and effective.

Another six-minute effort closes the album, Ducter, and like all the album’s best tracks it manages to navigate all the band’s best checkpoints of note, showcasing those spellbinding vocals and extraordinary percussion as they tread a truly staggering path. Schlagenheim will open up a whole new bottle of weird, if you let it in. It’s Troutmask Replica for a new generation, or perhaps it’s Can attempting to recreate the madness that Captain Beefheart’s enigmatic classic contained.

It’s compelling stuff; we need more musicians who are prepared to go nuts in this delightfully joyous way.

The Ascension is a far superior and more ambitious album [than 2010 album The Age Of Adz].

As Days Get Dark is a remarkable return, a new Arab Strap that updates, deepens and re-energises their sound.

Of course this is a great record. Of course this is essential listening. At this point in his career he’s still getting better, and that’s a scary proposition.

Robyn has assured her contemporaries that pop life does not end as a tweenie, that pop music can be for adults, and that adults can be Do It Yourself indie artists, so long as one thing is in place: talent.

Silence Yourself may not invent a genre. Silence Yourself may not give you something you didn’t have already. But it is so stark, so bold and delivered with such utter belief that you wonder why anyone would possibly care.

By the time the melancholic Schoenberg soprano has drifted into the ether at the end of The Abandoned Colony Collapsed My World, you’ll be ready for a repeat listen – although you’ll hear so many different elements the second time round, you’ll wonder whether the album isn’t secretly mutating whilst your back’s turned.

Stripped back tracks, smart beats, punchy bass, and Williamson’s dextrous barked delivery are all in place, and it seems that the band are in their dis/comfort zone.

Vynehall’s potential has always been apparent, but Rare, Forever is a truly beguiling record – equal parts poignant and hedonistic – which allows his vast array of talents to shine.

An artist at the top of his game, with the newfound artistic freedom that Konnichiwa granted him but the energy of still having something to prove. It also confirms the 2010s grime revival as being more than a passing trend, and on this basis it’s stronger than ever.

The Big Roar has been some time in coming, but it has been well worth the wait. This could finally be The Joy Formidable's year.

It’s an album rich in ideas and confidence, and will only cement The Last Dinner Party’s status as one of Britain’s most exciting new bands.

nge. Lesser bands may have gone off the rails, but Courtney and company have responded by making the best album of their career to date.

This is a sumptuous and rewarding way of spending 60 minutes. YTILAER shows how he keeps raising the bar creatively, consolidating his place in the upper echelons of alternative rock in the process.

She has delivered her most soothing and assuaging set of songs to date, music to help re-establish personal harmony and emotional equilibrium.

The wit and the orchestral touches that have always been part of The Divine Comedy are still present, but Hannon’s personal touch elevates this collection of songs to something even greater than he’s produced before.

In the grand tradition of rockers who have music to cure their own isolation and misery, Barnes and Of Montreal have entered a great one in the canon with Lousy With Sylvianbriar.

For Miike Snow make weirdly wonderful music, not without its strange lyrical dark side, but with an overall vibe that raises you to your feet and makes you gaze at the blue sky. In a phrase, life-enriching.

How good is A Weekend In The City? At times, it's brilliant: bold, forthright and honest.

Minor grumbles aside, Bromst is a thrilling, hyperactive album that runs from calm and composed to frantic and frazzled, usually within the space of an intro.