The band’s ability to contrast their often dark lyrics with upbeat melodies ensures that there is much more to the record than first meets the eye and, while Little Green Cars may not be the finished article just yet, Absolute Zero proves they undoubtedly have bags of potential.

In sum, A DFA artist such as Gus doesn’t have to be dancey to be catchy, but he has to offer something to which one can willingly return. In that aspect, Gus succeeds a few times, but he still has a way to go.

The reliance on the atmospherics created by synths, pounding basslines and heavy guitar passages added considerable weight to these songs; when you take all that away, it leaves a hole.

The problem with Little Neon Limelight isn’t so much the quality of the songs, as they’re generally an intriguing bunch. It’s that it could be rather too eclectic a collection to listen to in one sitting.

Any one of these songs has the potential to be a dance floor filler and that's what they've been designed for. There is nothing too original here, nothing big nor clever neither, but then if you like guitars and songs about teenage love you're going to be well catered for.

Chopped & Screwed is a thoughtful experiment at best and a quasi-misfire at worst, but either way it demands to be analyzed--which alone makes it worthy.

It seems a blinkered record, which can be admired for its defiantly non-commercial stance. It won’t win Fearless any new fans, and may distance Death In Vegas into more of a cult concern. All well and good if that’s the intent; otherwise, perhaps it’s time to draw the curtains, get some vitamin D and thumb through that ‘guest vocalist’ address book.

For those unwilling to ride his digital wave of collapse and partial reconstruction, Farmer's mythological re-enactments will seem essential.

The major problem with It's A Corporate World is that it's all a bit too nice.

Clocking in at a nifty 38 minutes, Obey is a solid release, though it trails off near the end with tracks that are clearly less inspired than the others. In these sections the minimalism is stretched too far and the arrangements are too loose, but the album has great moments elsewhere.

The two albums she released under the Saltland name may have established her credentials as a composer in her own right but Waxing Moon feels a more personal, considered release that should give her the confidence to explore and develop her sound further.

Pink Friday 2 is very much a grab-bag of a record, its 32-minute version sounding no more coherent than the 70-minute version that was released on streaming. But if the best songs sustain her legacy, Nicki Minaj will most likely see it as mission accomplished.

It's an album far more than a parasite riding the wave of a traumatic situation, with a confident protagonist at its heart.

Overexposed is rather patchy and its highs are countered by some fairly wretched lows.

The record is undoubtedly an enjoyable, comforting listen, one that provides an interesting trawl through Band Of Horses’ back catalogue. It is, however, unlikely to appeal to anyone who is not already a fan.

The lingering sense, though, is one of repetition. Now the novelty of her songwriting has worn off, she needs to find a whole new language again.

Shotter's Nation has no stand-out moments. Delivery is about the best of the bunch, but it's no rival to anything The Libertines ever did.

Waking Lines may not always hit the mark, but for a debut effort it offers lashings of promise for Patterns’ future if they can either hone their songwriting skills or take a detour down the lengthy drone-pop street

This is a mixed bag, and is – unfortunately – a bit of a momentum killer.

Golden Animals do a remarkably impressive job of conjuring up just the kind of image they set out to do: floppy hatted, Afghan-coated drop outs singin' blue-eyed Blues as the acid gradually seeps out of their veins and into the foothills of the mesa.

Sky Swimming is an album of many twists and turns, but the effectiveness of these flourishes varies wildly.

To produce songs that listeners want to stick on over and over again is the holy grail, of course, and although the whole album doesn’t manage to maintain this level, the highlights could stay with you for a considerable time.

This is a protracted album centred largely on song based material, and its rather inconsistent levels of success rely heavily on the quality of the melodies and textures, and on the strength of communication from the vocalists.

It may tread familiar territory but that’s fine--this far into the game, they’re hardly going to deliver their jazz odyssey.

When the band does not explore their influences as assertively, their music blends in a little too closely with that of their peers.

The two note piano trick gets slightly overplayed on Practicing Magic, but then it represents the only real misfire rather than a lack of ideas. This is an utterly intriguing and unsettling album.

While the anodyne Around U and the UK garage stylings of Devotion could easily be jettisoned, lessening the stylistically jumbled, overlong effect. Ultimately, though, Goulding’s experiment with carefully crafted but impactful Big Pop was a success.

There are rewards to be had for perseverance but, just like before, we’re left wishing they’d loosen up a bit.