It's a career best for T.Raumschmiere and another proud moment in the history of hard-rocking electronica.

Many of these songs are a delight to listen to; most could easily be a single.

When the music peaks this is an enchanting listen, but it's unlikely to win the band any new converts.

It's a mightily impressive achievement.

If you can cope with the intensity, there are rewards aplenty to be found here - Sons And Daughters are the perfect group to fill the hole that The Delgados left when they split up last year.

Overall there's just too much bland corporate sludge rock here to make any geniune lasting impression.

While this may not be the best place to start investigating the man, it's still another reliably wonderful chapter in the life of one of the country's best songwriters.

It's shallow but sweet, light-hearted pop indulgence, like the love child of Elton John and Jamiroquai auditioning for Simon Cowell.

No one around sounds quite like Clor at the moment.

It will surely be remembered as perhaps the greatest Frank Black LP (to date, at least) and perhaps even as the record that made it cool to like country again.

The overall effect is one of cloying, claustrophobic one-paced idolatry that needs a bit of fresh air and a good night out.

This is very much a fans only album, much like Missy's other efforts.

His is a rare talent, demanding to be heard.

For a debut album, this is remarkable stuff and hints at even better things to come.

Home Sweet Home is refreshing and genuinely breathtaking.

If you like Billy Corgan for his knack of writing a radio-friendly song with a heavy dose of angst, then you may not enjoy TheFutureEmbrace. Yet give the man credit for moving on and signalling a clear break with his past.

Despite reservations, Angel Milk can be recommended as a good after hours album.

It's a sometimes bleak record, but one that shows that Armstrong and his cohorts are not satisfied by taking the easy route.

Though it might not be as rewarding a listening experience as Cooder's Cuban albums, this is still a set that demands repeated hearing, and I doubt there'll be another record as lovingly crafted as this all year.

It is clean, polished rock with a vaguely punk edge that stays within a clear set of boundaries but in doing so manages to appeal to indie-kids and metal-lovers alike.

Out Of Nothing is a wonderfully affecting album that is the band's best to date.

This is the debut record of the year so far, which has effectively raised the bar by which other bands will be judged in the future.

X&Y is far from experimental, but it nonetheless showcases a band demonstrating distinctive signs of evolution.

So put aside your disappointment at the lack of squealing guitar solos and take Get Behind Me Satan for what it is - another massive step forward in the evolution of a truly great band.

The overall feel of JackInABox is summery and light, and the album flows quickly and smoothly from song to song.

Here Come The Tears sounds like the best album that Suede never made, full of romantic, smouldering pop songs with a soaring depth to them.

Better than the first two? Course not. Better than the last three? Definitely.

An album of considerable depths, beauties and terrifying contrasts.