We Are Together Again is the latest instalment of his slow musical evolution, a balancing of longstanding tropes of hardship and sorrow with the new human connection.

The 11 songs collected here are all among the very best of his career, enlivened with a vividness and warmth that offers something new with every repeated listen.

World’s Gone Wrong is a protest album, almost seething with rage about what’s happening in America. She may be 72 years old and a survivor of a stroke which has left her with mobility issues, but that unmistakable voice remains as powerful as ever.

It’s simply another good collection of melancholic indie-rock – and sometimes, that comfort in familiarity is just what you need.

With its often complex textures and patterns, much of The Secret could represent a challenging listen for those unfamiliar with music of this genre. Yet it's unquestionably a triumph; building impressively on Vieux Farka Toure's promising work to date and making good on its creator's promise to "dig deep into the secrets of my own history and my country's culture in order to move the music forward. "

While not quite as immediate as its predecessor, All The Time is an enjoyable collection of bops and ditties for those who like their tunes retro and mischievous.

It’s a story (almost cinematic), a journey, and far and away the greatest album they’ve done so far.

Not only is the music a step forward, the songs are too--and Coombes revels in their delivery.

Proto is a very distinctive record, and its sound design is as astounding as we’ve come to expect from Herndon. It’s also deeply powerful, as its crystalline tones call to mind the ghost in the machine, and leaves the listener wondering what further symbiosis can be achieved.

Her engaging lyrics remain her true strength. But in her quest to perfect this mission statement, the urgent spark present in her debut has dimmed just a little.

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.

Some of these tracks are cruel in their brevity.

To paraphrase Public Image Ltd, this is not a love album, in a form that most would recognise. It is, however, a powerful rumination on its presence, absence, and the power, both good and bad that love holds over us. Oxbow understands the power of love.

It probably won’t be to everyone’s tastes – at times, it all becomes a bit too doomy and inaccessible, such as on Theme From Muddy Time – and newcomers to his music may be best pointed towards Your Wilderness Revisited instead. Nevertheless, this is another fine example of Doyle’s talent – and, considering he only turned 30 earlier this year, indicates a lot more to come in the years ahead.

It is full of sadness and hope, but ultimately it is a celebration of human spirit and the unique talent of Roky Erickson. This indeed is special and magical music.

That they emerge victorious is a tribute to the strength of these fine songs as well as some seriously glamourous production attitude.

It’s rare that you get an album by an established artist that genuinely shocks and irrevocably repositions them. Blank Project is one of those albums. This is a hugely significant return.

Particularly impressive is that the music never feels incoherent or thrown together. The band always, somehow, emerge with a compelling and coherent voice, albeit a strange and often dark one.

Overall, Pearson has produced an album with very few weak spots. It’s a record that takes the strengths of Return and builds on them, resulting in a work that, from the very first listen, you know you’ll be going back to again and again.

We find Omni changing the formula only slightly and having incredible success with it. Highly recommended. Underrate them at your peril.

The Manics may no longer be generation terrorists (if you can indeed be such a thing in your mid-50s) but Critical Thinking shows that, when they fancy it, they can still deliver a witheringly bracing state of the nation address.

This is effectively Hebden's Balearic album, and while it may not please everyone with its relatively conventional outlook and lack of experimental tendencies, few will be able to deny it as a thing of beauty.

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.

Brothers is a woozy, murky album, fat as a tick, and riled up like a kicked hornets' nest. Whatever growing pains they've gone through as a pair has been worth it; Brothers hits harder than either of their solo albums.

It's lyrically depressing, but if you're down in the dumps about the ills of the world and frustrated by a lack of personal achievement, there's surely not a better companion piece to have to hand as you wallow.

Pain Is Beauty not only shows Wolfe’s penchant for atmosphere but for stylistic diversity.

They make up an entire color palette of music and lyrics, of sounds and themes, that when combined on Rutili’s canvas make up truly original territory.

If there's a more surprising album this year, we'll be, er, um, surprised; Primary Colours is one of the best albums of 2009 so far.