The fact that neither side needs the other is why Tromatic Reflexxions works so obscenely well.

That this glorious album will be remembered long after this week's hyped offerings are forgotten is a testament to its power.

Cowley has crafted a coherent, carefully planned suite of music here with a strong conceptual framework and a remarkably consistent sound.

Best Friends work best when they deal in heads down, pulsating rock.

The yearning title track brings to a close an album that is quite probably Harcourt’s best since Here Be Monsters.

It wears its heart on its sleeve, and is relentlessly inventive. It’s the sound of an artist continuing to evolve whilst encouraging anyone who is lucky enough to encounter their work to follow suit.

No Geography is a great Chemicals album, for it balances the hedonistic big numbers with sentiments of real substance, fighting its corner with vigour in the face of chaos. ... It ranks as one of the Chemical Brothers’ finest achievements.

Hegarty's fourth album strictly follows the template laid down by his previous records: fragile, sombre and wistful, always dominated by that extraordinary tremulous voice, seemingly forever on the brink of bursting into tears.

It is not very often that an artist comes along that is so strikingly unique and hugely talented and with Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose Beth Jeans Houghton has made a beguilingly lovely debut album that shows immense promise.

Those seeking the mellower vibes of his earlier work may be slightly less enamoured with VEGA INTL. Night School, it’s undeniably a record that’s confident, intelligent and above all, fun.

With lyrics in the languages of Turkey, Kurdistan and Iraq all included, with the express aim of engaging listeners throughout the region, Souleyman’s mission to bring a more positive view of his country, and its thrilling musical forms, to a wider audience continues unabated.

It’s a broad net Terje casts here, flitting through myriad styles but he always ensures they’re congealed in order to give the record a cohesiveness and rigidity.

Whatever El Guincho's debt to Panda Bear, the decision to keep Alegranza! in the mama tongue lends it a genuine other-wordliness unlikely to be found in the well-traversed topography of American music.

It is perhaps better as it is, providing the soundtrack to the lives and stories of those who hear it, and with any luck, this is an album that will find its way to everyone.

It probably would have come across better as a slightly leaner offering that was all killer no filler, but at its best Physical develops on his work with Factory Floor to create a distinctive style of his own, an unsettling retro take on house music that yields many fantastic results across the record.

While Mordechai falls just short of providing that ‘sit up and take notice’ moment many of us have been waiting for, there’s certainly a lot to admire about Khruangbin – not least their formidable crate-digging skills.

The Ship proves he has more ideas than ever, and shows there’s still plenty left to be achieved in music.

The mixture of mournfulness, savagery, lo-fi spirit and noise should appeal to psych fans and college rockers, metalheads and hardcore punks alike.

Mascis' ear-bleeding guitar soloing is ever prevalent, but there's a dynamism in the music here that was missing in previous efforts.

Comfortably impressive, it’s difficult to see how Near To The Wild Heart Of Life will leave the turntable once it gets spinning. Despite being less striking than its predecessor, it’s another great Japandroids album.

The Heliocentrics, then, are in a good place. They continue to build on their obvious ability as musical chameleons, evading capture as they flit from one musical style and approach to another, with hip hop and psychedelia as their common ground.

Certainly short and in places sharp, Schlon is just the right level of sweet, too. With increased variety in his arrangements and a willingness to explore slower paced rhythms, Souleyman underlines his ability to fulfil a passionate mission for bringing joyous music and its message of love to ever wider audiences.

Yet despite the occasionally black subject matter this is a fine and powerful album for lovers of red meat rock, served rare.

Apocalypse, Girl is the thrilling sound of an artist expressing herself without the slightest hint of self-censorship. It’s one of the year’s most individual and original albums.

Vocally he’s still capable of making the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. The rougher edges and more aggressive attack that coloured his early performances might not be so much in evidence, but what he lacks in rawness, he makes up for with sheer soul.

Although unlikely to have any individual impact on CBC’s all-time song chart, it’s yet another consistently good all-round album out of Canada.

At 15 tracks, it's possibly a bit too long - but this is a man who's lived one hell of a life and has a lot of tales to tell. Indeed, it's a fair shout that this could well be the most entertaining autobiography you'll listen to all year.

What this record does, yet again, is show that Danger Mouse has bulletproof, unassailable taste in music and collaborators. Karen is exactly the right fit for these songs, and she is absolutely the star of the set, thanks in no small part to the incredible production. This isn’t the best record that either of these mercurial artists have made, but it’s undoubtedly the finest collaboration you’ll hear this year. Guaranteed.