A bright, brief, crystalline work that is a more than worthy addition to one of the most consistently excellent catalogues in alternative music.

Another superb Zero 7 album.

Peyroux is a wonderful singer and this collection of songs is her best yet.

It adds up to Folds' finest record yet, and while nobody would dare suggest that Nick Hornby would give up his day job, a sequel to this fascinating collaboration would be more than welcome.

For a debut it’s a remarkably confident and assured album, while hinting at even greater things to come in future years.

A startlingly confident and welcome comeback for Rose.

It's when listening in this way [on headphones] that the nuances of the music, with its dark underbelly, open up and reveal themselves in a weird yet absorbing way.

Music for The Age of Miracles is an excellent record and a level above Minotaur, without scaling the heights of their first four albums. More 2009’s Bonfires On The Heath than Suburban Light, perhaps.

Smug, smarmy, metropolitan critics might declare the album generic and derivative, but the kid undeniably has tunes--more tunes than such people have ever written even in their wildest rock star fantasies.

It’s a debut album that’s been well worth the wait.

It shows that regardless of environment, aesthetic and personnel, Holtkamp is as capable as ever of making quietly unassumingly transporting music.

It is inevitably an unfinished work. Studio banter is left in and some songs are mercilessly brief or feel like sketches. Nevertheless, its spacious textures, starkness and the emphasis on Molina’s understated but haunting vocal delivery mean that this music provides a window into Molina’s working process and creates a moving intimacy. It is like listening to the voices of ghosts.

Romance Is Boring is a triumph, a glistening, breathless success. Musically and lyrically Los Campesions! are a rare treasure of a band at the peak of their considerable powers.

While Surrender was an album that immediately hit you, Don’t Forget Me takes a bit longer to work its magic. That does, though, bode well to her longevity as an artist. These songs have a timeless feel to them, and seem like ones we’ll be listening to for quite some time to come.

There’s not much in the way of lax to be found here, Liberez are for the time being, geared towards building tension continuously without ever letting go.

Nevertheless, like British Sea Power have recently done with Man of Aran and From the Land to the Sea Beyond, Mogwai have again produced a soundtrack that stands up as an album in its own right.

It’s difficult to see too many glimmers of light on We Are Millionaires, but once again the duo have delivered a collection that is stunning in its simplicity.

his is a very heavy listen but with enough subtle dynamic changes to keep it interesting and fresh and proof that there is still plenty of life left in a genre that will, at some point or another, burst into life.

The Savage Heart is often just that,uncompromisingly breaking new, often bleakly fertile, ground for the band, showing they can still evolve emotionally.

Ill Manors is visionary, it's bold, but most importantly it's very good.

Trick is an interesting, compelling listen and one that pushes Kele’s burgeoning reputation further.

It may not be up there with Rumours or Blood On The Tracks, but given the emotion and heart poured into it, Chemistry is a more than decent break-up album.

Countless Branches is just 27 minutes long, but it’s majestic. Its brevity allows the listener the chance to become immersed in Fay’s lyrical world of love, time and hope.

Part catharsis, confession, panacea, exhumation and confrontation, these are mantras for healing, hurting and helping. Their elliptical nature leaves room for interpretation, and offers a way in for those who may be suffering unawares, without losing any of the passion behind their delivery.

Part of Lopatin's considerable appeal is his apparent refusal to settle.

It’s messy in places, beautiful in others, and constantly in motion – Microtonic is the first step towards greatness on the band’s own terms.

While there could have been an effort to eliminate some of the canned percussive elements and other recording anomalies, Elf Power have crafted a wonderful album, filled with plenty of catchy hooks and interesting musical ideas based on simple progressions.

In spite of his reputation as a collaborator, Parks remains the very definition of a musical auteur.