On only a few listens, it’s clear that Mediation Of Ecstatic Energy is by far the most dynamic of not only these releases but of Wong’s entire career, not only on an instrumental level, but on an emotional level.

A record that marks a wholly welcome return to form.

We emerge from the album into the cold light of day somewhat dazed and maybe even a little overwhelmed, but in no doubt of the incendiary power of what has just been experienced.

The album’s sprawl and ambition is laudable, but also its downfall, as it often feels like a bit of a chore to wade through. As an album it’s too patchy, and as a document of a man’s life, a well-researched biography is probably a better bet.

It may be enigmatic, uneven and flawed in places but at the same time it proves that he is still a single-minded sonic adventurer worth persevering with.

2011’s Circuital was up there with their best work and now Jim James and company are back again with The Waterfall, which maintains their high standards.

A gorgeously warm, fuzzy album by a man wise--and sad--beyond his tender years.

Multi-Love is more than just a brilliantly designed sonic facade--its excoriation of modern psycho-sexual mores is impossible to resist, so too its musical detail and understanding.

Corinne Bailey Rae has completed a remarkable comeback, against titanic odds, and for that she should be applauded. But to do it with a record as powerful as this is extraordinary.

This is, essentially, a folk album, taking the chance to dip in to Peel's Irish connections. And yet the aspect of folk music that wins through is the one that connects directly with the listener, on their level, with few airs and graces.

Featherbrain is another solid album from the unassuming Norwegian, even if it lacks the direction and cohesiveness of her previous offerings.

Love + War is solid rather than spectacular, but contains enough promising signs to suggest his next album could be something special.

Constant Future represents Parts & Labor's most consistent and exciting work to date.

Sure, it is unfocussed and diffuse in places, but it still succeeds in deploying the several and varied voices of its collaborating creators to produce something that ultimately just about hangs together with a valiant, if tattered sort of coherence.

Fast Food is a well-defined and powerful musical statement from an artist enjoying her time in the limelight.

It’s certainly a very different sort of album from Native Speaker, with far more emphasis on glitchy beats and ambient electronica than on their previous record, but after a few listens you can’t help but be impressed by the evolution on display.

This album is full of fun, and peppered with potential classics.

An intriguing album that considers fundamental questions about how music is inspired, interpreted and created.

Insistency and repetition are perhaps Oozing Wound’s most effective weapons.

Shining a searchlight on new terrains for themselves, Fly Pan Am have generously quenched our insatiable appetite for revealing non linear melodramas. Causing a staggering commotion, this sometimes inscrutable, yet eminently danceable, album is a passport to uncover alien customs and engage in orgiastic corporeal activities.

Raffertie’s talent as a producer has never been in question. Sleep Of Reason has been a long time coming, but these 13 pieces of fractured soul represent a supreme triumph.

With some more judicious editing, a good album could have been an outstanding one, but even so, this is still superior, well-crafted noir-pop that maintains Del Rey’s impressive career to date.

While The Mountain Goats will always remain an acquired taste, there’s a case to put that In League With Dragons is possibly one of their most accessible albums. The collaboration with Pallett is a smart one for sure, and Darnielle has refused to let age dull his edge or mischievous eye for lyrical detail.

It's hard to deny the fresh, eclectic sounds of Walls or the sheer beauty in the closing sounds of Volcano, but overall, if this is any indication, Danger Mouse's productions are losing their novelty, and Beck remains at an uneven point in his career.

Love Kraft is the greatest realisation of the Super Furry vision to date.

Kingdom Of Rust is a triumph, and the best album the band have ever produced.

Yet by the time the final notes of the acoustic closer I Wish I Were Here have faded away, then you're more than convinced that this is yet another triumph for the Wainwright family.