The Year Of Hibernation is a powerful bit of emotional alchemy, arresting and enchanting in its naked simplicity, and Powers has accomplished a tour de force far beyond his bedroom walls or his 22 years.

In general, you want McCartney, the least experimental Beatle (yes, including Ringo), to stick to what he does best. And on New, he mostly obliges, making it one of his better recent efforts.

Unless you are in the company of some helpful stimulants, it is ultimately frustrating and chaotic. You can marvel at the wondrous and wacky keyboard sounds one minute, but you'll be shaking your head at some of the strange musical harmonies and directions the next.

There are some fine moments here, but all too often Dumb Flesh seems like a diluted version of Fuck Buttons.

It may be the antithesis of Shiny Happy People, but this Beat Poetry is never anything less than compelling.

Rarely straying into alien territory, the Dunedin quintet remains as restless and decorous as ever on Scatterbrain, proving that even the unsteadiest of minds can achieve greatness again and again.

Abrasive yet euphoric, Pigsx7 continue to supply the world with wired and vivid records.

Featuring some of the most inventive producers in pop and steered by a singer who knows her way round a catchy melody or five, Don't Stop is one of the best pop albums of 2009.

It makes for a decent compilation if you’re not already familiar with Hegarty’s material as it features many of his best tracks, but the long-term fan will struggle to find too much of interest. Yet it makes for an excellent souvenir of a band at the height of their powers.

Fans of either Calexico or Iron And Wine should be pleased with this full-length collaboration, which feels very much like a joining of two halves to make a larger, rather special whole.

Some of the experiments here may work better than others in the long term, but it is far better that Beam is an artist prepared to take risks. His best work may be yet to come, while his writing remains vivid and evocative.

There’s also enough evidence that If I Can Make It Go Quiet could easily cross over to become a big mainstream pop album. This is a record that signals the arrival of a major new talent.

Manson has given his audience a collection of tracks that are stronger, tougher and better than they have any right to be. His ascendance led to the death of the original rock era, but his music is more vital and creative than ever. A stunning work.

Hummingbird may not be as instantly likable as Gorilla Manor, but its seductive beauty and emotional pull is virtually impossible to resist.

The resulting album, jubilant and enthralling, is really a three way collaboration between the two artists and Kenis.

At times superfluous, at others explosively brilliant, it is more emotive than their previous releases and rather than shy away from this, the band jump in with both feet.

An album of considerable depths, beauties and terrifying contrasts.

Gallows may have been floundering during the last days of Frank Carter's time with the band but this very impressive comeback is the sound of a band reinvigorated.

Despite its origins, Infra stands as a staggering achievement, and as an album in its own right.

The two note piano trick gets slightly overplayed on Practicing Magic, but then it represents the only real misfire rather than a lack of ideas. This is an utterly intriguing and unsettling album.

The music covers a diverse range of styles, with the solo offering more of a melodic folk-rock affair.

An album that is wide-eyed in its sincerity, unafraid of sentimentality, for better or worse. The political message is familiar, and will never grow old. The means of expression, however, can become a little too routine.

It’s a solid, if slightly understated, album from one of the many underrated names in underground music. But a lack of variety and a lack of texture that lets this release down.

The constant barrage of guitar noise and distorted vocals can become exhausting, but those who stick with it will soon find themselves falling for one of the most compelling, magnetic albums of the year.

Keep You certainly succeeds in lyrical and atmospheric effect; there are just a couple compositional pitfalls that will likely work themselves out at live shows.

Red Barked Tree is a proud and unapologetic album; as it shifts between sounds there's conviction in every noise and word. It's the sound of a band still having a lot of fun. And there's not an ounce of nostalgia.

Efterklang have managed to locate the sweet spot where the organic meets the electronic, and have carefully stuffed each track full to bursting point with a gorgeous mix that at times seems to require a new musical format, just to deal with the sheer bandwidth of sonic invention on display here.

The Bride Screamed Murder is a slight feint away from the two albums that preceded it, but it is, nevertheless, distinctly Melvins.