Overall, Veronica Electronica justifies the hype, bringing us an artist at her peak seen through the lens of well-chosen remixers. It is the ideal companion to Ray Of Light, her alter ego emerging from the darkness of the club to a moody but ultimately uplifting soundtrack.

The top hat-wearing guitar hero has gingerly handpicked a diverse palette of vocalists to accompany each of the 16 tracks and contribute to the lyrics, while he takes care of the riffs....Yet the iconoclastic guitarist is careful to never upstage his guests.

She probably remains a bit of an acquired taste for some, but What We Saw From The Cheap Seats pulls off the impressive trick of stylistically bouncing about all over the place while retaining a very identifiable vision all of its own.

Some of the songs have one too many musical ideas being thrown around, and the album is arguably too long, but the fact it doesn’t tail off in the second half shows the consistency of its inspiration, the excesses illustrating the raw creativity within. Jade understands what works in pop music

It shows him to be a musically omnivorous artist, should any proof beyond Field Music’s albums be required.

Elytral may not be an easy record, but it is strangely affirmative and rewarding.

Whether you're a long-standing fan or new to Butcher Boy, Helping Hands is well worth the investment; it leaves you warm long after it's over, and their shifting moods and sounds means there's something new to discover on each listen.

Although The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte might not be quite equal joyous recent peak Lil’ Beethoven, it’s impressive that, on their 26th album, Sparks are incorporating new sounds and concepts, whilst still sounding exactly like themselves.

Whilst Miri may not have the insistence and urgency of its most recent predecessors, it has a consistently high standard of musicianship and a depth, maturity, subtlety and insight that rewards repeated listening. It is a beautiful collection of music rooted in place, culture, history and ideas.

On hand, as ever, is sister and mother to crank-up the feel good factor, and a more life-affirming live album you'll not find.

Idlewild's Post-Electric Blues is a sweeping, large-scale record, packed with big, fist-pumping barnburners that would sound at home on either a large arena stage or in a raucous roadhouse.

Snowbird have created a record to be cherished.

Though it stands up well enough on its own The Stand Ins does feel like a follow-up, rather than something completely new and fresh and forward looking, and it is not as instantly gripping as The Stage Names, it takes longer to wind your way into your mind.

As an album, it doesn’t break any new ground--it doesn’t try to. What it does do though is sweep itself up in a groundswell of beautiful, heart-tugging nostalgia so strong it’s as if 2003 lies just beyond the window again, shimmering in the haze of the morning dew.

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

Disclosure have always had an attention to detail in their production that gives the songs that much more depth, be it the irresistible breakdown one minute from the end of Douha (Mali Mali) or the fluttering arpeggios that populate closing track Reverie. And in this respect, as well as songwriting, structure and guest selection, they’re back like they never left.

Brief moments of respite and apparent simplicity allow the more aggressive and expansive moments to really resonate.

It may not be a record that grabs you by the scruff of the neck, but its quiet, understated nature demonstrates an artist confidently setting off on a new chapter in her career.

He remains an important figure in the rock scene, even if his albums play second fiddle to The Strokes’ material – and albums like this make it still more of a shame that that’s the case, for this is a winner.

It's all very Jeffrey-Lewis-esque in fact--another entertaining album from a man determined to cling to his cult status as long as possible.

Petals Have Fallen is one of the most original hip-hop releases of the year thus far, having a solid awareness for what moves the body while retaining the introspective attributes that characterise the best of British urban music.

At first listen, it’s musically not such a close cousin of First Two Pages, but more its identical twin – the same brooding atmosphere, that bottled up tension that seems to have become Matt Berninger’s vocal trademark – yet over a few plays, it seems to slowly take a life of its own.

As a document of its time, then, Stainless Style is remarkably successful. Taken on the base level of being an enjoyable pop album, it also triumphs handsomely.

Perhaps inevitably for a first solo album, this is Mark Peters’ most personal work to date. It is the dissemination of music that has occupied his inner ear for decades, the soundtrack to countryside and habitats that have been a lasting part of his life. Because of that, Innerland has a deep set emotional significance and intimacy that carries beyond Peters and out to the listener.

Makes A King takes it up a notch: the same ingredients and patterns are there, but The Very Best now sound much more like a fully operational band, rather than a fortuitous hodgepodge of singing and sampling.

Acousmatic Sorcery won't propel Beal to Lana Del Rey levels of fame ... it's too weird, too spooky, too idiosyncratic for that. For those who do connect with Beal's gloriously skewed vision though, you're in for a treat.

There are some tracks that don’t impress as much as others, but overall there isn’t a weak link in the engrossing narrative Harcourt has created here; it’s an utterly absorbing record, burning brightly as his boldest statement to date.

We should be happy that a superstar is still committed to delivering quality LPs in an environment that frowns upon such commercially unwarranted traditions, but we should be especially grateful that that superstar is Beyoncé.