All told it's a slightly patchy album, but one which is nonetheless saved by a couple of pop gems.

It’s a real skill to make what is essentially pop music that also manages to combine depth in lyrics and cheerful tunes, and on this album Frankie Cosmos absolutely excel.

Carpeth is traditional enough to please the Cropready massive, but also quite experimental too. Those new to the genre might be better served by checking out something more palatable, but for those with a taste for something more outlandish Carpeth certainly delivers.

Blood Rushing is a beautifully lilting, melodious album.

Not quite buoyant but still enthusiastic, Via should encourage listeners to start paying attention.

For those unwilling to ride his digital wave of collapse and partial reconstruction, Farmer's mythological re-enactments will seem essential.

Jehnny Beth and Johnny Hostile have crafted a great record, which is more than capable of carrying the Savages legacy on its shoulders.

Whilst it’s a brave attempt to explore new lands outside their comfort zone, it’s one that isn’t quite as rewarding and rich as Patrick Watson would have hoped.

Whether he has been re-invigorated by love, his new band or just from old-fashioned growing up, Mark Everett and Eels re-define themselves here with exhilarating success, putting all associations with misery out of mind with a compelling finality.

Elton and Russell, having come together for The Union, have made an album that delivers as a confident enmeshing of their talents

Only occasionally does the album threaten to go awry. ... This is smart, literate pop music that can tug at the heart as well as make you dance.

Lyrically it is rich pickings for those that savour the words so often masked by either sheer noise or mumbled vocals, as O’Brien proves how he has developed into a rather impressive poet.

There are possibilities of ideas, tunes and textures yearning to communicate here, but the paper-thin construction doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny. Yet ultimately, experimenting with instrumentation and the pair’s (albeit limited) vocals do occasionally make for a pleasant, if not completely engaging, listen.

Give Oh Ohio time--there's more than enough here to breath life back into a resurgent band.

While the rest of the album doesn’t quite live up to the expectation set by its opening salvo, the longest journeys start with a single step. And as the first step in the next chapter of Wolves In The Throne Room’s story, Thrice Woven moves decidedly in the right direction.

Ultimately, if a Flaming Lips didn't include a high degree of experimentation, you'd be disappointed. Yet when they keep things simple, such as the closing piano led Goin' On, the results are magnificent.

21 really is one of the great 'break-up' albums, and the first truly impressive record of 2011. Here is a timely reminder that British soul hasn't lost its mojo.

While it is ever-so-slightly patchy, it would be unkind to suggest that Wild Peace is anything other than an impressive debut.

Lidell has been through a lot in his personal life since the last album, and it seems that has prompted a rethink on his music - a turn in direction back to the less predictable, more incendiary writing of Multiply and his days with Supercollider. It suits him to be back in that place.

Whilst this emotional look back [fourth track Sandlot] might suggest they’ve got one foot in the grave, there’s plenty of fight left yet. In the past, this would have taken the form of furious punk, but this time around the Dropkicks have expanded their sound out into something far grander than anything they’ve attempted before.

Sonic landscapes shift around behind Deschanel across the length of the album; as tunes introduce elements of pure indie pop, old timey slide-guitar country, rattling tin-ally piano, and light rock, the singer keeps her cool and holds everything together throughout the course of Volume One.

Spokes have certainly left a little room for improvement. It must be a good omen though, to produce something good and suggest at something great.

While there's no arguments with the quality of the craft on display, over the course of a 12 track album, you may find yourself nodding off sometimes. Yet there's still a warm glow to this album, and anyone who's missed the sound of Knopfler expertly working the fretboard, will find much to love on it.

Hugely enjoyable and wonderfully disposable pop for the listener, who will turn round and return for more, no question. An auspicious debut.

If you like your music with the psychedelic layers of The Field and subtle atmospherics of Joy Orbison, Blondes have so much to give.

Though it’s only a brief listen, Back In Black finds Cypress Hill refreshed and re-energised.

While Atoms For Peace inevitably doesn’t display that unique chemistry which is evident in spades when Mssrs Selway, Greenwood et al join the party, it remains an intriguing, if at times uneasy listen.

This is red wine music, no doubt about it, but red wine music for the discerning indie intelligentsia, perfect for a long night where the only ambition you've got left is to sink so far into the floor cushions that you'll never get up again.