While the length is an issue, when Quasi do get it right, the results are up there with some of the best work they have produced over the last two decades.

Certainly, some people will find Aventine a bit hard to take – at first listen, it sounds so pleasant it just washes over, and it’s only on repeated plays that its dark mysteries reveal itself.

Flynn remains one of the country’s most overlooked songwriters and Country Mile is a good reminder of his skill with a well-crafted song.

R Plus Seven is as singularly compelling as any of his previous releases, but in his desire to transcend glossy hyper pop and introspective electronica into something new and fascinating, Lopatin has delivered a masterful debut for his new label.

This is a protracted album centred largely on song based material, and its rather inconsistent levels of success rely heavily on the quality of the melodies and textures, and on the strength of communication from the vocalists.

We knew Sky Larkin had potential. It’s been more than followed up on with Motto, surely one of the best albums of the year.

Overall, this is an album full of promise, poise and brio.

Closing track The Dogs (featuring Moby himself on vocals) does stretch things out somewhat, it doesn’t spoil the notion that Innocents, while maybe not the creative renaissaince hinted at, is Moby’s best album for some time.

All in all, it’s hard to see this appealing to anyone other Gabriel completists.

Stretched to album length, Haim’s shtick grows repetitive and the music is too frequently solid rather than inspired.

On the whole his decision to try something different is a commendable and promising move and you get the feeling that it’s a direction he could continue to explore with success should he choose.

The vocals retain the Eastern feel that pervades much of the album, but there’s more space here than elsewhere on Dalmak. There’s no bustling cities or wild parties spiralling out of control; instead it’s far more peaceful and elegant.

This is a debut that is, at times, rewarding and marks out Huerco S as a producer to watch.

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.

Move In Spectrums is a very good record but it’s not a great one. The reason for this is quite simple: the album is lacking the one absolute killer track that would elevate the album to a higher status.

Overall, Touché Amoré’s shift to the emotional and the subtle at times, without sacrificing the exhilarating annihilation that characterizes their music, renders Is Survived By dynamic and of higher quality than anything they’ve done before.

The Land Of Hell is always interesting and always moving in many directions at once. Of the artists who can pull off that kind of randomness, Ono remains pre-eminent.

This is a gloriously atmospheric second album from a band who will surely soon be as lauded and acclaimed as their better-known labelmates.

Whilst it obviously won’t be eligible for the Mercury Music Prize on the basis of nationality, this compelling, rigorous and often beautiful work ought to receive the same level of attention as Jessie Ware’s debut.

Those who care not to pay much attention to lyrics might just find themselves bawling on the dancefloor without quite knowing why, as these earworm tunes form a perfect delivery system for the heartbreak (and occasionally a little vengeance) contained at their very core.

It is refreshing to hear Sandoval’s stunning vocals once again coupled with Roback’s guitars. The world is a better place for it.

It feels mechanical, a band on auto-pilot, going through the motions of songwriting and recording but with their hearts elsewhere.

Because you’re ready for The Things We Think We’re Missing. It’s yet another one of those albums you didn’t know how badly you needed.

From Here To Now To You isn’t going to propel Johnson to dizzying new heights--commercially or critically--but it’ll keep fans listening.

Slight dips aside, Imitations could never be described as pale.

It may be unpalatable and difficult but it is a debut album that should at least be commended for its dark, experimental ambition.

While it may not be 1995 any more, few listening will care when the nostalgia is this expertly crafted.

Notably the first half of the album, it cements Nature Noir’s reputation as a genuinely rollicking take on psychedelic garage rock of a bygone era. When it doesn’t work, as on the second half of the album (minus the title track), it begs the question about whether the Stilts should have abandoned their visceral rock in the first place.