Hit Parade provides ample demonstration of her inherent and infectious sense of fun and her propensity for eccentric bops, qualities which have served her well across the decades.

Nothing ever feels glued or grafted on for some empty featured artist action; Halo, Beck and the samples collage together into the voyage as a whole, and combined with the ever-dazzling visuals that have rightly earned them their place in live music history as one of the most spectacular attractions on the circuit, it’s a testament to their never-ending quest of excellence.

There’s not much on this album which will raise the eyebrows of anyone familiar with their previous work, as it falls somewhere between the fuzzy glow of 1993’s Souvlaki and the dispassionate chill of its follow-up Pygmalion. But Everything Is Alive is joyful listen regardless, taking the cloud tunnel bliss of the best shoegaze and adding some pure pop pleasure. Cinema for the ears? More like dream visions for the soul.

By the time Free The Ruler’s soulful loop fades out, we’ve only come to a conclusion in the loosest sense. The listener enters Earl’s world in medias res and 25 minutes later he’s still maintaining, still working everything out, but the journey’s been nuanced and engaging.

This is a good album, even if they’re not quite great yet.

Even the less successful tracks have something interesting about them, and they never flatten the feel-good mode of the album. It’s been a while in coming, but Bunny could be a case of third time lucky for Willie J Healey.

It’s easily Alice Cooper’s strongest album in decades, a testament to the resilience, and seemingly endless creative capacity the man has.

Weedkiller is the sound of an artist actually excelling in multiple fields with apparent ease. In a landscape where rap is diversifying and artists like Ice Spice and Sexyy Red are achieving notoriety, Ashnikko is a leftfield force to be reckoned with.

As it is, Hozier’s third album is a album that is simply a bit too sprawling. It’s certainly great in parts, and that voice never fails to impress, but it becomes a bit too bloated to listen to in full over time.

This may all sound exhausting, but luckily The Hives have the songs to back up their energy.

With Struggler Genesis Owusu has followed through on his potential, and hopefully won’t be getting the boot from listeners anytime soon.

There’s material on this album that’s fun, from the bouncy Blondie backing vocals on Pretty Awful, to the yob jazz of Dirty Mucky Delight, but it’s hard to make a case for most of it being essential listening.

The final few tracks have an appealing sense of character to them, harnessing the potential of organic and programmed elements intertwining. The rest of Eyeroll is so abrasive that it’s hard to love, but fans of experimental electronica could certainly do worse than give it a listen.

The beats sometimes bang in typical trap fashion, like on Topia Twins or Meltdown, but are not afraid to go surreal and alien.

The streaming era may have killed mixtape culture, but it’s best to come into Magic 2 expecting a more casual affair – Nas is mostly just flexing, surveying his legacy while adding to it.

Punchy, playful and exhilarating, with Euphoric Georgia has regained her artistic verve.

As the album draws to a close, it’s hard not to see I Am Not There Anymore as their most ambitious, artistically progressive offering to date.

This is a fine and often beautiful album, full of sensual delights and productions that vary from wafer-thin to chocolate rich. Throughout the focus is on Lanza and her feelings, which are reassuringly human and grounded. Combine that with its underground origins, and you have a record for the everyday listener.

To paraphrase Public Image Ltd, this is not a love album, in a form that most would recognise. It is, however, a powerful rumination on its presence, absence, and the power, both good and bad that love holds over us. Oxbow understands the power of love.

All in all it’s a decidedly mixed bag, with producer Mark Ronson failing to make the experience even remotely coherent, though during this soundtrack’s highlights even the most committed Nolan fanboy might just get caught up in the hype.

It’s an assured, charismatic release with a consistency that sets her above her contemporaries.

Compared to Big Conspiracy 3 years prior, Beautiful And Brutal Yard displays more ambition and an admirable desire to experiment, resulting in both career-defining moments and unfortunate missteps.

Overall, The Ballad of Darren is a captivating sonic journey that goes to great lengths to ignore much of Blur’s rich legacy, but it shows that bands – even those long in the tooth – can still continue their musical growth without sacrificing quality.

Over the course of a full album, Potter’s vocals sometimes veer towards being a bit too mannered, and it’s true that some of the arrangements can feel a bit one-note at times. Yet, considering this is a debut album from an artist best known for a totally different medium, Pink Bikini is an often extraordinary change of direction for Sally Potter.

A career-best work that serves both as a tribute to and means of overcoming a life sadly gone.

A beautiful album from a talent very much on the rise.

It’s possibly an album that’s easier to admire than to enjoy, but you can’t fault his ambition.

The Penguin Cafe’s conviction that it will be fine before eleven is clear in this album. Its sunny musical disposition, vibrant rhythms and eloquent melodies make it their best since Arthur Jeffes revived the name.