Mythomania is overdriven, with sparks flying from the bolts in its neck and fruit machine cherries lining up in its vacant eye sockets. But it sounds perfect somehow.

It's a record for parties, for escaping the grind, and for enjoying your relaxing drug of choice.

In the context of a studio recording, Cage The Elephant's premiere isn't far off insufferable.

It would be nice to see The Broken Family Band attempting something other than the boringly retrograde rock on display in Please And Thank You.

A good first try for an album, but it's just not quite there yet.

Dance Mother is not, and is clearly not made to be, easy listening - it's an admirably ambitious rather than lovable record, and it doesn't reveal its secrets in a single listen.

Owen and Hobbs could have just rewritten their debut note for note, but instead they have chosen to take us on a journey that many of us know all too well. Here's waiting for the next instalment.

It's reminiscent at times to what pal and label stablemate Will Oldham did on Bonnie "Prince" Billy Sings Greatest Palace Music.

Standing alone, Fantasies is an accomplished, enjoyable LP. Next to its siblings in the Metric back catalogue, however, it seems to lack urgency, a sense of the essential, dynamism, and even the touch of righteous anger that made itself known now and then.

Swoon, then, is a mixed listening experience, with the solemnity and over-seriousness of the general tone and the occasionally grating nature of that voice being more or less mitigated by some lovely melodies and first-rate guitar riffs.

Petits Fours just has too many annoying bits about it to be good.

The point really, as it is with all of You Can Have What You Want, is that regardless of what era Papercuts are paying (unintentional) homage to, they always sound relevant and never out of step.

The Future Will Come is the kind of album you could listen to loudly in a club, or at home with some headphones and it would suit either. Welcome back intelligent dance music, we've missed you.

His legacy already assured in his field (or fields, perhaps) with no apparent signs of slowing down, this is further evidence of the enduring, glitchy charm of Prefuse 73, and another compelling reason to seek him out.

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.

Amongst the other songs of Spring Tides it only serves to pull you further under the hypnotic spell of Jeniferever.

Two Suns is a dense, intricate album that features at least six brilliant songs, two of which are pure pop gems.

It's a joyful sound when she cuts loose, and wedded to an attitude you wouldn't mess with, works a treat.

Kingdom Of Rust is a triumph, and the best album the band have ever produced.

It's not what you'd call pretty, exactly, but there's a hell of a lot of charm and admirable grit to Young's decision to say bollocks to politeness and tell it like it is.

The acid test for an album such as this is to play it on a grey day and see if it can still work its magic. Begone Dull Care certainly does that, and is all the more remarkable for doing so with only eight tracks to draw on.

It is in reality a bit boring, a bit generic, and a bit aggravating.

Apart from the nice flourishes and an undoubtedly authentic-sounding replication of mid- to late-'60s underground psychedelia, this album seems to have been something of a misfire, lacking a convincing emotional undertow, or sufficient clarity in its musical presentation to engage or entrance the listener.

The band's relatively quick turnover suggests a restless creative spirit. However Sun Gangs harnesses that to communicate music of a raw emotional power, a record that should open more doors for the band than it closes.

His craft here does have more to do with storytelling than it does with music making, but these haunting, desolate narratives are very much complemented by the lo-fi, repetitive, yet meditative backing tracks, which are ultimately presented like the lost soundtrack to a movie.

It is to Costas and Burton's credit that they have fashioned such an enchanting album from such an unpromising premise.

This is a confident debut by a band that can only keep on improving.

Dananananaykroyd are, on this album's evidence, a fine band.