It’s Factory Floor’s second album and it’s their best.

Their debut sounds sleek and exhilarating, although Foals seem cautious about completely breaking out of the punk-funk strictures that have confined them so far.

Peanut Butter sees Joanna Gruesome relishing the power of refusal, bending the tropes of macho rock and relationships to their own twisted whims.

Out Of Touch In The Wild sees them evolve into the Field Music you can dance to--or the Talk Talk you can smile to.

You might not want to run into Daughn Gibson on a lonely night, but you’d be a fool if you didn’t listen to him push things forward with such noirish flair.

Having now racked up multiple albums of tastefully burbling electronics and inscrutable guitar oddness, Instrument still suits the term: rarely does it ‘rock’ at all, so TRR may as well have progressed beyond it. It’s by no means without merit, though.

A highlight comes in 'Sans Toi', an unassuming love song which proves that, stripped of special guests, it's their songwriting that brought Amadou and Mariam this far.

The pit-friendly snarl of ‘I Won’t Be A Casualty’ and ‘You Must Be Damned’ show that these guys are all still the real deal.

For all the flash and flair, the freshest, most intimate moments here are the result of holding back.

Time has proved Morrissey to be just as powerful and alluring a performer at 45 as he was at 23. [2 Apr 2005, p.49]

The result disturbs something of the original's gauzy ambience, but there are some fine refigurings.

The notoriously hardcore sexual aggressor has swapped strap-ons for sentiment and turned all flaccid in the process, and guess what: it’s quite...nice.

As an honest dispatch from the coal-face, it's glorious indeed.

Whatever he does is never less than great, and these 11 songs are no exception.

No-one actually ever put out a request for an indie Pet Shop Girls, but thank goodness The Blow decided to do it anyway.

Melodically there’s consistent bombast – the record opens with ‘Stepdad’s wonky sound, sounding like an orchestra disco epic played on a Fisher Price keyboard. ‘Miami Memory’ becomes a slipperier prospect when Cameron’s usual ironic schtick reappears.

Ultimately, Darkstar's maturation from dubstep's next big things into modern pop classicists continues to intrigue.

Although as tuneful as ever, tracks like 'Alice The Goon' and 'Peace And Love' reflect these tumultuous political times with a new and surprisingly vicious sonic edge that even they probably didn't think they could muster. [25 Mar 2006, p.37]

No prizes for guessing who's been reading Guy Debord then, but it's these touches as well as his reverb-laden sound that makes him vaguely modern, unlike some folk artists who'd be happier pretending the 20th century never even happened.

He may have softened his edge, upped the production and pulled in the stars, but The Weeknd remains an outsider.

Although less vitriolic than 2006's "Nux Vomica," his third album still throbs with delicious melodrama and anguished assertions.

The Child Of Lov may have started off as a shadowy enigma, but now is when Cole Williams lays his cards on the table. Turns out he was hiding a royal flush.

Best enjoyed off your face at a festival and forgotten about the next day.

Some listeners may not warm to Lo’s persona, but her songwriting skills are difficult to fault (she’s also co-written hits for Ellie Goulding and Girls Aloud on the side). Aided by collaborators including Lorde producer Joel Little and Max Martin’s protégé Ilya Salmanzadeh, she keeps the hooks coming throughout.

Its DOOM quota is surprisingly small. ... But is the record good? Unquestionably. Is it fun? Very.

Moral of the story: don't listen to this while operating heavy machinery or people will die.

Far lighter than their grungey 2013 debut, 'Antipodes', it's pitched between the blissed-out guitar of Splashh and the idiosyncratic pop approach of fellow Kiwi, Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Sutherland’s taken dancehall to the American mainstream, but, with Forever, he also transports us to a better world--where positivity reigns.