It's a fine build-up to the Selkirk quintet's fourth album, due out early 2013.

This is a pretty good Black Keys record that chiefly serves to underline how wedded they are to the fundamentals of their own process.

Too few tracks leave as forceful an impression however, and for all its added bells and whistles, Palme comes off more mildly quirky than exhilarating.


She’s every bit the equal of Bat For Lashes, Frida Hyvönen or any member of the Wainwright clan.

Hymn feels like the imaginary soundtrack to the film inside your head and is an outstanding work of epic beauty.

Assembled by the album's main beat-peddling prodigy, Lex Luger, they showcase a masterclass in reductionism; juggernauts of hulking, bruising, brick-to-skull intensity.

Government Plates is a challenging listen, but as one of the most transgressive records of the year.

Gallipoli is almost always an intriguing listen. Soaking the sound they’ve spent over a decade cultivating in dazzling Italian sun, Beirut’s latest is a welcome summer holiday.

Throughout the five tracks, Walker’s lyrics never feel anthemic. Rather, they are personal, almost as if she’s right there with you. Her words are a balm: comforting advice of an old friend through a Zoom call.

Yes, the record can sit a little awkwardly between being nostalgic and current – given her enlisting on next-gen stars for a hip-hop soul collection – but the take-the-power-back narrative really makes these songs shine.

‘I Am Jordan’ is a portrait of this artist’s personal growth, with tracks that could shine on any mood-boosting playlist. Ultimately, Jordan’s innovative and uplifting debut gifts us a question: could this be what trans euphoria sounds like?

This is the sound of Cage The Elephant exploring every corner of what they are.

As is the case with twee-pop even at its best, there are moments when Allo Darlin' can get carried away with its cutesy sensibilities, when smiles can turn into winces

Mess’ is characterised by synths and distorted beats. But unlike the often self-doubting and timid ‘WIXIW’, it revels in its own demented chaos.

On ‘Finally Over It’, the final instalment in the series, Walker feels unshackled for the first time, no longer haunted by her public break-ups.

Hopefully, listeners who have had their tastes whetted by Cat's Eyes and the cult Italian Beat At Cinecitta compilations will fall in love with this entrancing and gorgeously out-of-step album.

Criticism aside, Rocky's debut is full of superb moments and offers a rich tasting menu of unique sounds.

A happy, penguin-chilled sunset beach barbecue of a collection. [3 Jul 2004, p.65]

Startling from the first listen... the band are heavier, more menacing, more rhythmic than ever. [19 Jun 2004, p.55]

One of the best rock albums of 2003.

Right now this frazzled trio are the true sound of Detroit - confident, smart and absolutely essential.

Australia’s Chet Faker has a pretty big hole to dig himself out of on his debut. Singing no faster than 2mph doesn’t help either, but there’s an unexpected range in his schtick that’s disarming.

The album’s pleasures are tactile and immediate, the kind of R&B built for dim lights and late-night texts.

Strange Little Birds is a record that’s human to its very core, revelling in flaws and failures, but never losing hope. And in that way, it’s the perfect mirror for its creators’ 22-year career.

This return to drone primitivism might seem somewhat regressive for Gordon, as it doesn't represent anything remotely new for her as a musician or for drone music as a whole. But it is done with a pleasing malevolence.

Bo Ningen have become more approachable without losing the ferocity and anything-goes attitude that made them so exciting in the first place.

Banks, Kaufman and Barrick prove far more than the sum of their parts, turning on a bright light of their own.

Partie Traumatic is the sexiest, most outrageous outright pop album of ’08 so far, hard not to love and (seemingly) even easier to lay.