Nielson strides away from the woozy Beefheart-indebted psychedelia of ‘II’ and its self-titled 2011 predecessor, and vividly expands every single aspect of the UMO sound.

The Californian five-piece’s 14th album packs everything they’re good at into one concentrated effort: frenetic rock, pulsating psychedelia and buoyant melodies.

For all its slavering over archaic ‘80s production cheese, The Desired Effect is a consistently impressive collection--probably the strongest Brandon’s produced since 2006’s ‘Sam’s Town.’

Clearly, Houghton's found fertile ground in connecting with her inner rage monster, but there's a different side to the album too: anthemic glam rock reminiscent of Bowie's work with guitarist Mick Ronson.

ts revolving synth pattern revolves relentlessly, before bleeding into the aptly named ‘Dreamy.’

Murphy’s music remains grounded in Hercules & Love Affair-style housey electronica but these songs unfurl slowly and unconventionally as they take detours into skulking Grace Jones funk ('Uninvited Guest’), opulent cosmic disco (‘Evil Eyes’) and lush country balladry ('Unputdownable').

The absence of original guitarist Jim Martin is soon overshadowed by just how focused the record is.

A caustic collection of shamanic thrash and malevolent gutter-blues, Midlands pair God Damn’s debut album is a cathartically gritty listen.

A standalone success that also whets the appetite for Fuck Buttons’ return.

A modernist alt-rock chill blows through it, but Surfer Blood’s spirits stay cautiously upbeat, even indulging some Foals-y math-limbo guitar fripperies on ‘Other Desert Cities’.

Excepting curious conceptual moments like massage fantasy ‘Lonely At The Top'--Platform can concentrate on being beautiful electronic pop: think The Knife 2.0, perhaps.

A hodgepodge of styles (electronica, jazz, reggae, rock and classical) is finessed into something stirringly cohesive.

Even if there's still a sneaking suspicion Angelakos used up his very best tunes on 2008 debut EP 'Chunk Of Change', this dewy-eyed record sweeps you up in its joie de vivre all the same.

"Cool Slut" is burdened by the idea that the need to fight gender inequality still exists in 2015. Occasionally though, they find relief.

Mostly, Landshapes sound like a band that might be a better prospect live, where their ever-shifting ideas can fully flourish.

The second album from this perky Philadelphia quartet delivers big on drama and emotion with Frances Quinlan’s voice taking turns between an abrasive snarl and a smooth croon.

Stripped back to basics and muttering against the machines, they've never come on so strong.

They’ve made one that sounds like it was recorded without a care in the world.

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

Twelfth solo album Saturns Pattern backs up recent promises of another shift in sound, sending him into uncharted, acid-spiked waters.

It definitely ain’t perfect, then, but in concocting a scrubbed-up, carefully wrought maturation of their sound, Born Under Saturn gives us something close to Django Django unchained.

Cronin’s knack for languid songwriting is enhanced by adding more opulence.

It’s not a perfect ride.... Cosentino’s honeyed vocal is the only true constant. It’s a radiating sunbeam.

Only Love is the perfect synthesis of the two distinct elements of this album, and in turn its makers, a whispered build-up bursting into a gigantic beast, brimming with passion and 1970s Fleetwood Mac guitars.

From thunderous Mafioso fable 'Live To Die' to A$AP Rocky-starring calypso riot 'I Got Money' via Snoop Dogg collab '1,2 1,2', the Chef's steely signature East Coast flow has seldom sounded more imperious.

It’s not all dark and uncomfortable, though – both the pretty ‘Save The World’ and ‘Ripe For Love II’’s arpeggio guitars balance things out nicely.

[Producer Bob] Cooper adds gleaming sheen to Hairball’s 10 scrappy, infectious tracks.

The two finest soloists from Montreal label Constellation combine here for something far greater than the sum of its parts.