Tooth & Nail is probably the most accurate and all-encompassing illustration of the great man’s worth.

At one end of the spectrum that means Snorri Helgason is sparsely faithful to the gentle Misty Roses, while The Phoenix Foundation imbue Don’t Make Promises with post-psych otherworldliness.

Really, it just suffers from sequel syndrome, as there’s a fine single-disc collection buried within some over-blown, try-hard choices.

Best approach it as a mixed bag which will give up its secrets slowly, if at all, and doff the cap one more time to its creator’s skewed approach to this rock music thing.

She Paints Words In Red turns out to be the Camberwell crew’s finest--and most consistent--platter since 1990’s Fontana album.

An attack on the lack of dissenting voices in popular culture, if this isn’t Mason’s bona fide masterpiece, it’s certainly approaching it.

There’s no instant standout, but the album both withstands and repays repeated listening.

Low still sound beautiful, but there’s a nagging feeling that The Invisible Way represents a slight drop-off in focus.

Clearly, Bartos carries the romance and self-aware humour of the “classic” Kraftwerk in his genetic code: the sweet, buoyant, dignified and melodious Nachtfahrt and Hausmusik, for example, breathe the same rarefied European air which rendered The Man Machine and Trans-Europe Express such heady and immaculate touchstones.

Unashamedly traditional it may be, but there will be few better country records released this year.

Understated is an absolute triumph, matching any of the high-water marks of his past career.

This is Banhart’s best work because it functions as a unit.

The Next Day is certainly his most engaging and intriguing since Outside. For now, that’s more than enough.

Longtime fans will be pleased to hear that not all of Exai is a mature, intellectual exploration of the possibilities of electronic music.

There are moments of warped magic--haunting melodies, neat instrumental hooks, surprising turns of key and mood--but there are also times when you suspect it might have been more interesting to hear what Yorke and his collaborators came up with in the studio before it got eaten by ProTools.

Despite the eclectic background material, it feels like a consolidation rather than a development.

The results are simple, subtle arrangements that highlight their song craft.

Across the album as a whole he works towards a sort of mid-world territory, between air and water, dream and reality.

With a warmth uncommonly found in Weber’s work, Elements Of Light emerges as a real triumph.

The songs on Electric are given more opportunity to breathe and worm their way into our hearts.

What remains a constant is the warm murmur of the voice delivering tales from the heart with a literary confidence few in his field can match.

Sounding classic on arrival, Lonesome Dreams is certainly the best album of its kind since Damien Jurado’s Maraqopa.

Selected Studies Vol 1 is an entirely successful undertaking on its own terms, enriched by the quiet absorption of congruent confederates who intuitively understand that all manner of gods and devils are in the detail.

Trouble is, the songs themselves are instantly forgettable, devoid of alluring melody or interesting lyrical content, and sung by a limited vanilla voice lacking in character.

A pulsing electro cover of Floyd’s Have A Cigar might be an unexpected (though warming) surprise, but the closing quartet of Shadow Memory, Walk, Myriads and Only Lovers Left Alive sees Foxx and Benge simmering in exquisite fashion.

Occasionally, this approach doesn’t match the heartfelt sentiment (see the lyrics to both You’re My Friend and A True Original) but, on the whole, this is the sound of a man reinvigorated, happy to be recording and with a dependable, more involved backing band than ever.

Kouyate has recorded more consistent albums than this but, as a statement of defiance, Jama Ko could be his most important work.

There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the Lemonheads-style chug of the remainder, though it plants its flag firmly in the same sonic terrain they occupied during 2010’s The Dissent Of Man.