Most importantly, at the turn of the arc Tatum rediscovers his grit and tenacity as well as his melodic poise, showing that Life of Pause isn’t just a fascinating dissection of romantic disintegration, it was also necessary.

Need Your Light is a heck of a lot of fun while it lasts and, though there’s little to make you crawl back to it time and time again, it has that same appeal of flicking through a photo album and getting the rush of nostalgia for times long gone and, for that alone, it’s worth something.

It’s playful, dark, and produced well enough to settle the most pedantic of audiophiles. It’s clear, however, that putting meaning to Matmos’ sounds here only rehashes tired ideas of neotribalism and criticisms of late-capitalism.

Chalk it up as another transitional album of sorts; Love Yes has TEEN well on their way if they’re not already there.

Marlon Williams is a perfectly pleasant listen, but we’ll have to check back to see what Williams can do when his personal experience catches up to his subject matter.

Quilt are a group well aware of their strengths but not willing to overplay them at the cost of their distinctive balance, and Plaza is stronger for it.

Odds are Future will drop another project or five between now and the end of the calendar year, so while EVOL is ultimately dispensable it’s still a pretty good time.

There are some striking, startling and sublime moments on Painting With, even if it is at times a little dis-jointed.

Too often his raps are egotistical, self-pitying, trashy, crass or just clunky- distracting from the sonic feats behind the vocals.

This collection excels by showcasing the depth of music that had the word applied to it during the album’s seven year time span ('88 to '95). That word, 'shoegaze', was applied to much more than just skinny guys looking a bit sad with guitars. By investigating these areas - from the end of the C86 scene through to shoegaze itself via grunge and ending with Britpop - Still in A Dream proves itself to be a truly comprehensive release.

All in all, Big Black Coat is another strong release from Junior Boys, a much needed warm hug during these cold winter nights.

An electronically based album rich in its own distinctive character.

Harperfield shines brightest when Pollock allows big emotion to weigh her tempo down.

The nature of a double album means it’s either a glorious artistic statement, or a sprawling mess of self indulgence. An act such as DIIV is so unassuming that it couldn’t be the former, but nor is it the latter.

This is a fine record and if it doesn’t match up to the high standards alluded to above, that’s because Field Music really only sound like Field Music.

Although most probably disappointing expectant fans; a long EP would have held together the worthier ideas more artistically.

Fans of Oldham pre-BPB will be presented with a wealth of nuance and points of comparison, though first-time listeners would likely be alienated by its understated sound and self-referential motifs.

While nothing on the album differs dramatically from previous entries to the Half Japanese canon, Perfect offers a solid addition, thirteen new songs to shuffle into a deck that is already rife with heartbreak and ardor.

With a sense of perfection that may be tumultuous, Promise Everything is as real a record as you'll find. Swooning in some places and stormy in others, Basement have never sounded this good.

As a whole, Anti might not be as provocative of a statement as Rihanna hopes for it to be, but it’s still fascinating to see an artist in the midst of a metamorphosis.

The phrase ‘modern psychedelia’ often feels like an oxymoron, but on Human Ceremony Sunflower Bean make perfect sense of it, rewardingly broadening their musical horizons in the process and as with the Nuggets compilations it’s as diverse as you like yet retains a marvellous cohesion at the same time.

Brutal in some places and heart-rending in others, Milk Teeth's debut resonates through compelling emotions and ever-changing stylings.

Ultimately, for as talented of a musician as Miller is, her greatest feat on her first proper LP is creating a distinct feeling and sense of place that's possible only because every element here works in sync.

MartyrLoserKing may not just be one of Saul Williams' best, but it could also find itself among the most important albums of this year.

Twenty one years since his Mercury Prize nominated debut solo album Maxinquaye emerged, Tricky may have finally delivered one that can stand proudly equal alongside it.

It’s a brave act on Furler’s part, to stand up and present a body of work that so many other people deemed not good enough, but ultimately, it’s a great collection of pop songs, cynical or not.

This is a stepping stone towards a new direction, and although it’s stunning in places, it’s not a triumphant renaissance.

Impending apocalypse aside, Infinite Summer still proves itself to be a record of substance.

Rather than build on that record’s [The Shadow Of Heaven's] elegance and lightness of touch, MONEY have traded it out for something less polished, that’s often brutal in its emotional delivery. Not an obvious next step, then, but certainly a compelling one.

Sadly, what should have been a triumphant return ends up being as forgettable as the time of year of its release. It’s a middling album birthed in a middling, gloomy time of year without much joy to offer. Not even a proper chuckle.

Absent any actors to push the narrative along, Here Come the Rattling Trees can drift by during its more passive instrumental passages, but never less than pleasantly so.

M:FANS is certainly a fair deal more interesting than yet another note-for-note trek down memory lane.

It’s Chairlift at their most vulnerable, but also at their most jubilant, documenting their burning passions with their most confident sound to date. Most importantly, it’s Chairlift at their most fun.

Shearwater strikes a proper balance between anxiety and artistry on this new record, a tenuous equilibrium that the world desperately needs to find on its own at the moment.

Now in their third decade the song remains the same, but on The Waiting Room Tindersticks still sound so out of time that ironically their music feels neither dated nor futuristic, it just is.

It's hard to analyze Segall's music without thinking about his reputation as a studio rat, but Emotional Mugger is an enjoyably warped deconstruction of buzzy guitar rock.

Their music is an extension of themselves, pure id, and that’s what makes them so enthralling. This is the sound of a death-or-glory headlong charge.

Neither comprehensively “here” nor “there”, up nor down, eager nor listless, these eleven tales--while perhaps lacking more than three obvious peaks-- betray a quiet confidence and command that will surely see Sea Pinks properly arrive.

There aren’t any synthetic contrivances to be found on this focused, intensely revealing record, for there are far too many of those glitzy baubles around us at all times.

The result is a lengthy cinematic suite of songs.... and in the rest; a record’s worth of epic, towering soundscapes built on sturdy prog and indie rock foundations.

Where similarly grandiose songwriters like Chris Martin and Bono flail at balancing the huge and intimate, the personal and mass appeal, Anderson strikes the perfect balance on Night Thoughts.

It may ultimately be a footnote in his prolific career, but the album's restrained, nuanced intelligence is a testament to Marshall's pure talent and compelling persona.

It makes for a beguiling, snuggling sort of a record, easy to float away to at times, wild and cinematic at others, but always with a warm and unconstructed feel.

Not to Disappear is made as carefully and beautifully as you would expect--balancing the acts of remaining true and pushing forward. It does this with an air of self-assured calm and the clarity that a few extra years of being alive bring.

You might not speak Spanish, but great music is universal and this, is unequivocally that.

Colder has no intention of redefining or reshaping the electronic music world with Many Colours. Instead, Tan seems more interested in seamlessly adding his saturnine musical textures to the growing sonic palette of the modern club scene, while also reminding us all just how on point and of the moment his sound continues to be.

As with David Bowie’s entire career, he’s once again given us enough to keep us wanting more, while reminding us of all the inspired gifts that came before.

Lovingly co-produced with Paul (Mansun) Draper, Davies is on startling form throughout, layering spellbinding vocal harmonies and turning her hand to a long list of instruments with names few will even recognise.

Leave Me Alone is flawed, but its flaws are what makes it so beguiling.

Elsewhere is a compelling debut, on which Moore has successfully revitalised the folksy feel of some of her earlier work. For a first album, it’s certainly a triumph.

Black Rivers are creating sombre yet euphoric, uplifting music that shows how to sound far out whilst still retaining the knack of writing beautifully cohesive songs.

In the end, And After That We Didn’t Talk is as impressive of a rap debut as there has been in 2015. Once GoldLink’s reputation catches up with the quality of his music we may just have a new superstar on our hands.

It isn’t overly ambitious, but after more than two years without an official release it is still a treat to hear Pusha T, even if he stays largely in his cocaine comfort zone.

For it's forty minute duration, Meat Wave's second record is one of the most engaging you're likely to find this year.

There’s a slew of modern classics to be cherished on Chorus, which makes it a must have for the completist and a treasure trove of gems for anyone entranced by the combination guitars, pop music and songs about love.

As introductions go, We Are Nots is a sharp gut punch of a debut LP and certainly merits attention.

A futuristic perspective on post-punk and rock and roll. Clever enough to implant electronic hooks into your brain, subconsciously. Dumb enough to smash a guitar into the drum kit, just for kicks. These guys have got it all.

Yes, B-sides and rarities are sort of supposed to feel rough or incomplete, but A Folk Set Apart seems to be characterised far more by its misguided decisions than by its lack of polish or perfection.

It’s a record that’s full of interesting ideas that needs a few listens to appreciate its subtleties, which are ultimately very rewarding.

If this album was written and performed by humans I would say that, at best, it's a gratifying listen of retro arcade game inspired electronic music and, at worst, a whimsical yet unremarkable collection of instrumentals. Good fun, yet a little inconsequential.

He worked tirelessly to perfect these songs. And it’s a revelation to hear just how he got there, and the compelling missteps and musical frustrations he experienced along the way.

The Home Recordings largely serve as a further step back along the creative path, to a point where we either see songs at their most infantile stage or at a crossroads where Cobain, the tireless perfectionist, probably realised he could take them no further.

Kannon certainly won’t be delivering any Christmas number ones, but what Sunn O))) have managed to deliver is an exhilarating, colon-shaking song cycle of pitch black metal that will perfectly complement those approaching January blues.

For the first time--a stunned silence at the intensity and pace of these cascading arpeggios (19.5 notes per hand each second, apparently, and the world record), these rhythms within rhythms that envelop and sustain. Boy, do they sustain.

Beyond Belief is somewhat less guitar-centric than Along the Way, but otherwise it is more in most every other way.

He has cultivated an allure and a presence by, paradoxically, remaining extremely quiet for long-periods of time. He has survived through the quality of his creative vision. Product streamlines this vision into a singular "product" that although is not an essential purchase, is still essential listening.

At the end of the day, Gibbs is too talented of a rapper to put out a lackluster album, so while Shadow of a Doubt might not go down as one of his classics, it features more than enough quotables and street-smart truisms to be worth a few spins.

Somehow, despite his success, Flowers understands that good music isn’t about what you have, but what could have been, and although his wife must wonder who he’s singing about all the time, the rest of us can press our face against the windows of childhood car journeys, and dream.

It’s not perfect--there are moments, such as during "Old Again", where my concentration has wavered--but when it hits the spot ("Big Bopper", "Guilt", "Acid Tongue"), it’s an absolute tour-de-force.

As an indicator of the kind of music the Wainwrights indulged in at home while they and their many and various offspring went on to charm and dazzle the musical world, this is an invaluable document. For those who simply want a dazzling, slow sunset of a folk record with the occasional lyrical bite--the same applies.

Musically there’s much to tie Rustie to his Scottish compatriot Hudson Mohawke, and though they may be working from the same spreadsheet, at the moment Rustie still remains in is shadow.

Heartache City has much more in common with the band’s first two albums, the freakiness of their folk here is undeniable, but the tracks all share a strong backbone of hip hop and afro-beat which elevates them above the streamlined pop melee.

It’s a testament to his cohesive sound and willingness to defy convention that this record, despite a lack of samples or anything really resembling typical electronic music, conveys emotion as well as it does.

The album’s OTT closer “Sweetest Devotion” doesn’t really provide the conclusion you want either. Despite that, there’s a very good record in here, propped up by a some incredible modern classics (“Hello”, “Remedy”, “When Were Young”, “Love in the Dark”).

Of all albums this year, Elaenia is one that could be--probably will be--discussed for some time. It’s as impressive and rewarding as you want to be.

As good as Modern Dancing is, it just doesn’t quite encapsulate the complete experience of TRAAMS.

Now it’s all about reinvention rather than replicating a sound, and by coalescing various influences and styles Chorusgirl have the balance just about right.

This is an album of sometimes brutal beauty; a risk taken and richly rewarded through a work suggestive of fragility, yet simultaneously attesting to defiance rather than any maudlin self-pity.

On Art Angels, we hear that high art experimentation fall into mainstream territory with only fleeting moments of brilliance.

AQUΛRIA is an interesting, risky record, but too often it confirms the notion that Boots’ development in the booth lags behind his touch on the mixing console.

Though it does wear its influences a little to clearly on its sleeve to be truly original, the end result is a wonderful homage to their heroes and full of some of the best pop to come out of Scandinavia in recent years.

The tempos are brisk, the mood is chirpy. No, make that chirpy chirpy cheek cheek. Keep it at, though, and much, much more compelling depths soon emerge.

The Things We Do sounds like the product of an alternate reality in which Bruce Springsteen was a teenager in the 2000’s who spent all his time crafting the perfect instant messenger away notifications instead of ruminating on small town America. But Alex and his bandmates pull it off with sheer conviction and force of will.

GOD isn’t about sensory pleasure. It’s about sensory gluttony, auditory overload, and revelling in the difficulty of its pacing.

Vulnicura Strings sees Björk restructuring an already phenomenal work of art and creating an even more desolate mood than the phenomenal Vulnicura, where time is frozen but also somewhere to move on from. It’s not a place to visit every day, but whenever you need a reminder about what great art looks and feels like here’s where to go to.

It retains a surprising amount of individuality for an album almost certainly destined for the top of the charts. And, though it might well feel a little samey in it's early stages, the final half more than makes up for it.

Black Tarantula is a commentary at the preverbal level; it takes the fears we can’t articulate and sings them to us in our own voices.

Seems Unfair manages exceed its predecessor in every way whilst never shedding any of the DIY charm that made their debut so endearing to begin with.

Florence is another excellent addition to Darren Hayman’s sterling oeuvre.

Anybody expecting wholesale reinvention on Many Moons, or even just the chance to hear Courtney attempt to scratch any experimental itch he might have had, are going to be let down; he’s probably never played it this safe before.

To Those of Earth...And Other Worlds proves Ra's Afrofuturistic vision was very much for real.

Through the intelligent, measured expansion of the artistic characteristics for which he has been so respected since his departure from The Coral, Bill Ryder-Jones has confirmed his place among this country’s most vital contemporary songwriters.

For a project Woon spent four years on, Making Time is a surprisingly breezy listen. It feels a bit slight at times, especially given the lack of variance in tempo, but it’s hard to find much fault with this collection of smart, soulful work.

If this all sounds a bit linear, as though Etch and Etch Deep moves like a standard plot, well, that’s because it does. There’s no film to accompany it, but that doesn’t mean Haiku Salut’s second album doesn’t make for a fantastic score, providing a subtle emotional guide as it moves from point A to point B and each stop along the way.

Outside the relative intensity of “City Dweller”, sample-heavy “Do My Thing” and “Pulse”, “Gently” and “Deep Breathing” provide musical sorbets between the action. It’s some of the softest production Saginaw’s put out before, and is a welcome break on the tightly-spun ep.

Adult is fun for a little while, but it’s hard to see it keeping listeners’ attention for long.

Bleeds is a concise and heavily focused record that can proudly sit in and amongst his best.

Nothing continues his life’s work to twist and distort. To invert boundaries and genres and do more. Yes at times it seems like there’s a little something missing. Yes at times it could use something more. But there is and it could. It’s called Nothing. Sometimes that’s the point.