It would be easier if this album were bad, which it isn’t: it’s a competent, often fairly enjoyable set of performances. But as neither good Springsteen nor good popular soul, it’s likely to fade out of most listeners’ memories long before the final track drifts off into nothingness.

Wig Out at Jagbags is pretty much everything we could have hoped for from Stephen Malkmus at this point in his career.

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.

There’s no doubt about it. Through their brand of R&B, funk and soul, they nod to legends like Stevie Wonder, Parliament-Funkadelic, and others, while putting their own infectious, modern twist on it.

The Gossip may currently be no more, but with Ditto's solo album, we have a replacement that fills the void.

It’s an overwhelmingly dark album.

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

Sellers has the distinct tics of a (significantly but not entirely) self-taught musician but also flexible stylistic impulses that keep Primitives at arm’s length from rigid genre tags.

Selling is an album that to me felt like branches of electronics, constantly moving and evolving, but also as nine trailing individual works that are steady and individual.

It lacks some of the first record’s energy and virtuosity. However, Two remains a joyous listen considering how little chance there was of it even existing a few years ago.

whilst there’s nothing that can quite hold a candle to ‘Things you can do’ on ’3030′, Event II is a consistent, original record.

Whereas the sound of Skying suffered at times due to a muggy recording, Luminous is given a full pop sheen, an approach that’s resulted in a much wider sound.

He nails some sassy jazzy tunes mixed with poetic melancholia. There are still some lines that sound initially amusing in their absurdity.

Burnished with all the hallmarks that have moulded the band into such a robust songwriting entity, As Long As You Are is a portrait of Herring and co at the top of their game - a collection of taught electro-pop numbers graced with poetic flair.

There are a few tracks that are decent rather than great, and the 36-minute runtime leaves it feeling a little too brief. That being said, it’s always a good thing to leave your audience wanting more, and Baby Keem certainly does that.

Very often Hippo Lite feels like wandering into Cate Le Bon and Tim Presley’s tossed off living room recording session. However, the pair have taught us the valuable lesson that weirdness needn’t be conjured under pretense from far out places while the mundanity of real life can prove far more potent.

If You’re Dreaming is quintessentially Anna Burch; a unique artist whose music bridges gaps between genres.

It’s the same but slightly more so. Solid and satisfying.

It won’t be the year’s slickest or tightest alt-pop effort, but it’s plenty adventurous--for the most part, endearingly so.

Good things do come with time, and this LP is no doubt a stopping point on Active Child's journey to uncharted, challenging places.

Capturing the sound of a fearsome live reputation on record can be daunting for band making their debut record, but here the Madrid trio sound truly fearless.

Post punk of course is a genre totally played out, but VENN’s approach is a new perspective on the genre. Runes is fresh, wildly innovative, and utterly essential.

It's all too easy to use adjectives such as glimmering and glacial when describing these kind of sounds but the music here is so expressive you can visualise the sights experienced by its makers.

Her stories are made believable by the authenticity of Bentham’s real-life everyday nothings that season each song and open our minds and hearts to the most primal feelings we encounter and the most insignificant events that take place in our lives.

Despite tracks such as “I Pray” and “Save The Day” re-treading the Disney dewiness and naïve optimism of Carey’s earlier ballads, the hardening of the singer’s artistry is palpable across the record.

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.

The Rural Alberta Advantage bring enough intelligence and thoughtfulness to their music to ensure that it’ll appeal to listeners who wouldn’t normally like to admit to listening to soaring, emotionally open indie rock.

There’s fewer moments of Bird producing fireworks with her vocals throughout Different Kinds Of Light, and while that may leave some early fans feeling somewhat unfulfilled, it’s as strong a sign as any that she’s matured and is operating with a newfound dynamism as a songwriter – there’s more to her than just that huge voice.

Ashnikko revel[s] in her playfully acerbic humour, but also explores friendships and the emotional vulnerability behind her facade.

Echo is an offering with a success that can be judged in the way it evokes such imagery, notwithstanding the fact it wears its influences so visibly.

There’s a reason he's thought of as one of the pioneers of electronic music; he manages to create more than just simple sounds--instead, there’s an idea that the big picture is far bigger than you’d ever care to realise.

Kannberg-led songs on Pavement albums were always immediately identifiable not just for his voice, but also for their lack of lyrical obfuscation. His perspective remains direct and perhaps more openhearted than ever.

His further point of recognizing singing as his strength and songwriting as his weakness is the most self-aware and perceptive comment either Gallagher has ever made professionally, and Why Me? Why Not clearly benefits as a result.

Their first full-length doesn’t feature too many surprises, and a lot of the cuts have already been released in one way or another, but start-to-finish, it’s an honest conflagration of scuzz that will leave jaws agape, eyes moist and hearts full.

'We Make Pop Music’ adds another to their storied catalogue of press-aware music about music and similarly sounds like the band as they stand in a nutshell. Then there’s the second disc of B-sides, the original versions of the first two singles, more reined-in versions of songs from It’s A Bit Complicated left over from an aborted session with Pulp‘s Russell Senior, covers (the Beatles, the Cure, We Are Scientists) and assorted offcuts, none of which are essential but which add more layers to Argos’ wracked character.

It’s not that the album is particularly any shorter than any other album – clocking in at around 40 minutes--it’s that it’s so tightly-packed with such consistently good content and is so musically pithy, that you just can’t ever really get enough out of it.

It’s a bunch of great dance tracks that should preserve their live sound in its natural habitat.

It’s beautifully crafted, and you’ve really not heard anything like it before.

This isn’t synthpop à la Kavinsky, and there are no bangers here, or--if we're honest--much that will imprint itself upon you when you've played it through a few times.

The result is a collection of songs that can speak to and through anyone who hears them.

The magnifying glass is on everything with this release, and it results in something distinguished and quite frankly mammoth.

It’s the songs themselves that should guarantee the album’s global success. Throughout the mini-album are references to BTS’ past and reflections on their growth as artists and individuals.

An experienced musician as Lambert is working with top producers such as Tommy English (Kacey Musgraves, Carly Rae Jepsen), Andrew Wells (Halsey, OneRepublic), and more to create a record that is beyond a covers album: it is an experienced display of composition, and how to reframe music to new audiences.

Boarding House Reach's overall flow--conceptually and creatively--is at times unsure and brilliant at once. This is no album of the year contender, nor will it rank too highly on White's saggish discography. Instead, it's thirteen songs of creative madness.

It's their best since 1993’s Songs of Faith and Devotion.

25 25 slithers through the auditory canal, hypnotising and beguiling the listener, before finally ensnaring those who choose to listen.

The band is tighter, more focused, and have honed their sound ever more slightly, tossing in snippets of texture and becoming even leaner.

A warm-hearted lover of an album that is hard to pin down but acquiesces to exploration and will, in a fairly filthy way, leave the listener sated, satisfied and inspired.

The album’s cohesiveness and its lush sonic range are clearly among the benefits of improved production, and Gibson has made good use of his new toys. Nevertheless, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that few of the album’s highlights quite match up to the strange magic captured by All Hell’s finest moments.

Much of the album carries this sense of being a showpiece for one of its individual elements--more often than not, it is Ronald Lippok’s shuffling percussion which breathes life into Instrument.

It might not be a styling anyone was demanding for, but once it's in your focus, you won't find a band that do it better.

Disjointed it may seem, but the pervading sense of chaos and feel good factor tie each track on Blood // Sugar // Secs // Traffic together perfectly, coming to a frothy, tumultuous head on closing cut "Amazing Supermarkets". Arguably the record’s highlight, it’s almost seven minutes of anarchic garage pop, mirroring in miniature the album it concludes effortlessly.

Wasted Years is unlikely to appeal to a whole new legion of fans, but those already on-board should be happy with their order of ‘more of the same’.

Slow Club are grander than ever, shimmering like disco balls, toting an LP that’ll break them into mainstream darlinghood; by the sounds of this bolshy confidence and tune-garlanded melange, they’re not only ready, but expecting it.

It’s direct, angry, and often joyful – a reminder that making good music well is always worth doing.

The Shakes is a record with raw energy.

Miami Memory displays an increasing, albeit cautious, capacity to divert from a well-trodden trail; seeing Cameron’s confessional voice explored and defined to a degree previously unseen in his output.

An album that often gets consumed into a pleasant fog.

Perhaps the wildly-inventive producer isn’t inspired to break the mould, or to look for a new direction, but he is a producer sure to contrast this low with a high next time. It’s alright as it is, this record, but no more than that.

This is the same old monotonous Weeknd melancholy, only distilled through a huge pop filter. Which certainly makes it listenable, and a little bit nicer, but far from the innovative mainstream breakthrough album we were promised.

He’s created an incredibly ambitious, soulful avant-garde debut.

On the whole, this is a wonderful album, and a suitable follow-up to Bliss Release.

It’s hard to single out a standalone track from this impressive debut and this, in itself, is testament to the LP on the whole.

It’s pop music of the highest calibre, music for the head, heart, feet and everywhere in between.

Whether he is the influencer or the influenced, there’s such a clear creativity and worldliness in his music, that Radio Songs should be listened to multiple times to really get the depth of where he’s taking his sound.

Ultimately, Everyone For Ten Minutes doesn’t do enough to differentiate itself from the band’s previous outings. Despite some lovely, refreshing variations sprinkled throughout – like the atmospheric slow burn of opener “Sideways” – this is largely the sound of Antonoff planted firmly in his comfort zone.

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.

Though Never the Right Time may be more introspective and relaxed than previous releases, Stott's unique take on nostalgia and the exploration therein is intriguing enough to make up for some minor pacing issues. Andy Stott can still do no wrong, even if his sonic landscape sounds so distinctively so.

On You can’t kill me, 070 Shake’s pursuit of new musical frontiers is as intense as ever and even though some parts of this project let down the rest, it is overall a thrilling experience that signals growth from an artist who has a lot more to give.

In short, it feels like Ellie Goulding at her most honest, and her most heartfelt.

After The End is frequently great, but it’s also frequently over-familiar.

In other words, Moderat have stepped up to the plate and then some.

Despite all of its 33 minutes being recorded in a home built studio that also doubles as a brewery, there’s little to suggest anything particularly wacky rubbed off on the sound.

This is a very tight set, sympathetically produced and moving towards the mainstream.

Something On High could definitely do with just a pinch more of life at times.... But regardless of this, it is still an incredibly powerful debut from Sivu.

Burhenn would undoubtedly prefer the circumstances for getting back together with us be different but, either way, the world is an eternally mercurial place and Be Here Now captures the restlessness of an artist who wouldn’t want it any other way.

The Sun Will Come Up opens as a consistent story, but it’s not one into which all of its components can sensibly fit. That’s not to say Nesbitt’s diverse adaptability is all bad, it’s simply that she shines brightest when committing to a style without sacrificing her individuality.

The core of the album, for all its cultural commentary and musical relevancies, is just a solid guitar-indie foundation.

The band fails to keep up that feverish tempo, and the album’s bewitching beginning quickly gives way to less inspired, repetitive numbers that plague a majority of the record, especially its weak second half.

Fragments feels like the culmination of everything that Simon Green has been building up to over the last 20 plus years. A rich and cathartic release from a musician at the very top of his game.

The record sits firmly within her existing catalogue, but that growing self-assurance brings a new charm to the Baby Kingdom.

This is a collection both provocative and vigorous, covered in a sleek wrapper that hides the introspective side lurking beneath. So Close To What is hit after hit – it’s her most convincing argument of superstardom yet.

While Finding Shore certainly isn’t the most accessible of albums, it’s one that’s likely to stay with its listeners long after the dull rumble of its closing moments have faded in to nothing.

Suffice to say, Alicia Bognanno is in her prime as a musician, songwriter, and producer, and somehow comes out of Losing better than before, proving herself as one of the most consistent and impressive artists of the decade.

It’s is a fluid, cohesive album that flows seamlessly from one movement to the next--as its cover suggests, it’s a canoe ride without the possibility of capsizing.

They demonstrate a knack for so many areas it’s hard to predict where they may go in the next few years, although it’s a bit incoherent at times as the band schlep from one genre to another while still trying to hoist in their innate pop flair. This record’s a crossroads.

KIN is the uncommon soundtrack that doesn’t require any context other than its own to command more than passive attention.

Brien and Geeneus have turned in a finessed and involving convergence between dance and pop that mixes timeless songwriting with an energized and gutsy production.

For the most part, Go Dig My Grave shows an appreciation that steers clear of sober reverence; these are well-worn and world-weary songs to be enjoyed, not artefacts to be handled in a sterile environment with special gloves. Sometimes, however, these reworkings miss the mark.

The results are expectedly bonkers, with some of Ling’s tales ushered into songs and others scored by improvisations, the collection bound by a deeply English eccentricity and a shared love of pop music's spikier edges.

The result is another record that provides ample room for the elaborate unfurling of Stelmanis’ talents as a vocalist, her altitudinous range the billowing banner of a call to arms.

Sure, there's no new ground broken, and no definitive answers given, but We Disappear isn't meant to be that. Instead, the album is a soundtrack of reassurance.

At its best, it’s vintage Quasi.... But at its worst, you find yourself checking the tracklist to see just how much more of the record is left.

In word and sound Little Neon Limelight is an unashamedly backward-looking record, and it's all the better for it.

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.

Whereas many of Lost & Found’s tracks felt stripped to their bare bones, most of the tracks here feel built from the ground up.

Equal parts easygoing and eternally troubled, upbeat and melancholy, silly and profound, Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread certainly sounds like the real thing, and it’s bound to leave you feeling pretty good indeed.

What Do We Do Now has some interesting moments on its first side, but quite a bit of it does feel leaden and lacking in energy.