Whilst Small World doesn't quite pack as much of a punch as Metronomy Forever, it’s a sweet and uplifting album.

There isn’t a better way that Skrillex could’ve made his return, and Quest For Fire will undoubtedly be remembered as one of his best.

Working Out is a sophisticated sounding record, but with only a handful of standout tracks, it may not be enough.

He may be pretentious, narcissistic and borderline offensive, but you have to hand it to Chilly--what he is doing here is pretty damned clever.

Nickel Creek’s great storytelling and vivid imagery, in most cases, never fails to enrich these anecdotes and reminiscences.

Twelve Reasons to Die II suggests that breaking new ground might be a futile undertaking if there's this much juice left in the good old tricks.

This feels somehow lower-key (less in-your-face) than the other two, and it feels much more cohesive as a result. ... The main problem with Doom Days: the more you put into it, the less you get out.

Worship The Sun definitely won’t disappoint fans of their self-titled debut, and the extra production values only adds to their refreshingly carefree style. A perfect album to hang onto the last remnants of long, hazy summer days.

Providing a sweet escape from the overwhelming world that inspired it, M83’s Fantasy is one that listeners will drift in and out of, but it retains the exhilarating signature sound that the multi-instrumentalist is rightly admired for.

Let’s Be Still is wholesome and sincere, in the way those words were intended, and without any pretense or airs and graces.

His voice, tremulous, always searching, always yearning, makes everything he plays sound like the aftershocks of a broken heart, his teasing humour assuring you that despite everything it’d probably be ok.

It tells more of a story than rolling news coverage ever could, and for that The End of Silence is as close as I’d ever want to get to real conflict.

Alias is by no means a bad album--on the contrary, it highlights the maturity and progression of four highly talented and much loved British musicians--but it’s just not that fun.

The constant more-is-more approach is no doubt a blast for the pickers in the studio, and it’ll probably sound cool live, but on the record, there’s an airlessness to it all. This isn’t always the case - the classy “String Theory” stands out for its delicate instrumentation built around subtle lap steel and sturdy stand up bass. This does however serve to bring Starr’s vocals to the fore.

Back to Land, then: business as usual, but the business remains good.

Pink still remains Boris’ best record, and the best entry-point into their staggering catalogue. But Noise is the best album since that, a staggering, cathartic masterpiece that won’t have much competition in terms of quality in 2014.

Between the dated indie dance and the ballads and the auto-crooned, electronic pop, there are promising, soulful, twinkling instances of intelligent sampling and singing and interesting instrumental interludes.

Standing alone, this a warming set of tastefully executed covers. But see the album in its context and you’ll find its beauty--a record of music repairing a once strained relationship.

At its best, >>> retains the weirdness but manages to staple it to some fairly colossal tunes, with an emphasis on huge grooves that nods towards Barrow’s background as a drummer.

It's a moody, hazy, gloomy take on modern jazz. It’s also a return of Iggy Pop the elder statesman, the icon, the legend in his own lifetime. But, more than that, it provides a fitting end to a career, on his own terms, if that’s what he wants it to be.

Less sprawling than its immediate predecessor, at its best it highlights the band’s creativity and tautness, echoing some of the vigour of Born on Flag Day.

It’s a great ending to a great record, one that musically takes Bulat a bit further from the folk comfort zone, but not so far as to lose the essential character of what she is about.

Yours Conditionally is much more fun when you allow yourself to dive headfirst into its strife and inhale its sarcasm rather than floating along its serene surface.

Unfortunately though, as a solidified body of work, it’s lacking. It can be likened to the Star Wars sequels: nostalgic, fun and thrilling, yet relies on sentimentality to entertain. It fails to offer anything particularly new, and feels completely thrown together disregarding the potential greatness that could’ve been.

Somehow intimate yet vast, Summer Through My Mind is a record that you may not like or even “get”, but you can lose yourself in the familiar sense of disorientation and confusion of life that is revealed by a divine understanding within the songs themselves.

Cronin is often at his best when laid bare, and one of MCIII's greatest moments is the relatively sparse closing track "vi) Circle."

Trap Lord is not an A$AP record; it is an A$AP Ferg record, sui generis, and that is its greatest achievement.

This weepy and emotive record will probably be glued to many turntables; the ideal soundtrack to a morning coffee.