Bitter Rivals' more diffuse nature seems to have prevented them from impressing their personality on their music in quite the same manner; it’s difficult to rate it as highly as a result, but this remains a solid effort.

Dynamics is, first and foremost, a dance album, and as such, it passes its most critical test with flying colors; at no point during its duration is one unburdened of the desire to dance.

On this album, the influences are acknowledged and respected while still managing to sound original.

What is truly special here is that Willner has made an album that will acclimatise itself to your surroundings.

Blitzen Trapper are unabashed traditionalists, and they’re not shy about letting you know it.

Preferring to be a bit more refined, The Silver Gymnasium mixes maturity and depth with rare awkward moments which are more typical of a band that is musically in their late adolescence.

Her sonic advancement doesn’t smack you in the chops are much as it did on Interstellar, but there’s notable alterations and plenty of reasons to love it regardless.

Old provides expository context and an origin story of sorts for that voice.

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

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.

They’ve evolved in shocking ways, but still remain loyal to their m.o., and thickly smother everything in a shoegaze glaze; culminating in a record that’s smoother, smilier and more adventurous than their eponymous debut.

Country Mile is a fine album, testament to the smartly ornate take on English folk old and new as one and the same, but given Flynn’s own catalogue and his undoubted abilities it hasn’t progressed as far as it could have done.

Revel in the moods and noises, go with the ebb and flow of mood, pace and dynamic, conjure up your own tales to tell around its sounds: this is music with elastic boundaries, that will accommodate the interpretations that you choose to place on it, and bear them with a surprising lightness of touch.

It’s an ambitious enterprise--and one that Stewart tackles in a number of remarkable ways.

There really is a veritable deluge of ephemera attached to the deluxe editions of this release, so there is certainly plenty for fans and collectors to hunker down over. Be warned though, there is plenty of dross to wade through until you’re able to reveal anything of true value.

The record is everything you’d expect from a PINS debut, with a little bit extra tacked on. Mostly, it’s a belligerent beast, boasting bravado and a torrent of guitar swarms.

Overall, Days Are Gone showcases the band’s individual strengths that have been pulled together to create a collective group with intensity and depth of potential.

They’ve made a cracking collection of songs on Dalmak that are immersive and highly visual--even without lyrics, the four-piece are adept at weaving tabula rasa backings on which vivid imaginations are free to roam and gallop like free-range chickens.

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.

Nothing Was the Same is different because Drake has stopped worrying so much about who he’s become and figured out who he is.

There’s a couple of minor stumbles, and it has a knack for dithering, but when it comes together, it really, really comes together.

Lanterns on the Lake have drawn on harsh experience to produce a beautiful record that’s anything but superficial.

Whether Potty Mouth are achieving anything new is besides the point--the important thing is that they feel fresh and relevant, whereas the punk of today has seemingly had its time, growing increasingly redundant and stale

There is nothing better than hearing an artist reaching the apex of his power. Trentemøller arrives at that point with this album taking its rightful place amongst the best electronic albums released this year with comparative e

Several of the tracks are too short, as if in an eagerness for the songs to sit within a four minute pop structure, instead of discarding some of their ideas, they cram them all in and cut down the song length.

While it’s good to have Sebadoh back thrashing around in the unfurnished basement of the music industry once again, you just wonder how much better the results would have been if they had a complete album’s worth of material that proved worthy of their return.

Musically, Dream River sticks calmly to understated Americana, generally managing to pull off Lambchop’s neat one-inch punch trick--seemingly effortless and gentle, only to echo with far more drama and beautifully powerful resonance.

This is a near-faultless EP, and one that’s so incredibly moreish.