One of Chung’s strengths is not overstuffing his music, but there are moments where Parallels’ nonchalance makes it feel like less of a full album and more of a holdover between more momentous projects.

Death From Above might have pulled their brand of wreckage rock even further towards the dance floor with this, yet it still manages to further the rawness and execution they’ve become so mythical for. Most of all they feel like a band without any limits here.

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.

These tracks aren't revolutionary classics on the same level as “Killing in the Name” or “Fight the Power” just yet, but nevertheless, they raise a fist to all those who continue to fight ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality and the elite.

It’s this ability to take the familiar and present it in dramatically different forms, with the potential for rediscovery that this allows, which makes Hitchhiker--faults and all--a must-hear for Neil Young fans.

The mystery of Alex Cameron continues to be unsolved, but after Forced Witness, his identity and place in the indie world seems to be much clearer, and at times, all the more impressive.

This isn’t The National’s finest album--for my money, that’s still High Violet, or if I’m feeling fruity, Alligator--but there’s much to cherish on Sleep Well Beast.

VanGaalen’s sixth album shows him easing more into his bright and disorienting vision.

Like the best of Amos’ work over the past 20 years, what makes Native Invader exceptional is its complexity: songs are laid out like puzzles, ready for the subjectivity of the listener, with no obvious interpretations.

EMA is talking to us in Exile in the Outer Ring, and we ought to listen.

The album captures a mixture of genres that come together to create a really vulnerable and organic sound. Kesha uses Rainbow to let her listeners into her struggles, thoughts and true personality, something missing from her previous releases.

Omnion isn't hugely different from the Hercules albums that came before it, but that's not really the appeal of the group: their records have always been episodic because of their guest vocalists, and Omnion feels like checking in with a group of friends, the focus shifting with each new song.

Hippopotamus feels like the latest volume in an alternate cultural history formed of all the weird things that only Sparks are audacious enough to make songs about. It’s an admirable commitment to silliness.

[Terminal matches] the sweaty intensity and unstoppable forward-momentum of Circle's inimitable live shows. The material is extremely potent, too.

On the whole Good Nature brightly evokes the feeling of leaving your room and opening the doors and stepping outside.

It’s soppy in the right amount, but it captures the humour and truth in trying to make it through that quarter-life crisis. While it might never really reach the dizzying heights of Alvvays, it still shows the band head and shoulders above the rest.

Every Country’s Sun is an intent-drenched return to form from a band who, thank Christ, have never once abandoned it.

Whether it's the drifting of "Singalong Junk," the stripped down, jazz-cat prowling of "Mountain Moves," or the electro-tripping of "Sea Moves," Deerhoof have simply outdone themselves with Mountain Moves, an album that requires as much focus as it does imagination.

This is, by a long distance, the most introspective work that Murphy has yet turned out, and you can feel very palpably the weight of all those anxieties he cited during Shut Up and Play the Hits.

Hinson’s yarn-spinning ability that was so beautifully displayed in previous albums has not mellowed--it’s here, and rawer than ever.

Elytral is rarely a passive listen: Epworth’s maximalist approach means that every song throws up at least one surprising moment. Even the more pop-leaning tracks have uneasy elements.

Iif Lo Tom lands somewhere between dumb hard fun and thoughtful jangle it likely wasn’t a creative direction anyone agonized over.

If you aren’t into skits and novelty voice acting then you might struggle with the twenty five-high track listing. If you are though, you’re in for a treat.

Most of the tracks come in at under two minutes long; short drafts and ideas stitched together with smoky loops and obscure vocal samples. An atmospheric and pensive sound shrouds the majority of Rainbow Edition - the only thing missing is the underlying grooves that were found on their past releases, leaving some of these beats slightly too industrial and cold.

Music for People in Trouble perhaps doesn’t have the crossover appeal that Ten Love Songs had, and its head-on engagement with contemporary struggles will certainly not be for everyone. But for those who are done with escapism, at least for an hour or so, its sustained mood brings rich rewards.

A much more cohesive album than ...Like Clockwork, one that seems hell-bent on turning out an incendiary dance-rock record rather than constantly shifting stylistic shape in the way that last LP did.

It may be a relatively short listen, which can easily breeze past you if you don’t pay attention, but Swim Inside the Moon is a warning shot, a sign of things to come. This is just the beginning for Angelo De Augustine--an artist full of potential.

Obviously seven CDs need a major investment of time, but the investment is certainly rewarded.