The subject matter may be familiar territory, but this is no comfort zone.

It's a contented celebration of success with weed as the indisputable toasting substance of choice. The sound is bigger, with more detail, exhibiting more confidence to experiment.

Gregg Allman's history lesson may not match his finest recordings, but it's a diverting blues miscellany from an undoubted master.

An engaging diversion down a road which might be worth investigating further.

[Singles] I'm His Girl and Friend Crush both appear here, and though they're highlights, they don't eclipse the rest of this generally impressive debut LP.

Cole World reveals its maker to be a technically superb rapper with great production skills, albeit currently exploring rags-to-riches tales lacking in consistent vigour.

Colour of the Trap, impressive an achievement as it is, is begging for diminishing returns.

Mescaline-soaked narratives woven through hallucinatory images of Americana.

Although at times the tunes and excitement commonly associated with a debut album can become lost in painful pursuit of authenticity, this is a surefooted and uncompromising collection.

Spirit Fiction is jazz the way it's supposed to be: cool, chaotic, and unassuming. It's good music for the sake of good music.

On an album of depth and scale, Lytle is aiming to move mountains. It's big.

He has made another (mostly) sublime record.

There are ten other very fine songs here, this album shows Ritter developing continually, and there's potential for greatness, in time.

A mazy, fluid, ethereal suite of chamber jazz to get properly lost in.

At times, Spektor can be too cutesy... More often though, her little idiosyncrasies are charming.

In the end, Watch the Throne is a very noble attempt at cohesion, but its inconsistency ultimately stalls the project, resulting in an uneven recording that buckles under the weight of its own pressure.

The OF Tape Vol 2 is an excellent addition to the group's canon.

This is a charmingly youthful and exuberant album, featuring a fine selection of vocalists.

Small Craft... isn't an album that's going to change the world forever, but listened to in the right environment it sometimes does just that for a few minutes at a time.

This thoroughly enjoyable release does include one surprising blast of brass.

They seem to have stopped trying to subvert their pop nous and accept what they do best, and for the most part it works a treat.

The follow-up to 2010's Paupers Field, this set plunders the overarching melancholy of Townes Van Zandt, making for an emotionally draining listen.

At times The Light of the Sun veers towards self-indulgence, and some of its ideas are not fully followed through. On the whole, however, it is a rather lovely, emotional album that provides a beguiling snapshot of the current life of Jill Scott.

Of the nine songs that aren't singles already, four are cut from the same cloth as the hits: each one desperately vying to be the tune you most want to be dancing to when the realisation hits that you're out, the night is young, and everything is brilliant.

If there's a case to be made for formulating something serious out of classic pop and old-time hokum, Welch and Rawlings make it as well as anybody. So while just a bit of drums and bass would probably have broadened the record's appeal, we must give thanks for this stubborn duo's independence of mind.

For sheer frazzled sonics and sci-fi future textures, Heady Fwends can't be beat. Actual songs are few and far between, and anyone looking for heart-stopping melodies will be disappointed. But if you're in the mood for a 70-minute aural assault, listen no further.

Intensely individual without being overly self-indulgent, TOTEM offers an at-times madcap, at others beautiful but always-rewarding insight into Ryat's mystical and eccentric world.

Confess is an easy record to listen to and love.