Two or three songs slip into Jack Johnson-ish blandness, but for the most part The Sound of Sunshine makes good on the promise of its undeniably appetising title.

This is another tippy-toe step forward in a strange journey that's seen them steadily chart a course beyond the ubiquitous post-rock tag to take in orchestral pomp and clattering psych-outs as they forge some sort of hairy, woebegone chamber music for an indie set raised on Dirty Three and The Black Heart Procession.

Not quite yet the coherent full album that its time in the making hinted at, but nonetheless a welcome addition to record collections.

It's a sturdy set of mostly new material mixing Afrobeat and funk with traditional influences.

These are sleek soothing balms sombrely and meticulously crafted to usher the listener in.

There's little crowd-pleasing electro or fashionable dubstep on Higher Than the Eiffel, but Audio Bullys have made a welcome, well-produced and lively returning album that delivers the goods far more often than even fans could have expected.

Slave Ambient as a whole may be more confused than your average reality show star at a Mensa meeting, but it's full of decent songs with a lot of heart.

Everything is bound by a vocal that speaks to the soul... There are moments here, details of songs, which cause the throat to close, the eyes to widen.

While diehard converts won't feel short-changed, others might wonder whether the duo could have sprung more surprises similar to the appearance of the Harlem String Quartet on the classical fantasia Mozart Goes Dancing.

It'd be easy to breeze through Give Up the Ghost on first listen and take away nothing but the beauty of it all. Yet it sucks you in, and with every listen a new line flickers into the fray.

Here, they deliver a sequel as successor, less a follow-up and more an outright usurper from the underworld.

Every one of the 13 tracks on this album are co-writes that he's had a hand in, but all the same, a certain autobiographical tone predominates.

Best Coast still sound like Best Coast, but now they're tidier, shinier and looking us right in the eye.

Dense yet accessible, fleeting but full of memorable moments, Tricky's done here what he always does at his best: let the listener share the soundtrack of his involving, nomadic, outsider spirit.

She keeps the mood fairly moderate amongst Burton's fluid soundtrack, setting the pace with a wry bravado that makes this album a dynamic listen.

His carefree attitude skips through the different styles and beats here with a sense of fun and adventure.

The array of musical styles on show across The 2nd Law means that, like many of this band's past albums, it doesn't entirely coalesce into a seamless collection of songs... But when this album works, it works well.

These 10 songs often appear to be just elaborate jams, whipped up in the studio, with a few scribbled-down choruses added along the way.

This is no revolution, but Shit Robot has put together a seriously robust collection of party records.

Ultimately though, this one is a step up, its maker beginning to lean towards representing the sentiments of the men he stands for, developing a voice currently missing in RnB.

More quality grime would be nice, but Winner Stays On proves Roll Deep are no longer an underground crew trying to make pop: the charts are there for the taking.

[The closing track is] evidence of a big pink heart and of these musicians' ability to transcend their beats-based mindset. In other words, time for the boys to really future this.

Even when tracks pass without too much of an impression left, the listener is never without a smile on their face--there's simply that much fun on show.

Social Distortion are clearly unhurried by the passage of time and passing trends. And it shows, as this is a fine addition to their canon and proves they're full of a very important quality: life.

A wide array of producers means that Recovery isn't as consistent as Eminem's best albums--his second and third--but there are significantly more highlights here than on either of his previous two.

It's not exploring new musical frontiers, but Resolution is an eminently listenable heavy metal album.

If you avoid Mysterious Phonk during the impatient daytime hours, you'll find it impressively dark and uncomfortable.

For all the minor detours, Through Low Light and Trees is consistent in proffering a dreamy, timeless music which could have been recorded at any time in the last 40-odd years. That in itself is a kind of recommendation.