On Shangri-La YACHT have proven that no matter what the concept is, it always comes down to the music.

Much advance word of Lou Reed and Metallica's excursion has been one of bewilderment and dismissal. It may well be, though, that in the fullness of time this is an album that is given the praise it deserves.

Glowing Mouth is a polished, well-arranged album that could find a happy home in countless collections.

A consistent second album of big choruses from the New Yorkers.

All three players are articulating a ceaseless stream of fresh ideas throughout this electrically energised session.

The strongest tracks here stand tall, ensuring Monch remains a powerful rap force.

Perhaps finding mass appeal has given Tim Smith and his band-mates the confidence to take their ideas into darker, brooding waters, and further harness the influence of classic British prog-folk. But whatever the motivation, it's a mood that suits.

A hugely entertaining dance-rock romp.

Never Trust a Happy Song is far from a cohesive album, but that actually works to its advantage--because it encapsulates the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, of this emotional rollercoaster known as life.

Across these varied tracks we hear Wretch 32 in all of his lyrical glory, making good on the promise he's shown since day one.

For any bootlegging rappers with cerebral ambitions, this could represent the greatest thinking man's beat tape of all time. To mere listeners, it's an enveloping temporary distraction, more than fulfilling its purpose of whetting anticipation for El-P's mic-wielding return.

Streten proves that potential mass appeal need not come at the expense of creative flair or fresh ideas.

It's a tight 40 minutes of compacted, runaway virtuosity.

If you are looking for a quick musical fix, Art Department may burn too slowly for you. But if nine-minute deep house edits infected by the spirit of Larry Levan, Virgo and Basic Channel are your bag, then you'll not be straying too far from the gaze of the mistress you call house music.

Loma Vista is a fine album of songs of love, longing and celebration that would sound at its best when cruising along a B road in a soft-top, or stumbled across while wandering around a free festival while a bit tipsy.

This is an airy (but not aerated) blend of ambience, indie pop and 80s synth music, delivered with a grace that ensures they're miles from lo-fi territory.

It meets expectations, and while surpassing them is something achieved only occasionally, this is a record that well complements a no-work state of mind.

EE are wilfully eccentric, and endlessly entertaining, but they know more than most how to craft a song, how to make an album.

Although there is much which doesn't automatically burn itself to the cerebral cortex, the standout sections are not found rooted in melody but in the less obvious aspects, like the siren-styled synth motifs of Goons.

These 11 tracks flow fantastically, sounding like products of a focused period of writing and recording, completed over a relatively short space of time.

Jiaolong is an effortless collection that just won't quit.

It's a comfortable masterclass, in short, from a songwriter in complete command of his aesthetic.

Fans of the man whose Brill Building work helped shape the pop landscape of the mid-60s can enjoy this interesting collection: 23 mono tracks from the period where Diamond was only beginning to make his name as an artist in his own right.

Peace take the past and swish it about with a bit of swagger, and the results are just dandy.

So wonderfully compelling is it all that it's easy to miss how seriously impassioned Maus can be.

Dear's fifth album sees the songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist, singer, producer, DJ and all-round clever dick making a bigger, more accessible sound.

Produced by ECM proprietor Manfred Eicher, Snakeoil sounds as good as any album from Berne, without conforming to stereotypes of "the ECM sound".

At their most stripped-back, Woods have always been arresting – but here they realize some of their most beautiful work yet.