There are a number of ear-worthy gems on the album but it’s difficult to muster up enthusiasm for a band that doesn’t seemingly have much enthusiasm themselves.

As the Stars is an album that can be appreciated on a purely musical level and a meditative level.

For the most part the music on Infinity is a skilfully crafted mixture of ambient soundscapes that are transformed into cohesive songs as Tiersen layers percussion and other elements across the initially sometimes formless tone generations that will inevitably have some listeners confused and others enraptured.

Whilst at times Cool Planet could have benefitted from more of the cohesiveness that marked out Motivational Jumpsuit, its detours and greater collaborative ethos also give Pollard, Sprout and co. greater room for ongoing creativity.

An entrancing, accomplished, and often uplifting record that will be heralded by the time the semi-tropics of a British summer arrive. A triumphant return.

Lithium Burns is a far too well crafted and assuredly performed record for a debut album.

Although as a whole Farmer’s Corner might lack a little of the respective earthiness and girth of more strictly acoustic and more amplified Wooden Wand releases, it achieves the clever feat of traversing a wide range of territory whilst sustaining the feeling of reclining comfortably in one location.

Ultimately, although Into Forever might not quite hit the same consistent heights as the meticulously-crafted Modular Living, it’s still a respectable and forward moving addition to the Eat Light Become Lights canon in own right.

Come Home to Mama is lyrically stiff on top of instrumental complexity. The lyrics need to be pulled way back. What does work are the opening beats and rhythms awash in a mix of sonic, ambient environments.

Mark the musical prowess of individual band members as key to fragile moments, nuances and nods to a variety of other styles: country twangs and slides, soul, classical, punk, funk, and even, blue-grass.

The self-produced LP is a stimulating listen with some compelling lo-fi sonic tricks employed with little need for mainstream approval.

It is both a timid musical experiment and a relatively directionless one at that.

Many of the songs feel like incomplete character sketches that simply gesture at yearning and crisis.... Salad Days is, nevertheless, an interesting piece of work.

Whilst the front-end and middle of the collection may take some repeat spins to fully earn affection, the two six minute epics that conclude proceedings are unquestionable gems from the first airing.

The album feels like a grab-bag of the band’s process, but not a cohesive expression of their craft.

They have indeed created an album that is ultimately rewarding and full of musical promise.

The Guided By Voices record making machine is in finely-tuned condition for the vast bulk of the Motivational Jumpsuit, keeping the gang of veterans on the reunion road without any embarrassment.

Inevitably, this strand of the release contains more obstacles for those unable to cope with the bedroom-birthed murkiness of the album as a whole. However, with some fine-tuning this less guitar-centric side of Keel Her could rise more positively to the fore in future.

Given the wider reach and greater ambition at play, Trouble is indeed a vastly improved Hospitality studio set. Admittedly, the album could have done with more a few more truly standouts statements.

Big World can be counted on to deliver a handful of jangly ditties and ho-hum, dreary interludes that don’t demand much from the listener beyond a slow drag on a cigarette while it spins in the background.

Mogwai’s newest offering, Rave Tapes, is a brooding masterpiece of a record.

A transitional yet still solid standalone long-player in short.

Taken as a whole, Little Sand Box may initially feel a tad overwhelming but in actuality it makes understanding Gelb’s solo records far less arduous due to its curatorial context-setting (which includes bonus tracks and informative sleeve notes). Moreover, it upholds Gelb’s vocation as the sociable solo journeyman as being equal in stature to his role as a veteran band leader.

The result is slightly overlong and occasionally repetitive, but it’s also a determined sounding reappraisal of the abilities of the three musicians and also an album that could slide unnoticed into the myriad of Indie releases of the last decade, raising only one or two significant ripples as it does so.

Sumie is not a record for all times, but when the moment strikes, it will deliver--with disarming simplicity--an intoxicating mixture of purity and potency.

It is refreshing to meander through the songs without any clear lines to cling onto or boxes to fit it in.

Nothing is Real is an eleven-song effort that showcases Crystal Antlers with a tighter outfit and in turn, a tighter release.

Despite the overall melange approach being a little uneven, there are some genuine delights to be found within.