Good Kid, m.A.A.d City impresses with its diversity and scope, but it's not just a record to admire: put simply, there's an embarrassment of killer material here.

It’s as if they’ve recaptured innocence. It’s the only way to describe what you feel had to have happened in order for the band to preserve the very essence of what was the music of their youth, in such a way that goes beyond replication.

The Seer is clearly brilliant, and may even be Swans' finest album yet, three decades in.

Calling the album “ambitious” doesn’t capture the order of magnitude with which Lamar has expanded his scope, as he moves from the singular to the plural without ever straying from the personal.

This is Kanye’s record: a cornucopia of concepts and collaborators reduced to a singular vision. That vision is what makes Yeezus stand out as one of Kanye’s finest moments.

Even at its most oppressive (in particular the songs from Thursday), every haunted note of Trilogy seems blissful.

At Shaking the Habitual’s core are the processes of deconstruction and reconstruction, so rare in the tradition of mostly reiterative pop music that the album feels transgressive, even though its underlying ideologies are reasonable rather than radical.

As far as historic compilations go, this is an undeniable belter, successfully capturing music with a very particular energy worth celebrating.

Whether or not stadium pop is to everyone’s taste, this is it in its smartest and most human form.

By blending the conceptual drive of Post-Foetus and the organic songwriting of Baths, Wiesenfeld has delivered on the promise of Cerulean and found his place among contemporaneous pop experimenters like Grimes and Autre Ne Veut.

Henke is always at great pains to direct Monolake so that it exists in a constant dialogue with the dancefloor and with its multifarious abstract leanings, Ghosts pushes that challenge to its limits. That it succeeds on both counts whilst balancing a fictive pathway with real emotion only makes it more remarkable.

Ruins is one of her finest works, full to the brim with emotion in spite of the aching space at its heart.

Black Metal is an exceptional record. It is a stronger, more complete statement even than that seen on The Redeemer, primarily because it lays bare its own contradictions.

Almost overwhelming in places, and certainly distinct, Light Asylum is, quite simply, a brilliant album from musicians who deserve immense respect.

Björk’s most fully realised, accessible record in years.

A creative leap forward doesn’t always have to mean changing your entire identity, and few albums show that as lucidly as The Weighing of the Heart.

Beyoncé is a stronger personal statement than Magna Carta… Holy Grail, less self-indulgent than The 20/20 Experience, and (in its own way) as dark and confrontational as Yeezus.

No Love Web Deep is another scintillating missive from one America's most conceptually rich hip-hop acts.

Berberian Sound Studios is a wonderful, intense and darkly beautiful legacy to Keenan's unique character, and testament to the band's continuing ability as their world changes.

Holter may write stunning pop-tinged songs, but she’s an experimental artist through and through.

At times, notably in Born to Die's first half, it's a little too perfect, with songs meticulous to the point where they become sterile, but when it starts to find form, I can't think of an album since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy that was this big and sounded this good.

That’s the achievement of Spaces: not simply to replicate the music of Frahm’s concerts, divine though it is, but to evoke the events’ communal intimacy.

It’s really, really beautiful--beauty as it should be in music: something precious, elusive and exotic, or indeterminate, a little sad and more than a little elegant.

R.I.P is a fantastical, fascinating album: as Actress intended, it feels not really of this world.

It’s huge fun and sounds just as big.

If Goldenheart was a monumental but monolithic edifice of an album, Blackheart is a shape-shifting house of mirrors in permanent flux, light where its predecessor was heavy, welcoming instead of forbidding.

As an exhilarating listen and the perfect reflection of Black Jazz Records’ singular musicians, Black Jazz Signature is a record you will probably keep and return to for life.

Doris is miles ahead of 2010’s Earl, and on it, Earl surpasses nearly all of his contemporaries (save perhaps “King of New York” Kendrick Lamar, who is comparatively a grizzled veteran at 26).

Combined with Köner's solo work, Biokinetics is a pivotal moment in electronic music and a decisive moment in one of the most important and brilliant oeuvres in contemporary music.

In both musical and studio accomplishment Holy Other has come into his own as strong, individual, musical voice; Held is a strong display of this and is going to make a lot of people very happy indeed.

Transverse is an exceptionally immersive, expertly captured documentation of a tumultuous performance that has already earned a place in recent history.

A record whose main theme may be death, but whose power comes from Kozelek’s vivid celebration of life.

It is certainly every bit its predecessor, but through a more meditative, contemplative use of elements it is even better.

From the evocative title on down, there is nothing about Cut 4 Me that doesn’t challenge the listener’s expectations of what R&B can be in 2013 and beyond.

XXX might just represent the most polished and fully formed manifestation of street-meets-art rap so far.

It stands out as one of the year's most demanding, lasting listens.

Overgrown is a heartening step in the right direction, and reassurance that Blake’s talents are far from on the wane.

Ominousness is woven into the fabric of Until Silence, where beauty and bleakness coexist synergistically, as though it’s impossible to have one without the other.

La Roux’s march may has slowed to a stroll, but she proves here that she can captivate at any pace.

Aerotropolis manages to navigate its concept without being crushed by the weight of it, and is a thoroughly enjoyable LP that--perhaps like Ikonika herself--will only mature with time.

If the album never quite reaches the tune-packed heights of 808s, the overall listen is utterly melting.

Chance of Rain hinges on uncertainty and fluctuating pressure, not outpouring. It’s impersonal, then, but never inhuman.

The result leaves the listener with less of a sense of control and more of an experience controlled by someone who knows exactly what they are doing.

As anyone who’s spent a night lurking by the subwoofers knows, these tracks have the power to rearrange internal organs. Uncomfortable though that may sound, it’s a pleasure to experience.

Aquarius is quite a complicated and accomplished album in that it’s amplified the potential of the mixtapes, making Tinashe into an unquestionable contender for real popstar status, without sacrificing the weirdo introspective soul that made them so special.

Soused may not be the best record either Sunn O))) or Walker have released in the last few years--those accolades go to Monoliths & Dimensions and The Drift, respectively--but it’s still an endlessly compelling work, the match between singular solo artist and the pivotal group every bit as thrilling as you’d expect.

Drone albums are by their nature immersive, but it’s rare to come across one so tempestuous, evocative and compelling from start to finish as Wilderness of Mirrors.

Shabazz Palaces deserve credit where it’s due for building their sound outward; if Black Up established their status as hip-hop outliers, then Lese Majesty solidifies their place in the pantheon of rap’s oddball geniuses.

Voices From The Lake is serene and sinister, hides more than it reveals and is so entirely absorbing that you could lose yourself in it indefinitely.

Each track says something different, but with his honest subject matter and his unique arrangements constantly in focus, Snaith never loses his way.

Sandison and Eoin have produced an album that, in spite of its considerable runtime, is genuinely absorbing and convincing in its narrative sweep.

Only ‘The Seasons Won’t Change (And Neither Will You)’ feels slightly extraneous. Otherwise, Restless Idylls is all we might have hoped for in a Tropic Of Cancer LP.

I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up as the best dubstep album released this year.

Punk Authority confirms Swanson as no longer just a man with potential, but an institution in his own right.

It’s an impressive achievement--and, what’s more, one that’s likely to piss of his fans a treat.

4Eva and a Day is--modestly, but definitely--a triumph.

Packed with bold ideas and striking new forms, Da Mind Of Traxman Volume 2 is as good a testament as any to the ongoing vitality of footwork.

Krell’s most complete album to date: not because it exactly answers the question of where his position is in relation to pop--nor the question of the title, nor any questions at all--but because it perfectly captures that oscillation that has always been at the centre of his work.

The Idler Wheel... is her most adult work yet, a record that's underpinned by the fundamental grown-up characteristic of embracing one's own ridiculous, stubborn dysfunction because, Hell, what other option is there?

There’s definitely an ancient, unformed quality here, and it results in some of Lustmord’s most inspiring work to date.

Ultimately the genius of Kiss Land‘s production lies in its ability to literalise Tesfaye’s fractured state of mind.

Instrumentally, the record has all the hallmarks of Super Furry Animals meeting Boom Bip--Rhodes and Wurlitzer, squelchy analogue synths, guitars and keyboards, metronomically tight live drums, Rhys’ brilliantly Welsh-accented American falsetto. Musically and lyrically it also possesses all of the keen humour of the former, modest and understated to a tee.

If his aim was to give musical form to the eastern DRC’s “unnerving beauty and unflinching horror”, then A U R O R A is a dazzling success.

Rinse Presents: Royal-T takes his biggest anthems to date--the abrasive, ferocious 'Orangeade' and the gloriously untethered 'Cool Down'--and builds on them in every direction.

The Narcissist II is so compelling because it is conceptually so much more rigorous and consistent, so much richer with internal resonances than its duo-created cousins.

Everything about the record suggests a separation and a self-contained existence, like a second novel, and is wonderful for it.

The result is a collection of intriguing, often beautiful miniatures--gems to be cherished and enjoyed, sonic curiosities that reward repeated listening.

LHF offer up their most extensive, immersive work to date.

With this record Laurel Halo has created a strong work that, while being notable and challenging for its unusual, compact combination of pop, ambience and musique concrète, is also immersive and enjoyable for this exact reason.

In short, this album holds together even better than On a Mission, and Katy B is still our best pop star.

Legacy’s most obviously rewarding moments, then, are when Space pushes this alien thrill to its limit.

It succeeds as an exploration of bodies, but more specifically, of the kinds of tension created by the dichotomies between them and within them, throughout an intimately crafted pop record that treads that careful line between wallowing and pleasure in the way that all the very best pop records do.

On paper Vapor City looked like Stewart’s descent into a sump of his own pompousness; in reality it’s anything but.

A largely beatific album, it propagates love over high living, but also shipped is the urban locale, the one-dimensional serenading and the cartoonish sexuality that informs a significant percentage of mainstream r'n'b, substituted for the same precocious wisdom, emotional intelligence, writerly nuance and reasoned portrayal of lust displayed on the Tumblr post.

Sebenza demonstrates yet again that LV are an act as admirable as they are on, on their day, masterful.

It’s Album Time is an impressively balanced and varied record.

Raw Solutions is spirited, fiercely effective club music with nothing to hide.

The theme of pining which was thread throughout her debut mixtape Cut 4 Me is still present here, but more pointed and poetic this time around. Each song beams with growth.

It’s the sheer energy on display that pushes Run The Jewels 2 through. The production is popping throughout, funky as hell, and often dotted with unexpected twists and turns.

Al Qadiri doesn’t just walk the line, she strides.

The journey bounds from emotional high to low and back again: ecstasy and agony can both cause tearful eyes and heart palpitations.

The hard-won fruits of this album have been worth it.

The Pinkprint is ultimately Nicki’s most cohesive project.

Yes, fine songs. But in part, though, a little of the success of July should be attributed to producer Randall Dunn.

With Ultraviolence, Lana Del Rey remains a singular figure in music, sounding (and addressing the idea of authenticity) like no one else.

As with any major pop album, LP1 is a crew effort, there’s no doubt as to whose hand is on the rudder.

DS2 is a relentless, dud-free hour that adds in most of his recent highlights to complete the story of his last year.

This honest emotional core is something that Vincent has always put into his music, but rarely has it felt quite so effortless as it does here. It’s the kind of album you could imagine non-house and techno fans getting behind quite easily, and shows that his appeal shouldn’t just be limited to vinyl collectors.

Ultimately, Beauty Behind the Madness is a heftier House of Balloons. Its weight is carried in the access to better production and drugs, and what the album truly accomplishes is proving that The Weeknd has never been wretched.

Considering that Ferreira is a twenty-one-year-old major label pop artist exploring indie rock on a highly-anticipated debut, songs born of manifold frustration and uncertainty, Night Time, My Time is a defiant and assured listen.

House Of Woo is one of the sparkier dance albums of the year so far, and a gem amidst all the buncombe.

Welcome To Mikrosector-50 is that rare thing--an electronic full-length that demands to be consumed as album, and reveals more with each return visit.

A record that pushes a catholic range of sounds through filter after filter, and turns out something at once smudgy and beautiful.

Despite its patchier moments, fIN's effective command of light and shade make for an involving listen, and it's a sound that's pretty much Talabot's own.

Though the songs on Swisher are occasionally a little too long--even the shortest is more than five minutes, and ‘Andrew’ nearly 10--they’re mostly dynamic and varied enough that boredom never really has the chance to set in.

Overall, Jamie Lidell errs on the side of caution with its inherent love affair with Prince but remains playful and original in almost every other respect, which is what makes it such a cohesive and enjoyable listen.

Five songs coming in just under 18 minutes of superior darkly-stranded pop music.

By and large, the songs on Why Do the Heathen Rage? are brilliantly executed hybrids that manage to subvert received ideas even once you’ve processed the album’s premise, thanks to superb transposing and Daniel’s knack for lashing together motifs from utterly different styles.