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

It's Kemp's uncompromising beat patterns and bouncing, funk-infused basslines that ultimately deserve the spotlight here.

The result is a strange paradox in typical Animal Collective style: a suite of songs that’s at times alien, other times sentimental; often cutesy, but a little too bristly to curl up with under a blanket.

It’s fair to say that, from a purely musical point of view, this is far from Herbert’s best work, but that’s hardly the point; The End Of Silence aims to unseat us and provoke a more profound engagement with the events around us, and to that end it’s a success.

It's really working out for him.

Trap Lord’s such a tightly bound listen, however, that it jars when it misses the mark.

Ghettoville might chronicle a dark patch for Actress, but once it hits its stride it’s as good, and as full of life, as anything he has produced.

The result is a curious mix: a subtle and often beautiful record about not very much at all.

The Flower Lane is arguably not as essential, nor quite as oddly memorable as previous collected Ducktails instalments, but it does appear to be a new phase of the band.

[Ciara sounds] blissfully triumphant and uncomplicated on a record from start to finish.

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

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.

It's playful and skittish, with equal time spent showcasing Black Milk's sample (and scratch!)-heavy beats and Brown's rhymes.

Stealth Of Days is sonic candyfloss, delectable on the taste buds but fleeting too. Added to which, as with candyfloss, you might find yourself tiring of the flavour before long.

Primal but denatured, >> leaves you feeling wired, lethal and focused; dehumanized.

Ticks all the boxes you'd expect of retro-futurist cosmic disco – chugging italo basslines, chunky synths, ridiculous arpeggios, crashing guitars straight outta Miami Vice – but it's the way they're put together that elevates it into more interesting and original territorry.

It's very difficult not to like these songs--for their clarity and craftmanship, but also the strength of their ideas.

Faced with trying to communicate a feeling as raw as lost love, he too has reached for the cliches. They may be banal and apparently devoid of sincerity, but for Blunt, they capture our inability to say what we mean or mean what we say in these strange, post-ideological times.

It just is: mindless, unfathomable--a little like the digital fracas of our online lives.

Remember Your Black Day is about that feeling of grim portent, the cold fear that leaks in through your TV screen, the dread that hunts you down, even as you sprawl on a sun lounger and sip your cocktail and stare out at the sea.

The Keychain Collection is an album of miniatures painted in tiny brushstrokes, and its relative attenuation belies the richness of its details.

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 someone compiles their favourite 12 tracks from it, they may well have their album of the year, but in its current state With Love is pretty far from a classic.

I'm still waiting for the Tin Album that will bowl me over and convince me of his importance, but Vienna Blue is a loafered step in the right direction.

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.

While a demonstrable knack for narrative composition gives the album much of its immersive power, Kuopio isnʼt a huge departure from the blueprint.

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

An incredibly interesting debut album that's nearly as clever as its creators intended.