This is uncommonly powerful music, created from common instruments.

Felix Da Housecat’s shift into the wastelands of punk- funk and No Wave has given ‘Devin Dazzle And The Neon Fever’ the feel of an excursion into virgin territory.

This is music best heard in the dark, on your back.

It’s ridiculously eclectic, yet uniformly affecting; a winter warmer that moves with a mysterious grace.

By far her best yet.

His mumbled burr recalls that half-awake state where reality melts, a strain of Southern Gothic best listened to at 3am with a half-empty bottle of bourbon and all the lights on.

No affectation, no pandering to fashion, just good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. How refreshing.

It’s Kweller’s lyrics and voice that do it though; joy and melancholy combined to deliver pop as uplifting as Weezer and rock that’s as unsubtle as Kings of Leon, with anti-folk and Merseybeat along for what is a thrill-filled ride.

There’s plenty of impressive tongue-twisting here, but as the re-working of ‘Feel So Good’ illustrates, he’s even more impressive when he slips down a gear to work the ladies.

Often you’re left amazed at the fact that this is the work of just one man.

This is a rock ‘n’ roll album in the same way that ‘Fun House’ was a rock ‘n’ roll album.

Their most accomplished album to date.

Shows that Jon Langford’s voice has lost bite but gained growl.

There’s nothing even remotely punk-funk here, instead conventional structures are stretched, shattered and re-assembled.

This is like saddling up with a fearless, interdimensional astronaut; fasten your seat belts.

Catching electronica in it’s embryonic state and somehow fusing it together with lush folk stylings, weathered ambience and the slightest - most beautiful - trace of vocals ‘Summer Makes Good’ is a truly breath-taking record.

It will take at least ten listens before you hear everything that’s going on, and ten more to understand it, yet this is far from impenetrable; it boasts a melody line that any pop princess would sell her plastic soul for, and prompts the idea that Knopf and his cohorts have been hanging around a crossroads doing just the same.

Striped of its proto-emo veneer this is sterling stuff, which - although fraught with angst - is run through with a mellow, humbling tone that is as infectious and accessible as it is true to hardcore’s staunch code of ethical values.

This is deep, rich, slightly unnerving and very very beautiful music. [combined review of both discs]

It’s not so much that Electrelane’s signature film score sound has been replaced, more added to and built upon; becoming the veiled framework to a new - almost celebratory - level of contentment.

The band's most accessible, blithe pop record to date.

It’s gorgeous, moving and magnificent.

For the first time in nearly a decade Cypress Hill sound like they’re really enjoying themselves, just like they were in the beginning.

‘When It Falls’ is not an immediate album, it’s a slow burner and one day, after countless hours playing it in the background, you’ll hear something that makes you turn it up; that’s the moment that it hooks you.

Disco, punk and pop, all in one bag.

It sounds like he’s cherry-picked his record collection in an attempt to allow the listener a glimpse into his restless mind.

‘Liberation’ is the most damning indictment of the Bush administration yet recorded, and it’s all subliminal. Magnificent.

A significant broadening of the tonal spectrum notwithstanding, the outfit manages to keep their ferocity intact, although the malevolence is structured with a shrewd infusion of melodic vocals, flourishing experimental dynamics and a motherlode of striking riffs.