Me Moan is a flawed work, but even those who decide it’s not for them are likely to concede that no one else quite sounds like Gibson right now. With genuine originality at a premium these days, that’s to be wholeheartedly applauded.

With their eclectic cocktail of rock, pop, blues, jazz, soul, funk and traditional African music, these grandparents can still knock out an irresistible groove to match the best, but perhaps they need to be reminded that they should do it alone a little more often.

Wasted Years features another 16 blasters to add to your ‘essential punk’ playlist.

By the time the spine-tingling hidden track after the closing Wanderer Wandering has faded out, you’ll be convinced you’ve heard one of the best albums of the year.

In the space of an album, we discover the difference between contented coupon cutting and chronic coupon cutting. It’s a strong testament to Feels Like Home’s sheer quality that such balance is present throughout.

Flying Wig is a record that it’s probably easier to appreciate than it is to completely fall for. While this probably isn’t a record for a newcomer to Devendra Banhart, long-term fans will appreciate the change in direction.

It's great to hear this timeless artist so relaxed and enjoying herself. Perhaps if she continues her collaborative relationship with The Siss Boom Bang, future recordings could be even more special.

As the vocals get filthier, the beats get glitchier and it still consistently exudes class.

It's far from self-indulgent; their song choices and clever arrangements make Rant a real, if unexpected, delight.

There is a sense, though, that the nuances and detail of The Shakes need careful unpicking. It might be a return to dance music, but it’s far from disposable.

Those that prefer a little excitement would probably be best giving the album a miss and checking out the début instead; in all honesty, you’re more likely to find more thrills at one of your ‘old late great great great great great’ grandmother’s knitting and sewing evenings.

There are new tricks in these old dogs yet.

There's much to appreciate on this latest offering from Quasi but the band is certainly uncompromising and you need to be into loud drum workouts, the odd bit of white noise and occasional dissonance to enjoy it fully.

Drokk should not be dismissed as a niche project--it's dark, rich and compelling in its own right.

Minor grumbles aside, however, Two Thousand And Ten Injuries is a deliriously fun listen, one that manages to suck you into its own little world for half an hour.

It will be intriguing to see where Cass McCombs goes next. A little more light and shade wouldn't go amiss, yet even his dark side is eminently loveable.

The band's relatively quick turnover suggests a restless creative spirit. However Sun Gangs harnesses that to communicate music of a raw emotional power, a record that should open more doors for the band than it closes.

The four pieces here make an album that carries a powerful impact, as well as recognising the obvious talents of both composers in writing for the string orchestra. The down side of this is that because of the performing forces the textures stay relatively similar the whole way through, and listening to all four pieces at once is not the best way to experience the album as a whole.

The lack of introspective revelation is part of the whole mystique, and this debut album offers a striking first glimpse into The Child Of Lov’s bewitching melting pot of sounds.

Throughout the 10 songs both performers are clearly having fun, and yet--as you might expect from its Ghost Stories title--there is darkness at the heart of this album. For that reason it is the perfect Yuletide accompaniment, capturing perfectly the comforts and wonder of the season--but also the awkwardness nobody wants to talk about.

There is more of interest on Sixteen Oceans than on 2017’s New Energy, and there is certainly nothing here that’s outright bad, but Four Tet is still stuck in something of an artistic rut.

Having done so with great assurance, he has made an album of lasting appeal which responds well to repeated listening.

Nevertheless anyone wishing to appreciate not simply the overwhelming skill of a drummer at the very top of his game, but also one of the cleverest, best-constructed, most arresting releases of the year, should certainly pay this album a visit.

The tracks all flow into each other, giving the album the feel of a particularly eclectic DJ mix, and overall it proves to be a fascinating, varied, atmospheric release that was thoroughly worth the wait.

C’mon You Know’s problem is that, after the initial bluster of his two preceding albums, it just sounds distinctly pedestrian, complacent and reflective. The addition of wisps of trippy phasing, looped drums and a diversion into dub (eek!) all add up to songs that seem just a bit too contrived and calculated to really feel like he ‘means it man’.

This is musical execution at its most lavish.

Almost certainly his best effort since 2001's "Labour Days," None Shall Pass finds Aesop Rock at the top of his game with a consistent piece of work rather than simply a passable album.

No One Is Lost isn’t a bad record: most of its songs are put together with care and the results are highly listenable. It’s just a shame the band seemed to lose their nerve in its execution.

This is an urgent, enormously enjoyable LP.

Side A listens more personal and vulnerable, whereas side B, named EG.0, allows the pop goddess within to let rip.

The Penguin Cafe’s conviction that it will be fine before eleven is clear in this album. Its sunny musical disposition, vibrant rhythms and eloquent melodies make it their best since Arthur Jeffes revived the name.

Merchandise are a band at a crossroads, and After The End reflects that--they’ve proved here that they’re very good at creating accessible indie-pop, but seem more comfortable with their more brooding side.

It's not a bad album, it's not a good album, it's merely an alright album and that's the real problem.

Tales From Barrel House is by no means without flaw, it's too untameable for that--but when it shines at its brightest, it is every bit as alive as the people and lands it attempts to portray.

What may at first come across as a bottled up effort does in fact reveal astounding complexity on repeated listening.

Even when he doesn't quite get the dynamics right, Sivu's gift for melody never deserts him.

An album that finds Nesbitt in the midst of personal and artistic self-discovery. She’s almost there, just a few more seasons.

This album is an acquired taste that may struggle to win a larger audience. If you’re a Grumbling Fur fan, though, you might just like this effort more than any of his other solo collections.

The rock history books have not been as generous to Live Skull as to their contemporaries, but with luck this crazy melodic record will go some way to restoring them as kings and queens of the urban jungle.

While perhaps lacking the simple yet intricate beauty of his purely instrumental work, In The Furrows of Common Place is another strong release from Ghedi, and fans of Chris Wood, Alasdair Roberts, Seth Lakeman and other modern folk luminaries will find much to enjoy in this confident and atmospheric collection of songs.

Philips is very much the band’s driving force. Her musical persona is a collage of punk-rock heroines and sliver-screen starlets. She has the rebelliousness of Kathleen Hanna with the lusty charm of Poison Ivy.

Throughout this eventful record Flohio keeps a clear sense of lyrical and stylistic integrity, and by the time Against The Grain’s glitchy percussion cuts out to reveal solitary reverbed chords we’re left with one of the standout rap albums of the year.

It possesses that raw energy that was present in two other exciting debuts, Is This It? by The Strokes and Definitely Maybe by Oasis.

Fragments does not outstay its welcome, but only because it isn’t distinctive enough to be consciously welcomed in the first place. Recommended for owners of trendy cafes and companies in need of hold music.

For a debut album, Quarter Life Crisis is a remarkably confident, assured record, even if it does feel a bit front-loaded by putting most of the more immediate pop bangers in the first half of the album.

The melodic writing is good but not always as memorable as Daft Punk’s pop sensibilities would suggest. Yet there is much here to enjoy, and to suggest the next chapter in Thomas Bangalter’s career will see him flourish as an orchestral composer.

A sweet, cheery and summery collection of folk tunes that sometimes verges on a more commercial surfy sound akin to Jack Johnson while still remaining on the right side of lovely.

Get Back is a really great record, and one that goes some way to cementing McBean’s name amongst the legendary lifers that he’s trying (successfully) to emulate.

This is a fantastic, passionate and wonderfully eccentric debut album that's also a thrilling advert of what's to come.

Anyone with even a passing interest in Royksopp--whose ears have been pricked by an Eple or Poor Leno--could do far worse than immerse themselves in one of 2009's greatest releases.

Speculation aside, the music that Childs and Blake have produced here is gentle, unassuming and good humoured. It won't change the world, but it will warm the hearts of those fortunate enough to hear it.

Sure, it may be playful, uncomplicated and slightly honey-glazed but there is plenty here for music lovers of all ages to enjoy.

Both Roedelius and Schneider have developed their own language and way to communicate with each other through sound. It’s this symbiotic and serene balance that makes listening to Tiden a largely enriching experience.

It may not be music for the ringtone generation, but for anyone who appreciates the understated power and drama that Sigur Rós can do so well, this is an essential purchase

For now, Held In Splendor is a promising, if limited, stepping stone.

Innundir Skinni is still a worthy achievement, it's emotional but not melodramatic; understated yet grand. But it is a mixture rather than a whole and lacks the cohesion of Arnalds' inspiring first album.

Hibbert’s voice certainly sounds older, perhaps even a little weaker, but it still has a communicative power that sometimes allows it to sit at the forefront of the music.

It hangs together well and the songs are decently written. But most listeners need something more, an undeniable quality that is completely unique to a band. A Unique Selling Point, if you will. Hospitality have not found theirs yet.

The loud, distorted, lo-fi West Coast tone dominates the album, and this is the terrority where Goldstein performs most engagingly. Where he attempts a more stripped-down approach (on Fall, or the ukelele-led title track) the results are less successful.

The liberated, enlivened music on You Have Already Gone To The Other World proves they are still one of the genre’s indispensable players.

Thankfully, McCartney appears to be grasping the nettle and squeezing the most out of life and his apparently never-ending songbook. A definite thumbs up.

While her debut On A Mission was a bold hashing-together of genres, equal parts R&B-feels and electro bombast, Little Red rides a comparatively low tidal ebb. But there’s more than enough here to suggest Katy B will be bringing the tunes a while yet.

This album is a fine addition to his collection of socially conscious afrobeat. It’s a sound and approach that pays debt to his father, but is forged in Femi Kuti’s own singular identity.

Go Dig My Grave might not hit the heights of some of her earlier albums, and is certainly a more uneven collection, but it shows Susanna to still be fascinated by the power of sad songs and in possession of a distinctive, singular ability of re-presenting them.

Future Politics is another impressive step in the evolution of Austra: while the band’s second album was a move towards shiny, commercial pop, the follow up sees a more sparse, fragile collection of songs.

Whilst it is certainly unlikely that Key To The Kuffs will do much to alter prevailing opinion towards his work, the record will serve as a worthy addition to Dumile's increasingly fascinating discography.

Just as the early promise of the album looks to be coming unwound, closing track Pictures Of A Bird finds the band in fine form.

While the length is an issue, when Quasi do get it right, the results are up there with some of the best work they have produced over the last two decades.

The problem with Little Neon Limelight isn’t so much the quality of the songs, as they’re generally an intriguing bunch. It’s that it could be rather too eclectic a collection to listen to in one sitting.

The demanding nature of One--a persisting, unrelenting jolt of energy--gets tiring after a while, but there’s no doubt that the highs are incredibly high.

There are 14 tracks all in all, together with a couple of skits. Yet Smith refuses to fall into this trap, by some smart sequencing of the tracks: with the ballads mostly gathered towards the end of the record, Falling Or Flying feels like a coherent album rather than a collection of tracks stringed together.

Far is her best album yet, and while it's a long way from early works such as Soviet Kitsch or 11:11, it perfectly illustrates the evolution of a woman who's becoming a truly great artist.

If you ignore the obvious filler and give it time to wash over, Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under is an enjoyable set of songs that will linger long in the memory.

On balance, Ultraviolence is ok, tending towards pretty good. However, there is a nagging wonderment over exactly where Del Rey goes from here.

It shouldn't work at all, but the overall product--while a bit uneven--is something to celebrate.

Fans of grunge, hard rock, and various types of metal will find a lot to like about these songs. Ladyfinger (ne) blend elements carefully and in such a way as to avoid kitsch.

What’s most impressive about Black Hours is how Leithauser can bounce from one style to another without disrupting the flow of the album.

Surrounding contemporary anxieties within a collage of expertly designated snatches of melody, the record feels slight at first glance before eventually revealing its complexities to the listener, without ever suggesting notions of self-pity.

Dulli is a man still capable of the best in sweat-soaked R&B flavoured rock ‘n’ roll, but he now has a range of subtler, more graceful maneuvers too.

A superb album.

Luckily, there’s enough energy imparted by the snappy drums and darkly driving basslines to keep it interesting, giving structure to the more ethereal elements without overpowering them. If the thought of trawling through the ’90s again leaves you cold, pop this on and party like its 1980.

It’s a great release by one of the UK’s most promising bands, and lays down a foundation for them to build on being melodious and aggressive.

Here Come The Tears sounds like the best album that Suede never made, full of romantic, smouldering pop songs with a soaring depth to them.

A welcome snapshot, for it is that, of the Brakes live experience, in which there is absolutely no padding, total passion and commitment, and the odd wistful aside away from the bluster.

The duo neither pretends to revisit its successful past nor claims a faux renaissance, instead opting for an honest, if solid, collection of songs.

For the most part, Tall Ships have delivered an album that lives up to the promise of their early EPs.

Overall, Bugbears is an album that reveals something new on repeat listens.

There are still creases to iron out, but Antiphon marks a significant step as Midlake move on to the next phase of their career.

This is an album that requires immersion; many of the themes and motifs are barely there and need the blanks to be filled in. It is a sonic adventure, scary, exciting and otherworldly.

Hughes isn’t about to change that with Eirenic Life, but this work offers a warming, soothing relaxation state that is a welcome antidote to the troubles of everyday life currently engulfing us, and may appeal to fans of Brian Eno in particular.

SCUM is rarely subtle and its relentless pace can become a little bit much at times. Yet there’s enough promise here to suggest that with more development and quality control, Ratboy could grow into an artist of significant stature.

No half measures or quarters are given, and as a tribute to Pierre Henry it is a fitting piece of work indeed. Yet the lack of human feeling continues to be a problem, and the unremitting bleakness of Oxymore – though accurate for our age – makes it an album for admiration rather than love.

The results are, predictably enough, a mixture of the great, the average and the bloody awful.

The result is an record of rare beauty, like catching a glimpse of an uncommonly beautiful sunset or a finely crafted ice sculpture.

While Leave Me Alone has its flaws as an album, it’s the perfect summation of where Hinds find themselves at the moment. And when the sunny riffs of Castigadas En El Granero kick in, you’ll want to follow them to see where they’re going in the future.

Little here really pushes the boat out for Rhys, and some of his eccentricities seem to have been toned down in favour of a casual and restrained atmosphere.

The instrumental Summer Jam also seems a bit throwaway, and being the closing track also ensures that the album ends on a bit of a damp squib rather than a flourish. Overall though, there is more than enough on Summer 08 to reconfirm Metronomy’s position as one of this country’s wittiest, most original and purely enjoyable pop acts.

Notwithstanding the occasional background music tendencies, The Bird And The Bee is a solid debut which will undoubtedly attract most connoisseurs of intelligent pop.