We have this perfectly pleasant and assuming piece of synth pop, neighing through a vocoder with the dying breath of the shamelessly beaten horse of retro-futurism.

The whole thing comes off as either an expensive major label joke or nigh-impenetrable high art concept. Maybe both.

Trust Now doesn't have the earnestness or perhaps shear quality of songwriting as Shadow Temple, and it feels a bit homogenized where its predecessor felt cohesive.

Tarot Classics isn't remarkable, but it reminds you just how good Surfer Blood are when it comes to songwriting, just how much fun it is to listen to this band, even if they're getting a tad gloomier.

So, for now we're left with another Noel Gallagher album that continues in the same trend of most of Oasis' output, trying to be something greater than it is. But hey, at least it's better than Beady Eye.

It may not be as game-changing or complete as †, but Audio, Video, Disco has the exact same energy, intrigue, ear for melody and air of defiance as the group's glittering debut.

Bad As Me is yet another sensational landmark on the long, well-traveled path of a man who simply refuses to age.

Mount Wittenberg Orca is uniquely and charmingly straightforward.

Ultimately, Mylo Xyloto feels like a mixed bag of ideas that never really comes together.

They need to find their identity, and they're going to have to move forward and progress even further as a group if they want to move beyond being a flavor of the month.

It promises even better material to come if he can blend the astounding songcraft from earlier efforts with the atmosphere of this album.

This is a great pop-rock album because it doesn't feel the need to be anything else.

Without striving to be as overtly melodramatic as some of her contemporaries, Murray harnesses that desperation which Portishead's Beth Gibbons manages to pull off so well but by containing and internalising it, manages to offer a refreshingly navel-gazing approach to the pysche of the modern lover.

At this point, it's hard to know what to let go and what to hold onto as a listener of M83, but regardless, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is a pretty fantastic record.

Its biggest problem is that, from start of finish, it feels strangely reserved.

Ryan Adams has delivered the goods right now and he appears to be more focused and in a better creative space than he has at any other point in his career.

Biophilia is Björk, the sum total, and this album is her continued claim to the throne as the monarch of avant-pop.

Pretty, moody, and even transcendently beautiful in places, Breakers' small-scale take on dream pop is a tempestuous and emotionally unhinged listen.

This is an artist that certainly knows how to kick it in, but you spend most of your time waiting for it.

Yeah, sometimes you can't even hear the lyrics, and when you do they don't make sense (although that's improving by album). But the music is endearing, and most of the time spectacular and that's a great feature to have in any rock band.

Despite the clear motives with the themes in the album, the instrumentation fluctuates in a chaotic manner that makes it very confusing to listen to at times.

It's a beautiful EP deserving of repeat listening.

Though the rest of the EP features both highs (the delightful "Bug," which sounds like it could be the prototype for which Williams bases all of his best material) and lows (the Weezer b-side material of "Poor Lenore"), the overall affect of Life Sux feels innocuous; an effort that will neither convert detractors or drive-away die hards.

Although this may be a relative disappointment it should not be looked at as the start of a decline, but merely a curiosity in the collection.

The be all and end all for In The Pit Of The Stomach is that, despite a few new experiments, it's like all their material: good music that you don't have to think about.

We got an album entirely thrown on the shoulders of the cub, and like a growing king, J. Cole actually pulled it off, but scope, cohesiveness, and focus couldn't help but become somewhat lost in the disarray.

It's dark but inspirational, catchy but never kitschy. Most of all though, it's honest.

The record is at its best when it combines its pop sensibilities with its ambient leanings.