Nelly's latest offering is hopefully the beginning of the renaissance of an artist who most definitely was starting to look guilty of selling out.

Overall then, Chunk Of Change is several steps short of greatness, but the debut full-length (due later this year) should be worth a listen.

However, this album feels like it marks the beginning of a return of form, and it's great to hear his voice again on tunes that don't make you work to the point of sufferance to get any enjoyment out of.

One thing this record definitely lacks is variety. With a work claiming to hold "the band's most varied songs" it's disappointing and surprising to hear so little diversity.

The Family Afloat reveals itself as a record that is promising, enchanting, and imbued with a wry optimism that at times is tangible.

That Lucky Old Sun is a brave but failed attempt to add a new chapter to the ongoing story of a pop legend.

Unfortunately there are too many moments where the pace flags, however, and Lavelle, while not exactly running out of ideas, falls back on the familiar ones.

This isn't really an album to analyse in any great depth, more to nod to endlessly, ideally with a drink in hand and a clutch of friends arrayed around, in staunch defiance of our grey-skied British reality.

Admittedly, the band's past catalogue sets the bar high, but Forth is an achievement, especially when considered in the context of so many failed attempts by others to return after a period of inactivity.

Golden Animals do a remarkably impressive job of conjuring up just the kind of image they set out to do: floppy hatted, Afghan-coated drop outs singin' blue-eyed Blues as the acid gradually seeps out of their veins and into the foothills of the mesa.

The pedigree of the singles can't be disputed, and they both hit the bullseye--the trouble being that the nine tracks that follow are too often found on the outer reaches of the board.

The memorable melodies expressed by Chadwick, drive Eyes Wide and Accidental Anarchist passionately along, and album closer Fight Or Flight is undoubtedly a gem in the rough of an otherwise largely underwhelming effort.

So while they aren't 'middle of the road' yet, their rumble needs to find a direction of their own before finding their speed limit.

As their sound comes into focus again, and their inflence is found to be more powerful than we first thought, there are mixed feelings on this latest Stereo MCs offering.

Donkey is not the greatest thing since the peanut Kit-Kat, yet there's some indie-tastic fun with a hint of electro punk, a bit like The Gossip but swapping the Ditto scream for Lovefoxxx's sultry, breathily seductive whisper.

Canning's voice is not the strongest--indeed, it often stays buried deep down within the mix--but if you're a fan of Broken Social Scene, you'll know that it's atmosphere that's all important. Which is something that Something For All Of Us has in spades.

Perhaps it's a problem with sequencing, as no doubt some of the acoustically driven material that The Vines compose is glorious, but it always sits difficultly alongside the heavier, angrier stuff that they are better at writing, and more at home playing. It's a problem that has manifested itself on every album, and is more than evident on Melodia.

It's hard to deny the fresh, eclectic sounds of Walls or the sheer beauty in the closing sounds of Volcano, but overall, if this is any indication, Danger Mouse's productions are losing their novelty, and Beck remains at an uneven point in his career.

The balancing act that any group has to perform in successive albums remains askew here. In trying to bring outside influences into their specific sound, Ratatat have gained an appreciation for novel sounds, even if they don't fit in well.

Described as bittersweet feel-good music, The Stoop does pop music with a capital P--in wolf's clothing.

It's a passable enough indie guitar album, but this is a genre that requires shaking up by a truly revolutionary record. This, unfortunately, isn't that record.

There's a confidence obvious throughout that suggests Sparro will build on what is a strutting debut, even if at the moment he's a big voice with too many small songs to sing.

This is what could be termed a healthy dose of parent-friendly hip hop, though now and again it threatens to spoil its reputation as it comes close to one of those dreadful ‘friend chip' adverts.

Where it hits the mark, One Of The Boys is sparky and accomplished--though entirely disposable--pop.

The confidence of a band that took over a year to record the album is notable, and theirs is an assured voice.

There are certainly highlights but not enough good songs to give the album a big impact overall.

So Tim Burgess still has attitude, the kind we saw on One To Another but one that doesn't surface all that often in Charlatans songs.

If Alanis lacks breadth in terms of her subject matter, and she does, she makes up for it in the rich variety of styles that have influenced each track.