There's little of the pop sparkle that shone through the likes of 'The Modern Age' and 'Last Nite' even when - as with 'You Talk Way Too Much' - they're rewriting old material, and Julian's vocals are, to be blunt, awful, sounding uncomfortable to record and rather complacently nasal.

Challenging, arresting and moving in equal measures.

The whole experience becomes rather draining after a few listens.

The question is: do you actually need another disc like this, given that it doesn't quite have that sense of otherness that Boards of Canada have in spades, or that sound-as-texture that Aphex Twin utilised so sumptiously on 'Richard D James', or Amon Tobin's truly forward looking drum programming.

A beguiling marriage of the electronic and the organic that, while perhaps short on tunes per se, bristles with engagement.

Lyrically, things are mainly annoying, although there are a few bits of amusing storytelling, and some interesting couplets.

One of the most distinctive and satisfying records you'll hear all summer.

This is a long soft sigh of an album, suggesting not a sudden relief of pressure but just a pleasant exclamation of contentment.

His most poignant and accessible album yet.

Summer Sun is a compelling, enthralling and gorgeous album that gets better with each listen.

There are ideas galore here, which is always admirable, though you feel he could have taken the 15 tracks, whittled it down to 10, and developed all this stuff to staggering effect.

Even for a band that crowbar "love" into as many titles as they can, you've got to admire their sauce, and, impressively, they're cramming really difficult music into affable scuzz-pop coatings.

Z's leaden voice is what really makes The Like stand out.

The lyrics, insincere as they are, grate somewhat, but the spastic grove cannot be denied they're a bit like a pervy, conservative Devo, with more earwax.

It's inevitable having enjoyed their partnership for so long, that you occasionally feel the lack of Moffat's brutal honesty, but Middleton grows more interesting with each solo release.

Yes, 'Let's Get Out Of This Country' is a ludicrously fey, coy, twee and light record that could very feasibly be knocked out by an injured butterfly, it's that gentle. But it's also a gorgeously produced, beautifully romantic and ultimately uplifting record.

Lyrically, it's astounding as ever.

'Happiness In Magazines' is likely to make you smile, and may even have you remembering a bygone era when Blur provided the soundtrack.

Gone are the hippy, dippy platitudes of their do-good daisy age; replaced by the most bullish beats, the snakiest rhymes and the overwhelming sensation that you're listening to the undiluted thoughts of the three most intelligent men in hip-hop.

‘Margarine Eclipse’ manages to be generous in length without ever finding itself repetitive, doodles are never allowed to become noodles, understated charm is maintained throughout.

'The Eraser' is Radiohead's fourth best album, and not bad considering it's the first one with only one man on it.

An absolute triumph from one of the most consistently forward looking hip hop bands in the world today.

The diversity audible throughout 'Nostalgialator's' 11 tracks makes the album feel like some surreal kind of trans-generic mix tape.

Whilst this comes closer to 'Out Of Time' than anything else they've done, it never once sounds dated.

His most ambitious and diverse album yet.

One trick pony's they may arguably be, but they've done the same trick twice and pulled it off.

The only disappointment is it's all probably way too leftfield for generic consumption, meaning most people won't actually get to hear it.

If you were disappointed by 'Antics' then this'll make up for it, and if Interpol's last offering did agree with you then you'll spend the rest of '05 at least giving this a great big hug.