It gets gnarlier elsewhere.

What began as a series of bold experimentations dressed in a warm fuzzy melding of genres feels half-baked second time around.

For the most part, however, [Bob Dylan's] contributions feel like a step down from the level of those of his former bandmates, emphasising just how far they had come.

It’s certainly fun, and a charming period piece. However, the most revelatory moments are the solo Pop Profile interviews, two at the end of each CD.

There’s much to pore over here, including two full live sets from 1984 and the experimental patchwork collection Gasoline In Your Eye. Get ready to have your earth shaken.

As a Bad Religion record, it’s certainly not gold and you won’t be demanding myrrh.

As it stands, Reflektor is Arcade Fire’s most diverse and sonically interesting work to date.

Produced by Daniel Lanois and newly mixed by Glyn Johns, there’s a more soulful side to Griffin on the shuffling lament Sooner Or Later, while One More Girl veers towards the folky introspection of early Joni Mitchell.

Ultimately, it may not include anything that will endure as long as some of his Wings classics, let alone the Fabs’, but it’s a powerful and persuasive album from a man whose innate knack for melody is still firing.

The list of the era’s top head acts is impressive--everyone from Tim Hardin and Canned Heat to Jefferson Airplane and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Trouble is, the roll call doesn’t make much logical sense.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds release a live album recorded for the radio station in an intimate venue. It must have been something for the lucky few present, but this document doesn’t quite do the job.

Live At The Cellar door could have been a consolidation of the year’s achievements for Neil, instead it’s proof that he couldn’t stay still.

Once more riotous than riot grrrl, Luscious Jackson return as a welcome blast of old school New York grit, happily still brandishing their smouldering, idiosyncratic magic.

It would have been good to have a wider selection of their work here. Surely such an enduring and eclectic band deserve more than a single disc for their admirable milestone anniversary.

Mug Museum emerges as another low-key intelligent pop gem from Le Bon.

Later songs Bear and Cleaning Out The Rooms are rewoven to even more emotional effect than in their previous guises, on the Zeus EP and Valhalla Dancehall long-player respectively.

He’s painstakingly conceived a uniquely personal concept which, for the first time, includes creating new music for the project.

As a writer, Dave has always inevitably been overshadowed by Ray, but the album features some of his most articulate and inspired songs to date.

A riot of synth squelches, bleeps and wibbles threaten to derail the music yet never quite do; indeed, repeated listens to the likes of Love Is Blind reveal a wealth of riches hidden among the dense patchwork of sounds.

Thirty years on from its relief, in seeking a wider truth for contemporary times, NMA plumb paganism and tribalism with a powerful resonance.

Askew executes sad back-parlour arpeggios on a Hdusty, reverberant piano and his distinctive 10-stringed Martin tiple, his antediluvian voice as tremulous as Willie Nelson on a toning table.

The uncharacteristically tonguein- cheek, Bowie-esque Japan To Jupiter is arguably the record’s apex, but quality and contemporary relevance abound, ensuring Folly is a comeback that equates with anything but the absurdity suggested by its title.

Surgical Steel is both muscular and accessible enough to appeal to metal fans of almost all stripes.

Truly, this is the gift that keeps on giving. Aural aphrodisia.

An innovative release in the style of the recent Kate Bush and Tracey Thorn seasonal offerings, Snow Globe is a very welcome, wistful and idiosyncratic addition to the festive market.

It’s worth reminding yourself that the swarming deeps, lo-fi thumbprints and careworn erudition of Bowler Hat Soup--released in a limited run of 500 vinyl copies--would represent a career-best achievement for a preternatural craftsman of any age.

The Coincidentalist, recorded by M Ward and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, often sounds inauthentic and contrived.

You may variously be reminded of The Left Banke, The Byrds, The Mystery Trend, the Face To Face-era Kinks with their oft-tinkled harpsichord and even--in a recurrent, snakily-phrased vocal tic--Beck circa 1996 and The New Pollution.