Although as per usual, the performance is short (only around 30 minutes) this is a powerful and exciting album. Slowly building up like a stalker moving through the bushes before ending in a bloody mess, this is Wolf Eyes at the top of their game. Braxton fits in perfectly, adding an extra dimension to the noise that lifts Black Vomit from being just another Wolf Eyes live CD to an essential release.

She was a tightrope walker, a writer, performed with Coum, was billed next to This Heat, and appeared in Derek Jarman's film Jubilee before becoming a musician of any kind, and yet none of these facts could prepare anyone for the quirky and sultry music on this, her second album. She was called unmusical, considered unprofessional, and never once sat herself along side the French royalty to which she was compared, but most of all she was blatantly playful and 22 years removed she's still as intriguing and confusing as she must've been then.

Black metal has always been associated with archaic or dying idealism, murder, violence, and generally over-the-top theatrics, but Urgehal takes it all to a new, disgusting level. Their artwork, unlike previous releases, isn't immediately repulsive, but just a glance at the lyrics will reveal some antisocial, perhaps misanthropic Norwegians in desperate need of a girlfriend or reading material that has nothing to do with either Satan or the Marquis de Sade.

Tom Jenkinson returns as Squarepusher with a cheery and chirpy collection of songs. While the madness that runs through his music is still present, it has taken a backseat to more sedate musicianship. Most of the songs rely more on melody with the chaotic drum rushes and squawks of noise used to punctuate the pieces. While I wouldn’t call it commercial, it does sound like it could be a chance for Jenkinson to emerge a little more into the mainstream.

The music here is a very hip combination of drones and folk although it doesn’t sound as generic as I feared. There are times when it sounds run-of-the-mill but equally there are times when it’s out there on its own. Nirmala’s talent is evident but, as good as it is, something about his music doesn’t sit right with me.

There is an infinite amount of combinations of notes, keys, instrumentation and rhythms to avail of and some bands insist and going down the path well trodden. The Clientele not only go down the path well trodden but pace back and forth on its most worn out section. Strange Geometry is a disappointingly average album.

Like last year’s Mirages, Harmony is further refinement of the charred, static airscape that’s been in steady unveiling since Hecker’s first under his own name. An album of suites, it’s still all the same stuff: a grand-scale drift along the broken strands and injections of melody stretched through a globe’s worth of radio interference and churning chaos-drone. Whereas before the artist disrupted the sweep of his work with pop culture jabs (My Love Is Rotten) or more direct appeals to ambient or field sounds (Haunt Me), his last two records go straight for the head, kept still, buoyant, but in a suffocation of pinging dronal overtones and unending static tide.

This record is a resounding success. From the first note, the sound is cavernous, and entombed beneath some of the most mournful orchestration imaginable are musical secrets and recycled sonic treasure.

As a household name for anyone who knows his or her electronic music, it’s a surprise that its taken this long for Andrew Weatherall’s to drop his first solo record. Aside from a few remixes and mix records, he’s always been a team player in projects like Sabres of Paradise and Two Lone Swordsmen. Always seen as more of an ideas man than a knob twiddler, this five track EP reveals again his skill for crossing the genre gaps and keeping his vision as eclectic as ever, but this time on his own.

This reissue of an insanely obscure and rare album by Susan Christie is very welcome. While I don’t pretend to have even heard of her before, I’m glad I’ve heard her now. Paint a Lady is a top quality album; it combines all sorts of styles and influences (but mainly folk) to make a nearly perfect pop album.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Lion and Roots, Style Scott's independent imprint, this double disc release spotlights classics from this long-enduring reggae act and rewards dubwise devotees with unreleased goodies and alternate mixes.

This overlooked album by Serge Gainsbourg collaborator Jean-Claude Vannier is as close as composing gets to stream of consciousness. Seemingly dipolar pieces of music have been sandwiched together with deft skill and grace to make an album so rich in sound that ears everywhere will feel like they’ve just had their last meal care of a Michelin star restaurant. It’s rare that the kitchen sink approach to writing music works but Vannier pulls it off in style.

In the face of diminishing returns from his midtempo/ downtempo releases for Warp, Ninja Tune, and Planet Mu, Luke Vibert's latest for Rephlex showcases his boldest material this century, suggesting that there may yet be some more good ideas up this maturing musician's rumpled sleeve.

These two albums by Isabelle Antena show how easy it is for an artist to lose everything that makes them interesting. On a Warm Summer Night (Tous mes Caprices) is an artifact from a time best forgotten while L’Alphabet du Plaisir, the 'best of' compilation, also contains a lot of stinkers but also enough good pieces that show that Antena wasn’t always crap.

Robert Pollard’s second solo album of 2006 is a mixed bag of pop gems and forgettable tunes that betray an inconsistency of effort. While it’s the sort of thing I expect from one of his numerous side projects, that one of his so-called major releases is so scattershot can only be considered a disappointment.

Gearheads can be counted on to make a fantastic sounding record, however, unfortunately it is commonly difficult for gearheads to compose compelling enough songs to turn a good album into something fantastic enough to match the production.

Armed with dissonant guitars and disheveled rhythms, Glasgow’s Park Attack stagger from the murk to spread discord at every opportunity on this incendiary album.

The cover art of Mathew Sweet's second Boduf Songs release for Kranky hints that this could be a sequel. The design is of a similar style, but the flowers and people of the old Victorian prints are replaced with more foreboding images.  Follow a trail of bread crumbs down a shadowy path into the woods depicted on the cover, and there's that scary thrill of being enveloped by trees, not knowing what will be encountered.  The air is so fresh, the ground so soft, but once inside, there are serpents, flies, and poison.

I thought I was in for an exciting trip with the first few minutes of this reissue. "I See You Pan" has a fascinating sound: like popcorn popping but all the kernels are made of stainless steel. It is noise but in a quiet and dynamic way. Alas my enjoyment of things wasn’t to last when the vocals and organ arrive.

Joanna Newsom has abandoned the constraints of pop framework and has created a masterpiece for voice, harp, and orchestra. Ys consists of only five songs yet they stretch between seven and 17 minutes, all of which are extensive fairytales without choruses, refrains, and rarely a repeating motive.