Mark Tranmer's project is pronounced like the final syllable of "cognac" and given that he has a disposition towards electronic instrumental music, I should've expected this album to sound like new age elevator music. Images of Yanni record covers and million dollar suits sipping wine at an exclusive British hunting club are all I can think of, now.

On the second full-length from Drop The Lime, Luca Venezia throws down heavy beats that probably won’t lure anyone not previously so inclined onto the dance floor, yet the album never gives those already there a reason to leave.

Norway’s Terje Isungset returns to the Ice Hotel for his follow-up to 2002’s Iceman Is. Like that album, all the instruments used are made from ice, including ice percussion, iceofon, icehorn, and iceharp. Joining him is Sidsel Endresen, who co-wrote many of the songs and contributes vocals, for an album of ethereal, crystalline beauty.

Brooklyn’s Dirty on Purpose cannot help but make elegant compositions out of simple ingredients. Layers of multi-tracked vocals, glittering melodies, and a subtlety of drone stack up in each song. This could be called space rock if it weren’t so firmly grounded in the terrestrial. It’s better described as dream-pop because the songs celebrate many of our earthly delights but viewed, perhaps, through the haze of a dream or memory. Hallelujah Sirens is a smart collection of songs which could be campfire serenades, lakeside dirges, or starry-eyed minuets.

If Songs Could Be Held is an incredibly bad album. Granted some of the music is pleasant and the entire disc is well produced but the songs are boring and mediocre at the best of times. Thomas is one of those too serious but not interesting enough singer songwriters that are ten a penny these days. There are dozens like her in every city, anyone can go see another identikit performer for free so there's no point in wasting money on this.

On her second album, Italy's Miss Violetta Beauregarde packs 16 songs into a mere 20 minutes, yet each one brims with more ideas than some bands' entire albums. Created from crappy electronics, glitch beats, screams, with occasional samples and other noises, her frenetic, anarchic nihilism is a much needed kick in the head.

Anyone that manages to weave a mystery around them are bound to win some fascination from appreciators and press alike. Whether or not there's any substance behind their mystery is another story altogether. Uton unveils floating events and sounds in the same way a magician unleashes doves from a hat or a sleeve, but without the awe or sense of wonder. Mystery Revolution amounts to a bunch of floating stuff and very little more.

This isn't the first extra-curricular activity from Low's main singer/songwriter to surface, however, those who are looking for something like "Sleep Song," or Hospital Children or Black Eyed Snakes type recordings are in for a surprise. The title of Solo Guitar should be a hint, as this recording is more for the fans of the uneasy listening of Loren Mazzacane Connors or Keiji Haino on a calm day.

Christian McShane and Aaron Molina make music from instruments that they don’t know how to use (this is a deliberate move, not a criticism of their playing technique!). On this fourth album by the duo, they are joined by a few guests to jam out a few improvisations. The music they create ranges varies in quality but there are some choice nuggets dotted throughout the disc.

On the surface, Follow the Train’s full-length debut has it all. The production is sumptuous, and the skilled musicians frequently create gorgeous, yearning passages. Even the cover is vaguely arty and aesthetically pleasing. Scratching a little deeper, however, I found ordinary lyrics, sometimes painfully so, and little else that generates much excitement.

Waterline spends some time brooding upon the shattered landscape of New Orleans, as should anyone with a heart. When the waters of the flood receded, a dirty brown/black/beige line remained on buildings everywhere. The disturbing unease of Potpie's avant-expressionism perfectly compliments this physical manifestation of the community's psychological scar.

If I could capture a band as a sex symbol, I get the impression that Tapes 'n Tapes would be Johnny Depp and Jessica Alba: nearly everyone wants to sleep with one of the two or both. Like with most sudden sensations, however, there's more sugar coating here than real substance.

When I read the album title and saw the inner sleeve (men playing flutes and acoustic guitars around a fire with a naked woman in the background), I was expecting something psychedelic about fairies but when I listened to the music I realised I was way off. Wolves in the Throne Room are black metal with a few twists and surprises thrown in.

Neil Michael Hagerty has certainly paid his dues, from his early days with Pussy Galore to his years with Royal Trux, and if he doesn't always enjoy the reputation he deserves, it's certainly not for lack of trying.

The Norwegian group’s second album is a dark and powerful collection of sinister soundscapes. Combinations of unearthly drones, organic sounds and traditional instrumentation are used to make a potent and captivating album.

Never a group content to rest on their laurels, Mission of Burma's third studio album and their second since reforming after a 20 year hiatus finds them raising the bar higher than ever with surging guitars, pummeling rhythms, and some other surprises that show a remarkable growth and renewed vitality in their songwriting.

This selection of works by López is disappointingly lacklustre. Compared to his normally vibrant work, the pieces here are drab and unexciting. Most of it feels like López is just rehashing various older ideas and not pushing any of the boundaries that usually make his work interesting.

Andrew Liles continues to take the familiar and turn it into something warped, something weird. Now, however, he's doing it in a perhaps unexpected way. Concertos normally have three movements and are typically composed for a solo instrument and an orchestra; the piano is the only proper instrument on this record. Liles, however, makes sense of it all plays the piano in a way that has me looking at the instrument in a whole new light.

The new EP by Boston’s 5ive sees the reissue of two pieces originally released on a split 12” with Kid 606, bundled with two new Justin Broadrick remixes. Granted the cover art is pretty gross but most of the music contained within is of the topmost quality.

The first album from Bergen’s Espen Sommer Eide under the name Phonophani is remarkable. There’s no two ways about it, this is an essential album. It may be eight years old but sounds fresher than the vast majority of new albums that have come my way.