Immunity (Domino). I doubt that there will be too many albums released this year that you can loosely file under ‘Electronica’ that have the warmth of this release from the very talented Hopkins.…

Made In Gateshead (Sour Milk).…

Cuttooth (4 Lux White). Cuttooth is Nick Cooke, a Newcastle based fellow, who, it’s fair to say, knows what he’s doing, particularly when it comes to crafting atmospheric tripped-out-hop which is infused with plenty of heart and soul.…

Any Port In A Storm (Fire Records). S&CW is principally Craig Dermody, an Aussie you may not be surprised to learn, who lives in New York. And his new album is great.…

Love You Dumb And Mad (Apollo). Nadine Shah is from the north-east town of Whitburn and her debut album is a really startling, lapel-grabber.…

Where The Heaven Are We (Chess Club). They write the kind of sunny guitar pop tunes that lets them get away with such a look. …

Evelyn Thomas: I Wanna Make It On My Own/Have A Little Faith In Me (Harmless). This is epic, supercharged vocal disco at its best – all strings and tight guitar licks, and rhythm tracks that just won’t quit. …

Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument (Awesome Tapes From Africa)…

Nothing Can Stop Us (Inspiration Information/Strut). Featuring one of the legends of reggae jamming with a multi-talented, multi-faceted band at the top of their game.…

Blind Theatre (Just Music). This caught me quite by surprise – an album of guitar-based music that takes risks and confounds expectations with each successive track.…

Single of the month: Skylark Song. You can trace a line from Nick Drake, Pentangle and the like, directly through to these two tracks (the flip “Underneath The Roots” ups the tempo and stirs the emotions too) and as debut singles go, this is pretty specia…

The Days Run Away (Pop Sex Ltd). These Sunderland based, lovelorn rabble-rousers, hit the middle of the bat with their second album, which confirms them as our go-to band when it comes to thrilling new-wavery of a guitar-based nature.…

Centuries (Function Records). Dark Dark Horse is a collaboration between producer and Maybeshewill member Jamie Ward, and singer James Stafford, and what a fruitful amalgamation it is. …

Shadows (Skipalong Records). Third album in from this Aussie singer/songwriter and she’s been sipping lustily from the sweet stuff because this is a floating-freely-through-the-clouds slice of melodic delight. …

Dreamstone (Monotreme). The debut long-player from this UK producer is a very wafty affair beamed in from the outer reaches of Planet Post-Dubstep.…

Erta Ale (Lovemonk). Spanish band, Ginferno (singing in English), have chucked the kitchen sink at this, and, wowsa, it works just fine.…

Valentiine (Integrity Records). Valentiine (why that double “ii”? WHY?) are three lasses from Melbourne, Australia who sound in thrall to British 90s indie-rock of a distinctly Elastica/The Primitives nature.…

Nature Nurture (So Recordings). Two years after their well received debut album these grunge-revivalists thump their second long-player on the counter while shouting...…

Love Undercover (Cooking Vinyl). The frontman with Wirral indie/psych/rockers The Coral, and his side project, The Intenders, land several good blows on this release...…

Love Is Symmetry (Tigertrap Records). The third album from this London based quintet and they’ve grown appreciably with each new release, this being their best yet.…

Late Night Tales (Late Night Tales). Commencing proceedings in fine style with their own slo-mo electro pop sparkler, Daddy’s Groove, Röyksopp take us for a ride through a musical landscape..…

Long Live The Jazz (Deep Medi). Swindle manage to mix a heavy dose of jazz into the bassline template without coming off like ten year old broken-beat. …

Philly Re-Grooved Vol 3 – More From The Master: The Tom Moulton Remixes (Harmless). The father of the remix returns with a suite of delicious disco treats, and there’s no let up in quality from the previous two entries.…

Grand Tour/Southern Exposure (Harmless). Grand Tour’s post-disco musical contribution sat somewhere between funk, pop, Latin, MOR and Western soundtracks. …

Scales (Local Action). Slightly bonkers, intricately produced bassline shenanigans. The beats are up front, as you’d expect, but there’s enough going on behind them to keep it interesting. …

Vapor (Kudos). Japanese electronica that builds on the dubstep formula by adding layers of percussion and analogue texture.…

Single of the month: Sivu. Gorgeous left-field pop from Sivu – a man, if you please – with his second single, the follow-up to the rather tasty breakthrough ‘Better Man Than He’. It’s built around a gently percussive backdrop of spectral shuffle-beats, in…

Public Service Broadcasting. Inform – Educate – Entertain (Test Card Recordings)…

Graceless (Perfect Sound Forever). Baggy is back! Certainly in the minds of this London five-piece whose debut album is stuffed with sugar-spun Stone Roses-isms. …

Groove Odyssey Sessions Vol 1 (Groove Odyssey)…

The Escapist (Die Arbeit Music). An album in reaction to the death of his brother and father who both died in the past two years. …

The Child Of Lov (Double Six Records). A 25-year-old from Amsterdam who has chosen to remain a bit sketchy about his past, but his debut album is bursting with interesting stuff…

Late Night Tales Presents: After Dark (Late Night Tales). cosmic blend of mid-paced space-funk that gets double points for including Marti Caine’s …

Songs Volume One (Peoples Potential Unlimited). An album of sublime examples of metallic keyboard funk peppered with slap bass and tight guitar licks, which could have been recorded any time between 1982 and now…

Outboxx (Idle Hands). While the spirit of Detroit is present throughout, Outboxx bring in nu soul, deep house and even a touch of broken beat…

The Lost Tapes (Strut). More international obscuria, this time from Ceaucescu’s Romania, circa 1978 to 1984. Using a battered reel-to-reel tape recorder and whatever instruments he could get his hands on…

Hanging Gardens (Innovative Leisure). This duo’s stock in trade is shiny retro-futuristic dance music with a pop edge and this release sees no departure from that template. …

Disco Recharge: Companion/Double Discovery/ One Off Projects - Special Edition (Harmless)…

Bight (Wah Wah 45s). This lot are clearly trying to plough a decidedly British furrow, what with the name, the folky-rocky leanings and UK hippety-hoppety beat stylings.…

Electric City (Senseless). Here we go again with the heavy-arse dubstep one-two, all crashing beats, growling bass and speeded-up samples.…

Disco Recharge: Early Riser/Two Hot For Love – Special Edition (Harmless).…

Krakatoa (Original Cultures). Unlike some of his contemporaries in the bass scene, Lewis James doesn’t swamp his productions in layer upon layer of beats and samples.…

Single of the month: Wolf Alice Bros (Chess Club Records). I’m starting to get a good feeling about North London’s Wolf Alice. Last year’s ‘Fluffy’ single saw the hype machine start to grind into action and they’ve followed it up with this snappy, no-fa…

Album of the Month Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Push The Sky Away (Bad Seed Ltd) After several rollicking releases over the last few years (with The Bad Seeds and Grinderman) Cave slows things right down to a pace he’s not walked since ‘97…

You, Me, Temporary (Project Mooncircle). Sweatson Klank makes explicit the links between the current beats and bass trend and that hoary old genre, …

Disco Recharge: Evita/The Empire Strikes Back (Harmless). We’ll have to leave Evita to one side – I simply can’t abide these songs – …

Me, Him and the Can Crusher (Lama Records). Landermason are principally Bellingham based singer/songwriters Fiona Lander and Paul Mason who play traditional folk music…

Let’s Groove (Peoples Potential Unlimited). PPU reissue another lost and forgotten gem of eighties satin-suit boogie, this time from the exquisitely attired Robbie M who,…

Dawn Of Delight (Talitres). This rather seductive album is the first solo release from Tim Hines who could previously be found in post-punk/indie outfits such as The Stereotypes and Lights On. …

Spring and Fall (Dramatico). First studio album in six years from this Aussie singer/songwriter who draws on the spirit of…

Uprising (EMI). Irn Bru, apparently, is made in Scotland from girders, and, judging by this uncompromising release,…

Paul Liddell & Delphians: LIVE (self release). Liddell is a local lad (think Whitburn), a singer/songwriter of some note who has got one of those voices that, while not obviously ready to storm any barns,…

Red Octaves (Propageet Records). BLØWN is, in fact, Newcastle based producer and artist, Ian Shield, who is one third of local label Propageet, …

Miss The Last Wave (LFT Records). Bish is someone a bit under-the-radar, but maybe it’s about time he was a bit over-the-radar. …