Reverential without descending into pastiche, Death Of Lovers pay careful homage to some of the great indie bands your parents may well have loved in college. If they were cool, of course.

There is now the sense that, as a band, Mogwai feel more at ease, more confident than ever in using a greater range of dynamics than could be found in their earlier releases. Keep up the good work, gentlemen.

Few recent games have so successfully nailed the feeling of creeping dread felt while being stalked as Sir, You Are Being Hunted. It's an an eerie, nerve-shredding experience.

Dynamic without being jarring, melodic without relying on pop hooks, Self Defense Family's Try Me is a complex, challenging, record that only truly reveals itself upon repeat listens.

Is Beyoncé's surprise new album any good? Actually, yes, it is. Take heed, Gaga: this is how it's done.

As 2013 draws to a close, and in the list-fueled spirit of the season, here is a brief run-down of my personal picks for 10 best albums from the last twelve months. Feel free to congratulate me upon the fine taste demonstrated in the following selections.

"Sunbather" is without question a fiercely emotive record of sometimes overwhelming power and heartbreaking beauty.

Musically, "ARTPOP" drags the listener to the dance-floor and rarely lets up. But if Lady Gaga truly has something interesting to say about the issues she plays with, and I believe that she does, then she needs to stop worrying so much about hit singles and think about how best to get her message across through her lyrics.

'AM' is, without doubt, an instant classic and a stonking return to form for the Arctic Monkeys. One of 2013's essential albums, and one the very best rock records in recent years.

Thanks to services like Spotify and Netflix, the modern media junkie is now in a position to get exactly what he or she has always wanted, and what vinyl records, cassette tapes, CDs, LaserDiscs, DVDs and Blu Rays could never provide: all your music and movies, everywhere.

'Mark Kozelek and Desertshore' is a poignant, touching delight. Despite casting himself as a somewhat curmudgeonly veteran of the indie-rock scene, Kozelek is cementing his reputation as truly remarkable, reliable and enduringly relevant artist.

Lizabett Rrusso's debut EP, the aptly titled "The Traveller's Song," provides a deeply personal and revealing insight into the somewhat transient life of a musician working to establish a career far away from home.

'Sun' is the product of a remarkable talent who has experienced much that life has to offer, for better and worse, and has come through the other side with an awareness of where she has been, a renewed sense of where she is and, perhaps more importantly, where she goes from here.

Despite my hang-ups and preconceptions about what The Pet Shop Boys would, and maybe should, sound like in 2013, I found myself enjoying 'Electric' immensely

Despite the usual inconsistency and lack of lyrical depth, 'More Light' is one of Primal Scream's most enjoyable albums since the turn of the millennium.