Decent and listenable Coldplay!

COLDPLAY 'VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS' (PARLOPHONE): In the grand tradition of tabloid newspapers, within a few years of putting them on a pedestal as the greatest British rock band of a generation it's gone full circle to the point that perversely it's now 'cool' to diss Chris Martin and friends.

You could argue that he's brought most of this on himself, and you might have half a point, but accounts of the ego at large vary so wildly I'm inclined to give him the benefit.

For what it's worth I've no problem with the bloke, but whatever.

Inevitably, expectations surrounding a new Coldplay album are sky-high - maybe deliberately, to set it up as an artistic failure before it has even been aired publicly.

If they were a new band and this were their debut, the whole circus would begin again - and judged in isolation this is a pretty decent and thoroughly listenable album.

Oh, alright, at times it's pretty good - in particular the title track, which ranks along side their finest work to date. There. Deal with it.

It's faint praise, but still more positive and indeed honest (crucially) than most you'll have read.

Well worth checking out; make your own mind up and ignore the farce that goes with it.

ALBERT HAMMOND JR 'COMO TE LLAMA' (ROUGH TRADE): The second solo effort from the Strokes guitarist serves as an inadvertent stop-gap between Strokes albums - both for Albert and their devoted following.

In truth, much like his solo debut 'Yours To Keep' from 2006, while he may lack the swagger AH Jr possesses a knack for simple, catchy pop songs that would have served the parent band well on their last album in particular.

Broodiness is replaced by West Coast sunshine sounds and succinct guitar pop that sounds like it was written using the songwriting bible that served The Byrds and Teenage Fanclub so well (but not the cheap one that The Thrills worked from).

There's a similar 50/50ish balance between pop gems and what amounts to fairly unremarkable but not unpleasant filler - but the goodies are real goodies.

PETER BRODERICK 'HOME' (BELLA UNION): Shamefully I'm unfamiliar with the work of Peter Broderick, even though he's apparently on album four.

That's something I'll address urgently having listened to 'Home' - an album that immediately takes your breath away, and one that rivals Fleet Foxes and Midlake in the mighty canon that is the Bella Union back catalogue.

Once again perfectly in sync with the loose agenda built by Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde's label, there are echoes of Jose Gonzalez with the gently plucked guitar and soft yet powerful vocals, and though the marketplace is hardly suffering from a dearth of earnest singer songwriters they're always welcome when it's executed as immaculately as this.

The beauty is often in the slow-build harmonies that eventually engulf the song before drifting into the background in the same manner, and this is never better illustrated than on standout track 'Below It' - a staggering composition that ranks alongside anything I've heard this year.

Magnificent and wholeheartedly recommended.

PIVOT 'O SOUNDTRACK MY HEART' (WARP): Time was that Warp was a consistent and reliable electronic label, but you have to evolve to survive and that's an area where Warp haven't been shy - with Maximo Park the most notable 'sore thumb' for those who incredibly still expect them to operate within that narrow remit.

Last year's Battles album represented a bold sideways step into uncharted territory for Warp - math-rock/post-rock/free jazz (or a hybrid of the three) - and it was an unqualified critical success, indirectly resulting in the release of this angular, schizophrenic oddity, no doubt.

On occasion, 'O Soundtrack My Heart' is a touch laboured and predictable, and Pivot don't seem entirely sure what they're trying to do, but it's this seemingly random mish-mash of styles and influences that gives it an identity.

Much like Battles, when it works it's quite exhilirating and extremely effective, and it's certainly one of the more worthy releases this year in what's become an over-populated and therefore often tiresome area.

TIM TEN YEN 'EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL REMINDS ME OF YOU' (POINTY): I've been banging the drum about this fella for quite a while now, and I'll carry on until everyone's listening.

Neon Neon and the Mystery Jets are two acts who've unashamedly celebrated the much-maligned 80s pop sound this year with varying results, suggesting that if there'll ever be a right time for TTY it's probably now.

Tim's a popstar. At least, he should be. It's all very well having designs on stardom and having the confidence to pursue it, but it's one area where you can't hide average songs.

Fortunately, Tim is armed with half-a-dozen stone cold pop classics - the kind that X-Factor chancers would turn into top five hits with the benefit of their ill-deserved exposure.

'Girl Number One', 'Sea Anemone', 'The Bear and The Fox' and particularly 'Runaround Getaround' should be all over the airwaves, and hopefully will be if Tim gets the breaks.

Aside from the songs his greatest strength is his live show, so make an effort to see him you get chance - it'll all make sense then.

MAX RICHTER '24 POSTCARDS IN FULL COLOUR' (FATCAT): Along with Johann Johannsson, Max Richter is perhaps the leading exponent of what is clumsily/pretentiously pigeonholed as contemporary classical.

In reality the music they make, albeit with extremely subtle electronic flourishes, is simply classical, and if anything efforts to make it sound modern are likely to deter traditionalists who would surely love it.

Richter is a busy man, working with the likes of Vashti Bunyan and on film scores (unsurprisingly) as well as making music of his own.

'The Blue Notebooks', his first album for FatCat, was absolutely breathtaking and marked Richter out as the finest practitioner of his art; indeed, that it initially seemed an album out of time but ultimately resulted in a glut of inferior copyists speaks volumes.

This, his fourth full album, is a concept piece, but elaborating on that would only detract from music that deserves to be taken at face value as some of the most genuinely moving and affecting work of the century thus far; 24 brief, stark and bleak compositions that are always engaging and at times almost overwhelming.

THE WEDDING PRESENT 'EL REY' (MANIFESTO): Enduring and much-adored they may be, but along with Half Man Half Biscuit and the like The Wedding Present remain stuck in the John Peel mould as far as perceptions go, with a totally devoted fanbase and next to no followers outside of that.

'El Rey' is their first album in three years and their umpteenth in total, with a spell as Cinerama wedged in t'middle. More interestingly, this is their first album since the classic 'Seamonsters' in 1991 to be produced by the legend that is Steve Albini of Shellac.

That this was written while frontman David Gedge was living in LA is somewhat evident, as there's a sunny disposition throughout that isn't necessarily part of their general MO, but the gritty themes (lust, jealousy, obsession etc) remain.

Too many bands outlast their sell-by date, but 23 years on the Weddoes still have plenty to offer. The songs herein may not quite match up to their finest work, but they demonstrate a songwriting ability that's been honed over the years and that remains artistically valid.

MARCO BAILEY & TOM HADES 'E=MB2' (MB ELECTRONICS): Belgian DJ Marco Bailey is apparently a man that needs no introduction, but I'd imagine that, like me, most of you would beg to differ.

A quick browse of his history reveals 15 years of output on uber-cool labels like Primate and Intec, and 'E=MB2' sees our man join forces with his long term studio partner for some razor-sharp, firing techno business.

Without ever being overwhelming, 'E=MB2' doesn't offer much let-up at any point, and benefits from the rolling tempo that acts as a thread throughout.

All of the most appealing reference points appear to varying degrees - electro, minimal, acidic - but this is professional and mature as opposed to clumsy or crass; classy and intelligent.

RIVULETS 'YOU ARE MY HOME' (O ROSA): More specifically, Rivulets are one Nathan Amundson, a man who spent his formative years in Alaska - and it shows.

Too bleak to suit a fluffy adjective like 'gorgeous' but with all of the emotional pull that such description would suggest, 'You Are My Home' would have been termed 'slowcore' a few years back, and echoes the likes of Low, Kepler, Codeine and Sun Kil Moon in terms of mood and style.

It's almost too much to swallow in one sitting, such is the inescapable gloom, but in isolation some of the tracks here are quite beautiful, and with a stellar guestlist - members of Come, Shellac and Rachel's - 'You Are My Home'

is an album that stands alone within its sub-genre in 2008.