Gruff Rhys furthers his transition into some sort of Lee Hazlewood/Paul Williams figure with this ambitious and warmly textured new album Babelsberg. Chock full of overblown slices of 70s excess, west coast country and complete with extensive, beautiful orchestration courtesy of the National Orchestra of Wales, it's a lush and purely enjoyable listen, jettisoning most of the wild avant garde craziness that has played cameo roles in the majority of Rhys' recorded output.

Two years ago The Decemberists released The Hazards Of Love, a 17 track concept album which at the very least had an edge, a kind of attitude which proved that the band weren't one trick ponies and the critics were seemingly surprised and divided by it's content (see here and here). 2 years later, The King Is Dead opens with a pleasant bit of guitar and harmonica and then quickly turns into 90s style stadium filling airbrushed country rock, luckily this theme doesn't run through the whole album but it ain't a good start.

British Sea Power have returned with their first album proper since 2008’s Do You Like Rock Music, a record which was hailed as a commercial milestone in the band’s career (it’s their only album so far to reach the UK top 10) whilst bewildering some critics with it’s uber-accessible anthemic sound (Pitchfork notoriously awarded the album U.2/10).

Warpaint are an all female, much hyped quartet, drenched in the bloodied remains of 80s Goth, and darlings of the Hollywood scene. The Fool is their highly anticipated debut album on Rough Trade records. Beginning at the very start; “Set Your Arms Down” is going to be a cold, bleak and bassy introduction for many but it gets much more welcoming when it all goes a bit Kid A at the 3 minute mark and when a song can take you from despair to somewhere good in the space of 5 minutes you get the feeling that the album is going to be a grower.