It doesn’t take much to make me feel stupid. Trying to find the words to describe the debut album of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti at 4AD is just one of many examples I could give you. To me, ‘Before Today’ sounds like an album that Kevin Barnes could be recording if he loved goth bands more than funk ones. Or like the cold wave genre entering a multicoloured psychedelic stage instead of glazing at it's own depression. Don’t mind my threadbare examples; this is the album that will make it onto every interesting top 10 of the year and you don’t wanna miss it.

Javelin's debut LP No Más is a gem. It reminds us a little of Deerhoof, a little of Dâm-Funk, a little of Ratatat whilst serving a whole lot of cool, plucking some golden elements from a variety of genres and eras; including some retro doo-wop sensibilities (mostly minus vocals/lyrics) flavoured with a little bit of Willy Wonka-esque whimsy. Masters of the sample, their tracks feel warmly familiar yet a little endearingly imperfect, as in fact most of the samples on No Más are actually carefully recreated by the four hands of George Langford and Tom Van Buskirk - half the fun is to try and put your finger on them all.

To say that Local Natives are this year's Fleet Foxes isn't wrong, but not that right either. Local Natives are softer, brighter and lighter than their widely critiqued sort-of-counterparts. Gorilla Manor is a delicious debut that should be listened and loved for its own merits and there are 12 of them here; from the beautiful single 'Airplanes' to the epic journey of 'Stranger Things'. For fans of harmonic vocals, delicate guitars and gorgeous layers (and I bet there'll be a lot of you).

This is probably the most exciting album we've heard in a while. Can you imagine a metal band not made by (and for) teenagers who worship Iron Maiden like their sisters worship Miley Cyrus? Invasion's The Master Alchemist is a compilation of 12 songs created with noisy guitars and fearless female vocals that will teach future generations about the emerging punk attitude; all with a metal sound and new rave style that might actually be the future of hairy metal. And we all thought heavy metal had no future...

Forget ex-oh ex-oh's, it's all about ex-exes. The XX have been floating around for some time now, but in a slow blink that's also somewhat representative of their music, they've finally garnered some proper attention in the lead up to the release of their most excellent debut release XX via Young Turks. It's spacious, sullen and sultry, with a touch of some languid rhythm and blues, this album is the epitome of underplayed restraint without altogether being too cold or po-faced. It's a bit about negative space; a little uneasy and a little dreamy in it's sparseness, it owns a kind of weariness accompanied by a quiet tenderness that is strangely arresting.

Esser has had our ears for more than a year now, with his head tiltingly kooky yet undeniably poptastic music. We found his weirdly brilliant pop odd, but couldn't help bopping along to early tracks such as 'I Love You' and 'Headlock', all whilst wondering at his equally odd man-boy allure and his dry sense of lyrical humor. Recently released was his first album, Braveface via the super hip Transgressive, a well rounded debut full of a range of quirky pop moments that make up a perfect every day soundtrack. 'Braveface' is the musical equivalent of your favourite Tshirt; comfortable, flattering and makes you look effortlessly cool. Back to music then - Esser is most definitely one of our favourites amongst the current wave of British indie popsters.

Prettier, more polished and easier to digest than Yellow House - and this is without sounding like a deliberate poppier version of themselves - the new Grizzly Bear album is one to keep next to your heart for everything from cold lonely nights to the first "I love you" moment. It's inspired pop music made with class, drama and melody, all treated in the most personal way. That's because the lyrics evolved from a bright hope, trying to radiate out from under a dark haze. An absolutely stunning mix of folk, psychedelia, rock and pop that's definitely a candidate for the best album of the year.

We // R \\ in love with Miike Snow. The trio comprising of Bloodshy & Avant (the duo responsible for many a pop princess hit - including Brit’s Grammy winning ‘Toxic’), Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg and American musician and producer Andrew Wyatt. But this isn’t a collection of Brit, Madge and Kylie b-sides. The tracks are filled with emotive piano chords, nimble and occasionally fidgety synths and vocals that hold all the feeling and depth that perhaps is produced out of the pop princesses they pen for, but without losing their infallible chart topping sensibilities. Brilliant.

“Rice and Beans and Chicken is nice.” Well, okay we’re para-phrasing Mr Versatile here, it’s peas he talks about, but we like beans much better. Anyway, Mr V is just one of the many names that spits a verse/drops a vocal on Toddla T’s long awaited debut ‘Skanky Skanky’. Full of jumped up dub and ragga; it’s dirty, grimey and melodic which is just the way we like it. Skanky Skanky is an intelligently put together and undeniably banging achievement. It proves indisputably (if you didn’t know already) that Toddla has mad skillz – and doesn’t hesitate to use them to blistering effect.

Damn those Wild Young Hearts! The Noisettes have come back with their second album and it’s full of super catchy, old school rhythm and blues flavoured indie-pop-rock, with Shingai Shoniwa shooting VV Brown dead in the water on all accounts. With this album, they show that they are now truly a band and have also truly crossed over into the mainstream. Even though single ‘Don’t Upset the Rhythm’ is now a car advert, it doesn’t take away the fact that it’s irresistible, just like the album.