Before hearing this, had someone asked me to name three interesting things about Surrey I would have been caught between a rock and a hard place. I couldn’t have come up with anything. Unfortunately, after hearing this EP, my thoughts are much the same.

It is the rhythmic sensibilities, rather than the actual screamo element, that make Descent so appealing. Being able to pack a punch and provide sparse haunting sections all in one fluid movement makes this Norfolk-based quartet a sure hit.

Ah Lily Allen, you have a lot to answer for. How were you to know that your unique sound and image would be saturated by swathes of pretenders all scrambling for a chance to sit on your perky, cheeky cockney-pop throne?

Supergroups are nothing new - but when a former member of Led Zeppelin and Nirvana form a new collaboration with Josh Homme, you really have to take notice.

Swedish doom-metal is not everyone's idea of an easy listen, but Katatonia - the five-piece from Stockholm - has thankfully evolved from the early days of grinding guitars, growling vocals and a distinct lack of tunes.

Listening to Battle Studies you get the impression that if James Blunt were born with musical ability he might be mistaken for a trans-Atlantic cousin of John Mayer. The album struggles to establish itself as some kind of search for heart-aching sincerity and comes up heart-achingly short.

Sisters Tegan and Sara Quin never wrote a song together. In their 11-plus years as Tegan and Sara, the process for the Canadian duo has always been the same: write separately and hash things out at a later date. So when they tried to write together recently for their fifth album Sainthood, the collective experiment produced many songs, but only one, Paperback Head, made the 13 track cut.

Joe Goddard has taken a musical sabbatical from Hot Chip to create a veritable fruit smorgasbord of electro tracks on an album which is an indulgent, unashamed homage to the sounds closest to his heart using the musical toys he likes to play with best.

Ever wondered what it would sound like if you were to play Human League, New Order and David Bowie records at the same time? No, me neither, but if you’re intrigued, Cold Cave may have your answer.

Devendra Banhart is the Hare Krishna’s poster boy. Not one to dally with themes of tension, conflict or hatred, but instead composing the kind of fuzzy warbling gems that furry children’s book characters might include on mix CDs for their woodland pals.