Ida Maria ‘Oh My God’ Iggy Pop meets Björk meets Janis Joplin from this feisty Norwegian.

The Horrors ‘ Little Victories’ Inspired, bellowing from under the musty bed of El Diablo.

King Creosote ‘You’ve No Clue Do You’ Fife’s finest folkie cranks it up in this rocktastic Eaglesesque romp.

Biffy Clyro ‘Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies’ The perfect synergy of prog pomp and grunge bittersweet.

Girls Aloud ‘Sexy No No No’ A bombastic mix of euphoric electro, spiky rock and fizzy pop.

The Hold Steady ‘Stuck Between Stations’ Where misjudged poets and Springteenesque riffs come to sit, drink and brawl.

Battles ‘Tonto’ ‘Atlas’ was the crowd pleaser but this shows everything they were capable of.

The White Stripes ‘Rag and Bone’ As stupid and fun as Jack and Meg get. Saucy.

El-P ‘Up All Night’ Devastating lyrical dexterity over jungle drum thunder.

Burial ‘Raver’ Midnight in an imperfect world. Bass driven weirdness and disembodied vocals.

Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir ‘Bury them in Water’ Ungodly Bluegrass menace.

Cold War Kids ‘We Used to Vacation’ Family life skewed through a film of alcohol and Tom Waits-ian piano clatter.

Rachel Unthank ‘Blue Bleezing Blind Drunk’ Marital despair never sounded so sweet.

The Twilight Sad ‘Walking for Two Hours’ Stop! I can’t cry any more, please.

Glasvegas ‘Daddy’s Gone’ Tear jerking familial ballad telling of parental flight.

Kanye West ‘Flashing Lights’ Hip hop bling goes cosmic.

Northern State ‘Things I’ll Do’ If Sarah Silverman were a rapper she’d sound like this.

Chrome Hoof ‘Pronoid’ Demented space funk from the sanity-defying, PFunk-channelling octet.

Sons and Daughters ‘Gilt Complex’ Fizzing riff-driven attack on celebrity culture.

Rhianna ‘Umbrella’ Perfect marriage of slick pop R&B and heavyweight hip hop beatsmithery.

Klaxons ‘Not Over Yet’ The rave classic reborn with heart and passion as a yearning indie classic.

Eve ‘Tambourine’ Whoops, whistles, sirens and and marching band beat. What else do you need?

MIA ‘Jimmy’ Full-on Bollywood disco swoops and a line about Rwandan genocide.

Swimmer One ‘Largs Hum’ The search for pop perfection uncovers this gorgeous pearl.

LCD Soundsystem ‘New York I Love You But Your Bringing Me Down’ The king of New York apes ol’ blue eyes.

Malcolm Middleton ‘We’re All Going to Die’ The right man singing the right song for the right reasons.