Ache

Family confirms reports he took his own life over the weekend

Martin Scorsese finds his way in the unfamiliar territory of gothic noir – set in a mental asylum...

Second sublime collaboration between two Mali masters

No guitars. No drums. Covers of Bowie, Radiohead and Elbow. Gabriel's "song exchange" opens for business

Jack White’s increasingly baroque love of packaging means that it takes more than one review to get to grips with a solitary release. Hence “Under Great White Northern Lights”, a package commemorating The White Stripes’ 2007 tour of Canada which, in its simplest iteration, comes as a live CD and a longform documentary DVD about the ambitious jaunt.

Beguiling fourth from the impressively unclassifiable London brainiacs.

The return of a cherishable British band

Kasabian, Vampire Weekend also on the shortlist

Engaging portrait of Canvey Island R&B tearaways

If the accelerating success of Animal Collective in 2009 was weird enough, the level of anticipation surrounding their projects for 2010 must be astronomical, following the placing of “Merriweather Post Pavilion” at Number One in so many end-of-year polls.