Scottish rockers Campfire in Winter’s Picture of Health EP is an impressive amalgam of guitars and piano, all driven by Robert Canavan’s stunning vocal display. – By Kevin Scott

21 year-old Tyler Taormina has delivered an album full of poignant pop songs with a warmth and energy that defy his age. – By Kevin Scott

With her second album, Cuushe has release an accessible collection of hazy electronic dreampop that are is as ambitious as it is enchanting. – By Kevin Scott

2012 SAY Award winner RM Hubbert returns with his third album, which dispenses with collaborations and finds the hugely gifted guitarist alone with his guitar and his thoughts. The result is a stunning meditation on the human condition. – By Kevin Scott

Superchunk return with their 10th studio album and fans of the band can rejoice in more of the same melodious radio-friendly indie-rock they’ve become known for, but younger listeners may find the sound a little dated. By Kevin Scott

The Decemberists drummer steps forward on solo project to reveal an impressive falsetto voice and gift for wistful Americana song-writing. By Kevin Scott

Artifiseer offers up shimmery synths and distorted drumbeats in a bold experimentation in electro. – By Kevin Scott

Valaska’s sophomore album is a stripped back folk album that is poignant, uplifting and just a little heartbreaking. – By Kevin Scott

Glasgow mini-festival The Wee Chill celebrated its 10th birthday in style at SW3G with its strongest line yet featuring Sparrow & the Workshop, James Yorkston, Malcolm Middleton and Three Blind Wolves. – By Kev Scott

CSS clearly feel comfortable where they are, and it’s a perfectly nice place to be; it’s just not that exciting. – By Kevin Scott

The Glamour Pantomime is full of energy, and even if that energy isn’t harnessed as well as it could be in places, there’s a lot of fun to be had listening to it. By Kevin Scott

Sparrow & The Workshop released their 3rd album, Murderopolis, last week. It;s a darker, more brooding affair than their previous work so we sent Kevin Scott to talk to singer / guitarist Jill O’Sullivan to find out what was behind this change of mood.

An assured album and one that sees Sparrow and the Workshop fulfil the potential that was shown on Crystals Fall and Spitting Daggers. By Kevin Scott

The band may have taken their time to release Say It, but it’s been worth the wait. Just Handshakes? Forget that, get over here and give me a big hug. By Kev Scott

There aren’t many bands who put pianos before guitars, even less so on the dreampop scene, so for that reason alone Collar Up are worth investigating. – By Kevin Scott

Spain is not in a good place at the moment; embroiled in the Eurozone crisis its unemployment rate stands at a record high of 27.2%. It’s within this context that The Suicide of Western Culture have released this album. It could be angry, but it’s not. It’s optimistic, life affirming, hopeful and not painful in the slightest. – By Kevin Scott

Like the soundtrack to a dystopian film where nothing in the world is as it once was. You’re not going to dance to it, or play it in the car. But if you listen to it, you’ll be provoked; you’ll smile, frown, and hear something you’ve never heard before. That in itself is satisfying. By Kev Scott

Distorted drums lead out ‘Car Crash’, the opening track on this sixteenth (!!) album from New York natives Her Vanished Grace, before a heavy guitar riff hints at something approaching rock. Then banks of guitar shimmer into scene and Charles Nieland’s vocal takes us into familiar Her Vanished Grace territory, but with an edge: The pace is more up tempo, this is dreampop you can tap your foot too. In the right light you could even find yourself dancing. By Kev Scott

This is glorious stuff, relaxing and offering a slice of world music that has found plenty of influence in electronica and folk music. Spring’s coming, apparently, so if you’re planning on spending some time in the back garden with a beer, this could be your soundtrack.

By picking parts of a number of bands – there are elements of MBV, Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins, even early 80s Bowie – Ummagma have found a sound that is truly their own and it demands repeated listening, preferably late in the day, just as your eyes are beginning to close over.

Emotionally, the whole album it’s fairy heart-wrenching, but in same uplifting way that Malcolm Middleton can make you feel pretty upbeat about the idea of dying alone.