Some music is clearly meant to be easy to digest, but Mirrored is not. Battles are a four-piece band from New York who make the most infuriatingly intellectually addictive genre-bending noise possible. Comparing it to anything that didn't include Beefheart and Yes wouldn't even hint at the music within. Almost an album of two halves, the first is prog rock with wit, but razor-sharp modern, in its beats and its boldness. The second is all over the place, but in the best way possible. There is a lot of talk about Marmite bands these days, and there is no doubt that Battles will divide opinion with a sharpened axe. But if the hypnotic infection that comes with hearing Atlas doesn't get you, with its cartoon vocals and everything, then it may just be that music's not your thing. The prog rock is the principal ingredient, but that genre could be full of King Crimson invention and crunching rock when it wanted to be too. Battles have promised something big for a while, and have delivered in spades. Mirrored is a glorious experience if you'll let yourself slide into whatever it is they're doing.

ACE rating 9/10

It's a rare review of Ryan Adams that doesn't refer to inconsistency in quality of his released recordings. If you get Ryan Adams, there's little doubt that more is better than less - even at worst, the man stands head and shoulders over most other singer-songwriters. 'Worst' would include the depths of his drugs and alcohol period, which ended over a year ago. Unsurprisingly, Easy Tiger sees him back to the Gold, Heartbreaker or Cold Roses heights. Such a naturally great voice that manages emotion and melody so well, and an ability to write a song that will bring a lumps to the throat at will. Two (the second track) is genuinely gorgeous, and I Taught Myself How To Grow Old is one of the best songs he has ever written, if Tears of Gold isn't also heading for that same spot. However, there are moments that don't work - The Sun Also Sets meanders into melodrama, while Alice seems unfinished noodling. Even Halloweenhead is an unusual addition, like his own Rock & Roll meets 80s arena rock. Ryan Adams is a significant songwriter, and it is a pleasure to hear him at his best.

ACE rating 8/10

You wouldn't know it from watching the BBC's coverage, but Cambridge-based the Broken Family Band were one of the best sets of the whole weekend. Hello Love is the band's fourth album, and it is the one in which they step further away from their alt-country aping, and into something more akin to country-tinged Pixies or Shins. Front man Steven Adams is a genuinely witty and engaging front man, and the album works through a few gears to achieve a great mix. In fact, if this weren't the same band, references to country would be irrelevant. One might refer to Pavement or the Violent Femmes instead, in the best of ways (the humour, the edge). There is an honesty to the observation in the lyrics that is refreshing; it is also nice to hear a British band eschew the spiky guitar pop punk thing that has become so fashionable, just to play great rock music. The crowd at Glastonbury that knew their local music weren't watching the Top 40 bands on the main stages - they were watching a band that deserves a whole lot more blow away a folk stage and a country tag.

ACE rating 7/10