Violet Cries, one of the more anticipated debut albums of the year, isn't a let down, but it's a difficult album to get a grasp on.

Clocking in at just a shade over an hour, Zonoscope is – as its cover art of Manhattan being engulfed by a waterfall suggests – a very surreal leviathan, an object that surely mesmerizes as we all wait for the oncoming Armageddon.

His vision of the album is similarly relational, and this debut brims with variety and skill, coming off with a complex personality at turns exuberantly earnest, darkly melancholy, and dreamily coy.

Kaputt is filled with light, sprightly textures, all pleasant and groovy, but the album still seems to lumber along with breezy but basic sequencer rhythms, indistinct melodies, and sax blowing similarly all the way through.

Compared to the wild noise they made on albums like Milk Man and Reveille, Deerhoof vs. Evil is definitely a different kind of wild noise all on itself. Don't expect the crazed madness of the former's title track but don't expect to be disappointed either.

Mondanile isn't rewriting any of the rules here, but he does show that he can stand on his own as a pop songwriter perfectly well, and frequently does so in an addictive fashion.

Such is the rich detail dispersed across Kiss Each Other Clean that it demands some intensive listening to absorb all of its pleasures, especially when the choruses are not as cleanly-cut as one might expect of such a well-groomed higher-profile release.

The King is Dead serves as enough solid music to lull us over until the next official album.

Relatively minor misdemeanours aside though, 1,000 Years is a respectable and rejuvenated return to the fray for Corin Tucker's febrile talents.

For the uninitiated though, this is essential listening for any member of the iTunes set; crafting your next playlist will likely turn into a transcendental experience after you hear how uncannily Drake goes along with Flock of Seagulls.

Popp has once again authored a unique and compelling work. How you decide to sort through it and work it into your own life is up to you.

Sitting down and listening to a full length album all the way through without outside interference is nearly impossible, let alone desirable. However, the solitary atmosphere and minimal elements of Admiral Fell Promises make it designed for just such a commitment.

Those who are desperately clutching onto the past few months' sunny days and starry nights – or planning for Summer 2011 already – are likely to dig the unpretentious, casual atmosphere of Eternal Summers. For everyone else, there's bound to be something else out there better suited to pumpkins spice lattes and fall harvests.

One of the most interesting and rewarding things about hearing the tracks as they appear on this release, is knowing that they are presented here in their earliest incarnations, Earth's chrysalis stage, if you will.

Picking through Blurry Blue Mountain in stages, there is evidently a decent fistful of individually strong moments but taken as a whole its meandering, undemonstrative nature does make it feel like a somewhat makeweight collection; one that will appeal to few people beyond the existing Giant Howe fanbase.

Intentional or not, The Inevitable Past is the Future Forgotten conjures up nostalgic moments with its overall demeanor. It's truly enabled Three Mile Pilot to possess an inquisitively solid sound and in the end, achieve the goal of fusing such memorable music together.

It lacks the consistency and unique feel that the original had in abundance, and lacks the quality hooks that defined his debut.

It is supposed to be shoegaze, and there is enough fuzz to justify the genre, but fuzz is not the good thing about this album. It's the melodies.

He covers an impressive amount of ground on Lucky Shiner, and the variety works in his favor. Perhaps he's missing a degree of originality, but what these tracks might be lacking in idiosyncratic branding will likely be made up for with a longevity of listenability.

Throughout Light Of A Vaster Dark there is an overriding sense of closeness and inclusiveness that draws you in and belies any accusations of pretentiousness that might otherwise come from straying into musical terrain far off the road so over-travelled.

Codename: Rondo showcases a softer sounding group and it's one that sounds neither confident, nor too amusing.

The styles that parade their way onto Swanlights would probably be the most noticeably diverse change from what happened on previous albums.

If you're an old, die-hard Kings Of Leon fan Come Around Sundown will upset you. Keep what you love about this band close to your heart and ignore this album, you'll thank yourself in the end.

While it feels great to have some undiluted Avey Tare material, he seems a little creatively restless here.

She's advanced from before and turned in a mirror translation of music from her personal life. The swagger comes in the form of knowing your strengths and for Stern, she's put all of them on display with Marnie Stern.

With a musical voice that is always travelling down a linear path, Foreign Landscapes is a spellbinding new journey into the wave of sonic explorations.

Write About Love may not be remembered as a seminal Belle & Sebastian long-player but its uncomplicated charms still make it an effective ephemeral pleasure.

What it Means to Be Left-Handed is just that: a diverse assortment of refreshing new music from a band that has already developed and progressed their chops. It's a joyful occasion and for Mice Parade; a loud celebration down the street, rodents and all.