Sure, it’s only February.  But we’re so sick of the gunjumpers chiming in with their “Best of” lists prematurely each year that we thought we’d get in on the action.  So without further adieu, set forth below are the Best Albums of 2012.

We kid.  But they are the Best Albums of 2012–so far.  The reason for the list?  We’ve recently been asked what new albums we’re devoting most of our listening time to.  Realizing there’s a lot of material on this site for some to wade through (particularly for those suffering from amnesia or those not properly prioritizing their lives so as to regularly hit TLR), we thought we’d list our current favorite albums and provide links to posts in which we wax more prolixic about them.  Perhaps you have just received a tax refund and are looking for musical investments.  Or maybe you’re putting together a list in preparation for Record Store Day on April 21st.  Regardless, here are our favorites so far in the young 2012.

1.  John K. Samson–Provincial

This album has continued to grow on us since we wrote about it HERE.  Samson’s vocals have always slayed us in The Weakerthans, and he continues to do so on his first solo album.  But we also hear musical evolution from Samson (there is even a song with jazz inflections, if you can imagine such a thing).  As opposed to many solo outings by band members, Provincial finds Samson in prime form.

2.  Damien Jurado–Mariqopa

Damien Jurado has been one of our favorites for a while now, and Mariqopa does not disappoint with its bigger production values supplied by Richard Swift.  We frothed at the mouth about this one HERE.  After repeated listens, our feelings have only gotten stronger about Mariqopa.

3.  The Wooden Sky–Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun

Toronto’s The Wooden Sky have taken over the roots segment of our listening time with their new album, Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun.  If you love Americana or alt-country, this is the band and album for you (though they add other facets and textures as we wrote about HERE).

4.  Joseph Arthur–Redemption City

Joseph Arthur is one of our all-time favorites and he’s outdone himself this time with Redemption City, which is a multifaceted double-album.  Arthur has gone the way of Radiohead with Redemption City and is offering the album for whatever amount you deign appropriate, as we wrote about HERE.  It’s worth its weight in gold, but you make the call.

5.  The Deep Dark Woods–The Place I Left Behind

We admit this album came out in 2011, but it’s brand new to us.  Saskatchewan’s The Deep Dark Woods have given us a boatload of beauty and ache with their album, The Place I Left Behind.  We wrote about it HERE.

6.  Sharon Van Etten–Tramp

Sharon Van Etten tramped into our musical lives with her masterful 2010 album Epic.  With her new album, Tramp, Van Etten shows she’s here to stay.  The album is dense and deep, and again emotionally charged.  We wrote a bit about it HERE.

Other Options:  If you want some new music, any of these albums will serve you well.  If you have a good-sized tax refund, you could add Leonard Cohen’s Old Ideas, Laura Gibson’s La Grande or Chuck Prophet’s Temple Beautiful to your cart.  If you can wait a bit, M. Ward, The Shins, and Lambchop have laudable new albums due soon.

We are huge fans of big-hearted, Somali-American, soul-rapper K’naan.  K’naan showed up with Nellie Furtado on the Letterman Show last night in support of a new EP, More Beautiful Than Silence.  Check out the uplift below on his new song, Is Anybody Out There? “This is for everyone who has felt invisible.”  It is so refreshing to have K’naan in the rap mix, keeping it real real and beaming a light (along with a few others, including Macklemore) in that realm of such darkness.  If you don’t know him or if you just need a boost, go to the link at the top, or  HERE or HERE to see more.  Long live K’naan!

Seattle’s Deep Sea Diver is Jessica Dobson (The Shins), Peter Mansen, John Raines and Michael Duggan. The band is releasing its new record History Speaks today. Sound on the Sound has posted a new video of the band diving deep into two songs. Check it out below and watch out for the band opening for The Shins on their tour in June 2012.

Perhaps its our French-Canadian ancestry.  Perhaps there’s something special in the Canadian water that its musicians are lapping up.  For whatever reason, we’ve found ourselves repeatedly drawn to the music coming out of Canada these days.

Our latest Canadian find is a scintillating slice of (North) Americana straight outta Ontario.  The Wooden Sky hails from Toronto and is preparing to release a new album, Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun, on February 28^th on Black Box Recordings.  We were introduced to the band last year via a captivating five-song EP of straight-ahead Americana featuring the deep vocals of leader Gavin Gardiner.  While the new album includes townloads of twang and folk, additional facets, textures and styles have been layered onto the mix (horns here, ’50s doo-wopisms there, organ here, a wall of guitar there, etc.) by the band, Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire) and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh .  Make no mistake though–The Wooden Sky’s two mainstays are low moods and high harmonies.  And that is a sure-fire mix for us, particularly when done so well and so convincingly.

The new album kicks off impressively with Child of the Valley, with its horns and harmonies and ’70s guitar-play, before rolling into the arresting country love song, Angelina.  The first single off the album, Malibu Rum, is a loping, minor-masterpiece with its reverberating vocals, harrowing harmonies and big-sound production (check out the video way below).  Bald, Naked and Red and City of Light are other impressive highlights of the album.  But the most moving song (one which completely took us out when we first heard it) is Your Fight Will Not Be Long, an ode to a dearly-departed.  After the sad story is sung, horns (Shaun Brodie on trumpet and Tom Richards on trombone) enter half-way through the song and masterfully conjure the mourn.  But as the song plays on, the horns turn to “relief” and joy before fading into seeming resolve.  A more fitting musical epitaph we have not heard.  There are many other gems to be found on the album (the rocking I’m Your Man, the addicting The Night Goes On and On), which is one of the early highlights of 2012.

To check it out, you can stream the new album over at Paste Magazine HERE.  In addition, you can  download “Malibu Rum” at Paste Magazine here.  And make sure to check out their performance of Malibu Rum on the Kitchen Session video way below.  But then next Monday support the band by picking up the album HERE.

The band will embark on a two-month tour of North American in support of the new album, with a visit to the West Coast and California in early April.  A full list of dates is below, followed by the Kitchen Session.

Tour Dates:

2/24 – Ottawa, ON @ Ritual Night Club
2/25 – Quebec City, QC @ Le Cercle
2/29 – Charlottetown, PEI @ Hunter’s Ale House
3/01 – Fredericton, NB @ The Capitol Bar
3/02 – Moncton, NB @ Tide & Boar
3/03 – Halifax, NS @ The Seahorse Tavern
3/05 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
3/22 – Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah
3/23 – London, ON @ London Music Hall
3/24 – Windsor, ON @ FM Lounge
3/25 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
3/27 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
3/28 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
3/29 – Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre
3/30 – Saskatoon, SK @ Amigo’s
3/31 – Calgary, AB @ Palomino Bar
4/02 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
4/04 – San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah
4/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge
4/07 – Sacramento, CA @ Luigi’s
4/09 – Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar
4/10 – Victoria, BC @ Lucky Bar
4/12 – Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore
4/13 – Nelson, BC @ The Royal
4/14 – Edmonton, AB @ The Pawn Shop
4/16 – Regina, SK @ The Exchange
4/18 – Sault Ste Marie, ON @ Lop Lop Gallery
4/19 – Sudbury, ON @ The Townehouse
4/20 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
4/21 – Peterborough, ON @ Red Dog Tavern
4/27 – St. John’s, NL @ The Ship
4/28 – St. John’s, NL @ The Ship
5/08 – Boston, MA @ Radio
5/09 – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
5/10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
5/11 – New York, NY @ Pianos

As we posted three weeks ago, legendary folk-troubadour, Woody Guthrie, is getting his due (again) courtesy of a new supergroup comprised of My Morning Jacket’s Jim James (billed as Yim Yames), Son Volt’s Jay Farrar, Centro-Matic’s Will Johnson, and Varnaline’s Anders Parker, who have teamed up and dreamed up music for more Woody Guthrie lyrics.  The result is a new group and album entitled New Multitudes.  The album comes out February 28th, but you can stream it now over at Conan’s site (Team Coco) HERE.

Musically it’s all over the map with everything from psychedelic rockers, to folk , to spare soul-inflections and even some “wimowehs” seemingly from The Token’s The Lion Sleeps Tonight on Yim Yames’ Changing World.  Go over to Team Coco and check it out.

We at Lefort admit we are slothful and so are happy to occasionally sit back, take a listen and ride the coattails of others.  So it is that we welcome guest blogger, Derp, to Lefort.  Take it away then, Derp.

Derp

You know, Lefort, your coverage of indie, country, soul, punk, reggae (wait, where’s that anyway?), jazz and traditional rock is all fine and good, but where are the electro sounds?  You’re failing to cover the most exciting genre happening in music today, a genre which appeals to both the young and the old (that would be you, monsieur).  I can help with that.  Let’s start with some of the most accessible artists and tracks in the genre, and then we can get into some more challenging material in due time.

Without further adieu, first check out Austrian artist, Parov Stelar.  The stellar Stelar uses swing music as his foundation and then layers onto it modern dance and/or electro beats for a combo that is unique and addictingly enjoyable.  The result is the sub-genre, “Electroswing.”  Check out Catgroove below, which is quintessential Stelar that employs a jazzy swing number, with a driving beat above and below it, and a resulting modern dance feel.  You and your readers will also likely enjoy the inventive solo dancing by “Forythe” in the accompanying video.  Afterwards, check out Stelar’s Chambermaid Swing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRtHYiWmsoA

Next up is Berlin’s Robot Koch.  First check out recently-released Nitesky, with its lyrics and melancholy sound.  John LaMonica’s vocals complement the tone of the song perfectly.  The song may remind your readers of The Antlers and their album, Hospice, with its mournful sounds.  But Nitesky is less depressing and, instead of causing me to think about death, reminds me of people naturally coming and going from one’s life.  Listen in at 2:03, when Robot Koch drops in a marching beat and causes my foot to start tapping and my head nodding along in agreement.  Nitesky is found on Robot Koch’s album, The Other Side.

After Nitesky, check out Robot Koch’s Hard to Find.  Hard to Find has a sort of lurching, marching beat that feels like it could be the background music to a great car chase or perhaps a scene of a lion chasing down and mauling a gazelle–something primal and vicious, but managing to be beautiful in the process.  If you like what you hear, go over to Sound Cloud in the embed below the video and check out more Robot Koch.

Album & EP Tracks by Robot Koch

Next up check out the song, We Can Make the World Stop, which is a “glitch” track by the aptly named LA group, Glitch Mob.  Glitch Mob is well known for songs such as Animus Vox, Drive It Like You Stole It, and Between Two Points, but this song adds some great aggression to the electronic sound.  Afterwards check out Animus Vox.

Moving on to some more adventurous and challenging sounds, check out LA’s Flying Lotus and their song Do the Astral Plane.  This song is just a straight up dance jam.  The ratchety, clicky-clack beat is topped with a smooth sampling of violins and bass.  Fun to listen to and impossible not to move something to it.  Flying Lotus has more challenging and rewarding material to dive into, but this is a good intro to one of the most talented artists in the genre.

I’ll be back to bring you more electronic in the near future.  Until then.  Derp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXdwb_lUKvs

We loved Plants and Animals’ last album, “La La Land,” with its riffs and sonorities and connections to the Central Coast (specifically the Kon Tiki Inn in Pismo Beach).  Now comes their new album, “The End of That,” to be released next week.   Recorded in a French mansion, The End of That began with the band coming into the session with the material already written (as opposed to their former sprawling, in-the-studio songwriting process).  As a result of that or the mansion, we hear a more intimate sound with added piano and plenty of acoustic guitar, but with plenty of the band’s multi-part rockers.

The album is streaming over at Paste HERE.

M. Ward has just released the “video” below for the first single from his forthcoming album, A Wasteland Companion, out April 10 on Merge Records, Bella Union, Spunk.  Ward also plays Soho in Santa Barbara on April 14th.  You can pre-order the new album HERE.

Busy times at Radio K.  Two up-and-coming acts recently performed in Studio K.   First check out Swedish sister duo, First Aid Kit,  performing their song Hard Believer.  And then check out Brits Wild Beast performing unplugged their Best of 2011 song Loop the Loop first on Radio K, and then after an alternative (and possibly more compelling) take at WNYC.