Resuming the process of writing about new music after a mega-year-in-review blowout is kind of like showing up to work in the morning following an evening of getting hammered at an all-night holiday party (not that anyone on our staff knows anything about that).  Nonetheless, our job is to keep you informed on new music, regardless of how hungover on 2011 we might be.  2012 promises new releases from a number of big-name acts (Animal Collective and The xx, to name two), and, like every year before it, is bound to be filled with surprising new acts that grab our time and our ears.  Below are just a few (ok, more than a few) of the records we’re looking forward to in the winter months.

January 10 – We Are The Works In Progress Compilation

It’s hard to think of a more appropriate and exciting start to the year in music than this 2-LP compilation curated by New York veterans Blonde Redhead, the proceeds of which go to help victims of last year’s devastating Tsunami in Japan.  Numerous indie and electronic heavyweights appear on the album, including Deerhunter, Interpol, Liars, Broadcast (RIP), and John Maus.  There’s even a contribution by minimalist legend Terry Reilly.  The full LP won’t be issued until February, but the record will be out digitally on January 10.  Below, contributions from Four Tet and Karen Dreijer Andersson, best known for her work in The Knife and Fever Ray.

Four Tet – “Moma”

Karen Dreijer Andersson – “No Face”

January 17 – The Big Pink –  Future This; Matthew Dear – Headcage

We wrote about The Big Pink a couple of year ago in the context of an article on the durability of the “shoegaze” sub-genre, a sub-genre that garnered countless fans last year through M83′s masterpiece Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.  Future This is likely to rise to that level of greatness, but it should provide thrills for anyone who enjoys outsized, anthemic rock (which, admit it, is you).  As for electronic wunderkind Matthew Dear, his Black City was one of the most criminally overlooked releases of 2010 (by this website, among others), and his Headcage EP promises even more of his post-apocalyptic take on the legacy of David Bowie.

The Big Pink – “Stay Gold”

The Big Pink – “Stay Gold (AraabMUZIK Remix)”

Matthew Dear – “Headcage”

January 24 – Chairlift - Something; Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory; Craig Finn – Clear Heart Full Eyes; Porcelain Raft – Strange Weekend; Gonjasufi – MU.ZZ.LE

Nothing Earth-shattering this week, but there are certainly a handful of interesting releases.  Chairlift is one of a gargantuan number of synth-pop duos currently peddling their wares in Brooklyn; their second LP Something has been garnering quite a bit of buzz around these parts.  Cloud Nothings was one of the most promising bands of 2010, but their 2011 eponymous debut fell flat.  They’ve retooled their sound entirely for Attack On Memory, trading in light and airy jangle-pop for a more edgy, dirtier sound.  Craig Finn’s solo debut (after his long tenure atop The Hold Steady) is likely to fall the way of most solo debuts, but at least there will be a lot of reference to Jack Kerouac.  Porcelain Raft, the solo project of some good-looking bearded Italian guy named Mauro, makes music that’s as dreamy as its creator.  The project has gotten enough attention that Porcelain Raft will be opening for M83 this winter.  And finally, as Keith Meatto informed you in 2010, Gonjasufi is just one bad motherfucker.

Porcelain Raft – “Put Me to Sleep”

Chairlift – “Sidewalk Safari”

January 31 – Lana del Rey – Born To Die; Leonardo Cohen – Old Ideas; Grimes – Visions; Prinzhorn Dance School – Clay Class

I’m excited about the last three records listed above, but let’s be clear: this week is all about Lana del Rey.  The poster child for a new era of music marketing, this New York-based chanteuse signed a mega-deal with Interscope essentially off the strength of one sepia-toned YouTube hit.  Despite never having released a full-length record, her personality has already overshadowed her music (she describes herself as a “gangsta Nancy Sinatra.,” if that gives you an idea), and we dare you to try to get a ticket to one of her shows.  You’re going to hear way more about Born to Die than you have any interest in hearing in the coming year, so you might as well spend some time with it on January 31 and see what all of the talk is about.

Lana Del Rey – “Off To The Races”

Grimes – “Genesis”

February 7 –  Air – La Voyage Dans La Lune; Blondes – Blondes; The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know; Of Montreal – Paralytic Stalks; Lindstrom – Six Cups of Rebel; Sharon van Etten – Tramp

The most wistful of months starts off with a series of wistful releases.  French production duo Air has been introducing indie rock kids to electronic music since The Virgin Suicides hit theatres.  Their latest record will be a re-imagined version of the score to the classic silent film Le Voyage Dans La Lune, a project that is likely to be as awesome as it sounds.  The rest of the week’s new records range from Brooklyn synth (Blondes) to spastic camp (Paralytic Stalks), to plaintive guitarism (No One Can Ever Know) to new-wave adult contemporary (Tramp).  Plenty of music to keep you warm.

Sharon van Etten – “Serpents”(feat. Aaron and Bryce Desner of TheNational, Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, Matt Barrick of The Walkmen, and Thomas Bartlett of Dovemna)

The Twilight Sad – “Sick”

February 14 – Sleigh Bells – Reign Of Terror; Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded; Islands – A Sleep And A Forgetting; Heartless Bastards – Arrow; Tennis – Young And Old

There are plenty of things about which to be rationally excited on Valentine’s Day (sex, …ok basically just sex), and yet I find myself irrationally excited by this new Sleigh Bells album.  The sound the band peddled on their stunning 2010 debut Treats was so singular that Reign Of Terror will likely turn out as 1) more of the same or 2) a disastrous departure.  Still, the small chance that the new record will be as engrossing as the debut has my anticipation at a fever pitch.  I am less excited about Pink Friday, the new Nicki Minaj record that, shockingly, features a song entitled “Stupid Hoe.”  She’s full of surprises.

Sleigh Bells – “Born To Lose”

Heartless Bastards – “Parted Ways”

February 21 – Perfume Genius, Put Your Back N 2 It; No Age – Collage Culture: Examining The 21st Century’s Identity Crisis LP

This will be a big week in the FP offices, as we get new LPs from the artists who produced albums nos. 11 and 9 respectively on our Top 40 Albums of 2010.  The first single off of Put Your Back N 2 It suggests that it will be filled with the kind of achingly sparse piano balladry that defined debut LP Learning.  As for the No Age record, it’s an audio companion to this multi-media art project.  Make of that what you will.

Perfume Genius – “All Waters”

February 28 – School of Seven Bells – GHOSTORY

A slow week save for this third LP from consistently mysterious dream-weavers School of Seven Bells.  Music aside, this is an early candidate for creepiest album art of 2012.

School of Seven Bells – “The Night”

March 6 – The Men – Open Your Heart; The Magnetic Fields – Love At The Bottom Of The Sea; Andew Bird – Break It Yourself

We conclude the preview with three LPs from three very different acts.  The Men’s abrasive LP Leave Home was raucous enough to land it at  #25 on our list of the 50 Best Albums of 2011.  Follow-up Open Your Heart‘s appearance less than a year later constitutes a pretty quick turnaround, but, after taking a look at the records above,  it’s likely to be a welcome relief to those in search of some genuine rock music.  Hardly a quick turn around for Stephen Merritt, however, who returns to Merge Records with The Magnetic Fields after a 13-year separation.  It is admittedly difficult to get excited about a record from a band whose best work was released so long ago, unless that band is The Magnetic Fields and you just got a ukulele (…like I did).  And, finally, multi-instrumentalist and tomato-bread-lover Andrew Bird appears with his 12th LP of folk songs you won’t be able to play.  Put on your whistling pants.

L.V . Lopez is co-editor of Frontier Psychiatrist.  He lives in icy Brooklyn and drinks whiskey to stay warm.  He can already play a dozen songs on his ukulele.