Spring Arts - Pop Music: A season of medium-sized acts

There's no shortage of big stars - marquee names as disparate as Justin Timberlake and David Bowie are returning, alongside boldfaced names Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Rihanna.

But  the coming months are more about medium-sized acts that, thankfully, aren't big enough to play the enormodome.

Look for albums by alt-folkies Thao & the Get Down Stay Down (We the Common, on sale Feb. 5, playing Underground Arts March 24), Richard Thompson (Electric, Feb. 5), and the Mavericks (In Time, Feb. 26). Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr will release The Messenger (Feb. 26). Other highlights: French pop savants Phoenix (Bankrupt!, April TBD), the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Mosquito, April 7) and Vampire Weekend's untitled third album (May 7).

Among Philly acts, love man Bilal celebrates A Love Surreal at World Cafe Live (Feb. 13). Heavy rockers Pissed Jeans will drop Honeys (Feb. 12, playing Underground Arts Feb. 15). Power trio Purling Hiss puts out Water on Mars (March 19). And Kurt Vile's Wakin' on a Pretty Daze is on its way (date TBD).

- Dan DeLuca, Inquirer music critic

Jim James, Regions of Light and Sound of God (on sale Feb. 5). The My Morning Jacket lead singer starts his tour at Fishtown's cozy Johnny Brenda's Feb. 18. It sold out faster than you can say Regions of Light and Sound of God, the name of James' first solo album, a spiritually yearning effort inspired in part by Lynd Ward's 1929 woodcut novel God's Man.

Azealia Banks, Broke With Expensive Taste (on sale Feb. 12). Azealia Banks is the Harlem rapper tipped as one of the breakout stars of 2012 on account of "212," the double-time rhyme that liberally mixed profanity with grab-you-by-the-throat rhythmic flair. Banks, who has released mixtapes, is finally ready with her album debut.

Major Lazer, Free the Universe (on sale Feb. 19). Diplo, the former Philly-based DJ born Wesley Pentz, is up for producer of the year at next month's Grammys. The globe-trotting knob-twiddler and Justin Bieber collaborator is also the man behind Major Lazer, the electronic-reggae dancehall project, whose sophomore album features Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig and Santigold.

Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale (play World Cafe Live on Feb. 22). As a pair of talented, underrated country-music outsiders who range from bluegrass to '60s British Invasion rock, it's a wonder Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale didn't get together for a full-on collaboration before now. Let's just be happy they finally have.

David Bowie, The Next Day (on sale March 12). The Thin White Duke hasn't released a studio album since 2003, but he celebrated his 66th birthday this month by surprising fans with "Where Are We Now?" a quietly beautiful single rife with references to his productive '70s art-making days in Berlin. Bowie says there will be no tour, but he has completed an album, The Next Day.

  Pink (plays the Wells Fargo Center on March 17). Abington-born, Doylestown-raised Alecia Moore doesn't get the critical respect or the attention as a culture-shaping artist accorded to Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. All she has is hits. The hardest of pop music's hard-bodies has sent one catchy tune up the charts after another, from "Get the Party Started" to "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" from last year's solid-as-her-abs The Truth About Love.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Push the Sky Away (plays the Keswick Theatre on March 19). Savage Australian rocker Nick Cave gets back with the Bad Seeds for the first time since 2008 on the new Push the Sky Away, which Cave calls "subtly beautiful." If albums were like children, admittedly a "threadbare metaphor," Cave writes, the new one "is the ghost baby in the incubator and Warren Ellis' loops are its tiny trembling heartbeat."

  Beyoncé (album title and date TBA). Did she really lip-sync the National Anthem? Is she really getting $50 million to shill for Pepsi? (It's complicated.) 2013 figures to be the year of the B, with expectations that Jay-Z's spouse and Blue Ivy's mother will debut a single at the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans on Feb. 3, and announce an album and tour the next week. Collaborators on her fifth solo album include Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo, Pharrell, and Timbaland.

Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience (on sale TBA). There's no doubt the pop and R&B world is primed for Justin Timberlake's return. It's been seven years since the former Mickey Mouse Club actor released an album, and his single, the dapper and danceable "Suit & Tie," featuring a guest rap by Jay-Z, set airplay records when it was released this month.

 Spinto Band, Cool Cocoon (on sale Feb. 5, play Johnny Brenda's on Feb. 16). Wilmington's Spinto Band have sped up the pace. Following 2012's Shy Pursuit, their first album in four years, they've got Cool Cocoon, coming next month. The quintet is best known for the 2006 indie hit "Oh Mandy," but their mastery of quirky, perky pop is worthy of a wide audience.

Lady Gaga and Rihanna (Lady Gaga plays the Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 19-20; Rihanna plays on March 14). Between them, they've got 60 million Twitter followers. Two of the world's biggest divas are coming to warm up South Philadelphia. Lady Gaga brings the Born This Way Ball to town for two nights in February, in advance of her new ARTPOP (release date TBA). In March, Barbadian hit-making machine Rihanna comes with the added lure of New York rapper A$AP Rocky, whose debut album is atop the Billboard chart.

Lianne La Havas (plays World Cafe Live on April 7). Brit acoustic soul chanteuse Lianne La Havas is a coffeehouse superstar waiting to happen. Her 2012 debut, Is Your Love Big Enough?, soars and swoops with uncommon composure, bearing the influence of Norah Jones, Jill Scott, and Bill Withers.

Roots Picnic (June 1 at the Festival Pier). After expanding last year to two days, the Roots Picnic is back as a one-day event. The lineup is packed with indie, electro, avant R&B and hip-hop, including Canadian mixmistress Grimes, rappers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Beyoncé's sister, Solange. This year's nod to old-school hip-hop is Naughty by Nature. The festival kicks off summer, even though the calendar will say it's still spring.

Atoms for Peace, Amok (on sale Feb. 25). Supergroups create heightened expectations while rarely actually being super. Sometimes through, they're pretty darn good, as with say, Derek & the Dominos and Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne project. The latest assemblage is Atoms for Peace, whose members include Thom York of Radiohead, Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Radiohead producer Nigel Goodrich, plus Beck drummer Joey Waronker and Brazilian percussionist Maura Refosco.

Alicia Keys (plays Ovation Hall at the Revel on April 13). The ivory-tickling songstress's 2012 album, Girl on Fire, was an artistic bounce-back. And though she botched her Inaugural Ball moment when she rewrote the title cut as "Obama's on Fire," Keys shone brightly as the only female at the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy. Her arena tour comes to Atlantic City's Revel, in keeping with the struggling casino's policy of booking only the biggest names.

Earl Sweatshirt, Doris (on sale TBA). Last year's breakout star from the Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All hip-hop crew was the celebrated soulman Frank Ocean. This year it could be Earl, the teenage rapper (and son of South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile) who returned to the Odd Future fold in 2012 after spending nearly two years at a school in Samoa for at-risk youth. "Chum," the single from Doris, one of two albums he plans for 2013, suggests a bright future.

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