• The 3rd Annual Record Store Day is looming around the corner (April 17th!) and wouldn’t you know the list of participants and goodies is beginning to unfurl. Factory 25 will be releasing the first two LPs from its History of Chicago Punk series featuring DA and Tutu & The Pirates.

• Throw a 12-inch single from Yeasayer on the Record Store Day want-list. The group will be releasing O.N.E. on vinyl—and to tease fans, have just released the video for the ODD Blood cut:

• Sub Pop rolled out a long list of Record Store Day releases as well, with two 12-inch released from Beach House and The Album Leaf, a handful of 7-inches from Happy Birthday, CoCoRosie, Dum Dum Girls, and Male Bonding, and an official CD of the best performances from the label’s 2008 20th Anniversary concerts titled SP20: Casual Nostalgia Fest. Perhaps the most intriguing release will be the reissue of the newly reunited Soundgarden’s 1987 7-inch, “Hunted Down.”

• Lo-fi freakster Ariel Pink is prepping his first release for 4AD, so while fans wait eagerly, he and the label have decided to unveil the title track from the upcoming 7-inch release, “Round and Round”. All it costs is a minute of your time to sign up for Pink’s mailing list.

• Prepare for ORION, the supposedly legit metal LP from Mandy Moore’s husband. Via his official website, Ryan Adams delivered the good (?) news and unveiled an untitled track seemingly from the album.

• Proliferate avant trio, Zs is set to release New Slaves–the band’s proper sophomore release — through The Social Registry May 11th.

• Canadian doom metal duo, Nadja will be releasing the White Nights/Drone Field on DVD later this year via Beta-lactum Ring Records. Currently a part of a Toronto art installation, the film combines two live concerts from Nadja and member Aidan Baker with visuals from a long list of emerging Canadian filmmakers.

• Fan Death Records are a part of the gleeful re-emergence of the cassette, and to celebrate the label is releasing Acid on March 30th from Psychedelic Horseshit. The Times New Viking and Abe Vigoda peers have released the first track for your listening pleasure:

• Wednesday is the big night on the talk shows this week, so clear off your DVR for Free Energy, Metric and The XX. Other highlights include Rhymesayers artist Freeway, who teamed up with local producer Jake One, live on Jimmy Fallon tonight, and Air, also on Fallon at the end of the week. Check out the other highlights here:

  Monday, March 15

  Jimmy Kimmel: Galactic (R)
  Jimmy Fallon: Freeway
  Carson Daly: Phoenix (R)

  Tuesday, March 16

  Jimmy Kimmel: Sade (R)

  Wednesday, March 17

  David Letterman: Free Energy
  Jimmy Fallon: The XX
  Carson Daly: Metric
  Bonnie Hunt: The Swell Season

  Thursday, March 18

  Carson Daly: Wild Light

  Friday, March 19

  Jimmy Fallon: Air

This week features a gold mine of amazing new releases hailing from legendary musicians to up-and-coming, best new artists of the year contenders. Brooklyn band Yeasayer released their second album, Odd Blood, the followup to their breakthrough debut, All Hour Cymbals. While the hallucinatory pop maestros still remain within the mish mash realm of Eastern-flavored experimental, Odd Blood is definitely more bizarre, festive and serious; a work of men that have seen the world (check out their recent live in-studio 2/2, also re-broadcasted this morning. The boys are playing Neumos 4/20).

One of the most significant American poets of the past century, 60-year-old Gil Scott-Heron released I’m New Here, his first album in 16 years. The Godfather of proto-rap is still speaking revolution, but this time, he trades in his signature jazzy-blues for cover songs and spoken-word over dark, electronic soundscapes. Street beat, trip pop duo Phantogram releases their delicious, digitalized debut, Eyelid Movies after a taunting year of mind blowing performances. Fellow trip hoppers Massive Attack once again create impressive panoramic ambiance with Heligoland, but it’s the cameos that make this record pure artwork including artists Tunde Adebimpe of TV On The Radio, Adrian Utley of Portishead and Damon Albarn of Gorillaz to name a few.

German producer Pantha du Prince (a.k.a. Hendrik Weber) creates an icy kingdom of chilly synths and crystal chimes with his third album, Black Noise. London hot shots Hot Chip put out another beatastic classic with One Life Stand. The Minneapolis rapper Dessa (the only female in hip hop collective Doomtree) lays out her dense and inspiring poetry on her new album Badly Broken Code (playing the Nectar Lounge with P.O.S. 2/12). Twin country-folk sisters The Watson Twins took a bold leap with their third album, Talking to You, Talking to Me, incorporating more groove heavy tunes to their organic twang. And, DC brother duo Bluebrain, formerly of the band The Epochs, released their dancey electro debut Soft Power.

Make sure to take a look at Largehearted Boy’s list before heading to your local record shop.

photo by Doron Gild

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s selection, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole is “Ambling Alp” by Yeasayer from the 2010 album Odd Blood on Secretly Canadian.

It’s hard to believe that Yeasayer’s debut, All Hour Cymbals, is three years old now but the time has passed and the group made the logical leap from the fuzzy, coarse musical explorations of yesteryear to the clean and poppy jams of 2010. Out now on Secretly Canadian, Yeasayer’s sophomore effort, Odd Blood, is nothing like you’d expect from the Brooklyn trio and nothing exemplifies this more than the leading single, “Ambling Alp.”

Breaking from their traditional style of echo chamber vocals and tribal percussion, the group shoots off into a new direction with clean singular vocals and powerfully grand drum loops that hearken back to a few decades ago. Indeed, comparisons to 80’s style production are not without merit, but none of this means you won’t want to listen to the story told in “Ambling Alp” a few times as it strolls along with the fuel of an Animal Collective-esque rhythm section. If this single is indicative of remainder of the album, you can color me interested and impressed with the direction Yeasayer has chosen to pursue.

For those who find themselves equally interested in how this new production style translates to the stage, you’ll find yourself in heaps of luck if you reside in Europe as they kick off a tour in Birmingham, UK, on February 16th. With patience, those of us stateside will get our chance starting in April when the band continues their touring schedule in the U.S. — there are plenty of dates listed on their MySpace page including an appearance here in Seattle on April 19th at Neumo’s. Also, Yeasayer will perform live on KEXP tomorrow, February 2, at 8AM from The Cutting Room Studios NYC, so mark your calendars and clear your schedules!

Here’s the official video for “Ambling Alp”:

In no particular order, here are my favorite videos of 2009:

…and this wouldn’t be a top 10 list without honorable mentions!

Happy Election Day, everybody! Though we may not be electing the big guns (so to speak) today, it’s important to remember that often the most work gets done at a local level, so get out there, cast your vote and effect change!

In the spirit of free choice, we collect samples from each week’s new releases for you to make informed decisions as you head out to your local record shop. This week, The Strokes vocalist Julian Casablancas breaks from his party with his solo debut, Phrazes for the Young (better make sure to vote for more school funding, particularly in regard to language arts and spelling!). Norwegians Kings of Convenience may appear to be learning the American way with Declaration of Dependence, but their stripped down, breezy sound is a relaxing moment of freedom in your otherwise productive day. Young New Zealand rockers Bang Bang Eche exercise free speech with their FCC-violating new EP, while if there’s any right Canadian garage rockers King Khan & BBQ Show are fighting for, it’s definitely for the right to party on their new album, Invisible Girl.

There are plenty of other candidates eager for your support this week, and unlike in most elections, it’s far more than a two party system: check out the latest from The Mary Onettes, Lymbyc Systym, Vitalic, Gift of Gab, Jookabox, Holopaw, and a brand new single from Yeasayer, who vying for world domination with their sophomore release. For those content to sit on the porch in the moonlight with a jug of whiskey (those are true ‘merican values!), there’s the debut from indie veterans Jason Molina and Will Johnson (a.k.a. Molina and Johnson), who practically define American indie songwriting with their folky self-titled collaboration. But for those with a continual eye to the future, Ghostly International imprint Moongadget has collected in Nocturnal Suite “the diversity in electronic music.” You can find the complete ballot over at Largehearted Boy’s blog but not before viewing (and downloading) our electoral coverage here:

• Yeasayer signed to Secretly Canadian for the North American release of their highly anticipated 2nd album. It’s called Odd Blood, and it will be released on February 9, 2010. They join the ranks of artists like Jens Lekman, Damien Jurado, Magnolia Electric Company, and Antony and the Johnsons on Secretly Canadian.

• The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s October 29th/30th concerts at Madison Square Garden have gotten more incredible: Ozzy Osbourne will perform with Metallica, Buddy Guy will join Eric Clapton, B.B. King is pairing with Stevie Wonder and Annie Lennox and Lenny Kravitz are teaming with Aretha Franklin.

• Below you’ll find a new People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) advertisement featuring the members of Animal Collective. They’re teaming up to show support for ending seal slaughter in Canada. Huh.

• Uh, really? Some guys from his label say Lil Wayne is going to be releasing not one but TWO new albums before the end of the year! According to Cash Money CEO Birdman, The Rebirth, “the dubious Lil Wayne rock album that’s been pushed back a few times, will come out this year. And so will Tha Carter 4, the next entry in Wayne’s… Carter series. Birdman even has a projected released date for Tha Carter 4: December 15.”

• MGMT’s new album now has a name. Their label confirmed it will be titled “Congratulations” and will be released “sometime next year.” They’re playing some of the new stuff live these days, including the title track:

• Yep, it’s Death Cab news of the week! As you probably know, Ben Gibbard is making his big screen debut in the movie “Brief Interviews With Hideous Men.” Stereogum just posted clips from his performance. Now Zooey isn’t the closest he’s come to acting.

• Trent Reznor is, I guess, married now? Congratulations to him and his lucky(?) new bride. Check out the extremely awkward photographic evidence here.

• Courtney Love has reunited her band Hole for the first time since 2002, after they formed in ‘ninety four after Love was widowed. I guess we’ll see.