Welcome to the fifth consecutive Best Albums of the Year countdown here at Hidden Track. Hopefully, you know by now that we pride ourselves on covering music that spans any genre, any age, any geography, and any instrumental makeup. To us, good music is good music. Period.

So, you can rest assured of the one thing that will always make our list a cut above the rest: we consider everything. Our submissions include all styles of music from bluegrass to jazz, jam to indie, electronica to rap, as well as everything in between. At the end of the day, we’re a diverse open-minded music blog. Our writers work here because they have great taste in music, and thus they are encouraged simply to write about what catches their interest. We have no motives, no editorial biases, and no strings attached. We hope that comes across in our picks.

We’ve hit the mid-point of our week-long countdown of the 25 best albums of 2012, let’s check out numbers 15 through 11…

15) Norah Jones – Little Broken Hearts

Key Tracks: Take It Back, Happy Pills, Miriam

Sounds Like: A modern day film noir soundtrack, Norah Jones’ heart breaking

The Skinny: Forget what you think you know about Norah Jones. Little Broken Hearts isn’t one for the suburban Starbucks soccer moms. Teaming with IT-producer Danger Mouse, and armed with a stack of deeply personal songs about a recent break up with her longtime boyfriend, Jones walked away with an sparse, dark and moody album that is full of devastating heart break. As the old expression goes “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” These are songs that cut deep, Jones pulls no punches wondering on She’s 22 “She 22 and she’s loving you, and you’ll never know how it makes me blue/Does she make you happy?”, while on Little Broken Hearts, proclaiming “Little broken hearts of the night/Slowly picking up their knives/On the way to the fight/Tonight they want revenge.”

- Jeffrey Greenblatt

• Previously On HT: #25 – #21, #20 – #16
• Spotify Playlist: Hidden Track’s 25 Best Albums Of 2012

14) Maps & Atlases – Beware & Be Grateful

READ ON

It being Friday, and just shy of half-way through the ninth month of the year, this morning I (@andykahn) decided on a whim to tweet out my Top 9 Albums of 2012 (so far). Along with the nine I chose, I also added a handful of, “Honorable Mentions,” that didn’t quite make the cut. With a quarter of the year left, 2012 has thus far proven to be another impressive year of album releases.

#9 album of 2012 (so far) @mapsnatlases “Beware and Be Grateful” http://t.co/5HDX8ZdH

Friday, September 14, 2012 12:31 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@andykahn

andykahn

#8 album of 2012 (so far) @liannelahavas “Is Your Love Big Enough?” http://t.co/Ktz2BZqr

Friday, September 14, 2012 1:16 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@andykahn

andykahn

READ ON

Since being hinted at roughly a year and a half ago, it’s been virtual radio silence about the details of The National curated Grateful Dead charity covers album. While we await for more news on this project, there have been a handful of new indie-Dead covers since the project was first hinted at, including The War on Drugs covering Touch Of Grey on their tour last fall, and Jonathan Wilson including a sublime cover of Mission In The Rain on his recent Daytrotter session.

The latest artist to throw their hat into the proverbial ring of acts that could be contributing to this project is Norah Jones. The lovely singer-songwriter has been including a sultry, country-inflected take on the Hunter/Garcia tune It Must Have Been The Roses on her current summer tour.  Let’s check out this version from her recent stop at the Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia…

Norah Jones - It Must Have Been The Roses

(H/T to Deadheadland)

Norah Jones’ lengthy world tour continues tonight with an appearance at the Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater in Rochester, New York.

• Previously on HT:  The B List – Grateful Dead Cover We’d Like To See Included on The National’s Compilation

Though Norah Jones built her reputation with a string of soccer-mom friendly albums, the singer-songwriter doesn’t want you to think that she’s not hip. In fact, it seems that she wants to hammer that point home by teaming up with “IT” producer Brain Burton, aka Danger Mouse, for her latest studio album Little Broken Hearts, which hits stores on May 1 via her longtime label Blue Note Records. While Jones and Burton originally began working together on the record back in 2009, it wasn’t until the duo reconvened last summer, when Jones came armed with a stack a emotionally charged songs steaming from a break up, that things came together. Jones will headed out on a 32-date world tour that kicks off on May 25 with a gig at the Olympia Theater in Paris, and includes a stop at the world famous Ryman Auditorium on June 24 and a hometown gig at New York City’s Central Park Summerstage on July 3.

If you’re not into a night with Norah Jones, then maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…

• Crosby, Stills & Nash: U.S. Summer Tour (6/7 – 9/29)
  
• Steve Kimock & Friends: Spring Tour (5/9 – 5/26)
• KISS & Motley Crue: The Tour (7/20 – 9/23)
• Dead Can Dance: North American Tour (8/9 – 9/7)
• Billy Martin & Will Blades: West Coast Tour (5/24 – 6/1)
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Spring Tour (5/5 – 6/12)
• 311 & Slightly Stoopid: Unity Tour (6/8 – 9/5)
• Trigger Hippy: Southeast Tour (4/20 – 4/26)

Since collecting a slew of Grammys for her 2002 debut Come Away With Me, Norah Jones has sold a staggering 39 million albums, but even with all that success the singer-songwriter can be seen playing tiny rooms all throughout New York City with a variety of side projects. Early in her career Jones bonded with a number of local musicians over their love of classic country music, forming The Little Willies as a way to honor the legacy of those musicians. The band, who released their debut in 2006, have regrouped and put out their sophomore album For The Good Times, which hit stores this past Tuesday. The album is another covers collection, which features tunes from the likes of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and their namesake Willie Nelson.

Earlier this week Norah Jones & Co. stopped by the Ed Sullivan Theater to perform a spirited rendition of Ralph Stanley’s I Worship You on Late Night With David Letterman. Let’s check it out…

The Little Willies – I Worship You

The Flaming Lips are no strangers to concert theatrics – an average Lips shows features everything from Wayne in a bubble to hand puppets to confetti cannons. For their upcoming New Year’s Eve Freakout gig at the Cox Convention Center in their hometown of Oklahoma City, the psychedelic-rock band have have decided to up the ante in a big way by covering Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety after the midnight countdown. Tickets for what is sure to be quite the spectacle are still available, starting at the low, low price of just $10.

If you can’t make it to Oklahoma for their New Year’s gig, than maybe you’ll be able to hit one of these recently announced tours…

• Weezer and Paramore to headline the Bamboozle Festival in ’10
• Bill Cosby brings his comedic stylings to a town near you
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club line up a lengthy world tour
• The lovely ladies of Those Darlins put together a 19-date run
• Singer-songwriter David Gray hits the theater circuit next year
• Former Soul Coughing front man Mike Doughty heads out

Finally, just weeks after her fourth full-length album The Fall hit stores, singer-songwriter Norah Jones had revealed plans for a lengthy cross-country tour. Kicking off in March, Ms. Jones will hit the road for a 36-date tour dominated by theater appearances that stretches into mid-May.

Over the summer, we revealed the details surrounding Norah Jones’ fourth studio album The Fall. For her latest record, Jones has traded the piano for electric guitar – an instrument she’s no stranger to having strapped one on for more than one of her many side projects over the past few years. Jones is backed in the studio by an interesting and eclectic batch of musicians that includes Marc Ribot & Smokey Hormel. The album drops tomorrow.

In addition to her longtime collaborator Jesse Harris, both Ryan Adams and Okkervil River front man Will Sheff received songwriting credits on the album – which is said to have more of a rock feel than her previous jazz-influenced work. Check out the video for the album’s first single, Chasing Pirates…

Around mid-afternoon tomorrow, the 2nd annual Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival will kick off in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, featuring a diverse and eclectic roster of acts across seven stages. For those of us who were unable to make the trip out to the Bay Area, fear not as the folks behind the fest have teamed up with YouTube to stream the festival all weekend long, which will include sets from Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz, Thievery Corporation, The Dead Weather, Atmosphere and more.

• List Time: P4K’s Top 500 Songs Of The ’00s
• Rainn Wilson responsible naming new Weezer album Raditude
• Cover Alert: Mark Lanegan tackles Afghan Whigs
• Bob Wier sat in with Sean Lennon at his recent San Francisco gig
• Wilco, Neko Case & OCMS to play on A Prairie Home Companion
• Bob Dylan mistaken for a homeless man & considers voicing GPS

Finally, it’s been a few years since we heard any new material from Norah Jones. The multi-Grammy winning singer-songwriter has been keeping busy acting, playing in various side-projects & lending her talents to everyone from Willie Nelson to Mike Patton. For her next album, which is due in November, Jones has recruited some impressive talent to help her out, as both Ryan Adams & Okkervil River front man Will Sheff have songwriting credits, and both Marc Ribot & Smokey Hormel also contributed as backing musicians.

We’ve been slacking on our Friday Mix Tapes of late, but fear not loyal HT readers – we think this week’s fantastic mix will make up for its recent absences. This week’s batch of tasty tunes is dedicated to the seemingly lost art of the duet, with a number of my favorites from the last few years. So without wasting anymore time with this intro, let’s just get at it…

We kick things off with the only song here that is not a duet, but the one that that inspired this whole mix: John Prine’s Donald & Lydia, which I caught Deer Tick and Liz Isenberg covering in San Francisco. This version comes from the appropriately titled John Prine Live. From there we’ve got the aforementioned acts dueting on Friday Xiii, from the brilliant Born On Flag Day. Next up, we’ve got one of my favorite tunes off Wilco (The Album), the sublime pairing of Leslie Feist and Jeff Tweedy on You & I.

Then, we’ve got Norah Jones collaborating with Ryan Adams on Dear John from the underrated album of Adams’ trifecta of 2005 releases – Jacksonville City Nights. We follow that up with Jenny Lewis and Elvis Costello pairing up for Carpetbaggers from Acid Tongue. Finally, we close things out with one of the all time classic duets – Islands In The Stream. This version comes from MMJ’s epic New Years Eve show at Madison Square Garden and features Nicole Atkins and Jim James bringing down the house. Did we miss any? Leave your favorite current contemporary duet in the comments.

Norah Jones – Bessie Smith

This past weekend, Neil Young assembled a number of notable artists for the 22nd installment of his Bridge School Benefit concert series – that included Wilco, DC4C, ZZ Top, Cat Power and Norah Jones – who all play acoustic sets over the course of the two day event. While video from the festivities is still trickling in to YouTube we wanted to share one from Norah Jones’ set.

In a nod to one other acts on the bill the smoky-voiced, pianist treated the sold out to a cover of Wilco’s Jesus, Etc. – that features Jones on guitar…

In other Wilco related news, the band plans on keeping busy in the days leading up to Election Day. First up for Jeff Tweedy & Co. will be an appearance as the musical guest tonight on The Colbert Report. While Saturday, a “stripped down” version of the band consisting of Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt and Pat Sansone will perform at the Union Theater in Madison, WI as part of a Campaign For Change rally for Barack Obama.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival kicks into high gear today for its second weekend of greatness. And thanks to the AT&T Blueroom webcast, we can share in the fun from far distances. Rod Stewart, Norah Jones and Galactic will be among the bands featured on Saturday’s webcast, while Sunday brings us Irma Thomas, Harry Connick Jr., Bonnie Raitt and many more.

But now let’s fly around the world wide web to see what else is out there:

• Pearl Jam offers a box set featuring its last three concerts at The Gorge
• Bob Dylan is going for a young audience
• Stream Rage Against The Machine’s comeback set from Coachella
• And download and stream Monday’s Ween tour opener
• An amazing George Harrison interview from April of 1970
• Ozzy wants to record and tour with Black Sabbath
• How Marty DeBergi got Spinal Tap back together
• The Bravery, Ben Kweller, and Panic! At The Disco to headline the upcoming Smashing Pumpkins tribute album
• Tomorrow’s Bjork concert will be simulcast on WNYC
• How can you not love Got To Get Better In A Little While?

Finally, Tea Leaf Green kicks down a new podcast after a long layoff. They also offer their recent Fillmore show for $9.99. Also from the TLG world: Trevor Garrod shares the contents of his iPod with Harp Magazine. Lotta green.

In re-reading a bunch of my previous columns, I’ve noticed the ladies haven’t gotten enough love (yes, an intentional double entendre). I certainly didn’t intend for the oversight, seeing as women fucking rock. So this edition of Grousing The Aisles focuses on five acts that are led by women. Long live Vagina!

Bonnie Raitt 09/14/85 SBD (FLAC):

Every note Bonnie Raitt sings or plays has an incredibly sexy yet raw tone. She is an intense performer who empties the tank at every gig. Before Raitt hit the big time with the success of Nick of Time, the Queen of Blues headed out on tour with an incredible backing band featuring Ivan Neville in 1985. This show from the Santa Cruz County Fair sounds incredible and features scorching renditions of Tell Me Something Good, Lively Up Yourself and Love Me Like A Man. Oh the things I’d do to Bonnie Raitt, the sexiest 57-year-old alive.

Read on for more GTA from Joplin, Krauss, Norah and Donna the Buffalo…