Music in full bloom on area stages

The season will be busy on stages large and small. Though the Spectrum is closed, the Wachovia Center will offer up John Mayer (Feb. 21), Black Eyed Peas (March 3), and back-to-backs with Taylor Swift (March 18-19) and Bon Jovi (March 23-24).

In more intimate environs, you have the Kinks' Dave Davies at the Sellersville Theater 1894 (Feb. 9), country tough guys Eric Church and Josh Thompson at the Trocadero (Feb. 11), singer-songwriter Laura Veirs at World Cafe Live (Feb. 17), and Norwegian tunesmith Sondre Lerche at Johnny Brenda's (March 4).

Atlantic City's docket features Cheap Trick and Wale (Harrah's and the Borgata, respectively, Jan. 29), Jay-Z (Borgata, March 13), and Carrie Underwood (the Boardwalk, March 19). And be on the lookout for releases from Lupe Fiasco, the Roots, LCD Soundsystem and Christina Aguilera, among others.

Lil Wayne, Rebirth. Weezy F. Baby's reputed "rock" album is long-awaited, all right. The follow-up to Tha Carter III - 2008's best-seller - was slated for April, then delayed. The rapper's guitar skills are questionable, but his rhyming is never in doubt. Could be great, could be a disaster. (Feb. 2.) - D.D.

Sade, Soldier of Love. Sade, known for her sultry mix of soul and jazz, releases her first studio album in eight years. Judging by the title single, the Nigerian-born Londoner has added some kick to the mix. (Feb. 9.) - David Hiltbrand
VV Brown, Travelling Like the Light. This year's Brit retro-soul model is VV Brown, the pompadoured fashionista who mixes a little rock-and-roll into her R&B. Brown's self-produced, self-penned Travelling Like the Light puts a vivacious shine on the classic soul/girl-group sound favored by the countrywoman to whom she's often compared, Amy Winehouse. (Feb. 9, and Feb. 18 at Marbar.) - D.D.
Freeway, The Stimulus Package. The quick-spitting Philadelphian who's a former protege of Beanie Sigel and Jay-Z makes his comeback on his debut for the Rhymesayers label. (Feb. 16, and performing Feb. 15 at the Trocadero.)

- D.D.
Citizen Cope, Rainwater. With his rough and ready style, Citizen Cope combines strains of swampy, rootsy, and funky. During his three-night stand at the TLA (Feb. 18-20), expect a preview of his new CD, Rainwater, due March 2.

- D.H.
Johanna Newsom. Harp-playing indie-rock crush object and acquired taste Johanna Newsom, whose 2008 opus Ys was either super-brilliant or really annoying, returns with Have One on Me, her third album. The paramour of Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg promises that the songs will be simpler this time out. (Feb. 23, and March 19-20 at the First Unitarian Church Sanctuary.) - D.D.
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists. Impassioned N.J. indie rocker Ted Leo moves to Matador Records with The Brutalist Bricks - and sounds catchier and more refreshingly to the point than he has in quite some time on "Even Heroes Have to Die," its first single. (March 9, and at the First Unitarian Church on April 7.) - D.D.
She & Him, Volume Two. Actress-turned-impressive-songwriter Zooey Deschanel and roots guitarist/producer M. Ward follow up 2008's disarmingly retro, and catchy, Volume One, which was full of cannily crafted tunes - and not so innocent as it seemed. (March 23.) - D.D.
Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh). The second installation of the R&B funkstress' Amerykah project is said to be less political and more poetic than its '08 predecessor. As Badu told Billboard: "It's just about beats and rhymes and more free and full of life." (March 30.) - D.D.

Vampire Weekend. The Ivy League foursome led by Ezra Koenig returns to town in support of their superb new Contra, an intricate mash-up of world music and New Wave pop, which should quiet the carping - for a little while, anyway - about their larcenous ways as indigenous-music appropriators. (April 2, Electric Factory.) - D.D.
Usher, Raymond v. Raymond. After the commercial disappointment of Here I Stand (2008), Usher Raymond IV is back with Raymond v. Raymond. It promises to be deeply personal, inwardly conflicted, and more than a little perverted, in an effort to regain the magic of 2004's mega-selling Confessions. If the single "Little Freak" is predictive, he's got the perverted part covered. (March 2)

- D.D.
Norah Jones returns to the Tower Theater on April 3 with a new look (pageboy) and a new sound (punchier). Both a presenter and a nominee at next week's Grammys, the singer will be performing the groove-approved material from her latest album, The Fall. - D.H.
Dr. Dog, Shame, Shame. The West Philadelphia indie-pop band with a gift for four-part harmony and buoyant melody releases its debut disc for the Anti- label (home to Merle Haggard and Tom Waits) on April 6. The outfit, led by Toby Leaman and Scott McMicken, headlines a gig May 13, at the Electric Factory.

- D.D.