So word around the internet is that the Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins album, Rabbit Fur Coat (Grok album art here), has leaked two months before its official January 24 release date – in other words, exactly on schedule. Now in accordance with my mostly inflexible stance on leaks (don’t do em), I haven’t heard any of it but people seem to be pretty excited about it. I’m not surprised – Jenny has a voice made for country music, so the twang-friendly sound of this album should suit her just fine. So now while I don’t have any MP3s to share, I can point you to this feature story in the new issue of Harp (from which I also took this fetching photograph). And her MySpace blog has also transcribed this piece from Paste.

People are calling Rabbit Fur Coat a solo album for Jenny Lewis, but that’s unfair because as the credit clearly states, it was created with The Watson Twins, who were in the band Slydell and are currently at work at their own debut album, Southern Manners, also due out in January. If the one song posted at their MySpace page is any indication, they can make some gorgeous music with or without Ms Lewis… Of course, the association can only help them out, but hopefully people won’t forget that the Watsons deserve recognition on their own merits.

And not to be outdone by his Rilo Kiley bandmate (though lets be honest – he totally is), Blake Sennett’s side project The Elected will also put out their second album Sun, Sun, Sun, on January 24. Think they’ve got little side-by-side bar graphs representing respective sales of the albums at RK HQ? Me neither.

My “no leak” policy also prevents me from hearing the new Belle & Sebastian album, but thankfully Matador has revealed the album art for The Life Pursuit, out February 7, and released an mp3:

MP3: Belle & Sebastian – “Another Sunny Day”

NPR will be webcasting Calexico and Iron & Wine’s show in Washington DC tonight at around 10PM EST.

Brooklyn’s We Are Scientists are at the Horseshoe on January 14. Apparently the UK loves em. Take that as you will, and check out press from Chart and MTV.com.

Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene introduces Harp to his Toronto. Which, incidentally, looks an awful lot like my Toronto. I used to work half a block away from the strip club he’s talking about.

Sarah Harmer tells JAM! about how her tour in support of the Niagara Escarpment informed her new bluegrass-y album I’m A Mountain. It’s been out in Canada for a little while now but isn’t out in the US till February 7. She’s playing a run of shows at the Harbourfront Centre tonight through Saturday, and will also do an in-store performance at the Mountain Equipment Co-op on King St on Saturday at 1PM.

Cokemachineglow has taken a different approach to the inevitable deluge of lists coming our way. I’m already becoming jaded, but with titles like “Top 7 Brief and Spitefully Expressed Occurrences of Visceral Disappointment ” and “Top 12 Songs on OK Computer“, you have my attention.

np – The Mendoza Line / Full Of Light And Full Of Fire