Rolling Stone magazine has published a mid-year report on the Best Albums of 2012 So Far, and among the year's best are two albums familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Dr. John's Locked Down and Amadou & Mariam's Folila. "We're only halfway through 2012, but we've already heard tons of great new music," says the magazine in posting its list of "40 of the year's best albums so far, as selected by Rolling Stone editors."

Locked Down, released on Nonesuch Records in April, marks a significant departure from Dr. John (aka Mac Rebennack)'s recent efforts. The new album, produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, is an entirely new approach for the storied musician, featuring as it does his collaboration with Auerbach and a band of young musicians Auerbach hand-picked to make Locked Down at his Nashville studio. Upon its release in April, the album received a four-star review from Rolling Stone.

"Full of muscled, vintage R&B grooves, fevered soloing, psychedelic arrangements and oracular mumbo jumbo, it's the wildest record Rebennack has made in many years," wrote Rolling Stone's Will Hermes. "Locked Down is that rare thing: a retro exercise that looks forward, by an old hustler and a young player who, in the process of making a great record, probably taught each other a thing or two."

Read more at rollingstone.com.

Also released in April, Amadou & Mariam's Folila epitomizes the duo's embrace of collaboration, with contributions by Santigold, TV on the Radio, Nick Zinner, Theophilus London, Bassekou Kouyate, and others. "Africa's great husband-wife duo bring their trance vocals and shredding guitar grooves to Brooklyn, where they rock out with Santigold, members of TV on the Radio and others," wrote Hermes in Rolling Stone at the time. "The result is cultural exchange with ears pricked high."

Read more at rollingstone.com.

To pick up a copy of either album, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include a download of the album at checkout.