It’s barely February, and 2010 is already shaping up to be a stellar year for new albums. January has already seen the arrival of pop it-girl Ke$ha’s debut album, Animal, and the return of indie rocker group Vampire Weekend with its latest, Contra. Artsweek presents a list of albums you’ll want to check out in February and March.

This week, Nick Jonas flies solo with his backing band, The Administration, to deliver the bluesy Who I Am, and rapper Lil Wayne finally releases the overly delayed, rock-infused Rebirth. Tom DeLonge side-project Angels & Airwaves’ Love will be out Valentines’ Day. The album will reportedly be free on iTunes.

March will see R&B singer Usher’s return to the spotlight with Raymond v. Raymond along with Extravaganza headliner Ludacris’ Battle of the Sexes album, which will feature the rapper battling female MCs like Trina and Lil Kim. Almost Alice, the angst-driven soundtrack to Alice in Wonderland featuring pop-rockers Avril Lavigne, Kerli, The All-American Rejects, among others will also be released in March. A remixed version of Mariah Carey’s Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel with new tracks and guest artists like Ne-Yo and Nicki Minaj also awaits a March release under the name Angels Advocate.

How do you like the sound of that?