TOMORROW ON OUTQ: VAMPIRE MUSIC!

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET, I go on the SIRIUS XM channel OutQ to talk about music on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. Tomorrow, I'm talking about vampire music!  Because nothing says "summer" like pasty faced white kids dying their hair jet black, wearing all black, and avoiding the sun at all costs!  Ha ha, I kid!

First off is the new True Blood soundtrack.  I am a huge fan of the show, and I don't even have HBO! We watch it on DVD.  Anyway, with season 3 having just started, they've just released the season 2 box set and also the soundtrack. I have to express admiration here for the people who decide what songs make it to the show. They are really well chosen, they aren't done strictly as marketing, and it doesn't seem to matter what genre they are in, what era they are from, or if they are exclusive to the soundtrack. While I'm watching the show, I'm not distracted by the music, but I'm always amazed how it seems to fit, whether it's a song from the '50s like Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "Frenzy" or a newer song like Bob Dylan's "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" (used in the season finale, it was also that episode's title).  Jace Everett sings the show's theme song "Bad Things" - a choice of sheer genius by the producers, it was an already existing song. That song is available on Volume 1 and iTunes, but Everett returns this time with swamp blues dude C.C. Adcock (his self titled 1994 album is great by the way) with a cover of Howlin' Wolf 's "Evil." One of my favorite indie rock dudes, M. Ward, also covers Wolf with "Howlin' For My Baby." There are also great songs by Beck and eels.  I was actually disappointed with a Lucinda Williams/Elvis Costello song, and a Robbie Robertson song. But overall, it is a great listen.

This weekend the new Twilight film opens.  I haven't seen any of the films or read any of the books. About a year and a half ago, Larry and I discussed the original Twilight soundtrack, comparing it to The Crow films and soundtracks in the '90s. Twilight actually seems to have more legs, and is seen as a really important soundtrack to be on, three films in.  I see the soundtrack as more of a marketing thing - and I don't say that in a mean way, it's just true.  All the acts are probably familiar to hipper high school and college kids.  And the big names line up to be on the soundtrack: Muse makes their third Twilight appearance, plus Dead Weather, The Black Keys, Beck (him again!), Florence + The Machine and Cee Lo Green are all on the album, which is pretty solid, I must say.

Finally, The Cure just reissued a three CD deluxe edition of their classic album, Disintegration. Disc 1 is the album remastered (and it sounds great), disc 2 is demos and rehearsal versions (only for the obsessives, of which there are many) and disc 3 is all the songs on the album played live in concert.  I put Disintegration on my list of the best albums of all time, but of course it isn't for everybody.  But unless you need to hear every note Robert Smith has committed to tape (again, I realize many of you are out there) you really just need to listen to the main album. One misconception that people had, and maybe still have, about The Cure is that they are  a "wimpy" synthy band.  Not true: Smith is a badass guitar player, and Hendrix was a huge influence on him.  Check out "Fascination Street" from this album if you don't believe me. 

NORAH JONES REMIX EP

Tomorrow (1/12) Norah Jones is releasing the Chasing Pirates Remix EP on vinyl and iTunes. It includes the studio version of "Chasing Pirates" and a song that didn't make her latest album The Fall, "That's What I Said." Adam Horovitz and Mike D from The Beastie Boys do a remix of "That's What I Said," and Santigold remixes "Chasing Pirates." There's another "Pirates" remix by a group of people including Beck.

NORAH IS WORKIN' IT

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Norah Jones didn't really know how to handle the incredible success she experienced early in her career, and for a while, she seemed to back away from it. These days, it doesn't seem to bother her (it shouldn't), and she seems to be working a bit more than she has in the past to get her music heard. The first single from her upcoming album, The Fall, due out November 17, is "Chasing Pirates." The video is above, and premiered exclusively on VH1.com. You can get the single when you pre-order the album at iTunes, and the deluxe iTunes version features covers of a few songs, including Johnny Cash's "Cry, Cry, Cry" and Wilco's "Jesus, Inc." And, according to a Entertainment Weekly online exclusive, she having remixes of her songs done by The Beastie Boys, Beck and Santigold.

Meanwhile, the other video above is Norah with Q-Tip, "Life Is Better." It is from Tip's 2009 overlooked classic, The Renaissance. In a way, it promotes Norah as much as it does Tip. Anyway, I'm a big fan of Norah's, and I'm excited to hear the new album.

BECK.COM: WHERE IT'S AT!

So many artists use their website as a perfunctory

marketing tool. Beck is actually making pretty creative use of Beck.com, though. I already told you about his "Record Club," where he and his friends cover an entire album in a day (some of his versions of songs from The Velvet Underground & Nico are already posted to the site), but he's also adding his DJ sets and also a feature called "Irrelevant Topics," where he interviews another artist. When he does this for a magazine, there's usually an editor to mediate and keep them away from "irrelevant topics," but that won't be the case at beck.com! The first artist he is interviewing is Tom Waits. Should be interesting!

BECK'S RECORD CLUB

Beck is starting a record club via his website. He and his 

various friends are going to be doing occasional one-day unrehearsed sessions where they cover a classic album in its entirety. The first one they're doing is The Velvet Underground & Nico, which is a great choice. They almost did Digital Underground's Sex Packets. He worked on this first edition with producer Nigel Godrich, his brother-in-law Gionvanni Ribsi, and Chris Holmes (I hope it is Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P.). 

DANGER MOUSE PRODUCING NEW BECK ALBUM

I think it was kind of inevitable that Danger Mouse would end up producing a Beck album. I'm not as ga-ga over either artist as many seem to be, but I do have all of Beck's albums, and lots of stuff that Danger Mouse has worked on. This could be one of the best albums of the year. Supposedly it's got a '60s British psychadelia vibe to it. The first song is now streaming at Beck's web site.

NEW, BUT LESSER HYPED, WHITE STRIPES MUSIC

The White Stripes’ “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)” is surely one of the best songs of the year. I can’t believe it’s not on the ballot for Little Steven’s “Coolest Song In The World This Year”! To be fair, “Icky Thump” and “Conquest” are on the ballot.

And speaking of “Conquest,” The Stripes have just released a Conquest EP, with a bunch of new songs, two of which are collaborations with Beck: “It’s My Fault For Being Famous” and “Cash Grab Complications On The Matter.” There’s also another new song, “Honey, We Can’t Afford To Look This Cheap,” plus a new version of “Conquest.”

I’ve heard that The White Stripes may never tour again – my guess would be that Meg White doesn’t like being on the road. That would be a shame, but as long as they put out music this good, that’s cool. (And as long as Jack still tours with The Raconteurs).