RNDM AT THE MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG

RNDM's show was interesting on many levels. For one, I hadn’t really heard much of the band’s music. Generally I will listen to a group a lot the week I’m getting ready to see them perform. But the week of the show was the week after Sandy, and I had no power in my house, and hadn’t had the chance to upload their music to my iPod.

Actually, I think I only had one single; the album came out that week, but I was preoccupied and was living by flashlight;  going to iTunes wasn’t really on my mind. So it was the rare experience of going to see an artist whose music I was almost completely unfamiliar with.  Of course that happens at festivals or with opening acts, but I can't think of many times where I went to a show to see a band and really didn't know much of their music.

I should mention that I did buy their album at the show – I’ve listened to it often and I like it a lot. I thought RNDM was really great. They often wear masks in their press shots; I almost wish they kept them on, because people should hear them on their own terms. For better or worse, something that Jeff Ament is involved in will always be filed under “Pearl Jam side project.” There are benefits to that, to be sure, but I think this band can find its own audience, which doesn’t necessarily have to be a subset of the Ten Club (I think Brad has found a following like that as well).

 Anyway, the truth is, a band’s audience is often focused on the lead singer. And RNDM singer/guitarist Joseph Arthur has his own audience already. I’m familiar with his song “In The Sun,” and I am a big fan of his other band, Fistful Of Mercy. He’s a great singer and songwriter, I think he’s one or two hits away from playing places like Radio City Music Hall. I can’t say enough about drummer Richard Stuverud. He’s a wild man, and his joy at playing is infectious. He and Jeff have a tight bond: they’ve played together in Three Fish and Tres Mtns (who I hope we haven’t seen the last of) before RNDM. He’s a powerful drummer, the show kicks ass because of him. And Jeff? Well, it’s his band, but he seems to enjoy keeping it democratic. Everyone knows what’s on the back of his baseball card.  

Still, when you see RNDM on stage, in their photos and in their videos, you can see that he enjoys having a visual element that simply wouldn’t be welcome in his other band. He gets his Primus and Beastie Boys on, giving the band a strong visual identity; they even all have the same haircut (watch them sit under the scissors in the video for "Modern Times"). So, anyway, without knowing really much of the music at all (although they did one song that mashed up The Clash’s “The Magnificent Seven” with something else), I though it was great. I know that Pearl Jam are taking about a year off so Matt Cameron can return to Soundgarden (who I also will be writing about soon), I wonder if we’ll see any more RNDM in 2013. Not that Jeff asked what *I* would like to see him do. But I’d love to see a “magnificent four” tour – with Jeff, Richard, Joseph and Dug Pinnick, where they played RNDM and Tres Mtns songs. Hell, bring Joseph’s other bandmates – Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison of Fistful, along with their violinist Jessy Greene – and just call it “Magnificent Seven.” And this time, play the whole song!

BEN HARPER - GIVE TILL IT'S GONE

It's no secret to No Expiration readers that I'm a huge Ben Harper fan.   I've been looking forward to this album for a while - it was originally supposed to come out in the fall, but I guess it got pushed back because of Ben's Fistful Of Mercy project with Dhani Harrison and Joseph Arthur. 

The new album, Give Till It's Gone, is billed as a "solo" album - I'm not sure why, since Relentless7 (his backing band on 2009's White Lies For Dark Times) is on the album. But whatever, it's a great album, and I think it is an improvement on White Lies (which was one of my favorite albums of that year). 

The album will probably be seen as "the divorce album," due to recent events in Ben's life.  I'll leave that alone, I don't need to know what every song was actually based on, and I respect the man's privacy.  

My favorite moments on the album are actually pretty positive. The first single, "Rock and Roll Is Free" being one of them. I would think that by now, all rock and roll songs that are about rock and roll are kind of cliche - it seems like Lenny Kravitz territory (with all due respect). I've read interviews where Ben said that he was inspired to write the song after seeing Neil Young perform "Rockin' In The Free World." He wanted to write a song with the words "rock" and "free." It's not his most profound moment, but it's a lot of fun, and it makes me feel energized.  It reminds me of a Matthew Sweet song (he's another artist that I dig). 

The other moment I can't get enough of is "Spilling Faith" which goes right into the instrumental jam "Get There From Here." Both songs were co-written with Ringo Starr, who plays drums on them. It's a bit psychedelic and Beatles-esque. (Ben and R7 were Ringo's backing band on his promo tour last year - I wish he'd use them on a full tour instead of another All-Starr Band). Apparently, Ringo asked Ben to do a positive song (we know Ringo loves to say "peace and love!").  I'd love to hear King's X cover this one, the song made me think of them for some reason. 

There are much darker moments, on the album, like "Don't Give Up On Me Now," "I Will Not Be Broken" and "Pray That Our Love Sees The Dawn" (featuring Jackson Browne on backing vocals, the album was recorded at his studio). 

The album actually has a lot of range, and it makes me wonder how Ben decides what songs go where (is a song a Relentless7 song, or a Fistful of Mercy song or something he'll hold for The Innocent Criminals?).  "Waiting On A Sign," for instance, would sound great done by The Innocent Criminals. 

Well, Ben Harper is at the peak of his powers, and it feels like he's been there for damn, over a decade, and he's gonna be staying there for the foreseeable future. I am looking forward to seeing this tour (he's playing Terminal 5 in NY in the fall, yes I have my tickets) and what he'll do next. 

VIDEO: FISTFUL OF MERCY "THINGS GO 'ROUND"

Yesterday was Record Store Day, and hopefully some of you went to record stores, and bought some cool exclusive Record Store Day stuff, as well as some albums that you've been wanting to get for a while.

Fistful Of Mercy put out a 7" single with their cover of The Velvet Underground's "Pale Blue Eyes." The B-side was "Things Go 'Round," recorded live at the SiriusXM studios.  I actually was one of the camera people on that shoot, so I thought I'd share the video.  It was a huge thrill to be in the studio for this. Ya'll know what a huge Ben Harper fan I am: this was the first time I ever saw him play bass.

I'd love to see the band release some of their other covers: when I saw them at the Apollo Theater, they also did Bob Dylan's "Buckets of Rain" and, in one of the highlights of the night, PJ Harvey's "To Bring You My Love." Ben has a new album coming out next month, but I look forward to seeing him with Dhani Harrison, Joseph Arthur and Jessy Greene (she should be a full-fledged member! - I think she will, once again, tour with the Foo Fighters when they hit the road) in the future.

FISTFUL OF MERCY - AS I CALL YOU DOWN - TIE FOR #11

Another of my favorite albums of 2010 that barely missed my top 10 is Fistful Of Mercy's debut As I Call You Down. Fistful Or Mercy is a new band that includes Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur and Dhani Harrison.

No Expiration readers know that I'm a huge fan of Ben's, I'm less familiar with Arthur and Harrison (who leads a band called thenewno2).

I liked the album as soon as I heard it. But seeing them perform live made me appreciate them more. I had the good fortune to film them in the SiriusXM studios (see the video here), and a few weeks later, I saw them perform at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. That was when I realized that this is a great band, and not just a side project.  The songs that I initially favored from the album, "Father's Son," "Fistful Of Mercy," "Restore Me" and "Things Go 'Round" were even better.  But the album's closer, which closed the show as well, "With Whom You Belong." The song alone could keep these guys together.  It's hard to imagine any of these guys playing the song on their own, and it's hard to imagine that they wouldn't want to play it again.  It was that good live.  They actually unplugged their guitars, and played the song from the front of the stage - in other words, that song was performed without any amplification. It was really powerful and it was in that moment that I knew that these guys will definitely play together again in the future (that said, I'm looking forward to Ben's new album with Relentless7 which comes out this year, and I really look forward to him getting back together with The Innocent Criminals at some point in the future).

FISTFUL OF MERCY AT THE APOLLO - AMAZING!

Last night I went to the world-famous Apollo Theater in Harlem to see Fistful Of Mercy. I've written about them before: they are a supergroup that features Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur and Dhani Harrison. They also feature violinist Jessy Greene. Longtime No Expiration readers know that I'm a huge fan of Ben's, but it was interesting to see him in this different context: he wasn't the bandleader, he was one of three singer/songwriters. Actually, this was my second time seeing them: I had filmed an in-studio performance with them at my day job a few weeks ago (see below).

Radio performances are cool.  But there's nothing that compares with a group playing in front of an audience, and add the mojo of the Apollo to the mix, and you have everything you need for a great show. Fistful definitely delivered on that! They played mostly songs from their recently released debut album, As I Call You Down, including my two favorite songs "Things Go 'Round" and "Father's Son." The highlight of the show, for me, may have been their cover of PJ Harvey's "To Bring You My Love." That was a trip for me, since (a) it is the title track of one of my favorite albums, and (b), I saw Ben and The Innocent Criminals open for PJ at the Beacon Theater when she was touring for the album of the same name. Fistful's cover really knocked me out.  I also loved their cover of Bob Dylan's "Buckets Of Rain" (from Blood On The Tracks).  I don't want to write much about Dhani's resemblence to his dad, but watching him sing a song by his dad's good friend and bandmate gave me chills.  I also loved their cover of The Velvet Underground's "Pale Blue Eyes," maybe Lou Reed's finest moment. They did one of Ben's songs, "Please Me Like You Want To" and also the one Joseph Arthur song that I really know, "In The Sun."

Maybe even better than those songs was the album's closer, which ended the show, "With Whom You Belong."  It was a super powerful moment, they unplugged their instruments and went to the edge of the stage, and played them unamplified. The song isn't a hit, but the words are easy enough to remember, and everyone in the audience sang along.  It was really powerful and also really fun. I think this is what they will close their shows with in twenty years.  They seemed to enjoy performing together, I bet they'll be doing Fistful off and on for a long time.  Here's hoping they do.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ:GREAT TEAM-UPs

For those who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am-ish, I go on SIRIUS XM OutQ's The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick (co-hosted by Keith Price) to talk about music. Sometimes I have a theme, and tomorrow I'm going to be talking about recently released "team-up" albums. (We may also talk about the late, great Solomon Burke as well).

First off is the album by John Legend & The Roots, Wake Up. It's an album of covers of socially conscious R&B and soul covers from the '60s and '70s (as well as one new song written for the documentary Waiting For Superman). Yes, the album was inspired by Barack Obama's election, and was originally supposed to be an EP, but ended up becomming a full length album. Some people think that John Legend is too polite and that he lacks grit. ?uestlove who co-produced the album helped to change that. And as smooth as John is, he is very socially conscious, and you can definitely hear grit and fury in the cover of Bill Withers' "I Can't Write Left Handed." Lots of the songs are pretty obscure, I'd chalk that up to ?uestlove, who probably chose the songs. My one criticism: why have guest MCs, even such great ones as Common and C.L. Smooth when Black Thought is in the group (he's only on two songs). Anyway, I really dig this album.

Fistful Of Mercy is a new group that features one of my favorite artists, Ben Harper. The band also features Joseph Arthur and Dhani Harrison. They just released their debut album, As I Call You Down. It isn't my favorite thing Ben has done, but it has some really great songs. I recently filmed a performance by the group, I'll be posting a song soon.

Finally, the new duo album by Elton John and Leon Russell, The Union (produced by - of course! - T-Bone Burnett!). Leon was a huge influence on Elton, and Elton reached out to him a while back. Discovering that Leon wasn't in a great place, and bummed that he seemed to be forgotten, Elton invited him to do an album together. It shows what a giving and generous guy Elton is, despite the whole "tantrums and tiaras" thing. So that makes me want to like it. I think it is his best album since 2001's Songs From The West Coast (one of my favorite Elton albums), but not quite as good as that one. Still, there are some great songs, including the first single "If It Wasn't For Bad" (written by Leon) and "Hey Ahab" (written by Elton and Bernie Taupin).

THIS WEEK ON OUTQ: FISTFUL OF MERCY, RAY LAMONTAGNE, ISOBEL & MARK AND MORE

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET (-ish), I discuss music on The Morning Jolt With Larry Flick on SIRIUS XM's OutQ channel. I should also mention Larry's co-host, comedian Keith Price. Going on the show is always a fun time.  This week I have some great new music to talk about - there isn't a theme as such, but all of these records show a certain restraint and subtlety.

First off is Fistful of Mercy, a new "supergroup" featuring Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur and Dhani Harrison (son of The Quiet Beatle). I wrote about them last week - I hadn't heard of them at all (and I'm usually up on Ben Harper's doings) and then all of the sudden a video arrived in my email box! Well, you know that I'm a huge Ben Harper fan. I don't know much about Joseph Arthur, but I love his song "In The Sun" (which Michael Stipe covered a few years ago). I haven't heard Dhani's music with his band thenewno2, but I will check it out. Anyway, I have the band's title track to play.

I'm getting really into Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs' God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise, which I wrote about last night. I have all of Ray's prior albums, and generally I like a couple of songs from each, but not the whole album. This one, I love the whole thing. It's really quiet (opener "Repo Man" is uncharacteristically funky) but I really dig it. It is actually inspiring me to go back and listen to his other albums and see if they've grown on me. He has lots of songs that I love: "Trouble," "Shelter," "Hold You In My Arms," "You Are The Best Thing," "Meg White" (yes he wrote a song about Meg White!) and "Three More Days." But I'm going back and revisiting his entire albums.

I've been a fan of John Mellencamp pretty much as long as I've been a fan of rock and roll. And as No Expiration readers know, I'm loyal to artists who have been around for a long time. I'll admit it, I haven't liked many of John's albums over the past decade or so (with the exception of 2003's Trouble No More, and I think his song 2004 song "Walk Tall" is maybe his finest moment). His new album, No Better Than This, like his last one (2008's Life, Death, Love and Freedom) was produced by T-Bone Burnett. They recorded it with a ribbon mic onto a reel-to-reel recorder at Sun Studios, a baptist church in Savannah, Georgia, and in the hotel room where Robert Johnson recorded some of his sides. You would figure that those places are a bit haunted, and so is this album (as Burnett points out in the liner notes). There aren't any arena anthems here, so it's too bad that he probably won't be able to play too many of these songs in concert: it's a really good album. I'm still getting used to it, but I like it a lot.

There are high expectations for Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses' Junky Star. With two albums behind him, Ryan seemed to come out of nowhere to win an Oscar for his song "The Hurting Kind" from last year's film Crazy Heart. Like that song (and like Mellencamp's new album), Junky Star was produced by T-Bone Burnett (him again!). He seems to not be taking advantage of his higher profile - he's just doin' what he does. Which I guess is the smartest response to his situation. It's hard to imagine how this album will get too popular, but he doesn't seem to be too worried about it. He sounds a bit like a (less political) Steve Earle - the people who are going to like him are going to like him, but he isn't trying to sell himself to people who aren't interested. The Oscar makes it a bit easier to find the people who are going to like him though.

Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell released their third album, Hawk. They are as good of a team as Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and they've actually been compared to Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra, which is probably a better comparassion (rougher, countrier guy and poppier gal). Lanegan got his start as the singer of Screaming Trees, was briefly in Queens Of The Stone Age, collaborated with Greg Dulli in The Gutter Twins, collaborated with a dance music group called Soulsavers and has done a bunch of great solo albums as well. Campbell is formerly of a indie-pop group (often described as "twee") called Belle & Sebastian. So, it is sort of an unlikely combo, but it really works (much like Plant/Krauss). They sing well together - you get the impression that they are listening to each other. On this album, Campbell seems to be the boss: she's the producer and she wrote almost all of the songs herself (Lanegan didn't write any). But it's not about who wrote what or who produced, the final results are really great. Like with the LaMontange album, this is making me want to revisit their past collaborations. And also Mark's past solo stuff (and maybe even look into Isobel's solo stuff, I know I don't like B&S too much).

David Gray has quietly released a new album, Foundling. That's appropriate, because it is a pretty quiet album, even by his standards. I've read interviews with him where he's pretty much say he has no expectation that this album will be a commercial success. I think a smart music supervisor for a TV show can use some of these songs effectively. But Gray is probably right. I have a lot of respect for him, so I'm giving the album a chance, but it hasn't stuck with me. But, like Ray LaMontange, most of his records just have a few songs that I really like (I love "The Other Side," "The One I Love," "The World To Me" and "Draw The Line" to name a couple)... but maybe I need to revisit them also. That's one of the great things about music, it can hit you in different ways at different times.

BEN HARPER + JOSEPH ARTHUR + DHANI HARRISON = FISTFUL OF MERCY

Wow, another new Ben Harper project.  Ben, Joseph Arthur and Dhani Harrison have a band called Fistful Of Mercy.  I hadn't heard anything about this, and all of the sudden, this video pops up in my email box. I know that Ben and his other other band, Relentless7 have a new album, Give 'Til It's Gone, due out this fall. (And I wish Ringo Starr would release a live album from one of the shows he did with Ben and the 7 a few months back!) The song, "Fistful of Mercy," is pretty great. so I'm looking forwad to hearing this.  But I wonder, when will Ben work with The Innocent Criminals again?

Fistful of Mercy from Fistful of Mercy on Vimeo.