TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT: FUNK!

Two weeks ago, I returned to SiriusXM OutQ's The Morning Jolt With Larry Flick after being on the disabled list for a while.  Last week, I had to miss it again (for scheduling reasons, not heath ones). Tomorrow I'm back, and I'm bringing the funk.

Well, maybe not funk by the strictest definition of funk purists. But all the music I'm bringing in will be funky.

First up, is the Red Hot Chili Peppers' new album, I'm With You. I wrote about it recently, and I wish I liked it more than I do. That said, it has some great moments, like "Monarchy Of Roses" and "Brendan's Death Song."  More importantly, the new lineup, featuring guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, does show a lot of potential.

Primus is one of my favorite bands, and I really dig their new album, Green Naugahyde, which I just wrote about.  "Tragedy's A'Comin'" is one of my favorite songs of the year.

Fishbone is one of the most underrated bands of the past few decades.  But I haven't enjoyed much of their new music since 1993's Give A Monkey A Brain... And He'll Swear He's The Center Of The Universe.  They've just released The Crazy Glue EP.  I like it.  I'm really looking forward to the documentary about the band, Everyday Sunshine. Anything that gets them to a wider audience is cool with me!

When it comes to Lenny Kravitz, I'm a singles guy.  I have his best-of, and I'm cool with that. But the songs I've heard from his new album, Black And White America (the title track and "Superlove") are pretty cool and very funky. I may have to check this one out a bit more.

I wrote about Trombone Shorty about a year ago, and now he's got a new album, For True. I recently filmed a performance by him at the SiriusXM studios, and he was great (see it here).

Sly Stone actually has a new album, but sadly, it's mostly his old hits re-recorded.  There's no point to doing that: they were perfect the first time, and frankly Sly doesn't sound as good as he used to. There's a good new original song though, "Plain Jane."

I think that a lot of today's funk music is done by DJs, not bands, and David Guetta is one of the biggest DJs. I produced this shoot at The Electric Zoo festival in 2009 and I kind of "got" it.  Although dance music isn't my thing as much as rock and roll, I get it.

I haven't written about Superheavy yet, but any band with Mick Jagger, A.R. Rahman, Damien Marley, Joss Stone and Dave Stewart is worth paying attention to. Also worth paying attention to is the Jay-Z/Kanye West album, Watch The Throne.  So, if time allows, we'll discuss all of these albums tomorrow on the show!

FRIDAY NIGHT: NO EXPIRATION ON VH1 - TOP 40 VIDEOS OF 2010

For the second year in a row, VH1 invited No Expiration to be a "pundit" on their year end video countdown. Full disclosure: I worked at VH1 for years, and they would occasionally ask me to comment on one of their shows, generally when a "real" pundit cancelled at the last minute and they had already paid for a crew. But I got good at being an interviewee (mainly because I was usually the interviewer, and I knew what they were looking for).

Last year, there were lots of rock bands on the countdown, which is why I got the call, but they used my comments on lots of pop artists too.  This year, the list is much more pop-heavy, but I had a great time being interviewed.  Thanks again Rick H and Rob N for thinking of me, and Riley M for two fun interviews.

For some reason, they've posted most of the videos (but not the top five) here, and people who watch VH1's countdowns (or the pop charts) can probably make good guesses of what topped the list. As seen above in a graphic created by VH1, Adam Lambert, Katy Perry, Kid Rock and Bruno Mars have made the cut. There were a lot of questions about Katy Perry's anatomy in the interview.

I was glad that Mumford & Sons' "Little Lion Man" is on the list, I've written about them before.  They are one of my favorite new bands (even though they sound like they're from 1945). Also on the list: Muse, whose "Resistance" is one of he best songs of the past two years. One of the best videos of the year is Jack Johnson's "At Or With Me" which features Saturday Night Live's Andy Sandberg, I'm glad that made the cut.

Not that I only enjoy the more "rock" artists on the list.  I definitely dig P!nk's "Raise Your Glass," which is a great 2010 anthem (despite the lazy lyric "if you're too school for cool"), and also the Lady Gaga/Beyonce duet "Telephone." Also the Jay-Z/Alicia Keys classic "Empire State Of Mind" and both Eminem tracks, "Not Alone" and "Love The Way You Lie" featuring Rihanna. Anyway, tune in and find out what song is #1!

KANYE WEST MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY

It's a great album, period. 

I recently tweeted that it's easy enough to ignore Kanye West's interviews and public outbursts, just enjoy the music. Besides his own records, he's produced great music for John Legend (who he pretty much helped to become a big star), Common, Mos Def and a bunch of other people. That's the way I feel.

I don't like the way he acts - I actually had my own run-in with him before his debut album came out. But it doesn't take away from his music. At the same time, his great music doens't excuse (to me) his lesser efforts.  On my Kanye scorecard, I really like his first two albums, 2004's The College Dropout and 2005's Late Registration. 2007's Graduation was ambitious and I really liked some of it, but overall, it didn't do it for me. And I just couldn't get into 2008's 808s & Heartbreak. Going into this album, I really dug the King Crimson-sampling single "Power," and didn't really like "Runaway." So I figured there was a 50/50 chance that I would like it or not. But I definitely really like it.

The opening track, "Dark Fantasy," produced by The RZA, pretty much announces that this isn't another synthy, autotuney 808s type album. But I think the second track is where it takes off: "Gorgeous," featuring Kid Cudi and Raekwon (who are both great, but the song would stand without their verses). It's a song that a rock band should re-work.  It features a cool sample of The Byrds' "You Showed Me." "Power," like I've said, is amazing. "All Of The Lights" is pretty wild, it features a ton of guest vocalists, including Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Elton John, John Legend and Fergie, among others.  

The centerpiece of the album, to me, is "Monster," a classic collab track, featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and... Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. Minaj kind of steals the show with a classic verse, but the real star is Kanye's track, he produced it. Another rocking track is "Hell Of A Life" which borrows liberally from Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" (and in fact gives Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward songwriting credits). There aren't really any weak points on the entire album, and there are just so many highlights.  Yes, Kanye's attitude gets annoying, but it doesn't really ruin anything.

And by the way, even after listening to "Runaway" (the one that toasts "the douchebags and the assholes") I realized that it's actually a really good song (and would have fit in better on 808s).

JACK WHITE RECORDED A TRACK WITH JAY-Z?

In an interview with the British version of GQ magazine, Jack White said that he recently recorded a track with Jay-Z. I am definitely curious to hear this one. I don't go crazy over Jay-Z like, well, nearly everyone else who writes about music does. But I've warmed to him a bit, and there are definitely a lot of good songs with his name on them. I dig "Run This Town," "Swagga Like Us," "Money Ain't A Thing" and his remake of Ice-T's "99 Problems."

In other Jack White news, today The White Stripes' Under Great White Northern Lights doc was released on DVD, and the accompanying live album is out also. I picked it up right after work, I can't wait to check it out.

Also, Jack's wife Karen Elson just released her debut single, "The Ghost Who Walks" on Third Man Records.  Did you know that she sang backing vocals on a remix of Robert Plant's "Last Time I Saw Her"? I gotta find that remix. But anyway, her debut album comes out this summer. Yes, Jack produced it.

STEVIE WONDER, TENACIOUS D, DEAD WEATHER TO PLAY BONNAROO

Bonnaroo announced their 2010 lineup today. Like last year, it seems like they are having four headliners this year (the festival will be on June 10 - 13): The Dave Matthews Band, the sort of overrated Kings Of Leon, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z. Also on the bill: Tenacious D, Weezer, The Flaming Lips (doing their Dark Side Of The Moon thing), Damien Marley and Nas, Norah Jones, Michael Franti and Spearhead, John Fogerty (he should be a headliner!), newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jimmy Cliff, The Avett Brothers, Thievery Corporation, Tori Amos, Grammy-winners The Zac Brown Band, Les Claypool, John Prine, Steve Martin (yes, that one), Jeff Beck, The Dropkick Murphys, She & Him, Daryl Hall with a hip-hop duo called Chromeo (I gotta find out more about this), Jamey Johnson, Clutch, Kris Kristofferson, GWAR (what?), Tinariwen, The Gaslight Anthem, They Might Be Giants, Miranda Lambert, Calexico, Cross Canadian Ragweed and many, many more.

DOWNLOAD TO DONATE FOR HAITI

By now, everyone knows that you can download all the performances from Friday night's Hope For Haiti telethon on iTunes. There were truly great performances by Bruce Springsteen ("We Shall Overcome" with members of The Sessions Band, all of whom were on the last E Street Band tour as well), Stevie Wonder ("A Time To Love" which went inot Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water"), Sting (The Police's "Driven To Tears"), Justin Timberlake (Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah") and Dave Matthews and Neil Young (Hank Williams' "Alone and Foresaken"). But the two best performances of the night were by Mary J. Blige ("Hard Times") and Jennifer Hudson ("Let It Be"). It also includes the collaboration between Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bono and The Edge ("Stranded") written just for the occasion.

I've also mentioned that you can get Eddie Vedder's cover of Bruce Springsteen's "My City Of Ruins" from The Kennedy Center Honors ceremony on iTunes which also raises money for Haiti. Rihanna performed "Redemption Song" on Oprah this week, that's also at iTunes.

There's also this online album, Download To Donate For Haiti. It features songs by Peter Gabriel (his cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" from his upcoming album Scratch My Back), a song by Slash with Beth Hart (she had a hit in 2000 with "L.A. Song," she still does her thing and has also toured as Jeff Beck's singer), The Dave Matthews Band and Alanis Morissette, as well as Linkin Park, The All-American Rejects and a few others. Find out more at Music For Relief. And you can donate more here.

BEST OF THE 00's: RICK RUBIN

I have often expressed admiration of Rick Rubin 's production skills. If I were a producer, I'd like to be like him: hip-hop, metal, funk, punk, country, singer-songwriters, nothing is off limits, and he proved that again in the '00s.

He remained close collaborator of Johnny Cash, producing American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around in the early years of the decade. I would argue that Cash's American series of albums are nearly as good as anything he'd ever done, obviously American IV's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" was one of the greatest moments of an incredible career. Rick also curated the incredible Unearthed box set, allowing fans to hear some of the incredible things that didn't make the American albums. He's also been the keeper of the Cash flame, releasing American V: A Hundred Highways, which featured "God's Gonna Cut You Down" (and now there's word that 2010 will see the final album from the American sessions, American VI: Ain't No Grave.

Rick started working with Tom Morello, who certainly was paying attention to Rubin's rap/rock/metal hybrids in the '80s. Rubin produced Rage Against The Machine's final album, the all-covers Renegades, as well as their posthumously released live album, Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium (which turned out to be the band's final shows before reuniting years later). Rubin hooked Morello and Rage mates Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk up with ex-Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell and produced the first Audioslave album.

One of Rick's supposed talents is to discover new talent, and I don't know how much he's done that in the past decade, but one band he did work with early on is System Of A Down, who are one of the best metal bands around (even though they seem to be on hiatus at the moment). Rick signed them to his American Recordings, and has produced their albums, including (this decade) Toxicity (which, bizarely, hit #1 on 9/11), Steal This Album! and Hypnotize and Mesmerize.  Another younger band in the heavy guitar category he worked with The Mars Volta on their De-Loused In The Comatorium album.

He remained the go-to guy for The Red Hot Chili Peppers (having worked with them ever since 1991's BloodSugarSexMagik), producing the excellent By The Way and the maybe-too-long double album Stadium Arcadium. I really hope they work with him on the next one, which will be their first since guitarist John Frusciante quit (again).

He briefly returned to hip-hop, producing a cover of Ice-T's "99 Problems" for Jay-Z's "final" record, The Black Album. It may be Jay's finest moment. Less successful was his "Better Than I Ever Been" track that he produced for Nike, featuring Kanye West, Nas and KRS-One (DJ Premier later did a better remix which also featured Rakim).

Rubin also veered closer to the mainstream, producing Shakria's Oral Fixation albums, which included her huge hit collaboration with Wyclef Jean, "Hips Don't Lie." There was also The Dixie Chicks' album Taking The Long Way featuring the classic "Not Ready To Make Nice." And he tried to give Neil Diamond a new credibility by doing some American Recordings type stripped down albums with him. He also worked with Weezer, Wallflowers frontman Jakob Dylan on his first solo album, a new-ish Americana-type band called The Avett Brothers who I need to write more about, and The Gossip. And of course, Metallica's triumphant comeback album, Death Magnetic. He also produced some tracks with U2, but the full album he worked on with them remains in the vaults.  And he is apparently working with Crosby Stills & Nash and ZZ Top at the moment. Will he discover more LL Cool J's, Run-D.M.C.s, Public Enemys, Slayers and System of a Downs in the '00s? That's what will be interesting to see.

BEST OF THE 00s: KANYE WEST

No, I don't endorse Kanye West's behavior. My first and only encounter with him was bizarre and not super fun.

It was the Grammy Awards in either 2003 and I was doing interviews for VH1. Most artists who do press at events like this are nominees, or performers or at least presenters.  I don't think Kanye was any of the above. He may have been nominated for something, because he was an established producer at that point (notably for Jay-Z), although he hadn't released a solo record yet.

So he shows up in our interview room with a mascot -- literally a guy dressed in the mascot costume that is on the cover of his debut The College Dropout. He actually had a bit hit at that moment: he produced and rapped on Twista's song "Slow Jamz" which also featured Jaime Foxx (and which was later released on The College Dropout). I thought he'd be happy that I even knew who he was, but he was dwarfed by the chip on his shoulder. Before the cameras rolled, I mentioned that I would ask about "Slow Jamz" and then go on to his upcoming debut. He doesn't look at me but was like "OK." So I ask the question, he answers and then I ask a followup and he's like "Ya'll know I got my debut album coming out February (whatever), right?" Don't f*** with me like that I'm doing an interview, kid. I was like, well, I'm not using this anyway, and if I need to do a news package on this clown, I'll interview him again later. But I did decide that anyone this arrogant and rude had to have something to back it up. So despite the fact that I felt he was rude, I bought his album the day it came out. His ego is all over the place, as is the giant chip on his shoulder, but you can't deny it is a classic, probably the best hip-hop record of the decade.

The followup, Late Registration, was great also, and Kanye also spent time bringing the great R&B singer John Legend to the world, and exposing Common to a larger audience. Graduation wasn't as good, and the last album with auto-tune, was really dull. But neither or those take away from how great the first two were.  And despite Kanye's humongous ego, he is still a good collaborator: other than producing Common and John Legend, he's also done tracks for Jay-Z, Nas, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, among others, since becoming a star in his own right. He's also shared the mic on some great collaborative tracks, including "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)" with Nas, KRS-One and Rakim, "Swagga Like Us" with Jay-Z, T.I. and Lil' Wayne and "Run This Town" with Jay-Z and Rihanna.

His verbal beatdowns have been embarassing three times as often as they've been cool: he shouldn't have bitched about Gretchen Wilson when she won Best New Artist at the American Music Awards (I've interviewed her as well, and she could probably physically kick his ass), he shouldn't have complained about Justin Timberlake winning an award that he was nominated for, and of course the Taylor Swift thing was ridiculous.  On the other hand, his post-Katrina televised bitch slap of bush II was awesome and a classic TV moment. But hopefully Kanye will get his stuff together: I'm sure he has lots of great music in him for the '10s.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: THE GRAMMY NOMS (or, MAXWELL IS ABOUT TO GET A SALES BUMP!)

I’m going on OutQ again tomorrow on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick to discuss tonight’s Grammy nominations. Last year, I really liked the way the Grammys panned out, with Robert Plant & Alison Krauss winning five for their classic album Raising Sand. I loved that album, and felt it deserved all the recognition it got. It was a victory for art. Sorry Lil Wayne. I don’t feel as enthused this year: Beyonce leads with ten nominations and Taylor Swift has eight. I enjoy songs by both ladies, but I’m not passionate about either. I was, however, glad to see Maxwell with six for his BLACKsummer’snight album. Some people didn’t even know he was back! His album came out in July and debuted at #1, but that doesn’t mean what it used to, and anyway, it didn’t seem to make an impact on the culture at all, and it disappeared pretty quickly. So, I’m glad that this will help him out. The Black Eyed Peas and Kanye West both got six also: I enjoy both artists, but I don’t like either of their new albums. Lady Gaga got five. I don’t object to her, but I’m not passionate about her music either. In fact, I don’t feel very opinionated about any of the “big four” categories. I was hoping that Willie Nelson would get more nods than he did: he got just three. I thought he would do better than that, given that he released two very different and very good albums, Willie & The Wheel and American Classic. My favorite album of the year, Bob Dylan’s Together Through Life, got two nods.

I don’t have huge opinions about the Pop field, and I probably won’t vote in Dance. I usually skip Traditional Pop, but I may vote there this year, since Willie has a nomination there.

Rock has some good stuff: Best Solo Rock performance pits Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Prince and John Fogerty against each other. (I will vote for Dylan). Other rock nods went to Green Day, AC/DC, Alice In Chains, Metallica, Pearl Jam (glad to see “The Fixer” get props), U2 and overrated band of the year Kings Of Leon. The thing is, I have to admit I was ultimately not blown away by Bruce, U2 and Green Day’s albums. They were all solid, but not as good as their prior albums. I will probably skip the alternative field, which features David Byrne & Brian Eno (zzzzz…), Death Cab For Cutie, Depeche Mode, Phoenix (who I can’t stand) and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

R&B will require me to buy a lot of new music, there’s a lot of not-well-known-by-the-mainstream artists in the field, including Melanie Fiona, Lalah Hathaway, Ledisi, Jazmine Sullivan, Anthony Hamilton, Musiq Soulchild, Robert Randolph, as well as Beyonce and Maxwell.

Rap is pretty good this year. It surprises me to hear myself say that, because I’m not a huge fan of contemporary hip-hop. But I really actually like Jay-Z’s songs, “Death of Autotune” and “Run This Town” (with Kanye West and Rihanna). I also really like nominated songs by The Beastie Boys with Nas, Kid Cudi with Kanye and Common, T.I. with Justin Timberlake, and Mos Def. And Lonely Island featuring T-Pain. I was really glad to see Q-Tip’s super-underrated The Renaissance getting a nod as well.

I don’t have a huge opinion on this year’s country artists, but I was glad to see nods go to Miranda Lambert, Jamey Johnson and Patty Griffin (!).

My favorite category overall is Best Americana Album. Three of my favorite albums of the year are nominated: Dylan’s Together Through Life, Willie’s Willie & The Wheel and Levon Helm’s Electric Dirt, along with Wilco’s Wilco (The Album) and Lucinda Williams’ Little Honey. I’ll vote for Dylan.

While I’m not a huge fan of Bruce’s Working On A Dream album, “The Wrestler” was probably my favorite song of last year, and I’m glad it is up for Best Song from a Movie. But that will probably go to A.R. Rahman’s “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire.

I guess there are some things I'll be "rooting" for: Pearl Jam's "The Fixer," Bruce's "The Wrestler," Q-Tip and Willie, but there's no way I'll be as into it as I was last year. I do hope Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye peform "Run This Town." It would be great to see Rihanna have a triumphant return to the Grammys after last year's horrible mess.

JAY-Z, WILL AND JADA PINKETT SMITH SIGN ON TO CO-PRODUCE FELA!

Fela! opens next Monday, so I'm not sure how Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have just now signed on as producers for the show. But anything that brings more attention to the show - and the life of it's subject, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is a good thing. Probably like a lot of other rock fans, I got into Fela through Flea, who brings him up a lot. His music is hard to explain, it's very political but also very funky, and all of his songs seem to take up a full side of a LP record. It's like jazz: I'm not an expert, but I enjoy listening to it. I am actually really curious to see this show, although I tend to avoid Broadway.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: HIP-HOP

OutQ listeners know I like to flip the script. Last week, I discussed "outlaw" country music. Tomorrow,I'll talk about hip-hop.


I never bought into Jay-Z like most everyone else have. I have no great objection to him, I just have not often felt the need to pay to hear his music. That said, he has some great songs: I like "Can I Get A...," "Money Ain't A Thing" and his cover of Ice-T's "99 Problems." He was also great on "Swagga Like Us." But his new song, "Run This Town," featuring Rihanna and Kanye West, is great. Rihanna's cool, it's nice to hear her return with such power. And hopefully this will be the last we hear from Kanye for a while. I'm a fan of his music, but I think he needs a break from the limelight, and the world needs a break from him.


Kid Cudi is a protegee of Kanye, I don't know too much about him, but he seems to sort of come from the Native Tongues tradition. This song features Kanye and Common, and prominently samples Lady Gaga.


Lady Gaga is also featured on Wale 's "Chillin'." He's a protegee of the great UK producer Mark Ronson. Pretty cool song. It's interesting to hear so many hip-hop dudes into Lady Gaga.


T.I. was being hailed as "The Jay-Z of the South" at one point. I felt the same about him as I did about Jay: no objection, but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen. After a while, I started to enjoy some of his songs. "Dead and Gone" with Justin Timberlake is great, and he killed it on "Swagga Like Us." This new song, "When I'm Gone," featuring Mary J. Blige, has a lot of weight. He's currently serving a year in prison.


Michael Franti has never gotten much attention in hip-hop, but just as I like "outlaw" country, I also like "outlaw" hip-hop. Not gansta, but guys who don't follow the same rules (or hire the same management companies or marketing companies) as the hip-hop stars. Franti got his start in a punk/hip-hop band called The Beatnigs who were on Jello Biafra 's Alternative Tentacles label. Then he had a sort of industrial/hip-hop hybrid group The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphopracy. Then he formed the more rootsy Spearhead, and they're sort of in the jam band scene. They're really political, but this is just a fun summer jam. I can't believe the guy has a hit single, like 20 years into his career! But good for him.


The Beastie Boys "Too Many Rappers" featuring Nas is the lead single from the Beasties' Hot Sauce Committee, which should have come out by now, but was delayed because of Adam Yauch's recent health scare. This song also gets some extra weight from Yauch's first lines: "I been in the game since before you was born, I'll still be MCing after you're gone." I'm glad that that's still true. No one takes the old-school hip-hop feel and makes it modern like the Beasties.

I, TOO, WAS WRONG: THE NEW KISS ALBUM ROCKS

I know I was pretty cynical when I heard that KISS was recording a new album. (A) Hard rock bands have a hard time making material that compares to their earlier stuff - KISS have been around for 35 years. (B) I just didn't think that Gene Simmons would be that into it: he doesn't like to dedicate himself to niche projects, and even he has admitted that he's not sure where a KISS album fits into "today's market." And (C) KISS fans don't really want to hear new music at concerts, which is where KISS make more of their money than they'll ever make on an album. Still...

Mark Strigl from the show Talking Metal also had reservations, and his latest blog post about the album is titled "I Was Wrong." Me too! It's a really fun album. It is the first time in decades where they don't sound like they are appropriating whatever is "in" at the moment (disco, prog-rock, hair metal, grunge). It sounds like they are influenced by their glory days, and the music (including power pop) that they loved before they even started the group.

I've mentioned before that it's weird that rock critics that are quick to criticize just about everything about KISS fall over themselves praising Jay-Z, despite his commercial tendencies, his insatiable love of wealth and some borderline misogny in his lyrics - things that KISS never get a pass for. Maybe it is because they like his music so much. Well, KISS may not get a pass when their music isn't happening, but this is a fun record, so I ain't mad that I had to go to Walmart (my first time in a Walmart, ever - I ordered AC/DC's Black Ice online) to get it.

MTV SAYS JAY-Z IS THE HOTTEST MC IN THE GAME; NY GOV CO-SIGNS

MTV.com has just announced their now-annual list of the hottest MCs in the game, and Jay-Z came in first. Funny enough, NY Governor David Patterson has co-signed that statement, emailing MTV about why he agrees with their decision.

THE GRAMMYS: "NOT A BAD WAY TO SPEND A SUNDAY NIGHT"

It's the easiest thing in the world to complain that the Grammy Awards is a boring show. But I tend to like it, and I think this year's show was really well done. For the most part.

I was glad that Al Green performed, but I wish he got to do something from his new album, which got a bunch of nominations and won him two Grammys tonight. I like Justin Timberlake, but it would have been more appropriate for Al to have been backed by ?uestlove and the guys who played on his album, and maybe performed with Anthony Hamilton and John Legend. That said, I liked his performance. It turns out that it was a last minute addition to the show: two performances were cancelled: Chris Brown and Rihanna both pulled out the show right before it started. You can read about that all over the web at this point.

On a similar note, if Neil Diamond's new album is so great, why didn't he perform a new song instead of "Sweet Caroline." That was cheesy as hell, I don't know if a new song would have been any better though.

I don't listen to Carrie Underwood that much, but I liked her performance, and ditto for Taylor Swift (whose performance would have been better without Miley Cyrus). And how could you not be moved by Jennifer Hudson's performance. The Jonas Brothers looked a bit out of their league with Stevie Wonder. It was sort of cute that he played with them, though. U2 was great as always, that goes without saying. Kid Rock was good, I like that "All Summer Long" song. Am I the only person who never heard that Katy Perry song? I never did; it was pretty good. It sounds like her biggest influences are Gwen Stefani and P!nk.

I loved the Four Tops tribute with Jamie Foxx, Ne-Yo, Smokey Robinson and Top Duke Fakir. The Bo Diddley tribute with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, John Mayer and Keith Urban was a bit messy.

Hip-Hop provided some of the best moments of the night: the "Swagga Like Us" performance with Jay-Z, T.I., Lil' Wayne, Kanye West and a very pregnant M.I.A. (who may have been lip-synching); T.I.'s performance with Justin Timberlake was great, and so was Lil' Wayne's. I didn't like Kanye and Estelle's as much, and Jay-Z joining Coldplay onstage was a bit goofy.

I liked seeing Paul McCartney, but again, "I Saw Her Standing There"? I think he should have done a new song. It was fun to see Dave Grohl playing drums for him though. Radiohead 's performance was interesting, and probably confusing to most of the crowd. Was the whole band there, or was it just Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood and the huge marching band?

My favorite performance was Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' medley of "Rich Woman" and "Gone Gone Gone," and I was glad to see them go five for five, winning all of their nominations, including Record and Album Of The Year. I loved Robert's comment that in the "old days," being at the Grammys would have seemed like "selling out," but "It's not a bad way to spend a Sunday night." I'm sure there's going to be a lot of bitching about "old" artists beating out the likes of Lil Wayne and Coldplay, and that the album wasn't as ubiquitous in the culture. Whatever: it was a mature but totally credible album that didn't pander that was released on an indie label. It deserved all the accolades it won (it also won a Grammy last year) and more. That's my final word!

NARAS DISSES SPRINGSTEEN AGAIN

OK, I'm going to sound like a middle aged New Jerseyite here, but for the second year in a row, the Grammy nominations have dissed Bruce Springsteen big time. There were some really good nominations: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' Raising Sand did really well, and the nominations will likely expose even more people to a classic album. And all the nominations for R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan will no doubt expose her to new fans, regardless of whether or not she wins anything (I downloaded two of her songs on iTunes tonight and liked them a lot). I am glad to see Adele do so well (I was shocked that she got more nominations than Duffy). I won't even complain about Lil' Wayne getting more nominations than anyone else - he isn't for me (although "Swagga Like Us," featuring Wayne, Kanye West, Jay-Z and T.I. is probably the best hip-hop song of the year, even I can admit that).

But "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" is a classic. I like Sara Barielles' "Love Song," but it is really that good? Is Jason Mraz's song "I'm Yours"? Who decides this stuff? Both were nominated for Song of the Year. "Girls..." is also an incredible production. But apparently not as good as Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love." "Girls..." did get two nominations in the rock category. I also felt that Al Green's Lay It Down should have gotten more nominations than it did, and in the top three categories (all of his were in R&B).

Ah well, Bruce will be fine, so will the Reverend Al. And I'm glad for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, they have my vote in every category they're nominated in.

KANYE'S "MUPPETS" ON ICE?

Kanye West was working on the "muppet" style show I wrote about with Seinfeld/Borat producer Larry Charles who recently said in an inteview that the show may not happen, because it is a bit too hardcore for HBO. I don't have HBO, but isn't that the channel where they had The Wire and Oz? Damn! Too bad, the clip I saw was funny.

I don't really dig Kanye's new song "Love Lockdown," that autotune thing is annoying. I'll still pick up his album though. I do like a new song featuring Kanye, along with Jay-Z, T.I. and Lil' Wayne called "Swagga Like Us," which samples M.I.A. Yes, you're still reading No Expiration and not "Hipster Hourly," you don't have to adjust your browser. I just like the song, what can I say.

"REAL HIP-HOP" WAS INDEED IN THE MUTHAF@#$IN' HOUSE: ROCK THE BELLS 2008

The Rock The Bells 2008 tour was a great time, but before I talk about it, I gotta thank my friend Angela Yee from Shade 45 for getting me in, and my friend Su for getting me a ticket! 

The behind the scenes stuff was a mess, and the waiting time between artists was way too long, but why dwell on that. It was a great show. I got there a few hours after it started, but as I got to my seats, dead prez were wrapping up their set with their classic song, "Hip-Hop." They are group who definitely have something to say: I wish I liked their music more. Speaking of having something to say, the next artist was Immortal Technique. He's a little bit to the left of me, but I liked his tracks and definitely appreciated that he has something to say. I may not even agree with everything he says, I don't know, but I am at least interested. 

Then de la soul came on. de la was the first hip-hop group I ever saw perform: it was at The Ritz in New York City back in like '89 or maybe '90, they were opening for Living Colour. Back then they came off a bit goofy, but I don't feel bad saying that: a few years ago, I got to interview Pos, Dave and Mase and when I mentioned that show they were all like "Oh no!" But they've toured so extensively since then, they've got their thing down, and they are one of the tightest live hip-hop acts that you'll see.  It was tough for them to squeeze their set into 35 minutes or whatever, but they did good. Q-Tip joined them for a bit of "Buddy," and Dres from Black Sheep joined them, yes, for "The Choice Is Yours." Say what you want about "one-hit wonders," it must feel good to have thousands of people chanting along with your big hit from 15 years ago. On the other hand, it was clearly a bitch to have to follow that song up. 

Raekwon The Chef and Ghostface Killa were next. Here's my problem: like quite a few hip-hop crews, these guys let everyone they know come on stage with them. That might be cool at a club (I'd argue that it isn't cool even in a club). But at a huge venue, it doesn't work. I was so far away, I couldn't really see who was who. Most of the people on stage didn't even have mics. So why did they need to be there? But the performance was mostly tight. I like Ghost's new song "Be Easy." But the old stuff like "Ice Cream" and "Incarcerated Scarfaces" of course got everyone out of their seats. 

Then Mos Def. For my money, he's one of the most talented cats out there, but I sometimes think he needs some focus. The guy is a great lyricist, has awesome delivery, can sing soulfully, but also do rock and reggae, and has lots of presence. He's always got so much going on: hip-hop, his rock band, his big band, spoken word, acting, etc. I think he's had some great cameos, but other than the Black Star album and his solo debut Black On Both Sides. And that was kind of the deal with the beginning of his set: there were these weird scenery videos going on, and the performance wasn't too gripping. Then Talib Kweli hit the stage. Next level, how ya doin'? I know those guys aren't too anxious to do another Black Star album for fear that it won't live up to the first one, but I don't know, if they really focus, maybe they can do it. "Respiration" was great. Too bad Common wasn't there (it would have been cool if he'd joined de la as well). 

Considering how much Method Man and Redman seem to enjoy blowing trees, it's surprising how tight they were. Meth kept yelling the same "The same amount of energy you give us, we'll give back to you!" thing he yelled at last year's festival, when he played with The Wu-Tang Clan. He seemed to have more fun with Red, though, and the crowd seemed more into them. They're plugging Blackout 2, the sequel to their first album, Blackout, from 1999. But they hardly played any songs from that album; too bad, it was really underrated. Other than "Da Rockwilder" (which they did play) I liked "Mi Casa," "Cereal Killer" and "1,2,1,2." Ghostface joined them, which was cool. And Erick Sermon and Parish Smith (a.k.a. EPMD) also joined them, which was cooler. They did "You Gots To Chill." Slick Rick also popped on stage for a second or two to recite the hook to "La Di Da Di." 

Nas is kind of having his moment right now: his untitled album is at #1 despite controversy over its original title. I was surprised to see that he was backed by a band, along with DJ Green Lantern. (GL calls himself "The Evil Genius," which - no disrespect - makes no sense. Why doesn't he call himself Sinestro if he's evil? That's some comic book stuff.) They opened with a new song "Slave/Master" which was pretty powerful, and then went into the title track from 2006's Hip-Hop Is Dead (a great song to play live with a band). Then he kicked into a bunch of songs off of his classic debut Illmatic, followed by other his from his career (including "One Mic" and "Hate Me Now." And Jay-Z joined him for "Black Republicans." Predictably, people went nuts for the former President of Def Jam. I'm not a fan, but I had to admit, it was pretty cool. A lot of people weren't feeling the band thing. I thought it worked at some points, and others it didn't, but it was overall a good set. 

Next, Q-Tip hit the stage with DJ Scratch and did stuff from his upcoming album (but not the cool song "Work It Out," some Tribe stuff, and his earlier solo hits like "Vivrant Thing" and "Breathe And Stop." He had a band but no drummer, which was pretty weird. It didn't totally work for me as much as I wanted it to. Still, I believe Tip may have a few classic albums in him, his mind is in the right place. 

It's probably almost too easy for Tip to play with A Tribe Called Quest again. Still, they are so awesome together, it would be a shame for them not to do it anymore. I hope that he can balance his solo career with Tribe - even if it is just Tribe concerts and not new music. They were awesome, and when Busta Rhymes joined them for "Scenario," it just tore the place up. 

Great night, and thanks to Shade 45/Flow TV personality Angela Yee for getting me through the gate and my pal and former intern Su for hooking me up with a ticket.  I took some pictures, but they were from far away, I gotta look at them and decide if I want to post them. 

NICELY DONE, JAY-Z

I'm not a huge Jay-Z fan. I like some of his songs, but generally his music doesn't move me, and I've never gotten caught up with his whole thing: I don't really get why people are so enthralled with him.

Yet, despite that, when I read interviews with him, he comes off OK. I remember after Columbine, he donated proceeds from his local concert to relevent charities. Now, he's set up an educational trust for Sean Bell's children. Credit where it's due.