GRAMMY WATCH: BEST AMERICANA ALBUM

Out of all the categories in this year's Grammy Awards, the most difficult for me as a voter was the Best Americana Album category. All five of the albums are incredible.

First is Rosanne Cash's The List, which came out in early 2010. The title is a reference to an actual list that her father, Johnny Cash, made for her of some of the greatest songs of all time, like "Long Black Veil," "Motherless Children" and "I'm Movin' On." It's mostly a solo album, but there are duets with Bruce Springsteen, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Tweedy and Elvis Costello. It's a really great and moving album (and kind of seems made for the Grammys, I was kind of surprised it didn't get more nominations, but the fact that it came out so long ago probably worked against it).

Los Lobos' Tin Can Trust was one of my favorite albums of 2010, I've written about it before. I'll just say that Los Lobos never seem to get their due. I love this album, I love the band. In 2011, I'm planning on completing my Los Lobos CD collection. I've never seen them live, this year I hope to change that. It shouldn't be hard, they seem to tour very frequently.

Willie Nelson's T-Bone Burnett-produced Country Music was another album that I loved, and I'm sorry that it didn't get more attention. I guess part of Willie's problem is that he is so prolific, people can hardly keep up with all of his albums. Country Music really was great... of course, it wasn't "country" in the current mainstream Nashville sense, but it did have great songs like "Dark As A Dungeon," "House Of Gold," "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down" and "House Of Gold." Willie and T-Bone's regulars cooked up a great brew (among other things, probably) of amazing music.

Robert Plant's Band Of Joy was another of my favorite albums of 2010. I listen to it all the time, and am still amazed by it. Also amazing is the strength of his vision and his commitment to it. At this point, he's not only turning down lucrative Led Zeppelin tours to do his own thing, he's turing down the follow up to his multi-Grammy winning collab with Alison Krauss, Raising Sand.

Ultimately the album I loved the most was my second favorite album of 2010, Mavis Staples' You Are Not Alone... the title track was my favorite song of the year and one of my favorite songs of all time. Also - I don't vote based on this - I was surprised to learn that Mavis has never won a Grammy! This is a career record for her, and I'd love to see her get the recognition, so here's hoping she wins on Sunday.

TOMORROW NIGHT ON THE CATHOLIC CHANNEL: MAVIS STAPLES DISCUSSED

Tomorrow night I make my first guest appearance on SiriusXM's Catholic Channel in two months. Longtime readers of No Expiration know that usually, every month or so, I am a guest of Father Dave Dwyer on his Busted Halo Show.

Tomorrow night, I'm going to talk about Mavis Staples.  Her album, You Are Not Alone, was my second favorite album of 2010, and over the past few years, I've become a big fan of the woman.

Unlike the other artists I've discussed on Busted Halo in the past, Mavis doesn't always write her own songs, but her voice is so incredible that she brings a kind of ownership to them anyway.  Some of the songs I suggested for tomorrow night are traditional gospel, and she adds her own lyrics to them.

I was planning on talking about Mavis on my next visit to the show - but after seeing the President's speech tonight, I felt that it gives some of Mavis' songs a bit more weight, and I'll discuss that too. It's such a great thing about music, how it can adapt to your needs sometimes.  When I talked about You Are Not Alone on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick a few months ago, it was also pre-planned... and then just happened to be after Tyler Clementi too his own life. The song felt like it was written for him, and I wished he could have heard it. But tonight, during the President's incredible speech, it felt like the right song for tonight also (as did The Staple Singers' "Respect Yourself").

BEST OF 2010 - #2 - MAVIS STAPLES "YOU ARE NOT ALONE"

I love this album. When Mavis Staples was planning a follow-up to her Ry Cooder produced We'll Never Go Back, it must have been a bit daunting. But she hooked up with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and the resulting album, You Are Not Alone, is one of the highlights of both of their careers.

The title track, written by Tweedy, is the best thing he's ever done, in my opinion.  It's my favorite song of 2010, and one of my favorite songs of all time.

I wrote about this album a few months ago. I like it even more now than I did then.  I think the album had a great marketing hook - indie rocker produces gospel legend (and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer as a member of The Staple Singers, thank you very much). But I think this album transcends any of that - and I don't think Tweedy wanted to just be part of a contrived project. This actually adds a significant chapter to the legacy of a truly legendary artist. And by the way, it also adds to one of contemporary music's best writers.  What else do I need to say about this album?  It's a classic.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: NEW CDS BY NEIL, MAVIS, YORN

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at about 9 am ET(ish), I go on the SIRIUS XM OutQ show The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick (co-hosted by comedian Keith Price) to talk about music. Sometimes I have a theme, and this week, I have a loose one: artists who hooked up with big names to produce their latest album.

Neil Young's Le Noise sees him moving outside his usual circle of collaborators to work with Daniel Lanois. It is Neil's weirdest album in well over twenty years.  It isn't one of my top ten albums by Neil, but I'm starting to dig it, and at least it is better than his last one, Fork In The Road.

Mavis Staples continues her streak of great albums (all on the very cool Anti- label) with You Are Not Alone, which was produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. He wrote the tile track, which I have found to be very moving. I think the album is one of the best things he's ever done (and it holds up to her incredible body of work as well), and I think the title track is actually the best song he has ever written. It is my favorite of the three albums I'm discussing this week.

Pete Yorn hired Pixies frontman Frank Black to produce his new album, Pete Yorn. You can definitely hear the influence sonically, and it is a cool album.  When it comes to Pete Yorn, though, I feel kind of stuck on his first album, musicforthemorningafter. Still, this one definitely adds some more classic songs to his cannon, and he is certainly an artist who is going to be around for a long time. This is probably his best album since the debut.

MAVIS STAPLES "YOU ARE NOT ALONE"

Mavis Staples' album You Are Not Alone is one of the albums I was really looking forward to this year, and it doesn't disappoint. I loved her last two albums, 2007's We'll Never Turn Back (produced by Ry Cooder) and 2008's Live: Hope At The Hideout.

You Are Not Alone was produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and I think it holds up to some of his finest work.   The title track, which he wrote, is I think his greatest song.  Listening to it brings a tear to my eye. Obviously, he wrote it a while ago, but hearing it just makes me think of Tyler Clementi and other young men and women who despair because they feel like they don't fit in.

That's the thing about a great song, it could have been written at anytime, about anything.  And it seems to fit many different situations.  But I think Mavis sings it better than Tweedy ever could (with all due respect).

Anyway.  The rest of the album has updates on some Staples Singers songs, and an incredible cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Wrote A Song For Everyone." Now, you know I love me some Creedence, but I'll say that her version might be better than the original.  It's a wonderful album, if you love rootsy gospel music, you need to check this one out.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: M.I.A., SHERYL CROW, KYLIE,

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning I am a guest on the SIRIUS XM Channel OutQ's show The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick at 9 am ET. Each week, I talk about new records, or new releases, or newly released archival material, or sometimes just a specific theme. This week I've changed my day to Thursday.  I'll be talking about new releases from some very talented ladies.

M.I.A. just released her latest album, Maya. She is one of those artists who the press love to write about. I think she is really exciting and interesting, even though I don't always agree with the things she says (she name dropped the P.L.O. in one of her early songs). In this now-infamous article from The New York Times Magazine, the writer kind of calls her out (not in the interviews though) for her oversimplifying of political issues, and also over some contradictions in her personality. Her very violent and shocking video for "Born Free" has been criticized too, but I found it interesting. (She did an unusual performance of the song on Letterman, catch it here). I've also read that the album is too abrasive ("Born Free" samples Suicide 's "Ghost Rider"). It actually reminds me of Nine Inch Nails, and I don't think Trent Renzor would mind that statement.

Kylie Minogue's new album Aphrodite is one of Larry Flick's top three albums of the year. It's not so much my thing, but I don't mind her either. I interviewed her a few years ago and she was very nice. Of the new songs, I don't like any as much as "Can't Get You Out Of My Head."

Say what you want about Christina Aguilera, girl can sing. Yes, she overdoes it sometimes, but not always. Exhibit A: her cover of James Brown's "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" from the 2007 Grammy Awards. She nailed it. Exhibit B, albiet a bit less heavy: when she joined The Rolling Stones onstage for "Live With Me," included in the Shine A Light film. People are saying her new album is ripping off Lady Gaga. I don't know, let's see what people say tomorrow on the show.

Morcheeba is a kind of trip-hop band from England, featuring brothers Paul Godfrey (a DJ) and multi-instrumentalist Ross Godfrey, they also had a very charismatic and beautiful singer named Skye Edwards. In 2003, they dismissed Skye from the band, but earlier this year, she rejoined. I was psyched to hear the record, but so far I'm not a huge fan of Blood Like Lemonade.

Like Morcheeba, Tracy Bonham was on the verge of getting big in the '90s and then it kind of didn't happen(I actually saw both groups at the Lilith Fair show in, I think, 1998). I liked a lot of her songs, especially "The One." Recently, my wife and I were at a karoke night (for real) and some girl there, who looked like she had a pretty buttoned up straight office job sang "Mother Mother" and nearly lost her mind. Anyway, I was glad to see that Ms. Bonham put out a new album, Masts Of Manhatta (that's how it is spelled), but I don't love it yet either! A great Tracy Bonham moment, believe it or not, is on Aerosmith's "Back Back Train" from their excellent Honkin' On Bobo album - Joe Perry sings lead on the song and she kind of accompanies him to great effect.

Jane Krakowski? What can I say? Her music isn't my particular cup of tea, but I love her on 30 Rock and she has a new album, The Laziest Gal In Town. It's very show-tuney, but it's true to who she is.

Even though Mavis Staples' new album, You Are Not Alone, produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, isn't out until September, the first single (the title track, written for her by Tweedy) is out now, and I wanted to share it. I have written about this album already, and I can't wait to hear it.

Finally, Sheryl Crow's 100 Miles To Memphis. We talked about the first single, "Summer Day," last week, but now I have the whole album. I don't know if I like anything as much as the lead single, but I haven't heard any of the other songs like 50 times! "Summer Day" is amazing. I like "Eye To Eye" which features Keith Richards on guitar, a cool cover of Terrence Trent D'arby's "Sign Your Name" with Justin Timberlake, and Citizen Cope's "Sideways" with Cope on vocals, plus a bunch of other good songs (originals, with no guests). Well done, Sheryl, and welcome back.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE: JEFF TWEEDY PRODUCES MAVIS STAPLES

Earlier this year, I wrote about Wilco's Jeff Tweedy producing the upcoming album by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mavis Staples. It's one of the records I'm most excited about. 

Mavis has been singing since 1950 - back then, she was in the family band, The Staple Singers. Their big hits were "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There." She's also been making solo records since 1969.  A couple of years ago, she signed to Anti- Records, the label owned by punk label Epitaph. Anti- has also put out albums by Tom Waits, Solomon Burke, Bettye Lavette, Merle Haggard and Joe Strummer.  It's probably one of the coolest record labels of all time. Needless to say, they let artists do their thing, and don't try and make them trendy or contemporary.  The results are always great. Teaming Mavis with Jeff Tweedy was especially inspired. A recent press release (announcing the 9/14 release date and the title, You Are Not Alone) contains this Tweedy quote:

"I have almost everything she's ever recorded, and I dug back through very thoroughly when I was given this job to do.  I thought that if I refreshed myself about where she's been, it would help her figure out where she wanted to go. I wanted to be sure that we were making a record that she really wanted to make."  He wrote the title track for her.  The press release says that the song could apply to anyone - a lover, a sibling, a friend - but Mavis got teary eyed singing it, she had her father, Pops Staples, in mind when she sang it. 

So it sounds like it is going to be a great album, hopefully it will get a lot of attention for Mavis. That said, the album will have a hard time living up to her last one, 2006's We'll Never Turn Back, produced by Ry Cooder.  That is a classic which you should check out, and I also highly recommend 2008's Live: Hope At The Hideout.

JEFF TWEEDY TO PRODUCE MAVIS STAPLES

A press release that just came out announcing some of Wilco's 2010 plans (tour, working on new songs) also happened to mention that frontman (and one of No Expiration's Best Of The '00s artist) Jeff Tweedy is going to produce Mavis Staples' next album. Like her last two,  2007's classic We'll Never Turn Back and 2008's Live: Hope At The Hideout which is up for a Grammy this year, it will be coming out on Epitaph imprint Anti- Records this year.

It's an interesting combo, and it reminds me of Joe Henry's production projects.  Like Jeff with Uncle Tupelo and Wilco, Joe was part of the roots-heavy "alt.country" scene, and then moved into doing more abstract music. But as a producer, Joe has worked on great albums by Solomon Burke and Bettye Lavette, among others. Hopefully this collaboration will be just as good as those.

BEST OF THE '00S: JEFF TWEEDY

Longtime readers of No Expiration know that I'm generally cynical about the artists that the media and indie bloggers go crazy over. It's sometimes like England's NME: the band is exciting for a moment, but people move on to the next thing so quickly. But when it comes to Wilco, grow me an beard, put me in skinny jeans and move me to Brooklyn! Ha ha, just kidding, don't, I'm cool in the suburbs.  But really, Wilco should be considered a "classic rock" band in the sense that they are a rock band with a pretty incredible catalog of albums (which is still growing, the band probably aren't even at their halfway point yet).

And so, I have to give it up to Jeff Tweedy (the band's leader), he is definitely one of the artists of the decade. Start with their 2002 classic, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the accompanying documentary, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart. The album was, in some ways, like Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2 in that it was famously rejected by a major label, and is recognized by almost anyone with any taste as a classic. It became the kind of thing where a vote for the album = your vote against the major label system. I'm sure lots of records have been rejected with great reasons, but these are two high profile blunders.

Tweedy really stuck by his artistic guns, and risked alienating some of his older fans, who liked Wilco (and his pre-Wilco band, Uncle Tupelo)'s so-called "alt-country" sound. He really created something that sounded original.  I shouldn't make it sound like his decade is just about Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: the followup, 2004's A Ghost Is Born is also amazing, as is the live album from that tour, Kicking Television: Live In Chicago. And I can't forget 2000's collaboration with Billy Bragg, Mermaid Avenue Vol. 2. Admittedly, I'm not as big of a fan of 2007's Sky Blue Sky or this year's Wilco (The Album).

While Wilco is a band, it really is largely about Tweedy and whoever he wants to work with. Plus, this decade he's also worked with his side projects Golden Smog and Loose Fur, and done solo tours. He also contributed to Neil Finn's new album.

I got to interview Tweedy when YHF first came out, and it was interesting, there was a lot of electricity around the band because everyone knew something big was happening with them. But something seemed ... a bit "off." I later found that he was addicted to painkillers. I was surprised, he didn't seem like that kind of guy.  Some rock stars have the type of personality that seems like they'd be prone to addiction problems. But I guess it can happen to anyone. Anyway, I got to interview him again when AGIB came out, and he seemed like a totally different guy. So, it's nice that in the midst of releasing all of this great music, he was also able to conquer his personal demons.  Anyway, Tweedy is definitely one of my "Artists of the '00s," and I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes one of my "Artists of the '10s" also.

More Best Of The '00s: Bob Dylan
Willie Nelson
Aimee Mann