MY FAVORITE SONGS OF 2012 (OR, THIS IS WHERE I MENTION FRANK OCEAN)

Over the past few days, I've posted about some of my favorite albums of the year. But there were a lot of great songs that weren't on any of them, so I'm gonna do one more quick list. Ready?  Here we go:

Frank Ocean - "Thinkin' 'Bout You": I kind of feel like I have to justify why Ocean wasn't on my top albums of the year.  So here it is:  I really wanted to like his album. A vote for him seemed to equal a vote for a world where being gay is no big deal. I'm all about it. But I just don't love the album, it doesn't keep my interest at all.  And that said, "Thinkin' 'Bout You" might be the best song I heard all year. It's so moving, it gets me every time.  Just based on this song, I'll pick up his next album.  The guy is clearly talented as hell.

Solange - "Losing You": My boss turned me on to this song, and he's a tough crowd, so I checked it out. What an amazing song.  If it's possible for her to get out of her sister's shadow, this is the song that should be able to do it.  

M.I.A. - "Bad Girlz": Unfortunately, the headlines M.I.A. made in 2012 were all about her little moment of  giving the finger to the camera at the Super Bowl. It was dumb and goofy.  But at least she put out a great song, and the video for this was pretty cool too.

Santigold - "Disparate Youth": She's always interesting. This song is a bit more "new-wave-y" than her prior songs.  It actually reminds me of New Order for some reason.

The Chris Robinson Brotherhood - "Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go": I'm not very familiar with Chris Robinson's solo stuff, although I have certainly enjoyed his music with The Black Crowes. But wow, what a great song, it sounds like something that would have been on a Sam Cooke record or a very early Motown single.

Ryan Shaw - "Morning Noon And Night": Actually, I need to check out his album.  I heard his song in Starbucks, Shazam-ed it, and downloaded it.  It's one of the best things I've heard all year and also kind of Sam Cooke-ian.

Leonard Cohen - "Going Home": I can't really get into entire Leonard Cohen albums, but I do love some of his songs, and this one is a classic.

Willie Nelson - "Just Breathe": I liked Willie's album, Heroes, but not enough to include it in my top albums of 2012.  But this Pearl Jam cover was incredible.

The Beach Boys - "That's Why God Made The Radio" I'm fascinated that it even got made. And I love the fact that there's no acknowledgement of anything current.  This is a 100% authentic Brian Wilson creation.

Van Halen - "Stay Frosty": This was also an unlikely, and solid, reunion.  David Lee Roth had lots of great lines, Ed Van Halen sounds inspired and Alex and Wolfgang are solid. This song is the highlight, and actually can stand up next to some of their earlier stuff. 

The Rolling Stones - "Doom And Gloom"/"One More Shot": Basically, they kicked everyone's ass with these songs.  

Led Zeppelin - "Good Times Bad Times (live)": I could have picked any song from Celebration Day, really.  But this is the first song on the album and the excitement is tangible.  I have to do a separate post about this album, I can't believe how great it is. 

Aerosmith - "Oh Yeah": I wish I liked their album, Music From Another Dimension, more than I do.  We had to wait so long for it! But "Oh Yeah," which Joe Perry wrote, is 100% classic Aerosmith. 

Paul McCartney/Dave Grohl/Krist Novoselic/Pat Smear - "Cut Me Some Slack": Rocking.  

The Wallflowers featuring Mick Jones - "Reboot The Mission": Basically a Clash tribute.  In the best way. 

Joey Ramone - "New York City": It holds up to the greatest Ramones songs.  I love it. 

Gaslight Anthem - "45": I thought this should have been the song to bring them to the "next level." 

Iggy Pop and Bethany Cosentino - "Let's Boot And Rally": a great song from True Blood, written by the show's music director, Gary Calamar. Calamar wrote the song for them, and he told me about it. And this is where I get to include Best Coast (the band Ms. Costentino sings for; I like them, but not enough to include them on this list). 

VH1 100 GREATEST WOMEN: M.I.A.

Forget the antics, and some of the stuff she's said in interviews.  M.I.A. has made some of the best music since the turn of the millennium.  You can never box her in: she's hip-hop, she's dance, and at least in spirit, she's punk rock. But she doesn't conform to the rules of any of those genres.

Her 2005 debut Arular knocked the music world on its ass.  The song "Galang" (co-written by her one-time roomate, Justine Frischmann, formerly of elastica) just sounded so different. 2007's Kala featured the Clash-sampling "Paper Planes" (itself sampled by Jay-Z, T.I., Kanye West and Lil Wayne on their hit, "Swagga Like Us"). That album brought her to another level, especially after "Swagga" (and her memorable performance at the Grammys, while incredibly pregnant).

I thought 2010's Maya would bring her to the next level, especially because her song "XXXO" seemed like a huge hit (it wasn't). It probably should have been the first single, but instead she went with the Suicide-sampling "Born Free" (which had one of the heaviest videos you'll ever see).

I don't think her Super Bowl antics will ultimately help her out too much, but I for one am looking forward to her next album, and I hope that people can hear it with an open mind.

MY TAKE ON THE M.I.A. THING

I like M.I.A. a lot - her Maya LP was one of my favorites of 2010. And I don't hold up the Super Bowl as an event that should set any kind of moral standards, even if it *is* the most watched TV show of the year. But I do think that if the NFL is going to get Madonna to perform, and if she's going to have M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj with her, they should be ready for something that isn't rated G.  Straight up.

That said, if M.I.A. wanted to make some sort of statement, she should have done it.  The middle finger didn't really have much of a point, as far as I could tell.  If she had a statement to make, I wouldn't have had a problem with that, even if it was "off-message" as far as the NFL was concerned.

Madonna's new song, "Give Me All Your Lovin'" isn't that great (I wanted to like it, the idea of Madonna, Minaj and M.I.A. on one track is a cool one), and this brought a lot of attention to it that it wouldn't otherwise have gotten (and maybe that was the point).

All that said, Madonna looked great, and I like M.I.A.'s new song, "Bad Girls." I look forward to her next record, which is coming out later this year.

M.I.A. - MAYA - TIE FOR #11

In 2010, it seemed like lots of people talked about M.I.A., but not as many people played the music from her Maya album. She's getting a bit like Kanye - she says lots of crap in the press that potentially distracts from her music.  And that's too bad: she's a consistently interesting artist.  She actually is an "alternative": not "alternative" in the marketing sense, but someone who really does her own thing.

Which isn't to say that she can't write great hit songs: I thought that "XXXO" was going to be her breakthrough hit, it's like a classic '80s new wave single. On the other hand, she can be incredibly abrasive, as she was on "Born Free" (the video got a lot more attention than the actual song).

Her music used to appeal mainly to hipsters.  A lot of that kind of music comes off as either insincere or bloodless, and M.I.A. is neither of those.  But she has such charisma, she ignores genre boundaries, and she isn't afraid to be confrontational.  I think with a few more anthemic songs, she could be like a Jane's Addiction for a new generation.  Just my opinion!  I really dug the Maya album and I'm looking forward to hear what she does next.

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.

BEST OF '09: N.A.S.A.'s SPIRIT OF APOLLO

I don't know what's up with the cover of N.A.S.A.'s Spirit Of Apollo album, or what they are trying to say. But don't let the Klan clown trick you, this is a very one-world album. The guest list includes: David Byrne, Chali 2na (formerly of Jurassic 5), Chuck D, Method Man, The RZA, John Frusciante of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, KRS-One, Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ol' Dirty Bastard (the album has been in the works for a long time), Tom Waits, Kool Keith, Kanye West, Santigold, Lykke Li, George Clinton, M.I.A., Del The Funkee Homosapien, Ghostface Killah and the late DJ AM. N.A.S.A. features DJ Zegon and Squeak E. Clean (aka Sam Speigel aka Spike Jonze's brother, which explains some of the guest list). It is a great, fun album that not enough people know about it. Check it out, have a great time, thank me later. It's hard to explain.

Other Best of '09 albums: Bob Dylan's Together Through Life , The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine's Day Massacre , Rancid's Let The Dominoes Fall, Willie Nelson & Asleep At The Wheel's Willie & The Wheel

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!