BEST OF 2012 - #3 - MARK LANEGAN BAND "BLUES FUNERAL"

In March, I predicted that the Mark Lanegan Band's Blues Funeral would be one of my top 10 albums of 2012.  I was right.

It's interesting that Chris Cornell tried to combine his sound with electronic music by working with Timbaland on his Scream album, and it didn't really work.  But Lanegan worked with Alain Johannes on this album, and made a hybrid of Lanegan's dusty blues and electronic music that works really well.

Johannes (a former member of Eleven) has worked with Cornell before, it's too bad that they didn't go in this direction.

Lanegan isn't thought of as a "blues" artist per se, and he doesn't roll in Clapton circles.  But when I hear him sing, it just brings to mind scenes of dusty, lonely, scary places.  I hear the blues in his voice.  And this album makes the blues sound fresh, current and even futuristic.  I don't know many other records you could say that about.  If I were a film director (or musical director of a film), I'd be mining this album big time, and asking Lanegan and Johannes for more.

It's interesting that Lanegan chose to call this a "Mark Lanegan Band" album.  The "Band" is completed by drummer Jack Irons. A newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (as a member of The Red Hot Chili Peppers) and a newly minted member of The Wallflowers, he didn't really get to promote the album with Lanegan.  But hopefully this particular group of musicians will work together again.

MARK LANEGAN BAND "BLUES FUNERAL"

I was surprised when I realized that Mark Lanegan's Blues Funeral is his first solo album since 2004's Bubblegum (a really underrated record).  Of course, he's kept busy over the past decade: he joined (and then left) Queens Of The Stone Age, he's done records as a duo with former Belle & Sebastian member Isobell Campbell and he had The Gutter Twins band with Greg Dulli. He's also collaborated with Soulsavers on two LPs, and I think that the latter experience influenced the sound of this album.

Soulsavers is a British dance music/remix team with a big rock, gospel and country influence.  Lanegan went in some new directions with them; he sang on two albums and also performed with them. The Soulsavers don't appear on the LP, but Lanegan kept a contemporary (but not pandering) sound here, thanks to his "Band," namely multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes and drummer Jack Irons.  In other words, 2/3 of Eleven.  Johannes produced the record as well, and I'd love to get a copy of this to The Edge: U2 should sign this guy up immediately. I feel like this is the album they were trying to make last time.  It is definitely the kind of album Chris Cornell was trying to make on his last solo joint (and since Johannes has worked with Cornell on his solo albums, it's a shame that they didn't come up with anything this incredible).

"Bleeding Muddy Water" is a classic blues or soul song: I'd love to hear Gary Clark Jr. covering this one.  "St. Louis Elegy" sees Lanegan and Dulli singing together again: it's a potent blend, and I'd recommend that Greg consider working with Johannes on the next Twilight Singers LP. "Riot In My House" is as close to metal as Lanegan's gotten on his own records; unsurprisingly, Queen Josh Homme is wailing away on the track. "Ode To Sad Disco" is definitely a song U2 would wish they wrote if they heard this, and ditto for "Quiver Syndrome." (by the way, I realize how off-putting my U2 references are to Lanegan fans. Apologies).

I can't think of many examples of an album that sounds so cutting edge, while maintaining a kind of warmth.  It rocks, it swings.  A couple of years ago, if you told me that Lanegan would do a fresh sounding, electronic-tinged record that would blow my mind, I may not have believed it. But it's kind of like Johnny Cash singing on U2's "The Wanderer" (them again).  It shouldn't work, but it works.

The year isn't 25% over, but I have to think that this will make my top 10 of the year.  If it doesn't, it will have been an amazing year for music.

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.

GREG DULLI WORKING ON NEW TWILIGHT SINGERS ALBUM

Spin has a cool interview with Greg Dulli who is working on his next album with his band The Twilight Singers. He says it is a happy sounding album, and it is influenced by '70s AM radio. Ani DiFranco, Petra Haden and Greg's Gutter Twins bandmate Mark Lanegan all guest on the album. He also says that The Afghan Whigs could reunite... but it would take a sheik or a sultan to afford it. Read the whole interview here.

BEST OF '08: THE GUTTER TWINS' SATURNALIA

Never send a boy to do a man's job! Too often these days rock and roll is sung by kids. None of whom will ever be able to do "dark" as well as The Gutter Twins - Mark Lanegan (formerly of Screaming Trees and Queens Of The Stone Age, he also has several cool solo records and also collaborates with Isobell Cambell, formerly of Belle & Sebastian) and Greg Dulli (formerly of The Afghan Whigs and current Twilight Singers mainstay). Their debut, Saturnalia, is pretty darn dark, as is the follow-up EP of covers, Adorata. Both guys have their origins in the Seattle/Sub Pop scene (although The Afghan Whigs hailed from Ohio), but with all due respect to everyone else, Lanegan and Dulli both seem to have deeper and darker musical roots (the first time Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic recorded "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" it was for Lanegan's debut solo album, they later revisited it for Nirvana's Unplugged). That darkness doesn't just permeate the band's sound, it envelops it. Not for parties, unless you're looking to clear the party out, but it's great stuff. I know Lanegan has another project with Isobell Campell lined up, but I hope the Twins work together again.

TODAY ON OUTQ: MORE OF THE CHRIS CORNELL DISCUSSION (PLUS OTHER '90S ARTISTS)

I’ve gotten some feedback from people, both here on No Expiration, in my email box, and in person, about my posts about Chris Cornell’s solo music. I now have three songs, courtesy of iTunes: “Ground Zero,” “Scream” and “Watch Out.” I am starting to like them. Of course it is different from what Chris has done before, but he has the right to try something new.

So that will be the first topic on tomorrow’s OutQ show. As much as Chris wouldn’t like the theme, I’m going with it: ‘90s icons making new music. I’m also talking about Chris’ former Audioslave bandmate Tom Morello, who has just released his second album as The Nightwatchman. When Tom went from Rage/Audioslave to solo acoustic stuff, that was quite a change also, but one people seemed more accepting of (even if The Nightwatchman isn't nearly as popular as the bands he has been in). On his new album, The Fabled City, he rocks a bit more, but it is still really different from Rage/Audioslave. I like, but don’t yet love, his Nightwatchman stuff, but I think he’ll be doing it for decades to come, and I’m sure he’ll keep improving.

I’ll also be talking about Tom’s sometime Rage Against The Machine bandmate, Zack de la Rocha, and his new band, One Day As A Lion. I like their self-titled EP, I don’t love it. It features Zack on keyboards and vocals, but yet sounds very Rage-y.

I’m also talking about Tool/A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifier project, which is kind of funny. Most of it is electro-funk/R&B, but he also does some country. Maynard, who has also done stand-up comedy and who owns a winery, is a tough guy to pin down, and I think he likes it that way. Puscifer is nothing like Tool/APC. And finally, The Gutter Twins have just released a digital EP, Adorata, with covers of songs by Jose Gonzalez, Primal Scream and Eleven. Pretty cool stuff.

THE GUTTER TWINS: TOO MUCH COOL FOR ONE ROOM?

I saw The Gutter Twins earlier this week, it was pretty great. It reminded me of the old Marvel Two-In-One comics, where The Thing teamed up with someone else each month, or DC's Brave & Bold (Batman teamups). It was like having Marvel's Wolverine and DC's Spectre. Or to make a more musical comparison, if a guitar playing Otis Redding was in a band with Jim Morrison. 

Their debut album, Saturnalia, is pretty cool. It's very cinematic, and it came off pretty well live. They also did some stuff from their respective back catalogs, but nothing from The Afghan Whigs, unfortunately. They did I think one Screaming Trees song, but a bunch of Mark Lanegan's solo songs, including one of my favorites by him, "Hit The City" (originally a duet with PJ Harvey). 

If you're a fan of either artist, I recommend the album and I recommend seeing them live. I know Lanegan has a new album coming out with Isobell Campbell (from Belle & Sebastian, they've done an EP together). I'm looking forward to that, but I hope The Gutter Twins do another album. 

WHO ARE THE GUTTER TWINS?

I was excited to hear that Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan are working together as The Gutter Twins. Dulli , of course, fronted one of the best bands of the '90s that never "made it," The Afghan Whigs, and since then has fronted a project called The Twilight Singers. Lanegan fronted another great '90s band, Screaming Trees while maintaining a solo career. He has sometimes been a member of Queens Of The Stone Age, and has also collaborated with Isobell Campbell (of Belle & Sebastian). They have a few things in common: one is that they both seemed to have been their own worst enemy when it came to their careers. They certainly made great music, but their various behaviors prevented them from being the rock stars that they should have been. Both seemed to have musical roots that extended way past '70s punk rock (which made them stand out among many alt-rockers of the '90s) -they both knew blues, soul and country. I'd also argue that both the Afghan Whigs and Screaming Trees ended on their finest albums (although I'm sure I could get killed in some parts of Seattle for that comment).

The Gutter Twins will play NY, but unfortunately on Valentine's Day. If there's any two people you don't want to see on Valentine's Day, it's these guys. But hopefully they'll do another date at some point. I can't wait to hear this album.