TRUE BLOOD VOL. 3 (THE MUSIC)

First off, I'll say that as a big fan of the True Blood series, I thought this past season (season 4) was bad.  Really bad.  Embarrassingly bad. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I'm more likely to like things than to not like them.  And I'm much more likely to write about things that I like than things that I don't like.  But from the awful season premiere (when they went to fairy land, I thought that sleestaks were going to start running around) to the finale ("can you let us down, we're getting a bit crispy," Sookie breaking up with both vampire dudes in one of the cheesiest scenes I've ever sat through on any show), it was just bad. And taking Lafayette - one of the show's best characters, mainly because of his dislike/distrust of anything supernatural, and making him into a conduit for the ghost of an evil spirit... well, I guess it could have been a cool idea, but it came off corny as hell. 

Of course, this is not a TV blog, it's a music blog, and right now, as I'm giving out candy to trick or treaters, I'm listening to the latest installment of the True Blood compilation series. And as annoyed as I am at the show's producer Alan Ball, I have to give it up  -- again -- to music supervisor Gary Calamar. Last year, I wrote about the second CD in the series, and expressed serious admiration for True Blood's music team, and I still feel the same way. They come up with songs that fit the mood, regardless of era and genre (it's the same reason why I love the greatest radio station in the world, the Underground Garage).

The album has a number of new tracks, which I imagine were recorded specifically for the show. I don't know if you could say that being on True Blood is the adult equivalent of being on a Twilight soundtrack, but I guess it is comparable.  Regardless, there are some really great tracks here. The opener combines stuff I love with stuff I don't:  Karen Elson (whose debut, The Ghost Who Walks, was one of my favorite albums of 2010) covers Donovan (who I've never been a fan of) with "Season Of The Witch."  Karen's ex-, Jack White produces and Donovan himself sings on the track.

The late Gil Scott-Heron covered Robert Johnson's "Me and The Devil."  Obviously a classic, and Mr. Scott-Heron brought his own thing to it. I guess this is one of the last things he ever recorded. 

Hipsters must be melting over the union of Neko Case and Nick Cave covering The Zombies' "She's Not There." But they should, it's pretty great, and I remember thinking that as it aired over the credits of one of this season's episodes. 

PJ Harvey and Gordon Gano of The Violent Femmes' "Hittin' The Ground" is the title track from Gano's debut solo album from 2002. It's a really fun song, and PJ sounds like she's really getting her Patti Smith on. It's not a new song, but it's new to me, and probably is to a lot of other people.

And in a combo made in Americana heaven, Jakob Dylan and The Jayhawks' Gary Louris do "Gonna Be A Darkness," which they co-wrote.  There are so many good songs here!  A group called The Heavy cover Larua Nyro's "And When I Die," and there's a cool Blackroc song (Blackroc is The Black Keys in hip-hop mode) called "What You Do To Me."  Then, there's some older songs, like Slim Harpo's "Te Ni Nee Ni Nu," Massive Attack featuring Hope Sandoval "Paradise Circus," and Siouxie & The Banshees' "Spellbound."

Here's hoping that the next season of True Blood makes up for this one, but I know that the music will always be on point.

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED: NEIL YOUNG TRIBUTE DVD

This was released a few weeks ago, without too much hype, but you need to know about it: A Musicares Tribute To Neil Young.

Shot January 29, 2010 at the NARAS 2010 Musicares Person Of The Year event, the show featured some pretty incredible artists paying tribute to Neil.  Some of the highlights included Norah Jones' "Tell Me Why," Ben Harper's "Ohio," Wilco's "Broken Arrow," James Taylor's "Heart Of Gold" (I think he actually sang backing vocals on the original version) and John Mellencamp's "Down By The River." Also a sort of supergroup: Elton John, Leon Russell, Sheryl Crow and Neko Case doing "Helpless." I think it was the first time Elton and Leon performed together.

Also on the bill: John Fogerty, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Dave Matthews, Dierks Bentley, Booker T. Jones, Josh Groban (!), Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Crosby Stills & Nash. I think The Red Hot Chili Peppers performed for the first time with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer ("A Man Needs A Maid") but it's not on the DVD.   Neil was there also, he just sort of gave a thank you speech (if you've seen his speeches at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, you know what his speeches are like), he didn't perform at all.

The event, and the DVD, raises money for NARAS' MusiCares, which "offers a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need," including "financial medical and personal emergencies." Learn more about MusiCares here.  

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: PORN AND DOUBLE-D's (PLUS MGMT)

Well, from what I know about search engines, this post will get more "clicks" than any No Expiration post so far. Sorry for the deceptive title! I'm doing an experiment to see how this goes. Actually, a lot of music writing is sadly dictated by Search Engine Optimization - like writing about, say, Lady Gaga, just because lots of people are searching her.  That's not how No Expiration rolls, son! 

Anyway: tomorrow morning on SIRIUS XM OutQ at 9 am ET, I'm going to be talking about the new album from The New Pornographers, reissues from Duran Duran and also MGMT's latest.

MGMT's Congratulations has been a bit controversial among fans. After the fun, synthy sound of their debut album, Oracular Spectacular, they decided to go all Neil Young post-Harvest, and bee-line from the middle of the road to the ditch. They've kind of gone on record saying that they were uncomfortable becoming pop stars, and that inspired the sound of the new album which is more Flaming Lips than Lady Gaga. I enjoy the album, even if I don't totally agree with the contrarian line of reasoning. Then again, "rock" acts tend to have longer shelf lives than pop acts. Even Perez Hilton called them out for their attitude, pointing out that "there's nothing wrong with playing to arenas of people who want to listen to your music." Neil Young did the right thing when he veered from the mainstream after Harvest, time will tell if MGMT veered off of a cliff or not.

Duran Duran are releasing deluxe reissues of their self titled debut from 1981, and their third album, 1983's Seven and The Ragged Tiger. And also the 1985 side project Arcadia. Each reissue has two CDs (with lots of demo versions, remixes, BBC sessions and the like) and an accompanying DVD. I haven't gotten through all of it: I admit that on OutQ, I'm not giving a comprehensive review, it's more that I'm informing everyone that this stuff is out there and giving highlights. I'm more of a "greatest hits" fan when it comes to the double d. A lot of people dissed them back in the day, because they were a bit effeminate. But they had some funky tunes, starting with the singles on the first album, "Girls On Film" and "Planet Earth," which are still my favorite two Duran Duran songs.

Finally, The New Pornographers. Since I don't generally "buy into" what indie rock people make a big deal about, I was late to this band. Until I heard the song "Sing Me Spanish Techno" a few years back. The new album has more of a crunchy guitar solo: A.C. Newman, one of the main guys in the band has said that he wanted to combine Black Sabbath with The Fifth Dimension, which is a good idea. I like the songs I've heard so far.

PETER WOLF DUETS WITH SHELBY LYNNE ON NEW ALBUM

Former J. Geils Band singer Peter Wolf returns with a new album, Midnight Souvenirs, in April. Dude gets insanely great reviews in Rolling Stone magazine, but somehow he is still kind of underrated. I dig some of his old J. Geils stuff, but what I really dig is his last solo album, 2002's Sleepless. It has this amazing song with Mick Jagger, called "Nothing But The Wheel," and Mick really sounds like he means it when he's singing. Another song features Keith Richards, "Too Close Together." I mean the fact that he can get Mick and Keith on an album, come on! Peter is a great frontman, a great singer and has great taste.

Anyway, this new album has a duet with Shelby Lynne, "Tragedy," which is on iTunes, and it's another great song.  There are also duets with Neko Case and Merle Haggard, so I guess it's an Outlaw Country kind of vibe.

JAKOB DYLAN'S NEW ALBUM

I really dug Jakob Dylan's solo debut, 2008's Seeing Things, produced by Rick Rubin. Now he's about to release his second solo album, Women and Country, due April 6 according to Billboard. This one will be produced by T-Bone Burnett, who produced The Wallflowers' breakthrough album, 1996's great Bringing Down The Horse. Solo artist/New Pornographers singer Neko Case and a singer named Kelly Hogan guest on much of the album, and Jakob plans to tour with them this summer. People get hung up on two things with Jakob Dylan: one, his last name, and the other is that he's kind of an icon of the '90s. Get over it, he is a great songwriter and is making great music today.