TIE FOR #11: BIG BOI, LAMONTAGNE, MUMFORD & SONS, SHERYL CROW, RECKLESS KELLY, GASLIGHT ANTHEM AND CASH

In late December, I posted my top ten albums of 2010; the list was topped by The Drive-By Truckers' The Big To-Do. Immediately afterwards, I started thinking about some other albums that I really enjoyed this year, so I started a brief series called "Tied for #11." I've done a bunch of posts, starting with one about Buddy Guy's Living Proof.  Here is another handful of albums that I enjoyed a lot.

Outkast's Big Boi finally released his debut this year: Sir Lucious Left Foot...The Son Of Chico Dusty.  It's too bad that it didn't get the attention that it deserved. Both by the press and even by Def Jam, who helped Boi to get the album from Jive (the label that OutKast record for).  "Shutterbug" is one of the hottest singles of the year. I think that, like Black Thought of The Roots, Big Boi is one of the best MCs in hip-hop, but doesn't get the attention of, say, Lil Wayne or T.I.

Ray LaMontagne's God Willing and The Creek Don't Rise is a really great album. It's a gorgeous album, but because Ray doesn't really do much promotion, you don't hear much about it. I think it will benefit from being nominated for a few Grammys (including "Beg Steal or Borrow" which is up for Song Of The Year). Hopefully he will perform at the ceremony.

Mumford & Sons was probably my favorite new discovery of 2010. Their Sigh No More album reminded me of Springsteens' Seeger Sessions Band, and I mean that as a high compliment. The fact that a band so removed from any recent trend, either in the mainstream pop world or the "indie rock" world has become so popular is, frankly, amazing to me and it gives me hope. I haven't seen them live, but I have filmed a studio performance by the band (see it here) and I really dug it.

I've often felt that Sheryl Crow doesn't get the credit she deserves, and that's never been more true than on her current album, 100 Miles From Memphis. I guess in a way, I can understand people paying a bit less attention to her - her last two albums weren't as strong as her first few. But this album is a great comeback, and should have done really well. But if you liked her earlier music, I urge you to check this one out.

Like The Drive-By Truckers, Reckless Kelly is a band who I discovered thanks to the SiriusXM channel Outlaw Country. (And this is where I offer the full disclosure that I work for SiriusXM, but I was a SIRIUS subscriber before I worked there.) Somewhere In Time is an album of songs by someone named Pinto Beckett. Without knowing much about him, or the band, I really dug it. I have to make it a point to get more music by both of them in the '11.

New Jersey's own Gaslight Anthem got a decent amount of press for their album American Slang, and deservedly so. They're a really good band, and they have the double edged approval of Bruce Springsteen (good because of the obvious extra exposure, bad because you can't do interviews without talking about him). They come from the punk rock underground, but they sound is really accessible. Hopefully people won't be scared of them because of their appearance. I'd love to see them get huge. In 2010 they headlined Radio City Music Hall, so maybe they're on their way.

One last album I'll mention is Johnny Cash's final recordings: American VI: Ain't No Grave. It sounds like he is aware that this is "it" for him, and it adds a poignancy to the songs . I have always been a big fan of the American Recordings series, I think Rick Rubin did a great job on all of them, this one included.

CHECK OUT RECKLESS KELLY!

This morning on SIRIUS XM OutQ's The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick, I talked a lot about music that you'll hear if you listen to SIRIUS XM Outlaw Country. In my opinion, it's a great year for the genre: albums from legends like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard have been great. But it's not just about the icons, there's lots of new(er) artists also, including The Drive-By Truckers, who have put out my favorite album of the year so far, The Big To-Do. 

Another contender for my favorite album of the year is Reckless Kelly, I love thier new album Somewhere In Time. I wasn't that familar with them: I'd heard their music on Outlaw Country, and I knew that they backed up Steve Earle on his cover of Warren Zevon's "Reconsider Me." But when Outlaw DJ Dallas Wayne was talking about the album so enthusiastically, I felt I had to check it out and it did not dissapoint. They are from the Austin scene, and the album features all songs written by another guy from that scene named Pinto Beckett. This is one of those albums (like The Big To-Do, or, last year, The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine's Day Massacre) where there are just so many great, great songs and I had a hard time choosing. I love the two songs that we played today: the opener "Little Blossom" and "Bird On A Wire," but I wish we got to "You Hold The Bottle, I'll Hold The Wheel." I hate to call it "country-rock," because that term brings to mind The Eagles. RK aren't as ragged and raw as the Truckers, but they definitely aren't as pop as Henley and co. But Somewhere In Time does have lots of catchy songs, and it's almost a shame that it isn't a bit more slick: you almost could imagine this on country music radio among Brad and Kenny and Carrie and Keith. Not quite, but almost.

I can go on describing this album for you - I'm not the greatest record reviewer. Let me instead put it this way. You know that I love discovering artists who are "new" to me, but I don't actually discover many that I like. Hearing a few songs on the radio made me want the album, and now the album is making me want to check out their older material (I've in fact bought a few songs from their last album, Bulletproof, and I'm digging that also). If last year I introduced you to The Cocktail Slippers and you liked them, this might be my one big new favorite thing this year. Check them out, you might dig it too.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: ARE YOU READY FOR THE COUNTRY

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET I go on the SIRIUS XM channel OutQ. I am a weekly contributor to The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. This week I will be talking about country music.

At the risk of sounding like I'm pimping the company I work for, I should mention that most of this music is stuff that you can hear on the SIRIUS XM channel Outlaw Country, which was one of the reasons why I subscribed in the first place (before I even worked there!).

Elizabeth Cook, in fact, is a DJ on the channel. She's a great reason to wake up in the morning: she is so entertaining to listen to. Add that to her music, and she's a star in the making. So listen to her now, so you can brag to your friends when she's a big star next year! Really, though, her music is great. She reminds me of Loretta Lynn or maybe Dolly Parton. She's able to do total ass-kicking songs that are funny ("Sometimes It Takes Balls To Be A Woman") and then heartfelt ballads that really hit you ("Heroin Addict Sister"). Her new album, Welder, comes out next week.

Reckless Kelly is a band who, like The Drive-By Truckers, I would not have gotten into without Outlaw Country. Great, great southern rock band. Their new album, Somewhere In Time, is a tribute to a songwriter named Pinto Bennett -- all the songs were written by him. There are just so many great songs on the album. They are so catchy, you can almost hear them on a mainstream country format (but not quite).

Willie Nelson's new album is called Country Music, and was produced by T-Bone Burnett. My opinion? It's another great (or maybe classic) Willie album. But you know I love Willie. By the way, while you can hear him on Outlaw Country, you can also hear him on his own channel, Willie's Place. Tomorrow night, Willie's Place will broadcast - live - Willie's concert from the Manhattan Center. At this show, and this show only, he'll be backed up by T-Bone's guys, who played on Country Music, as opposed to Willie's usual "band of gypsies."

I'm not sure what else we'll get to.  I have one track from Merle Haggard's new album I Am What I Am (I gotta be careful after the Johnny Cash American VI album didn't go over well a few weeks ago). A couple of tracks by Dallas Wayne, another Outlaw Country DJ who is also a singer/songwriter, The Court Yard Hounds (sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire of The Dixie Chicks), and The Drive-By Truckers again: what can I say, The Big To-Do is my favorite album of 2010 so far.