THIS MORNING ON OUTQ

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET, I am a featured guest on the SIRIUS XM OutQ channel show The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. Of course, I talk about music.

Last week, I talked about new hip-hop releases - some of which I am a really big fan of. But some listeners weren't into it!  This week, I'll be focusing on some great Americana-type music, and I'll be writing about these records more in the coming weeks.  Los Lobos' new album Tin Can Trust, the first single from Robert Plant's upcoming Band Of Joy album, "Angel Dance" (which is a Los Lobos cover!), The Black Crowes' collection Croweology (newly re-recorded acoustic versions of thier songs, this is a gift to fans before they go on another hiatus), something new from Dr. John and music from two relatively new artists, Trombone Shorty and Eli "Paperboy" Reed, either of whom has gotten too much hype, but I believe people will really like both if they get the chance to hear them.

THE BLACK CROWES ANNOUNCE HIATUS

The Black Crowes are celebrating the 20th anniversary (!) of their debut album, Shake Your Moneymaker, with a two CD set of acoustic versions of their songs, a tour and then they are going on hiatus. Rolling Stone has the story, but this doesn't sound like a breakup, it actually does sound like a break. I think that more bands should go on "breaks," too often when bands are doing well, they are on a album/tour treadmill that doesn't allow them to live their lives and pursue other stuff that they want to do. I saw the Crowes on their reunion tour opening for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and they were really good, so I hope that this isn't their final tour.

THE LATEST LED ZEP RUMOR: CHRIS CORNELL?

Rumors have been circulating that Chris Cornell may be one of the guys that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones are considering approaching for their "Led Zeppelin" reunion tour. Cornell says he hasn't been approached. Well, he would be a cooler choice than the dude from Alter Bridge. Although I wonder if he could hit the notes - he is older now than Plant was when Zeppelin broke up.

Still the Alter Bridge thing would be so embarassing: not only would it make Page and Jones look lame, it also might lead to a Creed reunion. I've heard that they've also been jamming with Steven Tyler. Page toured with The Black Crowes a few years ago. I'm not a huge Crowes fan, but I think Chris Robinson would be a decent choice. But, as I've mentioned before, I think it would be better to just reunite The Yardbirds instead.

COOL NEW MUSIC: BAUHAUS, KATHLEEN EDWARDS, BLACK CROWES, RAKIM AND ALAN JACKSON

I bought one song each from all of the above. Maybe I'll go back and buy the rest of the albums later. In the $14.99 CD era before downloads, I might not have tried any of these albums. Anyway, here's my lowdown:

Bauhaus release their final album today, called Go Away White, a great title for the curtain call by this seminal goth band. I remember in one of the greatest comic books of all time, Sandman, the title character went from being all black to all white by the end of the comic's run. I saw Bauhaus on their reunion tour a few years back. I was never an expert on the band, but I had a respect for them. And they were great. I saw them again a few summers ago, opening for Nine Inch Nails at the most ungothly of venues, Jones Beach. But still, they were great. Apparently during the recording of this album, "an incident" occured, ensuring that the band will never work together again. Wow. Anyway, judging by "International Bulletproof Talent," they're taking thier final bow on a pretty cool note.

Today The Black Crowes release thier first album since reuniting a few years back, Warpaint. Like Maxim magazine, I have only heard "Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution," and unlike Maxim, I'm not going to pretend I heard anything else. This is a pretty groovy song. I'm not a hardcore Black Crowes fan, but I enjoy lots of thier songs, and this is a good one.

Kathleen Edwards' "Oil Man's War," from her new one, Asking For Flowers, appeals to me on its title alone. On her last album, Back To Me, I really loved two songs (the title track and "In State"), but not the rest of the album. This is a pretty cool song, though, so I'll have to investigate the album further.

Rakim's "Love 4 Sale" is from a new collection called The Archive: Live, Lost & Found. He's one of the best MCs of all time, and it's too bad that he can't seem to get his career back on track. At one point, he was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records, but got dropped before he released anything. As he proved on last year's track "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)" remix (produced by DJ Premier and also featuring Kanye West, Nas and KRS-One), he smokes pretty much any MC who is considered hot these days. Anyway, this is a pretty cool track.

Alan Jackson's "Small Town Southern Man" is from A-Jax's new album, out today, called Good Time. It's actually his first album where he wrote all the songs himself. I know he's lumped in with all of the "hat acts," many of whom I'm indifferent to. I don't have his albums, but I used to work in a record store and we played him sometimes, and I found myself liking his music. This is actually the record I'm most likely to pick up of this batch.