TOMORROW ON OUTQ: 120 MINUTES, REDUX

I recently posted about the return of the 120 Minutes franchise to MTV.  Tomorrow on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick, I'll be talking about the return of the show, as well as some of the artists who used to appear on the show who have new music out. Radiohead's King Of Limbs, PJ Harvey's Let England Shake,  R.E.M.'s Collapse Into Now, former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft's United Nations Of Sound and The Twilight Singers' Dynamite Steps (the band is led by former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli). I may also get to The Kills, the band featuring Alison Mosshart from The Dead Weather, who weren't around for the 120 Minutes era, but were recently featured on the newly launched 120 Seconds.

BEST OF '09: THE DEAD WEATHER

No Expiration readers know that I have been digging The Dead Weather, and after listening to it while running today, I decided it has to be on my list of the Best Albums of '09.  Some people may think that Jack White spreads himself too thin with all of his projects, but I think he does whatever feels right at that moment.  Plus, the guy has a crazy sense of quality control.

But it would be wrong to just attribute the greatness of this band to Jack White - a lot of it is about singer Allison Mosshart. She is a cool singer and great frontwoman, with nearly the power of PJ Harvey. She brings out more of the raw blues vibe in him.  I think this is actually his most aggressive project.  I'm glad that they are going to continue it - Jack says their next album will come out next year. Obviously, blues rock has been done before, and even blues rock with a punk rock edge. But this is a great combo for that particular mixture.  More importantly than that, they have some really great songs: "60 Ft Tall," "Hang You From The Heavens," "I Cut Like A Buffalo," "Treat Me Like Your Mother" and their cover of Bob Dylan's "New Pony." If you like what Jack White has done in the past - or Allison Mosshart's main band, The Kills - I'd say you'd like this.  But even if you don't like Jack's music, you may like this, try it out.

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, N.A.S.A.'s Spirit Of Apollo , Levon Helm's Electric Dirt , Buddy & Julie Miller's Written In Chalk, Ben Harper & Relentless7's White Lies For Dark Times

KILLS FANS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT A BIT LONGER FOR THE NEXT ALBUM...

Fans of The Kills may have been mad at singer Allison Mosshart for joining Jack White's new collective The Dead Weather. But if they really wanna hate, they should aim it at Kate Moss. Yeah, the scrawny chick who goes out with the guy in the Libertines, who is in some other band now.

Well, she's not going out with that guy anymore, now she's going out with the dude in The Kills, Jamie Hince. This is according to the U.K.'s The Mirror, which is like The Post. So it could be totally untrue.

But the story goes that they got into a fight and she threw his bag into a pool. In his bag was his laptop with recordings of six new Kills songs, which had yet to be backed up anywhere. I think Allison Mosshart will want a word with this crazy broad.

DEAD WEATHER INTERVIEW

The Dead Weather played their first public gig the other night at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC and supposedly it was pretty rocking. Self-Titled just did an interview with the band where Jack White said that the band will be touring. But he also said that The White Stripes have a film coming out this year, and there are 40 songs on it. 40! I don't know if that's old songs or new songs, but it's something to look forward to for sure. He also said that singer Allison Mosshart is going back out on tour with her other band, The Kills.  These people must have a crazy time synchronizing their band schedules. 

JACK WHITE'S NEW BAND: THE DEAD WEATHER

Last night, Jack White unveiled his new band - his third band - The Dead Weather. It's Jack on drums and backing vocals, Jack Lawrence from The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes on bass, Dean Fertita from The Raconteurs' touring band, he's also played in Queens Of The Stone Age's touring band, on guitar and vocals, and Alison Mosshart of The Kills on vocals. They have a two-track single on iTunes: "Hang You From The Heavens," and the "B-side" is a cover of Gary Numan's Tubeway Army-era song "Are 'Friends' Electric?"

The band made their debut at an event of the opening of Jack's Third Man Records building in downtown Nashville, which houses the record label offices, a vinyl record store, a photo studio, a darkroom and a performance stage. Jack kicks it old school.

The band performed for the first time, and everyone who was invited got a 7" single with artwork painted by the band. Jack's Raconteurs bandmates Brendon Benson and Patrick Keeler, and White Stripe Meg White were all in attendence, as was Sheryl Crow who lives in Tennessee. I bought the two Dead Weather tracks as soon as I got home, I really dig them. Jack White is one talented cat. But I wonder what it's like being in a band with him, waiting when he will be done with his other bands.

COOL NEW MUSIC

I always say that I am a big fan of the album format: a bunch of songs recorded together, released in a specific order. But I also love the freedom that singles offer. Back in the day, I used to love 45"s, then "cassingles," then CD singles. These days, I love iTunes, and being able to just buy a few songs here and there. Here are some singles that I recently purchased that I've been enjoying.

The first two are from Randy Jackson's Music Club album. Yes, that Randy Jackson. Back off, son, he played with Bob Dylan. OK, it was on Under The Red Sky. And with Bruce Springsteen. On Human Touch. Both underrated albums, stop hating. Anyway, his album features him producing (and probably playing bass on) tracks for other artists. One is with Joss Stone: "Just Walk On By" (not to be confused with "Walk On By"). People also hate on Joss, I like her, and this is a nice pop song. The second track is a cover of "Wang Dang Doodle," written by blues god Willie Dixon. It features keb'mo, whose voice I always love hearing, Angie Stone, who I'd love to hear more blues from, and Sam Moore of Sam & Dave (Randy produced his comeback album two years ago). Not the grittiest version, but still fun.


Next: Duffy. I first read about her in Mojo, which is the most credible music publication in the world, in my opinion. She is a soulful, white British girl from Wales, whose record has a very modern-slash-retro feel. Like a certain Ms. Winehouse. But Duffy is better looking and less angst ridden: better for the record label, but it automatically puts her at a big disadvantage when it comes to music critics. People are definitely gonna pile on. I just heard this one song, "Mercy," offered as the free single of the week on iTunes. I like it.

Jim White's "Crash Into The Sun": this one makes me want to hear more of this guy. He reminds me a bit of James McMurtry.




Kaki King's "Pull Me Out Alive": I know of her because NPR Radio stations play her a lot. And she played guitar on on the new Foo Fighters album's "The Ballad Of The Bakersfield Miners." This one also makes me want to hear more.




Ashton Shepherd's "Taking Off The Pain": Very mainstream country. She has her wedding ring in one hand and a beer in the other. You can figure out the rest. I don't love modern country's conservativism - politically and musically - but on the plus side, most of the artists are just about songs. Even the most mainstream country singer can land a great song, and this is a good example.


Kathleen Edwards reminds me (and probably other people) of Lucinda Williams. That's as much of a double edged sword as being called "The New Dylan." Big compliment, impossible to live up to. She has written some great songs, though. I love "In State" from her last album. She just released a new album, Asking For Flowers, and I like the new song "Buffalo."



I bought two tracks from an album by a guy named Jeffrey Lewis, 12 Crass Songs. In this case, "Crass" is a noun, not an adjective. Actually it's both. The album is 12 covers of songs by anarchist punk band Crass. "Do They Owe Us A Living?" and "I Ain't Thick, It's A Trick" are worth hearing. I don't know much about Crass, but the album's folky sound delivers the lyrics in a much different way than the originals (I've heard a few of the original versions). It's at least thought provoking.


The Black Keys' "Strange Times": They're a dirty sounding gritty blues/rock duo, but they sound nothing like The White Stripes. Apparently, Danger Mouse used them on some Ike Turner recordings that he was producing, and then they decided to have them produce thier new album. Pretty cool song. Speaking of Danger Mouse...


Gnarls Barkley has a new album, The Odd Couple, and I got "Run" and "Going On." I tend to think that Danger Mouse is a bit overrated. That said, that "Crazy" song was pretty great, as was their cover of The Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone." I like both of the new songs that I picked up, but I don't know if I'd buy the album based on them.



The Kills' "Cheap And Cheerful" makes me want to hear more from this duo.






Justin Townes Earle's "Far Away In Another Town": Yes he is you-know-who's son. Sounds a bit like him. As if that wasn't enough pressure, he's also named after Townes Van Zandt. That's like being named "Jakob Marley Dylan" or something. Anyway, this song is pretty cool, and I'll be checking out more of his music for sure.



That's it for now. I'm looking foward now to hearing the new R.E.M. which comes out next week, along with the latest live album from The Rolling Stones. But if you trust my musical taste and want to check out some lesser known artists, you should try some of the above (not that Randy Jackson is lesser known, but you know what I mean).