TOMORROW ON OUTQ: MASSIVE ATTACK, GORILLAZ, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

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. We talk about - surprise! - music. I missed last week due to my vacation, but now I'm back! The last time I was on the show, some folks didn't like the Johnny Cash album that I brought, American VI: Ain't No Grave. I stand behind my choice, it's a great album! But hopefully people will like my choices better this week.

First off is Massive Attack, who just released Heligoland, their first real album in seven years. There's a few guests on the album, including Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star, Tunde Adebimpe of TV On The Radio and Damon Albarn. There are definitely some cool songs. The "problem" with Massive Attack is like the "problem" with The Violent Femmes. They made a debut album that was so classic (1991's Blue Lines) that it was nearly impossible to follow up. It is such an influencial album. They've done good stuff since then, but Blue Lines towers above all of it. That said, there are definitely some good songs on the new album. The one with Hope, "Paradise Circus," is my favorite.

Gorillaz is fun and a great idea. Their new album, Plastic Beach, is a concept albums and kind of sinks under its own weight. Still there are some cool moments, especially the title track, which reunites Clash bandmates Mick Jones and Paul Simonon for the first time since Combat Rock. Paul played with Gorillas frontman Damon Albarn in The Good, The Bad and The Queen. "Stylo," which features Mos Def and Bobby Womack, is the first single and probably the best song on the album.

LCD Soundsystem has a new album coming out, This Is Happening. I don't flip out over LCD the way some people do, but I like some LCD Soundsystem songs. I don't think it's really a band, it's really this guy James Murphy. "Drunk Girls" is a party jam from the album, and is a cool party jam (albeit one David Bowie could probably sue for, since it sounds so much like "Boys Keep Swinging"). On the other hand, "Oh You (Christmas Blues)," from the Ben Stiller film, Greenberg, recalls solo John Lennon at his most angst ridden.

I wrote about singer Daniel Merriweather a while back. I think he has a great voice, and while I hear that the release of his new album Love & War has been troubled, I love the duet with Adele, "Water and a Flame." More than that: the iTunes bonus track: a cover of The White Stripes classic "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do What You're Told)." Larry won't like this one!

Finally, Big Audio Dynamite, Mick Jones' post-Clash band. Their debut, 1985's This Is Big Audio Dynamite, is being reissued as a 2 CD set April 27. A lot of their music sounds a bit quaint and dated, since dance music production is so different now from what it sounded like 25 years ago. But it was really trailblazing the way Mick combined rock, hip-hop, reggae and dance music. It was sort of what he started doing with "This Is Radio Clash." Definitely worth a listen.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: WORKING ON A DREAM

There are lots of books out there about Bruce Springsteen, but this new one is notable.  David Masciotra's Working On A Dream: The Progressive Political Vision of Bruce Springsteen focuses on his... well, his very progressive politics.  He's always been an advocate for the working class. I haven't read it, I've just read about it, but it seems like a cool book (and it published by Continuum Books, who put out the 33 1/3 series.

NAKED WOMEN CAUSE TROUBLE: THE ADVENTURES OF ERYKAH BADU

Erykah Badu got in trouble for her recent one-take video shoot of "Window Seat" from her new album New Amerykah Part 2: Return Of The Ankh. She stripped down nekkid in the video! Check it out (with some parts blurred) at her website. TMZ says that she will be served with a  disorderly conduct charge and she'll get a fine.

CHINA BLOCKS BOB DYLAN

Bob Dylan had scheduled a tour of China, but the Chinese government decided not to allow him to play Beijing and Shanghai, according to The Guardian. They were worried about his past as a counter-culture icon. Not too surprising, but weird.

LOLLAPALOOZA 2010: SOUNDGARDEN, GREEN DAY, LADY GAGA

Well, the rumors were true. Soundgarden, Green Day and Lady Gaga are headlining Lollapalooza this year (August 6-8 in Chicago's Grant Park). I am pretty sure this is the first show that Soundgarden has announced, and it is appropriate as they are one of the only bands (along with Tool) to be a Lolla headline act more than once (in 2991 and 1997), Also on the bill: Arcade Fire ,Social Distortion, Jimmy Cliff, the Black Keys, Devo, Cypress Hill, The Drive-By Truckers, and many more.  Find out more at the festival website.

DUFF McKAGAN JOINS JANE'S ADDICTION

It doesn't look like I missed too much while I was in Mexico, but for me, the biggest news is that, as rumored, former Guns N Roses (and maybe still current Velvet Revolver) bassist Duff McKagan has joined Jane's Addiction.

I found that so surprising.  Janes and Guns both came from L.A., but from very different scenes. Although I always did think that Guns were closer to punk rock than they were to the Crue or Ratt or the other glammier metal bands. Still, this is a development that would have been hard to predict in, say, 1991. But times change. And Duff comes from a more punk or "alternative" background than his Guns-mates.

Anyway, Rolling Stone says that Jane's is looking to have an album out by the winter of 2011, and then they are going to tour afterwards. I wonder if that means that the singer-less Velvet Revolver is over.  I think it's cool that Duff, Slash and Matt Sorum were playing together, I never cared for their singer Weiland though. Slash's new album comes out tomorrow.  Duff is on it, and so are former Guns members Izzy Stradlin' and Steven Adler. Also on the album, Lemmy, Iggy Pop, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Grohl and Alice Cooper.  And Fergie.

I'M BACK!

Apologies for not posting for a week and a half or so.  I went on vacation to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, a beautiful place that I highly recommend. You can hear beautiful music by mariachi bands that is both beatiful and fun. The photo at the right was taken by my wife, by the way.  Anyway, I wasn't really checking to see what was going on in music, but now my batteries are recharged.  I will be back on The Morning Jolt With Larry Flick on OutQ this Wednesday morning at 9 am ET, and The Busted Halo Show With Father Dave Dwyer on The Catholic Channel Thursday night at about 7:20 pm ET.