TOMORROW ON OUTQ: NEW CDS BY NEIL, MAVIS, YORN

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at about 9 am ET(ish), I go on the SIRIUS XM OutQ show The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick (co-hosted by comedian Keith Price) to talk about music. Sometimes I have a theme, and this week, I have a loose one: artists who hooked up with big names to produce their latest album.

Neil Young's Le Noise sees him moving outside his usual circle of collaborators to work with Daniel Lanois. It is Neil's weirdest album in well over twenty years.  It isn't one of my top ten albums by Neil, but I'm starting to dig it, and at least it is better than his last one, Fork In The Road.

Mavis Staples continues her streak of great albums (all on the very cool Anti- label) with You Are Not Alone, which was produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. He wrote the tile track, which I have found to be very moving. I think the album is one of the best things he's ever done (and it holds up to her incredible body of work as well), and I think the title track is actually the best song he has ever written. It is my favorite of the three albums I'm discussing this week.

Pete Yorn hired Pixies frontman Frank Black to produce his new album, Pete Yorn. You can definitely hear the influence sonically, and it is a cool album.  When it comes to Pete Yorn, though, I feel kind of stuck on his first album, musicforthemorningafter. Still, this one definitely adds some more classic songs to his cannon, and he is certainly an artist who is going to be around for a long time. This is probably his best album since the debut.

PETE YORN GETS PIXIED

I thought it was interesting when I heard that Pete Yorn tapped Frank Black to produce his new album. Pete is a fan of rock music by Bruce, and also post-punk/goth stuff like The Cure and The Smiths, as well as Bowie, so it makes sense that he digs The Pixies, who are sort of at the center of all those bands.

From the first few moments of opening track/first single "Precious Stone," you think it's like a Pixies tribute (interestingly, the production is cited to "Black Francis," the name Black used in The Pixies). It's a great single, and it seems like Pete's albums always have a few.

I've always rooted for Pete Yorn, he seems like a really cool guy, and he doesn't pander. I just don't know if he's ever equaled the imact and greatness of his debut, 2001's musicforthemorningafter. I love "Rock Crowd," which is like a love letter to his fans.  Kind of the opposite of songs like "Turn The Page" and "The Load Out." He's basically saying that this is what he's always wanted, and he's glad he has it.

Pete has often been compared to Bruce Springsteen - partially because he covers Bruce all the time, and also because he's from New Jersey.  He reminds me a bit more of Tom Petty: less political, less anthemic, and a bit more low key of a dude. And like Petty, he's slowly building a repertoire of great songs (although I don't think he's released his Damn The Torpedoes yet). And like Petty, he's influenced by The Byrds and their former members: Pete Yorn ends with a cover of Gram Parsons' lovely "Wheels."

2010: A BIG YEAR FOR THE WHO

By now, everyone knows that The Who are playing the Super Bowl in January. (When I first wrote about it, it was a rumor, now it has been confirmed.) And they are supposed to be putting out a new album and touring as well. But I just found out that on March 2, there's going to be a big tribute concert to The 'Oo at Carnegie Hall in New York City, featuring Gov't Mule, Living Colour, Frank Black of The Pixies, Bob Mould, The Smithereens, The Gaslight Anthem and... Bobby McFerrin. I wonder if the organizers will go after any of the artists who paid tribute to The Who at The Kennedy Center Honors last year (including Chris Cornell, Joss Stone, Jack Black and Dave Grohl) or the VH1 Rock Honors show which featured Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Tenacious D and Flaming Lips.

Anyway, proceeds from the show go to six different charities, which you can learn about at the concert's webpage.

Meanwhile, Roger Daltrey who has been doing a solo tour this year, will be doing at least some dates next year: Eric Clapton said Roger would be opening some shows for him. I heard Roger's shows have been pretty cool. I wonder if he will put out a live album. What I really would love to hear is his version of The Who's "Blue, Red and Grey," which he wasn't originally on (Pete Townshend sang that one, and it is one of The Who's most underrated songs).

FRANK BLACK'S NEW GROUP: GRAND DUCHY

Do people known that Frank Black has a new project, Grand Duchy? It's Frank and his wife, Victoria Clark. I bought one song - "Come On Over To My House" - and it is great. I have to check out more.

THE PIXIES BOX SET

The Pixies will re-release all of their studio albums in a box set called Minotaur.  It will have bonus tracks and new artwork by legendary 4AD graphic artist Vaughan Oliver.  Find out more at the A+R website. Meanwhile, Frank Black's new band, Grand Duchy, is about to go on tour. And The Breeders have a new EP, Fate To Fatal. 

THE PIXIES: BACK AGAIN!

Everyone thought that the awesome Pixies reunion from a few years ago was a one-off, and Kim Deal even said that she was glad to do it, but didn't really want to do it again. Well, they're playing England's Isle of Wight festival with more dates to be announced, according to their MySpace page. I got to see them twice on that tour (I'd never seen them before) and they were awesome. I think that it's probably a good idea that they don't do a new album, but some touring here and there, that's pretty cool.

Also while at thier MySpace page, I saw that Frank Black's new group Grand Duchy (with his wife Violet Clark) have recorded a cover of The Cure's "Strange Day" on Just Like Heaven, a new Cure tribute album. I remember The Pixies (and Love & Rockets) opened for The Cure at Giants Stadium back in the day. How did I miss that show?

FRANK BLACK'S NEW BAND

Since The Pixies reunion, Frank Black seemed content to return to his solo career. But now he has a new group, Grand Duchy, which is a collaboration with his wife Violet Clark. This is all according to Pitchfork. I'm sure lots of people are disappointed that he isn't doing any new Pixies music.  I'm not: I thought the reunion was incredible, but I don't think that they would have had the chemistry that they did back in the day.