Tag: The Black Keys

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Bits: Nicole Atkins, The Meat Puppets, The Twilight Singers, The Black Keys, A Place to Bury Strangers

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  • Nicole Atkins will be playing a live acoustic session and chatting on livestream Wednesday, 1.19, at 1:30 PM ET/10:30 AM PT.
  • The Meat Puppets will be releasing their new album, Lollipop, in April, Paste reports. Their line-up now includes Shandon Sahm, son of Texan multi-instrumentalist Doug Sahm, on drums.
  • The Twilight Singers’ upcoming album, Dynamite Steps, is available for pre-order at Sub Pop. The pre-order entitles you to stream the album online immediately, and if you pre-order by 2.15, you’ll receive two non-album tracks.
  • Though they’ve had to cancel their Australia/New Zealand tour and part of their European tour, the Black Keys juggernaut rolls on with an appearance on Austin City Limits airing 1.22 on PBS, in a split episode with Sonic Youth. (The Keys’ appearance was taped about three months ago. I am very excited about this, having hoped for a Keys ACL for a long time now.)
  • A Place to Bury Strangers will hit the road again this spring, including SXSW gigs where they will premiere material from their forthcoming, as-yet-untitled album. These guys are amazing live.

    THU 3/10 – ATLANTA, GA – Masquerade*

    FRI 3/11 – DURHAM, NC – Motorco Music Hall*

    SUN 3/13 – DENTON, TX – 35 Conferette Festival*^

    TUE 3/15 – SAN ANTONIO, TX – Korova*

    WED 3/16 – AUSTIN, TX – SXSW

    THU 3/17 – AUSTIN, TX – SXSW

    FRI 3/18 – AUSTIN, TX – SXSW

    SAT 3/19 – AUSTIN, TX – SXSW

    SUN 3/20 – HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, AR – Valley of the Vapors

    MON 3/21 – HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, AR – Valley of the Vapors (pedal workshop)

    TUE 3/22 – OXFORD, MS – Proud Larrys*

    WED 3/23 – GREENVILLE, SC – The Handlebar*

    THU 3/24 – BALTIMORE, MD – Ottobar*

    *with Hooray for Earth

    ^with Dan Deacon, !!!, How to Dress Well & Local Natives

Speaking of APTBS, they’ve treated us to a tale of hopscotch gone awry with the video for their remix of Holy Fuck’s “Red Lights”, directed by Thomas Smith as a gift to APTBS.

Holy Fuck – Red Lights (A Place to Bury Strangers Remix) from Spool on Vimeo.

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Bits: Juniper Tar, The Builders and the Butchers, Gregg Allman, Drive-By Truckers, The Black Keys

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  • Juniper Tar has a frigging sweet deal in their online store: their full-length album To The Trees, The Howl Street EP, a lovely T-shirt plus a handmade mix CD. Eight bucks plus shipping. Get on that.
  • My Old Kentucky Blog has a new tune for you from the Builders and the Butchers’ forthcoming album, Dead Reckoning. Hot.
  • Gregg Allman’s new album, Low Country Blues, is streaming on NPR’s First Listen. It’s well worth a listen. (I think I may even like his cover of Skip James’ “Devil Got My Woman”, which is an accomplishment since that song is nearly sacred to me.)
  • Drive-By Truckers has begun posting behind the scenes episodes for their new album Go-Go Boots at their Vimeo page. You can find the first two episodes and other goodies there.
  • The Black Keys made a return visit to Letterman yesterday, and you can watch the performance at The Audio Perv if’n you missed it. And if you missed their great appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend, well, we’ve got that for you, too. (They also played “Tighten Up”.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8A1yy_CrIc?fs=1]

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(Guest) Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Nate Burrell’s Best of 2010

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Regular Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog Jennifer is taking a well-deserved vacation, and NTSIB friend Nate Burrell was kind enough to contribute his favorite photos of 2010 from his own collection. In addition to being a hell of a nice guy, Nate is a great photographer, and we’re very pleased to feature him again.

The Black Keys:
To Summarize: this band kicks ass. They have since 2002, and they are finally getting their due respect on a wider scale in 2010. Their most recent release, Brothers, opened them up to popular outlets, due to its groove-thick gnarly sound and the hit single Tighten Up; but don’t be fooled- their catalogue prior to this year’s album is disgustingly good. Get learned if you haven’t already.
www.theblackkeys.com


Dan Auerbach stepping to the edge of the stage for the sold out crowd at the Pageant – St. Louis, MO.

Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three:
After successfully touring the US and the UK, as well as having been named Best New Discovery at 2010’s Newport Folk Festival, this St. Louis-based American Roots Music band is definitely a band to look for. Absolutely awesome to see live- energetic, tight on stage, and good musicians to the core… and just as good to put on your turntable or in your headphones. Check “La La Blues” from their album Riverboat Soul if you want to sing and clap along as you get on down! And keep your eyes peeled for their upcoming releases in 2011 – ya heard me??!!
www.pokeylafarge.net


Pokey LaFarge singing and sweatin’ at Off Broadway in South City St. Louis.

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound:
This Chicago Rhythm and Soul group is another hot ticket to see. Funky as you ever wanted to see on stage, a sound that’s vaguely familiar, but also fresh and its own. You’ll be swayin’ and head bobbin until it’s an all out get down in your own right! Good stuff for sure. Their album is dope! And they are playin’ out in cities right now.
www.facebook.com/pages/JC-Brooks-the-Uptown-Sound/262902497556


JC Brooks reaching out to the crowd at the Beat ‘N’ Soul Festival – St. Louis, MO.

Patrick Sweany:
A soulful Nashville bluesman, Sweany is a name that you should look up. Having as much comfort on the 6 string as anyone out there today, and a comfortable banter with his audience – you are sure to see a good set when he takes the stage. His new album Southern Drag officially drops in Feb. 2011, but he’s currently out on the road touring and could be headed your way. Look him up.
www.patricksweany.com


Banging the stomp box at the Old Rock House – St. Louis, MO.

Those Darlins:
If you saw these three gals and one fella in 2010, you most likely saw them in a smaller to mid-sized venue… and I’ll bet it was packed… and I guarantee it was rowdy! They wail live – no doubt, and will hit you with an assault of songs that’ll soak you with country punk and soul… right after they spray their beer on ya from the stage. After basically going on a world wide tour in 2010, they just released a 7”, and I hear that there’s also a full length to follow.
www.thosedarlins.com


Jessi Darlin rockin out and lightin’ up at the Off Broadway.

Jessica Lea Mayfield:
After a critically acclaimed debut album, Mayfield toured the world far and wide, played with various big namers of many genres and stole many hearts along the way. Her dark folk sound has a familiarity that we all can relate to and a melody that we will all want to hum or sing along with. With a major label release coming early in 2011, she will certainly be doing some amazing things this next turn of the calendar.
www.jessicaleamayfield.com


Jessica Lea Mayfirld looks over a theatre filled with her hometown crowd while headlining the Kent State Folk Festival.

Cassie Morgan:
Indie-folk songstress Cassie Morgan had quite a successful 2010. Her band, Cassie Morgan and the Lonely Pine, spent the majority of the year backing the release of her full length album debut Weathered Hands, Weary Eyes. Morgan (along with band mate Beth Bombara) played with a variety of well known national acts in her home city of St. Louis and embarked on a tour through the great Midwest. While ending up (deservingly) on many–o-critic’s year end best of lists, look for more great things from her in 2011.
www.cassiemorgan.com


Cassie Morgan silencing the crowd at the Gramophone with her beautiful dance of guitar and vocals.

mr. Gnome:
Cleveland, Ohio, rockers (and April’s new favorite!) mr. Gnome will melt your heart and melt your face. Creating walls of growling sonic beauty, this duo is one of the best stage bands you’ll find night in and night out. That good, no question. Screaming guitar and howling female vocals, with a pulsating complex drumming style –you’ll be standing second row before you know it… head bobbing and all!
www.mrgnome.com


Nicole Barille captivating the room at the Firebird.

The Sights:
Detroit is known for its soul and rock-n-roll. The Sights give you just that. I wasn’t familiar with this band until seeing them rip up the stage as part of the Beat ‘N’ Soul event at St. Louis’ premier venue Off Broadway, but when they stepped off stage, I was floored. They stomped, they pounded, they hollered and they won the crowd – all in the matter of 35 or 40 minutes. I will definitely make it a point to see them this year, and you may want to consider the same.
www.sightsarmy.com


Eddy Baranek lets loose for the fans crowding the center stage.

photo copyright Nate Burrell – taken for KDHX Media, St. Louis, MO

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Bits: Cadillac Sky, The Due Diligence, Bill Monroe, Justin Townes Earle, The Black Keys

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  • We are very sad to announce that Cadillac Sky are going on “indefinite hiatus”, i.e. they broke up. But I guess if you’re going to go, it’s good to go out on the best album of your career. And we still have The David Mayfield Parade to enjoy, along with projects the other guys will surely be involved with.
  • The Due Diligence is touring! Along with Crazy Brains and a number of local openers, they are hitting a number of joints down the eastern U.S., including a January 13 stop at Now That’s Class with Shivering Timbers.
  • The International Bluegrass Music Museum will be hosting the Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration in honor of what would have been the 100th birthday of the late bluegrass great September 12-14 in Owensboro, Kentucky. The amazing line-up will include Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, Doc Watson, Jesse McReynolds, Mac Wiseman, J.D. Crowe, Bobby Osborne, Eddie Adcock, Tom Gray, Kenny Baker, Curly Seckler, Everett Lilly, The Lewis Family, Bill Clifton, Rodney Dillard, Melvin Goins and Paul Williams.
  • Justin Townes Earle will be hitting the Late Show with David Letterman tomorrow night, January 5, while the Black Keys will be making their Saturday Night Live debut on January 8.

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No More Words: Rock Instrumentals

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Once upon a time, in the relative infancy of rock ‘n’ roll, rock instrumentals were such a popular form that some artists were dedicated entirely to instrumentals and some who, while having a few songs with vocals, built their reputation on instrumentals – artists like the Ventures, the Fireballs, Duane Eddy, The Surfaris and Dick Dale. In time, the popularity of rock instrumentals faded until today when it seems like rock instrumentals are mainly the domain of dinosaurs and noodlers.

Here are a few of my favorite rock instrumentals, ending with what I hope is a glimmer of hope for the future of good rock instrumentals.

Link Wray was a man ahead of his time. A stone cold and cool greaser with a dangerous sound, you can still hear his influence today on some of today’s music. If cool has a soundtrack, Wray’s 1958 hit “Rumble” is definitely a featured number.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NAq4HyoNe4?fs=1]

Released a year later, it’s difficult to believe that “Sleep Walk” by brother duo Santo & Johnny could even exist in the same universe as “Rumble”. It’s a dreamy piece with some of the most evocative guitar ever recorded.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogxTQXAgY3Q?fs=1]

In the late ’50s and early ’60s, studios had house bands who played support to a label’s roster of solo and vocal artists. One of these bands, Booker T. and the MGs, had such a distinctive and compelling sound that they went on to become a major contender on their own as well as making huge contributions to the sounds of artists like Otis Redding and Bill Withers. Their most popular song, and still one of my all-time favorites, is 1962’s “Green Onions”.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-7QSMyz5rg?fs=1]

(Keys man Booker T. Jones is still going strong, releasing Potato Hole last year, which he recorded and subsequently toured with the Drive-By Truckers. Incidentally, the father of Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood, David Hood, was the bass player for the house band at Muscle Shoals Sound around the same time Jones was playing for Stax Records.)

In 1993, the Afghan Whigs ended their benchmark album Gentleman with a string-heavy and slightly ominous instrumental called “Closing Prayer”. I probably don’t have to go into any further detail about my feelings for the Afghan Whigs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5f8n42RGJE?fs=1]

Which brings us up to now. The Black Keys are not new to recording instrumentals, having closed out their 2002 debut The Big Come Up with the hip hop rhythm of “240 Years Before Your Time” (and then closing it again some 20 minutes later with a hidden instrumental track that kicks off with a recording of Dan Auerbach’s grandmother) and recording “Junior’s Instrumental” during their Chulahoma sessions. But “Black Mud”, their tasty chaser to “She’s Long Gone” on this year’s Brothers, may be the song to bring the band their first Grammy as it is nominated for Best Rock Instrumental.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B6OnKRiXr8?fs=1]

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The Captain is Dead, Long Live the Captain

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I’ll admit that it was only very recently that I began getting into the music of Captain Beefheart (a.k.a Don Van Vliet) and his Magic Band after realizing how many of the musicians I love have been influenced by it. Everyone from Greg Dulli to Joe Strummer to, well, practically everyone I’ve ever listened to and really enjoyed. The prize for most Beefheart tributes paid by one band may well go to the Black Keys who have covered four of Beefheart’s songs, including Beefheart’s own cover of “Grown So Ugly” (as discussed in this post).

Van Vliet passed away Friday morning, at the age of 69, due to complications from Multiple Sclerosis. For me, it feels fitting to pay my tribute to the influential and singular giant by way of the band who made me most familiar with his work before I began delving into the source itself. So here are the rest of those Black Keys covers along with the Beefheart originals.

“Her Eyes are a Blue Million Miles” is a touching song from an artist who was better known for freaking people out. Here’s a live rendition from 1978.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd2L1lkPaP8?fs=1]

Then the Keys turned it into a freakout of their own.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBbKHJO3ygg?fs=1]

“Here I Am, Here I Always Am” was one of Beefheart’s classic blues-inflected stompers.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIuAmzTPdYY?fs=1]

So it seems tailor-made for the Keys in retrospect.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab9VGfRpOoU?fs=1]

“Blue Million Miles” was not Beefheart’s only foray into love songs, of course, and just as touching was his song “I’m Glad”. (This version is a demo from 1966, and it’s much more affecting without the doo-wop backing vocals of the final version on Safe As Milk.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRmVi8kOJ8M?fs=1]

“Glad” may be the best of the Black Keys’ Beefheart covers with the emotional power of Dan Auerbach’s vocals being on par with Beefheart’s own rugged delivery.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ7N_2mPEUg?fs=1]

I have other Beefheart favorites that stray farther away from Beefheart’s blues roots toward his experimental apex, but “I’m Glad” seems like the most fitting way to send the Captain out.

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Bits: Roky Erickson & the Black Angels, Robert Pollard, the Black Keys, the Low Anthem

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  • Roky Erickson and the Black Angels: Night of the Vampire is now on Pitchfork’s One Week Only.
  • Paste shares the details on Robert Pollard’s latest batch of releases. Solo album on 1.18, Lifeguards on 2.15 and Mars Classroom on 3.29.
  • The Black Keys returned to the KCRW studios yesterday. You can watch or listen here.
  • If you haven’t yet grabbed the free download of “Ghost Woman Blues” from the forthcoming Low Anthem album, Smart Flesh, you can hear it while watching their beautiful video.

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Bits: Atlas Sound, Justin Townes Earle, The Wu-Tang Clan, Conrad Plymouth, The Black Keys

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  • Atlas Sound has released two free albums this week. Download Bedroom Databank Vol. 1 here and Bedroom Databank Vol. 2.

  • Justin Townes Earle has updated his tour schedule, including some European dates and a show at the Kent Stage on February 8 with Jessica Lea Mayfield.

  • The Wu-Tang Clan has announced a full tour.

  • Our friends and internet drinking buddies Conrad Plymouth have announced a series of Wisconsin and Minnesota live dates, including the Muzzle of Bees 6th Anniversary show.

  • It’s been 11 days since I’ve mentioned anything Black Keys-related, but our friends at Rubber City Review have afforded me the opportunity to do it again. They have joined the dark side and finally become a part of the Twitter stream, and to promote this new foray, they have a special contest to win a pair of tickets to the sold-out Black Keys New Year’s Eve show in Chicago.

This isn’t really news, but Gorilla Vs. Bear posted their favorite videos of 2010, and it gives me the opportunity to mention one of my favorite albums of 2010 as their #1 video is Gil Scott-Heron’s “Me and the Devil” from his gorgeous album I’m New Here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OET8SVAGELA?fs=1]

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Bits: Wu-Tang Clan, The Black Keys, Mumford and Sons, Robert Johnson, Drive-By Truckers

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  • The Wu-Tang Clan are touring in December (and possibly beyond), including a New Year’s Eve show in Pittsburgh.

    12/4/10 San Diego, CA, 4th & B

    12/5/10 Los Angeles, CA, Club Nokia

    12/10/10 Dallas, TX, Granada Theater

    12/22/10 Boston, MA, Wilbur Theater

    12/26/10 New Haven, CT, Toad’s Place

    12/28/10 Providence, RI, Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel

    12/30/10 Philadelphila, PA, Trocadero

    12/31/10 Millvale, PA, Mr. Smalls Theater

  • Re-issuing relatively new albums with additional live material is the new black. The Black Keys will be releasing limited edition numbered vinyl package of Brothers on November 26 as part of a special Black Friday Record Store Day, which will include the original double vinyl and CD of the album, plus a 10″ of a live session recorded in Akron of select Brothers tracks (different from their recent iTunes session) and a poster

  • Mumford and Sons will be re-releasing Sigh No More on November 29 in a limited edition package that will include the original album on CD, a DVD and a bonus disc of songs recorded at a pair of live gigs at Shepherd’s Bush Empire last March.

  • Blues legend Robert Johnson would have been 100 years old next year. In tribute, a tour called Blues at the Crossroads: The Robert Johnson Centennial Concerts will begin in January and will feature legends David “Honeyboy” Edwards and Hubert Sumlin, as well as Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm and Big Head Todd and the Monsters. The group of musicians will also record an album which will be released in conjunction with the tour.

  • Having apparently attended the Robert Pollard School of Never Sitting Still, the Drive-By Truckers are releasing a Black Friday Record Store Day 10″ which will include brand new songs “Used to Be a Cop” and “The Thanksgiving Filter”, with their new album Go-Go Boots being released on February 15. A download of their song “Your Woman is a Living Thing” is available via the band’s Facebook page.

Drive-By Truckers “Used To Be A Cop” from Jason Thrasher on Vimeo.

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Rebirth of the Cool: Ohio Covers Ohio, Part One

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The Black Keys have a way with a cover song and having long been champions of our shared home state of Ohio, it’s no surprise that they’ve covered a few of their fellow Akron-area musicians.

The James Gang, fronted for a time by Joe Walsh, formed in Cleveland in 1967. Their best-known song was a typically ’70s rock ‘n’ roll nugget called “Funk #49”.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_qHU_6Ofc0?fs=1]

While keeping the rock essence of the song, the Keys admirably trim the original’s excess making it, for me at least, far more palatable.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T0GzZuKbhY?fs=1]

While the Cramps formed in Sacramento, California, the dearly departed Lux Interior hailed from Stow, Ohio, just outside of Akron, and Lux and wife Poison Ivy lived in Akron for a couple of years in the early 1970s.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4BMW31juLc?fs=1]

While a somewhat less natural choice for the Keys than the “Funk #49”, their cover of the Cramps’ “Can’t Find My Mind” reveals an appealing glimpse of punk spirit and Auerbach’s penchant for fuzz guitar serves the song well.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0XOfMwMX1A?fs=1]

Devo formed in Akron in 1973 before eventually moving to California and never really looking back, but not before leaving the Akron music scene shaken, bewildered and inspired.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRENoPisFYk?fs=1]

Even though Patrick Carney has professed Devo to be one of this favorite bands, “Uncontrollable Urge” is an even less natural choice for the Black Keys to cover than the Cramps. There are hardly two bands more opposite in sound and spirit. I’ll let you be the judge of how well they bridged the gap.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClqeQ8BX05s?fs=1]