[There are only so many music columns one man can write in a
week, so while Ezra Ace Caraeff is covering for a vacationing Cary
Clarke’s Our Town Could Be Your Life (pg. 29), Mr. Tonry will be
filling in here on Once More with Feeling.]
Nobody saw this one coming: the Black Keys and Danger Mouse. That’s
right, Akron, Ohio’s stripped-down blues-rock duo together with one of
hiphop’s most innovative producers.
It all began when Danger Mouse (AKA Brian Burton) was working on
some tracks for Ike Turner. Burton called in the Black Keys to record
some demos. Things moved slowly, and of course, Turner soon passed.
Before he did, however, Turner put vocals to two of the Keys’ tracks.
The band and the legend never got a chance to meet.
“The songs with Ike may come out at some point this year,” says the
Keys drummer Patrick Carney. “We want them to come out, but it’s all up
to Ike’s estate.”
Before Turner’s untimely death ended the project, another had begun.
The Keys asked Burton to produce their album and he accepted. The
results, found on the recently released Attack & Release, are invigorating. Rather than recording themselves in their own
environment as they had done before, the band set up shop in a real
studio. There were many other firsts, including working with a
producer, engineer, and backing musicians.
Wisely, Burton’s contributions to Attack & Release are
generally subtle and subdued—handclaps here, a keyboard there,
and loads of tiny flourishes throughout. But rather than trying to
totally reinvent their songwriting, or compete with Dan Auerbach’s
fierce voice, Burton’s slight but rich accents find welcome space. He
fashions them into a suggestive, cloudy, rich yet light, often
formless, atmospheres.
Burton has said he considers himself akin to a film director and,
indeed, what he does here most importantly is create mood. Important
contributions come from the backing players as well, including Carney’s
uncle Ralph (who played with Tom Waits). The elder Carney’s jumpy
wooden flute gives the American blues guitar riffs a worldly air on
“Same Old Thing.”
Where the Black Keys’ previous records were a formidable document of
their live prowess, they couldn’t quite match the furor, life, and
sweat of an up-close, bashing performance. Attack & Release,
however, goes another direction. It is an album, not a snapshot, and
with these added layers, it heaves and bellows with much greater depth.
Not all things, however, are destined to change. Onstage, it will still
be just Carney and Auerbach (although they are bringing a few new
instruments).
“Our band is the two of us,” says Carney. “That’s the way we tour.
That’s how we play.” And in this particular case, no change is
needed.
The Black Keys play at the Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, on
Friday, April 4.