The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely

MINE

Those of you with sharp eyes will notice athe Raconteurs actually come, alphabetically, ahead of Rocket From the Crypt.  And that's because in Australia, the Raconteurs are  called the Saboteurs.  Because the name was taken.  Now you know.

Anyhoo, this is yet another Jack White project, which strikes me as highly unfair.  I mean, the guy has how many side acts, apart from the Stripes?  Prolific ain't in it.  But I have to announce (drum roll, please) I actually like  this one.  Which I'm so happy about.  I've written before of my desire to admire Mr White's output, given his delight in analog sound and his starkly staring talent.  Finally, he seems to have reinvented his sound just enough for me to fall in love.

And why is that, exactly?  I guess it's because there's not too much of the clever-clever stuff that seems to surface in his other incarnations. This sounds like a real band.  And with super-polished (but not over-polished) production, glorious voices and top-class playing, there's not much more you could ask for in an album.

But you get more (no, not steak knives).  The final track,  Carolina Drama, is a story song that had me turning the volume up high so I didn't miss a single nuance of the strange tale unfolding around me.  And it made me laugh.  This one's a keeper.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

This, as Mine has said, is another of Jack White's projects and a very good one it is too.  The Raconteurs (yeah, Mine has explained that one too) feature a killer lineup aside from White - Brendan Benson (guitarist/vocal with his own successful solo career) and Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler from the band The Greenhornes.  But don't call these guys a supergroup.  As White has said, they're long-time friends who finally got a band together.

Consolers Of The Lonely is the followup to their highly successful debut, Broken Boy Soldiers and is my favourite of the two (although this is splitting hairs, to be honest).  There is something mighty and long-ranging about both sets of songs and these will undoubtedly become American classics in years to come, to be fawned over by zealous pundits and provide inspiration for many basement-closeted musicians around the world.

Kicking off with the eponymous title track, which jumps from straight up blues rock to something else entirely and voiced by both Brendan Benson and Jack White, this track, more than any other on the album, puts the listener on notice that The Raconteurs not only mean business but they're gonna kick your arse as well.  And they don't fuck around either.  Every note sounds like it was meant to be sung or played and they've put a lot of everything here too, from straight up rock to acoustic driven, folky tracks and all the bits in between.  Simply put, if you've not heard this, then stop reading this, click the link above and do yourself a big favour because you won't be disappointed.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.theraconteurs.com/

In our collection we also have Broken Boy Soldiers

The White Stripes - Elephant

YOURZ

I have a confession to make - The White Stripes are my least favourite Jack White band.  Yeah, I know it's the band that brought him to prominence and it's not that there's anything wrong with this duo (in fact, watching their recent DVD Under Great White Northern Lights did nothing but increase my respect for them).  I just much prefer his work with both The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather.

Apart from the accompanying live album to the aforementioned DVD, Elephant is the only White Stripes CD in our collection.  And what a kick-arse album it is too.  While the singles did very well for them, it's album tracks like Ball And Biscuit, Hypnotize, Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine and Black Math that really rock my socks.

Then there is the beautiful Meg-sung In The Cold, Cold Night, with the simplest of instrumentation, that delights me every time I hear it.  I had the pleasure of meeting Meg backstage at a Beck concert a number of years ago.  Not only is she more gorgeous in real life than any photo can do justice but she is so cute I wanted to take her home.  In fact, Meg, if you're reading this, Mine and YourZ truly have a bed made up and waiting for you.

The reality of listening to this is it has me wanting to hear more of their albums.  Any recommendations?

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

It's quite good.  I know, I'm damning with faint praise here but Jack and I just don't really get along. I've spoken before about his propensity for mixing the cymbal sounds right up, and his - um - interesting choices for the levels of some instumentation here had me wincing at times.  Not that he doesn't have the right to do that.  He's an artist, he's allowed to do what he wants.  And I'm sure Meg put her 2 cents' worth in as well.

Of course I really love Seven Nation Army despite that annoying cymbal sound, and this album's chock full of good songs.  Although I'm a bit pissed off about Jack getting the words wrong on I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself.  As you'd expect.

So generally, this isn't bad, but it's just not my sort of music.  Maybe Jack White is my new Dylan - I'll really enjoy the music when someone else does it?

VERDICT:TURN IT DOWN

For more information: http://www.whitestripes.com

In our collection we also have Under Great White Northern Lights

The Dead Weather - Horehound

MINE

I have to preface my dissing of Jack White by giving you a bit of background.  A few years ago I was employed by a company who made radio programs, and as such I spent a large part of my time in a recording studio.  While we didn't record music as such, it gave me an insight into how music is mixed - and it gave me my own view of how each mix "feels".

As a musician and producer, YourZ understands this somewhat - although he has the disturbing talent of being able to isolate items in a mix and listen to them by themselves (weirdo) (YourZ sez: not weird, just incredibly talented, indelibly relevant, brilliantly handsome etc).  I just listen to the whole thing, and describe the mix according to where I feel it's coming from.  So, listening to Parliament involves a sound that wraps around my hips and wiggles my shoulders.  Most hard rock starts in the guts and involves the neck (they don't call it head-banging for nothing).  Jack White sits right in front of your eyes and says "LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME".

I actually had to come home and put on Elephant to confirm that it's him, not the new combo that's responsible for this.  He pushes the percussion way up in the mix too, so it's like he's hitting that cymbal RIGHT NEXT TO MY EAR. (BTW Jack?  sounds a bit cheesy like that)

I really really wanted to like Horehound as I've not really given the White Stripes a fair go in the past and I've read so much about his love of analogue recording (my kinda guy!)  But listening to this made me wonder if every rock guitarist just wants to make his own Led Zeppelin album.  I'd classify this CD as "intellectual rock" - more of an exercise for those with the time and money to do so.  It's very clever, with an annoying number of time-signature changes (YourZ sez: I think you mean tempo changes as opposed to time changes but then, I am incredibly talented etc...) and some go-to-the-top-of-your-class syncopation.  What it's NOT is a bunch of rock songs, crafted and performed by a group who've worked on them over and over till they can't help but play them right.

I read in a review that the album was recorded in three weeks.  It sounds like it.

Also, the Mosshart-penned song So Far From Your Weapon sounds remarkably like a Michelle Shocked song dating back to the 80's - When I Grow Up.  That bothered me for days till I worked it out.  Ever have that happen to you?  Infuriating, isn't it?

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

YOURZ 

Every generation has its pop stars, its movie stars and its icons, these days even more so, given how incredibly pervasive the cult of celebrity has become.  But true legends, ones who affect multiple generations are far less common.  In contemporary music, names such as Lennon, Bowie, Dylan and Marley, for example, are continually cited as being of such influence.

So if I had a time machine and I took a 50 year leap into the future, which names would future stars be lauding.  It would be fair to say there may be a few artists from the last few decades on the list and, if this is fair to say, then Jack White might well be one of those names.  Given Uncut recently named him Man Of The Decade, I don't have a problem with my speculation. (Mine says: but remember how many music magazines still fawn over Oasis, and we both know how talented THEY are)

But all this Jack White adulation aside, The Dead Weather comprise of three other very fine musicians: Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dean Fertita from Queens Of The Stoneage and Jack Lawrence from The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes.  In the strictest sense, this is a supergroup as it comprises members of other established acts.  Often times this can be a recipe for something less than ordinary, but in this case, thankfully it proves to be more than the sum of its parts.

White's duties as drummer show yet another amazing weapon in his arsenal of awesomeness while Mosshart's voice, a favourite of mine for a few years now, sounds dirty and sexy and snarly all at the same time.  Coupled with the duel attack of Fertita's guitar and Lawrence's bass, this quartet's take on post-modern blues is simply fabulous.  In another blog, I'd named this album as one of my picks for 2009 and I stand by it.  From the infectious riff at the start of the first track, 60 Feet Tall to the final throes of the final track, Will There Be Enough Water, it never disappoints.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.thedeadweather.com/