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yea, so a friend of mine is chad smith's niece. being that he drums in one of the most popular bands on the planet, i jumped at the chance of getting backstage. i found to my great dissapointment, that backstage was nothing special, and that you couldnt even see the stage, much less the musicians. so seeing it from our regular seats was a better option. i did however get to meet chad at pete's tavern in the village at new york later that night. that guy is huge. but it was great, not being in the fan boy position. he was with a lot of his relatives in this backroom. and we were introduced to his wife and him. nice guy. ill upload a photo sometime. if mog gets simpler that is.
and john frusciante is a frigging amazing guitarist. (to reiterate.)
The Black Key's newest studio effort has been released on the nonesuch label. Being that nonesuch is the home of selectively polished acts such as Brian Wilson's SMiLe, and The mellow aurora that is the Magnetic Fields 69 love songs, its hard to imagine the gritty, stripped down, no nonsense rock of the black keys would feel at home. And the end result that IS magic potion feels good but a little forced in certain aspects. What Made the Keys' 2004 effort RUBBER FACTORY so exciting was all the heavy guitar hooks, and large-scale sound of the rumbling drums, and most importantly of all, dan aurebach's single vocal tracks. (we only heard one dan in every song) not the 3 or 4 that we hear now in cuts like "your the one". not that this track is particularly bad, but it suffers from slight overproduction. The Opening "Just Got To Be" is very refreshing, as is the stomping "Your Touch" directly after. You can hear how much joy these men are pouring into these songs, simply by listening for the "yeahs" in the backround of "Your Touch". "Just A Little Heat" uses Led Zeppelin's "Heartbraker" as a touchstone, and succeeds in channeling their old selves back to that heavy, sludge sound that made up most of rubber factory.
But Back to the label. It seems that the black keys are happy to be on a major label, but feel that they must show a rebelious side. (Look for the hilarious parody on fellow labelemates WILCO's artwork for A Ghost is Born) is it a coincidence that Both have Egg Designs on the Cover? Or that THe KEYS have a fried, greasy egg on the inside jacket cover, possibly symbolizing their harder taste as opposed to wilco's empty eggshell? IT seems slightly offtopic, but the artwork says everything that the The Black Keys are saying in their music. YES, WE ARE ON A MAJOR LABEL, AND THIS WILL NOT CHANGE US....REALLY! truth be told, the album was recorded in their basement in ohio, and produced by themselves.
don't be fooled, this album is probably their "most mellow", NOT counting their brilliant take on several of Junior Kimbrough's songs on the CHULAHOMA EP. fans of that EP will love this album. There IS a place for the old fans, You just need to know where to look. It demands repeated listens. the only "problem" with magic potion, is that it simply feels uninspired. the band doesnt push themselves in new directions. This doesnt take away from the fact that this is a very exciting record to hear, but it COULDVE been better if more time was taken. but their impeccable sense of pace and timing keeps them very afloat. A nice suprise of mellowness: "Strange Desire" the oh oh oh oh's are used very well in the chorus, coupled with the hard hitting Metallic guitar, and understated drums. A last note: dan auerbach's voice is one of the best contemporary blues voices around today. and he flaunts it, as he should.
*im sorry if this sounded like a snooty pitchfork review, it aint.
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Hey, glad to read a review of a band I like that doesn't sound like someone just creaming all over it. I've always made sure to buy their previous albums because the first one blew me away and this is where I want my money to go. But how soon I spend and how much - Rubber Factory guarantees I'll buy Magic Potion, but I appreciate an honest appraisal to help me determine when.
i love you sufjan. you march to the path of your own over-achieving, sentimental drummer. you've stated many times that you can't understand why anyone would be really interested in your music. the only reason for saying that is to make yourself look cool. not that it matters, your music is still good regardless of any personality flaws you suffer from. (we all have them) sufjan stevens' new record "Cmon feel the Illinoise was one of the most celebrated albums of the year buy the critics...as it shouldve been. stevens represented the fleet of struggling singer-songwriters who put brutal honesty in their work that bleeds through the molding on each track. on his earlier (and in my opinion better) album michigan, you could feel comfort in crying with him. but when illinoise came out, something funny happened. something very funny. the same people who buy panic at the disco!'s records bought his record. sufjan became the golden boy for impressing your friends at get togethers. "Oh yeah, sufjan "pronounced soof-yan of course" stevens is my new favorite artist, why? i dont know, cause everyone seems to think hes talented, and the illinoise cover has some cool drawings!" its not totally fabricated. i guess the point of what im trying to say is why sufjan stevens was randomnly chosen to be the next trendy artist. maybe its because theres really no one like him. maybe its because people liked the idea of listening to someone that they knew no one their age would probably like in hopings of acting sophisticated or mature....i dont know, maybe its just all in my head. but please, someone leave your thoughts.....im not an asshole..really.
and PS. sufjan, if you happen to be reading this. WHY of why did you play oboe on my friend will stratton's album and tell him not to credit you? whats up with that?
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His music was only made trendy by critics and the media. I love Sufjan's music. But I can see, and somewhat agree with, how his fans may feel.
yeah, and like, where can i get a cool shirt with that illinois image? of course, would be best if image looked as if it was from a long long time ago.
Michigan is a better album. You're absolutely right about that.
The bitch of it is, Chicago and Man of Metropolis are probably my favorite songs.
But I'm an album guy, so Michigan pwns those 2 songs set to the rest of them. Go figure.
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Damn you.
:)