CH-CH-CH-CHANGES…
俄亥俄州二人阿克伦（Akron）The Black Keysover a decade of playing together as a two-piece to countenance any kind of major change. Not surprising, really, given that over the span of four studio albums up to 2006’sMagic Potion– their first album of all-original material – they’d crystallised their raw talent into a winning formula without having to compromise the smears of feedback, the dirt under the fingernails and the literal basement-tape recording ethos that characterised their sound.
经过2008’s攻击和释放但是，他们的视野正在扩大。奥尔巴赫’s curt, anguished vocals were still underpinned by a relentless production line of feral blues-rock riffs and Carney’s dynamic, expressive drums, but working with an outside producer in Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) had admitted instrumental flourishes, keys, bass and outside musicians into the mix – among them was guitarist Marc Ribot, who’d played in Tom Waits’ band with Carney’s saxophonist uncle Ralph. It was also obvious from duetThings Ain’t Like They Used To Be(the album’s sole Auerbach-only songwriting credit) that his writing talent was in bloom, pushing up against the limits of the two-piece format.
New studio = new sound
Following his first taste of recording a Black Keys album in a pro studio with攻击和释放，，，，奥尔巴赫spent the next couple of years creating his own custom recording environment in Akron, collaborating with studio expert, musician and producer Mark Neill and drummer, multi-instrumentalist and co-engineer Bob Cesare to create Akron Analog. During this process, Cesare became a key collaborator on the material that was to become保留它，在成品专辑中演奏大部分鼓，而Neill则进行了设计。所有完成的曲目，除以当夜晚到来时，，，，were recorded at Akron Analog.
奥尔巴赫toldAV Clubthis new environment was everything he could ever want in a studio: “The live room is acoustically correct. The sounds are perfectly balanced so you can record by playing live. It has the tape machines I want, the recording console that I want, the microphones that I want. I could stay in there all day, sometimes. I just love the sound and the idea of playing in a room with other people, which is what the majority of the record is.”
Though he later confirmed that the solo album wasn’t an attempt to divorce himself from the Black Keys sound, there was tension between the pair at the time, with Auerbach neglecting to inform his bandmate that he was even making the album. Confusingly enough, while Auerbach toured it, Carney formed a side project along with four other Ohio-based skinbeaters called Drummer, in which he played bass.
在这个新环境中，在他周围召集他的家人和朋友，与他的吉他手约翰·奎因叔叔一起演奏和协调，甚至与父亲共同写作小声说话（漂亮的谎言），奥尔巴赫（Auerbach）在道路上写下的一首歌曲折磨成一首散布着的14轨序列，并带有韦恩·卡森（Wayne Carson）的封面。“我有大约20首歌曲，我认为是真正的守护者，总共有35首。我有点明白了哪些歌曲会制作专辑，”他告诉克利夫兰场景。“这都是故意的，每一个小扭曲并打开记录。它真的像LP上的A侧A和侧面B分裂。”
吸收气氛
These ‘twists and turns’ were the sound of Auerbach shining the spotlight on the influences and musicality which, if not exactly kept hid, had certainly been constrained by the two-piece setup.保留它富有的声音世界是最被忽视的东西。宽敞的安排突出了奥尔巴赫（Auerbach）小声说话（漂亮的谎言）and当夜晚到来时in a way that’s rarely been equalled elsewhere in his work.
专辑的鲜明对比是毫不费力地解决的，以至于预订专辑的家乡民谣（麻烦重一吨and回家) and the deep tremolo and effects-soaked twin guitars ofHeartbroken, In Disrepairsomehow seem like sides of the same coin. Similarly, the filtered guitar wig-out ofStreet Walkin’，，，，the anachronistic drum-machine intro of真正的欲望and the Creedence-esque我的最后一个错误make for odd, yet still compatible bedfellows.
奥尔巴赫’s knack for smuggling in dark lyrical themes under the cover of disarmingly straightforward melodies and innocent-seeming song structures works like a charm on耕种，，，，with its shards of menacing guitar and distorted Tom Waits-esque vocals, and the swampy minor-blues ofWhen I Left The Room。后者的频谱频谱扭转了与其他奇怪的雄心的联系，包括53秒的声音拼贴Because I Shouldand the outros of the last two songs, where he manages to make an instrument as innocent as the glockenspiel sound eerie.
Perhaps the old ways are best…
奥尔巴赫was only 29 when保留它被创造了，但由于黑钥匙对古代布鲁斯形式的严格修订以及（与杰克·怀特（Jack White）一起）对被遗忘的，长期观察美国的“西尔斯目录”吉他模型的赞赏，他已经成为复古怀旧的代名词。吉他奥尔巴赫（Auerbach）在封面上摇摆不定是1965年TesicoDel Rey ET-300和Teisco的魅力，Silvertone，，，，Guildand和谐were rediscovered at all is mostly down toWhiteand Auerbach popularising them.
“Especially on record since I started, I’ve played more Harmony guitars than anything,” Auerbach told音乐Radar。“I really love some of those late-50s, 60s Harmony guitars… they play really well, they hold up for the most part… they use DeArmonds made in Toledo, Ohio – they’re just really funky, high output, they just sound good, you know.”
然而保留它sounds authentically old as the hills and this is aided by the ears of engineer Mark Neill. “He did it completely analogue, no digital effects or anything,” Auerbach recalled. “Any slap-back is a big old tape machine. Any reverb is a giant eight-foot-long metal plate. We stayed pretty true to the idea of recording and mixing in an old-school way.”
The missing link
听保留它a decade on, the old adage that ‘they don’t make them like they used to’, rings true – and neither, as it turns out, does Auerbach. His next solo album,Waiting For A Song八年后，完全不同 - 制作精美，更加精致，但最终较不亲密和令人难忘。
It could be argued that the most pivotal album in The Black Keys’ career – the one that provided the sonic stepping stone between uncompromising two-piece and the triple-Grammy-winning swagger of the following year’s psychedelic falsetto-and-fuzz-drenched commercial breakthroughBrothersalbum – wasn’t even a Black Keys album. It was保留它，这是一个亲密的，仍被低估的巡回赛。
Infobox
丹·奥尔巴赫（Dan Auerbach），保留它（Nonsuch Records，2009年）
Credits
- 鲍勃·塞萨尔（Bob Cesare）（鼓，打击乐器，节奏吉他，助理工程师）
- Dave Huddleston（直立的低音）
- 詹姆斯·奎因（James Quine）（节奏吉他，支持人声，摄影）
- 杰西卡·莱·梅菲尔德（Backing Vocals）
- Rob ‘Thorny’ Thorsen (upright bass)
- 马克·尼尔（Mark Neill）（录音，工程，混合，马拉卡斯）
- 丹·奥尔巴赫（Dan Auerbach）(all other instrumentation, recording, engineering)
- Jim DeMain (mastering)
- 艾米·伯罗斯（Design）
杰出的吉他时刻
平均季风
More information about Dan Auerbachhere。For more features, clickhere。