Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid
Dan Auerbach is undoubtedly most well known as the singer-guitarist from the Black Keys. After five albums with the band (and hopefully many more), Auerbach has written, produced, and mixed a own solo album in his almost entirely vintage private studio. And it’s spectacular. Auerbach has almost always defined himself as a bluesman, and this album showcases that side of him; along with his abilities to create beautiful yet subtly complex melodies while kicking ass and taking names.
The entire album is incredibly worthwhile. Interesting sound tricks and playful audio asides are thrown about at random intervals, but are carefully placed so as to not detract from the songs. As musicians tend to do on solo albums, Keep It Hid is mellower overall in tone compared to a Black Keys album, but that is not a criticism – the soft points have an earnestness which forbears the doldrums, and serve to make the albums’ thicker moments all the more savory.
Starting off on a little experiment in acoustics, the first track is incredibly bare. It then drops into a rich delta blues jam (“I Want Some More”) with some funk to it – heavy fuzz and some whirling guitars are layered on a guitar and synth backbone. Song 3, “Heartbroken in Disrepair”, replaces the delta for call-and-response, keeping the heavy bass-lines intact. Next few songs tone it down again, but in a good way – for example, track 5 “Whispered Words” for takes it’s time building up a gorgeous melody that draws you in to the highly emotive singing. He lets loose again on track 8, aptly named “Mean Monsoon”. It’s followed immediately with “The Prowl”, a song defined by it’s simplistic and beat-centric – I love it.
I would love to continue a song-by-song review, but I feel I must congratulate those who’ve read this far, and apologize for rambling on. Suffice to say that the remaining five tracks build upon those mentioned, while continuing to develop individual sounds for each. It’s actually a little difficult to believe this album is the work of one man, given the variety and depth achieved.
Will I play it on my show? Yes, it’s going on twice this Saturday. RIYL – The Black Keys, Heavy Trash, early White Stripes.
BUY THE CD/MP3's ON AMAZON
http://www.nonesuch.com/artists/dan-auerbach
http://www.myspace.com/danauerbachmusic
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