The Black Keys Fan Lounge Forum

This is what I like to see on his second album:

* Trumpet, Clarinet,Soprano/Alto/Tenor/Baritone Saxophones
* Some vintage keys like Wurlitzer, Hammond B3, Fender Rhodes, Vox Continental, Clavinet

These instruments are perfect to record a great (but different) second album.
Musically, I'd like to hear a more rich record. Keep It Hid is a fantastic album for what it is, a minimal record, the follow up should be completely different imho.

How do you know that those parts would make "a great band"? You mean to tell me that The Fast Five wasn't a great band? The guys in Hacienda are very talented musicians. See them live, hear the records...the timing on Younger Days off of Big Red and Barbacoa is crazy, Dante can wail on the guitar and he gets into what he is doing on stage. Rene is all over the bass making it more than just a "rhythm section instrument". Abe and Jaime round out the musical landscape perfectly.

I would imagine Dan knows his shit when it came to selecting people for a backing band and what he wanted to accomplish for the sound, mood/vibe, chemistry, and interplay. I'm not huge into My Morning Jacket so I can't comment on Patrick and his drumming, but those MMJ dudes are great musicians in their own respect from what I've heard.

all that aside, I would love to see Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence bang out some tunes with Dan, or maybe Dan and Jonathan Wilson could work together?

I know this was discussed in another thread somewhere, but just because they are great musicians does not mean that it would trnaslate into super cool band. There has been many a "supergroup" rock band that have taken complete nose dives, after seeming like a godsend in theory. I know I've played with some kick ass musicians that have left me saying "what the fuck was that?" after I left the jam session. I've played with several musicians that I could tell weren't quite as good as others, but I ended up coming away with a much better experience due to the vibe and interplay we had going on. I've been searching out a band for the better part of the last decade, just goes to show you that a group of great musicians does not equal a great band. Hell, I'm half-tempted to get a drum machine and call it good...works for the Kills, yah!

I'm no way discrediting your choice of musicians, because Christian Bland is GREAT, and you should know my affinity for Rene Villanueva (bass player from Hacienda). Not super familiar with the other two.

Gunslinger :"The first album was 100% low-fi/garage in pretty much everything, from the production to the mastering."

Keep it hid is not a lo-fi record at all, in my opinion. It's a mix between a vintage and a modern sounding production. Keep it hid was recorded with some of the finest gear possible.Certainly not lo-fi. TBCU is a good example of a lo-fi record. Recorded with a Casio digital recorder with a couple of mics, a fuzzpedal and an outboard reverb.

Calexico is good stuff, not super familiar with them, but what I have heard makes me happy. Bright Black Morning Light, not really familiar with them at all...but I remember reading about them being in the same musicial circle as Devendra Banhart a few years back, not sure if they went in a different direction since, but music publications lump some of the weirdest stuff together. Never really heard of Lambchop, but it's on the list now.

I don't think Jack White has an ego that makes him hard to work with...I mean he's worked with tons of different people with successful results. I think he's just a tough nut to crack and marches to his own drumbeat. He seems to know who he is and what he is and wants to do.

I think the next Dan album should all be "I want Some More", "Heartbroken, in Disrepair", "Whispered Words"....all of the songs from Keep it Hid...definitely "Whispered Words" though...I love the production, sound, and vibe off of that tune.

@Gunslinger

I gives you a great feeling thinking that it's lo-fi I guess, but that's pretty far from that.

The sounds are highly compressed and distorted, but it's kind of a big production (in black keys measurements).

Great record anyway....

Well it seems like you like the "knowledge" of it beeing a lo-fo album, right?

But it's really not.

hmm my post about the heavy seems to have disappeared