Dan Auerbach: Tour Dates and Conan

Stream: "My Last Mistake"

We recently reviewed Auerbach's newest release, Keep It Hid, and we are still enjoying its deliciousness. In the standard record pushing ways, Auerbach is set to play Conan this evening... 12:35 p.m. EST/11:35 CST. Stream "My Last Mistake" above and continue after the jump for tour dates. Have a great day folks.


DAN AUERBACH ON TOUR
Feb 28 - 9:30 Club - Washington DC, Washington DC
Mar 1 - Paradise Club - Boston, Massachusetts
Mar 2 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, New York
Mar 3 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, New York
Mar 5 - Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, Ohio
Mar 6 - Metro - Chicago, Illinois
Mar 7 - First Avenue - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Mar 10 - The Showbox - Seattle, Washington
Mar 11 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, Oregon
Mar 13 - Bimbo’s - San Francisco, California
Mar 14 - El Rey Theatre - Los Angeles, California

Origami Is So Hot Right Now

Featured:

FLEET FOXES "Mykonos"

DAN AUERBACH "Trouble Weighs A Ton"

Those Pecknolds can do just about anything. Head Fleet Fox Robin Pecknold, he of the majestic voice that's totally inappropriate for a 22-year-old (read: we're jealous), has again enlisted his brother Sean for directing purposes, and it turns out that he's pretty damn talented too. Sean and team spent the last four weeks working on the stop-motion video for "Myknonos,"from the band's Sun Giant E.P. from last year, and it keeps in theme with recent On The Blog Reels in that it's, you know, pretty and stuff. I would love to see what the rest of that family is like.

Meanwhile, Dan Auerbach, he of the Black Keys and very recent Short Takes adoration, is letting us inside his Akron, Ohio studio for an intimate performance of "Trouble Weighs A Ton," the first track on the brand new Keep It Hid. He's also keeping it in the family by playing the song with his uncle James, who it turns out taught young Dan how to play guitar and sing! Thanks, Uncle James. Check out both videos and a special behind-the-scenes feature about the making of "Mykonos" after the jump.



Mykonos from Grandchildren on Vimeo.


Mykonos making of from Grandchildren on Vimeo.


(Okay, you have to click here to see the Auerbach video. Damn non-embeddable videos. Catch up with technology!)

Short Takes: Auerbach, Isbell, Superdrag

Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
Release Date: Feb. 10
Label: Nonesuch
Rating: 90
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This is not a Black Keys sound-alike. On this solo debut, Auerbach's lack of a cohesive sound is the most surprisingly enjoyable part of this record. Country ballads give way to tremolo guitar fuzz, while elements of southern soul/R&B come and go. The album has a Muscle Shoals feel, with a modern punch; it's full of appetizers and entrees: one song wouldn't be the same without the other.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - S/T
Release Date: Feb.17
Label: Lightning Rod
MP3: "Seven-Mile Island"
Rating: 80

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It seems Isbell fell off pace with this release. Where Sirens of the Ditch succeeded à la lyrical storytelling and hook-laden choruses, this latest release falls short. The album struggles to find itself, floating between crooning balladry, straight 90s-style, vamped-guitar rock, and pure Isbell classics (See "Grown," "Chicago Promenade," and "Daylight (w/DBT)" for reference. ) Here, the Isbell gem is "Seven-Mile Island," but the album fails to follow its creatively crafted and repeatable sound style.

Superdrag - Industry Giants
Release Date: March 17
Label: Thirty Tigers
MP3: "Everything Will Be Made Right"
Rating: 92
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Tennessee's power poppers revert back to a sound reminiscent of early Foo Fighters and Oasis. Each song brings back memories of 90s-era MTV classics, back when cool things were cool. There is something so comforting about this album's sound which seems to span generations. Superdrag doesn't sacrifice pop for power -- they just combine the two magically as their aforementioned genre classification suggests. The record stays with you and you wonder why, until you listen again and again.

Soul Brother

Dan Auerbach "My Last Mistake"

2/10 - Nonesuch

So we just happen to be on a major soul music kick recently. We've been rocking some Staple Singers, Betty LaVette and numerous Eccentric Soul records. Not to mention, we've been spinning the Stanley Brothers' Sweeter Than the Flowers pretty hard of late as well. So when we read the PR about the new Dan Auerbach record Keep It Hid, we were psyched. While we're checking the box every day for the advance, (hopefully today) the first sample of the record sounds pretty tasty. Black Key Auerbach has been all over recently, most notably producing Jessica Lea Mayfield's lovely record With Blasphemy So Heartfelt. We've managed to put aside our differences and have come around on Those Darlins who will be touring with Auerbach over the coming months. Dates after the jump.

On his solo debut, Black Keys singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach takes a simple approach: "I just wanted to do the things I loved." For Auerbach, that means combining elements of bluegrass a la the Stanley Brothers, mournful country balladry, Memphis-style R&B, fuzzed-out psychedelic rock and low-down blues on this collection of 14 original tunes, which Auerbach self produced and recorded with friends and family at his newly built studio, Akron Analog. "It's all just soul music," he says, and Keep It Hid is soulful indeed.

KEEP IT HID TRACK LISTING
SIDE A
Trouble Weighs a Ton
I Want Some More
Heartbroken, In Disrepair
Because I Should
Whispered Words
Real Desire
When the Night Comes

SIDE B
Mean Monsoon
The Prowl
Keep It Hid
My Last Mistake
When I Left the Room
Street Walkin'
Goin' Home
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DAN AUERBACH ON TOUR
Feb 28 - 9:30 Club - Washington DC, Washington DC
Mar 1 - Paradise Club - Boston, Massachusetts
Mar 2 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, New York
Mar 3 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, New York
Mar 5 - Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, Ohio
Mar 6 - Metro - Chicago, Illinois
Mar 7 - First Avenue - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Mar 10 - The Showbox - Seattle, Washington
Mar 11 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, Oregon
Mar 13 - Bimbo's - San Francisco, California
Mar 14 - El Rey Theatre - Los Angeles, California