The Dead Weather - Horehound CD Review

Jack White's latest project The Dead Weather has put out there first and potential last CD depending on what type of project this turns out to be. The CD was recorded at Third Man Studios in Nashvillie and contains several artists Jack has worked with in the past. The Raconteur's were touring with The Kills and he lost his voice and asked The Kills lead singer to step in and help. This of course is Alison Mosshart who is half of the London based band. She sings lead through most of the CD. Jack Lawrence from Raconteurs plays bass and Queen's of the Sone Age member Dean Fertita plays Guitar. Jach White plays Drums some vocals as well.

I'm not sure the exact classification of this bands music. I would say it falls under some sort of Alternative Blues with some added funk and metal sound in it. I had a chance to hear them perform live from the 9:30 Club in Washington DC on NPR's All Songs Considered on 7/14. This was an incredible performance and quite explosive. Check it out at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106385053 they will be keeping it up in the archives to hear. There is a good chance that it will also become a podcast as long as they gain approval from the artists they covered on a couple of songs. The show lasted just an hour, but they played the whole CD plus a couple of covers. It was quite entertaining, do go out and check it out.

Horehound has a really good groove to it with some nice mix of blues and rock throughout the CD. Mosshart has the right voice to mix to this style and really is a nice touch to the three Raconteurs. There are some rough and raw cuts on this and some othes that are really smooth flowing. I think overall the sound is great and fits the make up of the artists playing. Hang You From the Heavens is a really cool cut along with 60 Feet Tall to start it off. I Cut Like a Buffalo has a funky beat and is a bit strange, but not bad. From there you continue with a cool mix of tunes include a pretty cool mix in 3 Birds, a nice little jam rock blues infused mix.

iTunes users who pre-ordered the CD picked up a catchy little tune called Outside as a bonus track.

Overall, really cool mix of tunes and one to certainly pick up if you like the different styles of Jack's past works.

Track Listing:

1. 60 Feet Tall 5:33
2. Hang You From The Heavens 3:36
3. I Cut Like A Buffalo 3:27
4. So Far From Your Weapon 3:40
5. Treat Me Like Your Mother 4:10
6. Rocking Horse 2:59
7. New Pony 3:56
8. Bone House 3:26
9. 3 Birds 3:44
10. No Hassle Night 2:51
11. Will There Be Enough Water? 6:20
12. Outside 2:50 (iTunes Bonus)

07/14/2009 9:30 Club Washington DC Set List:

60 Feet Tall
Bone House
Outside
So Far From Your Weapon
Cut Like a Buffalo
Forever My Queen (Pentagram cover)
Rocking Horse
New Pony (Bob Dylan cover)
No Hassle Night
Will There Be Enough Water
ENCORE:
Treat Me Like Your Mother
Child of a Few Hours
Hang You From The Heavens

The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely CD Review

The new cd from The Raconteurs is certainly a lot different from their first one, but it's fantastic. It has a pretty good mix of music on it and stretches the the band and shows their talents. Consolers of the Lonely is the first track on the cd and it has a nice beat, mixes it up a bit but pretty up tempo all the way through. Solute Your Solution moves from the start and keeps a fast beat going and towards the end gets a bit of a funk beat, pretty cool.

You Don't Understand slows it down a bit and is a nice soulful recording. Old Enough gives you a little more of the talent and brings in some fiddle to the mix. This one reminds me of a lot of early 70's type stuff.

The Switch and the Spurs is a good little story adding some horns to the mix and feels like more of a story as you listen to it. Hold Up gets back to the rock, it has an interesting start and makes me think of something off of The Who's Tommy for bit, but just slightly. Top Yourself brings you back to a little slide guitar mellow type song. It's a nice tune and has a great beat.

Many Shades of Black brings back the horns up front and moves into a mellow beat like something out of the 50's - maybe even a song that could be in Grease :-)

Five on the Five is back to the start of with a really rockin' song - getting Jack White to play a little more of the White Stripes style. Attention starts of with a deep bass and drums then kicks into your typical rock song.

Rich Kid Blues is the ballad style song reminding me of many of the old Who rock songs telling a story and changing up the beats through out. It's a pretty cool tune. These Stones Will Shout starts off with a nice accoustic riff and gets a little more rockin' as it goes along.

Carolina Drama finished off the cd with a ballad song telling a story about a disfunctional family and it's life and drama. It's a nice mix of music styles through it all.

I was really impressed with the overall music on this cd. I would certainly pick this one up, it's pretty enjoyable. I wasn't a big White Stripes fan at first and really let them grow on me. The Raconteurs take it a step further and really have put out some good music. I still like the music Jack White did for Cold Mountain. It shows the versitility of his music and what he can do. The band over all work well together and are really talented. Pick this one up for sure.