The Black Keys

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The Black Keys are a blues-rock duo consisting of Dan Auerbach (vocals and guitar) and Patrick Carney (drums) from Akron, Ohio.
Contents[hide]
1 Biography
2 Discography
2.1 Albums
2.2 EPs
2.3 Official bootlegs
3 Videography
3.1 DVDs
3.2 Music videos
4 External links
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[edit] Biography
The band's name was inspired by an artist friend of the band in Akron with schizophrenia, who used the term "black keys" to describe people who weren't quite right. A double meaning lies in the fact that the black keys of a piano comprise a pentatonic minor scale when starting on E flat, which is often associated with blues and rock music.
The band is frequently compared to The White Stripes - another blues-based Lo-fi musical duo (drums; vocals and guitar) The band released their first album, The Big Come Up, in 2002, followed by Thickfreakness in 2003, and Rubber Factory in 2004. October 2005 saw the release of the DVD Live, recorded live at The Metro Theatre in Sydney, Australia March 18, 2005. In 2006 they released Magic Potion and the lesser known, Chulahoma EP, as well as a single version of Your Touch.
One of their trademarks is their preference for "medium fidelity" recording techniques such as using tape recorders and analog effects. The band does most of the recording, producing, and mixing themselves. The majority of the album Thickfreakness was recorded in 12 hours during one day. The band often experiments with odd recording and production techniques, such as leaving in background noises.
The Black Keys were included in the soundtrack of the 2003 movie School of Rock with their song, "Set You Free." The song can be heard when Jack Black takes Joan Cusack to a bar for "coffee." The Black Keys have achieved increasing critical acclaim and recognition since their debut album, which was praised by Rolling Stone magazine[1]. Time magazine named them one of the "10 Best Acts of 2003" [2] (behind OutKast and The White Stripes). They have supported a number of bands, and toured with Sleater-Kinney in 2003, as well as a short stint opening for Beck, and performing at Lollapalooza 2005. They have recently opened for Radiohead on the American leg of their brief 2006 tour. In addition to this, they were supported by the influential British radio DJ John Peel and appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Late Show with David Letterman. Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant [3], Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead are fans of the band. Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has also stated in an interview that he enjoys listening to the band. The Arctic Monkeys' Drummer Matt Helders can be seen in a Black Keys T-Shirt in an interview on MTV's RAW. Their song "When the Lights Go Out" was featured on the film starring Samuel L. Jackson, Black Snake Moan and can be found on the soundtrack.
One of their songs, "Girl is on My Mind", was used in a 2006 Sony Ericsson advertisement, starring the tennis players Ana Ivanović and Daniela Hantuchova, gaining the band more commercial recognition. It was also used in a 2006 Victoria's Secret commercial featuring Heidi Klum and could be heard in the movie Rest Stop. Their song "10 AM Automatic" was used in the video game MLB '06: The Show, The O.C, and was also used in a 2007 American Express commercial starring Shaun White. "Your Touch" was featured in a 2007 Lee's jeans commercial, and can be heard in an episode of NBC's Friday Night Lights. They have recorded a cover of Bob Dylan's "The Wicked Messenger" for the I'm Not There soundtrack, and have recorded "If You Ever Slip," a song written by Jesse Harris for The Hottest State soundtrack.
The latest Black Keys record, Magic Potion, was released on September 4, 2006 in the UK and September 12, 2006 in the United States. It is their first recording for Nonesuch Records. According to an interview in Pitchfork Media, the band was collaborating on an album with Ike Turner, to be produced by Danger Mouse and released in 2007, but the idea was rendered impossible with Turner's death in December 2007.[4]
Their next album, Attack & Release (produced by Danger Mouse), was scheduled to be released on April 1st 2008, but leaked on the internet by March 4th. The first single from the album will be "Strange Times", with a supporting video featuring Auerbach and Carney appearing as themselves shooting "real" laser guns at one another during a game of laser tag. The video can be found on MySpace.com.
At concerts, fans have been known to shout "Let's Go Keys!" when they come out to sing.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums
The Big Come Up (2002) Alive Records
Thickfreakness (2003) Fat Possum Records
Rubber Factory (2004) Fat Possum Records
Magic Potion (2006) Nonesuch Records
Attack & Release (2008) Nonesuch Records

[edit] EPs
"Leavin' Trunk/She Said, She Said" - 7" Single (2003) Isota Records
The Six Parts Seven/The Black Keys - CD (2003) (Suicide Squeeze)
The Moan - CD (2004) Alive Records
Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough - CD (2006) Fat Possum Records
The Live EP - Digital Release (192MP3) via MySpace (2007) Nonesuch Records [5]

[edit] Official bootlegs
Live in Austin, TX - 256MP3 (2006) Jumper Productions

[edit] Videography

[edit] DVDs
Thickfreakness In Austin - DVD5 (September 7, 2004) Jumper Productions (limited to 10,000 copies)
Live - DVD5 (October 4, 2005) Fat Possum Records/Ryko
Austin City Limits Music Festival 2005 - 2DVD5 (June 20, 2006) Image Entertainment
Set You Free

[edit] Music videos
Set You Free (Thickfreakness, 2003)
10am Automatic (Rubber Factory, 2004) - Directed by David Cross
Your Touch (Magic Potion, 2006)
Just Got To Be (Magic Potion, 2007)
Strange Times (Attack & Release, 2008)

[edit] External links
The Black Keys Official Web Site
The Black Keys official Myspace page
An Unofficial Fansite for the band
Review of "Magic Potion" On Subculture Magazine
Black Key's 'Girl is on my mind' sounds in the new Sony Ericsson k800i Commercial - Spanish.
Full-length Live In Austin video
Full-length live in Amsterdam video
Interview with Dan Auerbach in That Other Paper
Unofficial Italian site

The black keys