16 GAZETTE 15 December 2011
GazetteMUSIC MUSIC FastTunes with Radio Nova’s Dee Woods WITH Christmas fast approaching December can be the month where Yuletide cheese takes over the airwaves and shop speakers while decent music gets pushed aside (although not on Nova!). Don’t get me wrong, one of my many guilty pleasures is Christmas music, and I’m not ashamed to say it! Although I only mean the good stuff none of your Shakin’ Stevens. And if you think Christmas music is cheesier than a bucket of fondue, ask yourself why even the most credible of rockers have released Christmas tunes. Ok, probably for the cash, but we can still appreciate it. If you haven’t already this season, dig out The Greedies: A Merry Jingle, Twisted Sister’s White Christmas and the oh-so kid-friendly Alice Cooper with Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. Another gem I discovered recently is a fantastic cover of a classic from Monaghan singer/songwriter, Ryan Sheridan, whose version of Walking In The Air is definitely worth a listen, with proceeds are going to the Make A Wish Ireland Charity. She might sing in key but she needs to be locked up while it’s thrown away...Leona Lewis is to cover Nine Inch Nails’ spine-tingler, Hurt. I’m not one to ever turn up my nose at covers: the Johnny Cash version is hauntingly good. But after committing tune-icide on Snow Patrol’s Run and Oasis’ Stop Crying Your Heart Out, the X Factor winner obviously hasn’t heard of the phrase: if it ain’t broke – don’t break it. Great to hear The Beastie Boys, The Small Faces, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Guns ‘n’ Roses are to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The ceremony happens in Cleveland next April. I wonder will Axl Rose show up on time? Listen to Dee Woods from Radio Nova every weeknight from 7pm to 12am on 100.3FM
New Hall of Fame-rs, the Beastie Boys
Competition: Win a festive bundle of musical magnificence THE lovely people at Warners Music have provided us with a great Christmas present for the winners of our festive competition. Copies of this week’s brilliant album, El Camino, alongside REM’s hits collection, Michael Buble’s excellent Christmas, and Katherine Jenkins’ Daydream, are the prizes for those who can answer this question: Who was in The A Team in 2011? Send your answer to competition@gazettegroup. com, with the subject line “Christmas Music Comp”, before Friday, December 22, or log on to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/gazettenewspapers, post your answer, like and share the Christmas post on your wall.
REVIEW: SEVEN’S THE LUCK NUMBER FOR OHIO ROCKERS
Black Keys hit the high road with El Camino Q ROB HEIGH
IT WAS only a few days ago that I was bemoaning the lack of a real stand-out rock and roll act in the current firmament, and then, like manna from heaven, along comes The Black Keys’ seventh album, El Camino. The group, from Akron, Ohio, have been plying their trade since 2001, and have been slowly but surely coming into their own. Over the course of their last two albums, Attack and Release and Brothers, there has been a marked maturity andconfidence coming into their work, and El Camino sees the return of acclaimed uber-producer DangerMouse to the mixing desk to steer this record to the masses. Without a doubt this is their most assured and strongest work to date, and some great stomping rock songs. From the fuzz-faced Lonely Boy that opens El Camino, to the funky bass of Mind Eraser that closes it, there’s literally never a dull moment. Dan Auerbach’s solid riffs and arrangements
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have produced one of the best rock albums of 2011
take what would be a fairly formulaic set-up in lesser hands into another stratosphere entirely. T he straight-up rock approch lifts for a moment at the start of Little Black Submarines, before it kicks into a higher gear in a dramatic move reminiscent of some of the stripped back and powerful moments on Nevermind where Kurt and Dave combined to epic effect. The record is packed with those kinds
of breath-catching moments when the stardust gets sprinkled and you realise you’re in the presence of greatness - The Black Keys have been threatening to hit this kind of stride for their last few albums, and it’s such a pleasure to report that they are there. It’s also great to see them strut their stuff on bigger platforms, with some fairly sizable arena shows on their calendar for early next year, as well as live appear-
ances on SNL and The Colbert Report that I hear tily recommend you seek out to see what these guys can do when they’re let loose in a live setting. With there being, strictly speaking, two members of the band, singer and guitarist Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, there are inevitable comparisons with The White Stripes, but there is a more defiantly rock approach to The Black Keys’ music than the country and
blues influences that appeared through the Stripes’ catalogue - and it’s interesting to think that one of DangerMouse’s recent production gigs was alongside the Italian composer Daniele Luppi and Jack White on their cinematic Rome project. Late in the year to be appearing in the best-of lists, El Camino deserves to be a wild-card entry to anyone’s record collection and a place in their hearts for the year to come.