| Burgo's Music Blog

Later with Jools Holland does it again… The Raconteurs & Bon Iver

“Later… with Jools Holland” constantly impresses, and most who have read this blog for any period of time would know my love for the show.

Their most recent show was no surprise. Not only were we treated to The Raconteurs performing “Salute Your Solution” and “Consoler of the Lonely” on the show itself, but in addition, the band performed a wonderful acoustic version of “Many Shades of Black”. While Jack White looks at times like he was slightly out of it, Brendan Benson gives it his all…

And then, if that wasn’t enough, The Racounteurs loan Burgoblog-favourite and fellow “Later…” guest, Bon Iver a guitar, to perform a haunting version of “Flume”…

Check out more videos at the BBC site.

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Side note: I just wanted to drop out a quick line to the guys at iPodjuice.com, for helping me out with my iPod problems that I mentioned here. After hearing of my woes, they were great and really helpful, so if you’re looking for a replacement ipod battery, I can honestly recommend heading their way.

Consolers of the Lonely by The Raconteurs

… is out. And damn, it’s hot.

The Raconteurs new album, “Consolers of the Lonely” is out now.

As much as I hate bowing to the Websheriff, after reading of the heckling that’s going on regarding this release here, here and here, I think it might be easier not to post a song.

But, if you can get your hands on this album, do it. If only for the cracking tune, “Carolina Drama“… it’s one of the more exciting tunes I’ve heard from The Raconteurs to date.

Of course, this is a pretty premature evaluation; after all, I’ve only had my hands on this for the last few days… but so far, I’m digging it. While Jack White, Brendan Benson and Co. certainly have their hit and miss moments throughout the album – “Pull This Blanket Off” is an especially needless meandering, and some songs such as “Rich Kid Blues” (although the last minute of this song pulls it back from the brink for me) and “These Stones Will Shout” sound particularly done-by-the-numbers – songs such as “Carolina Drama“, “Salute Your Solution” and “You Don’t Understand Me” more than redeem for these “skip-through” tracks.

“Consolers of the Lonely” is definitely Jack White’s release. Although Brendan Benson’s influence is there – particularly on the aforementioned “You Don’t Understand Me”, it would be great if his input matched up to Jack’s here. That’s just an impression after a few listens, so feel free to disagree with that. But I think it would be tough for anyone to stand aside such a huge musical force as Jack White, even Brendan Benson; so it’s not so much a criticism, just an observation.

Anyway, as I say… unfortunately I won’t be posting any songs from the album today. But Consolers Of The Lonely is out now on XL/Warner. You can purchase and download it at the band’s site.