(no subject)

[miko2]

Toay's Song: What Can I Do? by the Black Belles

I was talking to skyoxford last night about Third Man Records (which I heard about in an NPR interview; I also talked to chuck_melville and typographer on the subject). Third Man Records is a new label started up by Jack White of the White Stripes (and the Raconteurs, and the Dead Weather).

Jack White is a force of nature. Three bands at once don't keep him busy enough (The Dead Weather have just released their second cd in a year), so this year he started up his own record label in Nashville, where he has a store, a stage, and a recording studio all in one. Third Man Records releases only vinyl -- and digital downloads via iTunes. If you want a cd, you can download the songs and make it yourself; Jack doesn't like cds that much. he also doesn't like to spend a lot of time recording things -- as a fan of blues and all things garage rock he likes a "live" sound, and if there are mistakes in the recording, so much the better. That's what makes the music interesting, as he said in that NPR interview.

During that interview they played some of the music his label has already produced, and it all sounded fantastic. Jack is a brilliant producer as well as a brilliant artist, though I suppose we knew that after he produced the Grammy award-winning van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn. I tracked down three songs from those his label has released. The first was Shakin' All Over by Wanda Jackson. I didn't know who Wanda Jackson was, but I should have -- she was once considered the Queen of Rockabilly, and she still has a great voice.

The second was a track by The Dex Romweber Duo, which consists of Dex Romweber on guitar and vocals and his sister Sara Romweber on drums (very similar to Jack and Meg White of White Stripes). Dex has been in rockabilly bands since he was 11 years old, and while he's been a fairly obscure artist for most of that time, he has been cited as an influence by artists like Neko Case, Cat Powers, and (of course), Jack White himself. This is another artist I'd never heard of but probably should have.

By contrast, The Black Belles appear to be a new group, but they sound fantastic. I've decided that whatever Jack White thinks is worth recording is very much worth hearing:

The Black Belles -- What Can I Do?