The Black Keys - Attack & Release

Until now, guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney of the Black Keys took an extreme do-it-yourself approach to record making, hunkering down in a basement studio or setting up equipment in one of the abandoned factories of their native Akron, Ohio. Their modus operandi was more séance than session. With a minimal set of tools, they conjured up a big, swaggering blues-rock sound, seemingly drawn from some distant time and place yet too weirdly original to even be called retro. For this album, however, the Black Keys decided not to go it alone; Attack & Release is the result of one of the most audacious — and eagerly anticipated — collaborations in alternative rock history.

As producer, Auerbach and Carney chose Danger Mouse, the mega-eclectic sonic mastermind behind the Grammy Award-winning Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere and its multi-format hit, "Crazy," as well as the music-industry provocateur who created the mother of all mash-ups, The Grey Album. The Black Keys also designed to work at an established studio. Suma Recording, a legendary spot in northeast Ohio renowned for its supply of great vintage gear, provided just the right ambiance for the guys. As Carney put it, Suma "smells like a moldy cabin and looks like a haunted house."