Music Monday(on Tuesday!): Jack White

So I'm a huge goober and wrote out this post to be published on Monday and completely forgot to actually hit "Publish" haha. I'm still getting back into the swing of things clearly lol. But anywhoo, here's today's Music Monday feature on Tuesday!

So I know everyone knows who Jack White is, so this isn't me trying to introduce y'all to him lol. He's been in a thousand bands(slight exaggeration) worked with tons of artists, been in movies, has his own record label/recording studio, he's even an upholster. The man does it all! And he just released another amazing solo record(I'm still obsessed with his first one, Blunderbuss) called Lazaretto and in addition to it being musically solid and wonderful, the actual vinyl record itself is on a whole other level and unlike any vinyl I've ever seen/heard of.

Lazaretto Album Cover 

Jack White has always been hugely innovative whether it comes to his music, the way he records his music and even his whole aesthetic. So of course he couldn't just release any old vinyl record. And man this one is one for the books! It's called the Ultra LP and here are its features:

• 180 gram vinyl
• 2 vinyl only hidden tracks hidden beneath the center label
• 1 hidden track plays at 78 RPM, one plays at 45 RPM, making it a 3 speed record
• Side A plays from the inside out
• Dual-groove technology: plays an electric or acoustic intro for the song, "Just One Drink" depending on where the needle is dropped. The grooves meet for the body of the song. 
• Matte finish on Side B. giving the appearance of an un-played 78 RPM record. 
• Both sides end with locked grooves
• Vinyl pressed in seldom used flat edge format
• No compression used during recording, mixing, or mastering
• Different running order from the CD/Digital version
• It utilizes some mixes different from those used on the CD & digital versio
• And probably one of the coolest aspects: The dead wax area on Side A contains a hand etched hologram and it is the first of its kind on a vinyl record. 

Talk about innovative! Now some of these things have been done before, but a huge number of them haven't been and I mean really, what artists these days are going to the lengths that Jack has to make a completely unique record that goes beyond just the music itself? One of the many reasons why Jack White is one of my favorite musicians ever. Here's a video of Jack explaining the features of the vinyl.

 

And here's a video of the title track, Lazaretto.

I'm seeing Jack in September and I CAN NOT WAIT! I've never seen him live before and I've been a fan of his since the White Stripes days and he's one of the only musicians that I haven't seen yet that's in my top 5 favorite bands/musicians(well that's still alive or preforming, Led Zeppelin would be number 1).

Happy Listening!

How do you like Jack White? 

MKD