WATCH: Jack White’s Latest Antics Involve Balloons & Records That Play At 3RPM
Look up in the sky…is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it JACK WHITE? Kinda. Recently, flexidiscs with the upcoming ‘Blunderbuss’ single, ‘Freedom 21’ were attached to helium balloons and set free from Third Man Records HQ. My eyes are on the skies, you think one of these babies could travel from Nashville to Toronto? Keep reading past the jump to watch White and colleagues fill 1000 environmentally friendly balloons and release them into the wild blue yonder, hopefully into the hands of fans.
But that wasn’t all the former White Stripes frontman had up his sleeve; clearly good (albeit frustrating) things come in threes. To celebrate the Third Man Records 3rd year anniversary they had a party where they released a 3RPM record compiling the label’s ‘Blue Series’ singles. Yes, you read that right, this record plays at THREE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE.
Jack White said of the release:
“The world’s first 3 RPM record is a study in contradictions. It’s cut at the slowest speed yet it plays faster than anything you’ve ever heard. It’s a compilation of 7″ records but it’s packaged like a 12″. But the 12″ sleeve is made like our 7″ sleeve (as it is one continues piece of paper folded in half and put into an acetate sleeve). A bit like a snake eating its own tail. It comes with three bumper stickers yet there is no bumper. We gave it away for free yet given what it has fetched on eBay it is proving to be fairly valuable. It’s easy to play but impossible to hear. You put your finger on it to slow it down, but this is no easy task (as evidenced by these youtube videos) and we estimate it would take 333 days of 33 hours training per day for your finger, hand, and arm muscles to spin at a continuous speed of 3rpm for X hours and X minutes.”
I can’t lie, I want this record. BAD. Which is no good of course, because like most rare Jack White stuff, this thing is already fetching a pretty penny on the eBay machine. I hope I can survive the extensive 333 day workout regimen but I think I have as much of a chance as I do tracking one of those balloons at G33K HQ.
In the meanwhile, let’s watch 1000 pretty blue things fly away into the sky and see how another nerd tries his hand playing the impossible-to-hear record. What would you do to listen to it?
