Rarebird's Rock and Roll Nest

Shortly after the breakup of the White Stripes was announced, Q Magazine quoted Jack White as having said this: I won’t join another band again. Three’s enough for one lifetime. If I can’t say it in any of these bands, then I’ll say it by myself. Of course, this caused some consternation among White's fans. Although White's other two bands have not officially disbanded, the situations in those bands are not the same as in the White Stripes. In the Raconteurs, White shares frontman duties with Brendan Benson; in the Dead Weather, White takes a backseat to frontwoman Alison Mosshart. Fans who wanted another band that would mainly center around Jack White were worried that there would never be such a thing again. But when this quote was mentioned in user comments on the Third Man Records website, Ben Swank from Third Man gave this response on March 2, 2011: FYI, the interview that contained the comment you are referring to was conducted late last year before any news of the White...

Yesterday, on February 18, 2011, Radiohead released their new album The King of Limbs . If you were not aware of this news, there is a good reason for that. Radiohead announced the album’s release on their official website all of five days ago. The album was intended for release through their website today (February 19), but because the site was technically ready for the release yesterday, the band decided not to wait the extra day. Now, when an album is described as being “released”, we assume that means it is available in stores, either online or brick-and-mortar, and that it can be physically purchased on CD and possibly on vinyl. But that is not the case with The King of Limbs – yet. The album is currently available only as a download from the official site . This brings back memories of the way the band originally distributed their excellent 2007 album In Rainbows . The release of that album’s mp3 download was announced ten days before the fact. And when the songs were made avail...

Yesterday, on February 2, 2011, the White Stripes announced on their official site that they will no longer record or perform together. I am certainly disappointed to hear the news of the duo’s breakup, but I’m not necessarily surprised. Jack White has been keeping himself very busy with his Third Man Records label, not to mention his other two bands. And the duo needed to cancel most of their last tour in 2007 when drummer Meg White suffered from acute anxiety . The Stripes have remained inactive ever since, although they did release the 2007-recorded live album and documentary film Under Great White Northern Lights in 2010. The band’s statement says that the breakup has nothing to do with health issues. Meg has apparently recovered from her anxiety, but she may not be eager to go back out on the road again after such an experience. Jack has seemingly been producing and playing on nearly every record released on Third Man. Jack’s other two bands, the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather,...

Rarebird's Spotlight Album Review #21 is completed. The subject is the self-titled 2002 release from Eyes Adrift, a short-lived supergroup featuring Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets, Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, and Bud Gaugh of Sublime. Kirkwood and Gaugh also recorded an album in 2004 under the name Volcano; that self-titled album has become quite difficult to find. Both albums are reviewed here: http://rarebird9.net/eyesadrift.html

I received the sixth pair of exclusive vinyl items offered to platinum members of Third Man Records’ Vault service. For those who are unaware, Third Man Records is the label owned by Jack White, the leader of the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, and the Dead Weather. The Vault service promises to deliver exclusive vinyl-only records (one full-length album and one 7” single) to its platinum members every three months. According to the postmark, my package was sent on January 5th. I received it on the 7th. This sixth set of items features an LP of previously unreleased demos from the Greenhornes (who share the same rhythm section as the Raconteurs), as well as a 7” picture disc containing remixed versions of the 2000 White Stripes single “Hello Operator” and its B-side “Jolene”. Also, the package contains a concert shirt originally designed for a 2001 joint tour by the White Stripes and the Greenhornes. The Greenhornes are the Cincinnati trio made up of Jack Lawrence (bass), Patrick Keele...

Rarebird’s Rock and Roll Rarity Reviews would like to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, or whatever you personally call this time of year. During the Christmas season in 2000, Weezer issued a two-song Christmas CD to members of their official fan club, and also sent the CD to radio stations as a promo item. It was simply titled Christmas CD , and its two tracks ran for a total of five-and-a-half minutes. The same two tracks were sold on iTunes beginning in 2005, under the title Winter Weezerland . The songs have not been offered on iTunes since 2008. (This EP should not be confused with the 2008 digital EP Christmas With Weezer , which does not contain either of these two tracks). Some time between 2000 and 2005, the tracks were available as free downloads on Weezer’s official web site. Some rabid fans were evidently unhappy that formerly free downloads were later being sold as commercial downloads, and expressed their supposed outrage on Weezer- and iTunes-rela...

Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart, died on Friday, December 17, 2010, at the age of 69, from complications caused by multiple sclerosis. Beefheart recorded 11 studio albums between 1967 and 1982. On his 1967 debut album Safe As Milk , Beefheart came across as a blues-rocker in the Stones/Animals mold. But his sound became more avant garde on the albums that followed. He and his sometime collaborator Frank Zappa had been friends since boyhood; amazingly, Beefheart’s off-the-wall recordings tended to be more bizarre than Zappa’s. Beefheart has been cited as a major influence on many artists, especially from the alternative rock genre. In 1982, Beefheart quit the music business to focus full-time on painting, and never recorded another album for the remaining 28 years of his life. Some people interpreted his refusal to re-enter the music biz as a telling statement about that industry. Although it is easy to believe that Beefheart disliked the “business” side of the music b...

Jack White continues to amuse me with his creativity with vinyl records, among other things.