2012 RSD Releases:
The 12-inch single of Jack White's "Sixteen Saltines" comes complete with a playable etching on the b-side (designed by George Ingram), a cover of U2's "Love is Blindness." Truly a sight to behold, the etching depicts Third Man's iconic logo and the grooves of the record play through the image, presenting consumers with the world's first-ever playable etched record ®.This is an entirely different process (and look) from your Styx and Split Enz records from the 80's. No lasers, holograms, or rainbows are involved in this playable etching.
Available here: https://thirdmanstore.com/jack-white-sixteen-saltines-12-single
As if that weren't enough, Third Man took the playable etching one step further and used the same parts to make a limited-edition version of the "Saltines" 12-inch single. Not only is the etching playable, but the record itself is pressed on clear vinyl and filled with psychedelic blue liquid. While the soundtrack for the 1978 film The Black Hole was initially prototyped as a liquid-filled disc, problems with leakage prevented it from ever being released. The liquid-filled "Saltines" is the first-ever disc of its kind to be made available to the public.
In addition to these two releases, Third Man is also releasing the new single from Karen Elson. The cover of Jackson C. Frank's "Milk and Honey" is pressed on milk and honey split-colored vinyl coupled with a laser-cut lace sleeve. The visual these two elements make when combined together is, as you can see, stunning.
Available here: https://thirdmanstore.com/karen-elson-milk-and-honey-7-vinyl
In addition to that, Third Man is releasing a red vinyl with black whisps edition of the White Stripes "Hand Springs" and "Red Death at 6:14", two songs that have been out of print on vinyl for over ten years.
Available here: https://thirdmanstore.com/the-white-stripes-hand-springs-7-vinyl
The liquid-filled record ® and laser-cut lace split-color will ONLY be available from Third Man Records physical location in Nashville (623 7th Ave S) on Record Store Day, April 21st, 2012. The playable etching will also be available from Third Man and a select number of record stores.
In
last year's Third Man Records Record Store Day teaser video, Third Man consigliere (his actual title, I checked) and occasional
Cream contributorBen Swank ate some kind of sandwich. This time, he plays the roll of Pascal the Boy in The Red Balloon. Only the balloon is blue. As you might expect, Third Man founder Jack "Willy Wonka of Vinyl" White is presenting — via Swank and fellow TMR honcho Ben Blackwell — a
bevyof releases that will be available on
Record Store Day(April 21, 2012). There are some strange innovations, from liquid-filled vinyl to playable etchings, but you can hear all about that in the video (above). Here's a list of the stuff they'll be releasing:
* Jerry Lee Lewis, Live at Third Man Records [CD or vinyl]
* The White Stripes, "Hand Springs" b/w "Red Death at 6:14" 7-inch
* Karen Elson, "Milk and Honey" b/w "Winter's Going" 7-inch
* Jack White, "16 Saltines" b/w playable etching 12-inch
Also, you'll discover in the video after the jump that Jack White released his single, "Freedom at 21," via helium balloon. As you'll see, the full TMR staff released a shit-ton (the actual amount, I checked) of blue balloons with a clear flexi disc single attached to the bottom of each. Actually, it was 1,000 balloons, and apparently those were all the existing copies of the flexi disc (Who thinks at least one will be eaten by a cow?). Biodegradable materials were used, and accompanying all the singles are "custom postcards with instructions for the finders to submit photos, discovery location and the date on which the record was found." As a matter of fact, some of the balloons have already been found and logged at this site. Anyway, watch:
