Recorded last year, the Raconteurs’ Live in London has just come out on vinyl as part of an exclusive release to Third Man Records fan club members who enrolled at the label’s website. After an atmospheric intro, it commences with “Consoler of the Lonely,” which sounds a bit rawer than its studio version. The same goes for the subsequent “The Switch and the Spur,” which concludes with an epic, classic rock-like jam. After a bit of banter, the guys turn down the volume a bit with the piano-driven “You Don’t Understand Me,” a tune that finds singer-guitarists Jack White and Brendan Benson exchanging verses until the tune segues nicely into “Top Yourself.” “Hold Up” also benefits from its live rendition and is followed by the bluesy Charley Jordon cover “Keep it Clean,” a tune that really allows White to show off his guitar chops.

The call-and-response vocals of “Level” and “Steady as She Goes” could be trick to pull off in the live setting, but the Raconteurs handle both songs without any problems. “Many of Shades” becomes an epic garage rock jam and their cover of “Little Red Rooster” lurches with great energy, too. The Raconteurs didn’t tour a whole bunch before and after releasing their tour albums but this album shows that the guys were a more than capable live band that had the kind of chemistry it takes most acts a decade to achieve. The album also comes with a White Stripes’ 7-inch that features an alternate version of “Let’s Shake Hands” and the b-side “Look Me Over Closely.” While the LP is available only to subscribers and can no longer be ordered, you can probably find it in second-hard shops and online.

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Tags: Brendan Benson, jack white, Raconteurs, Third Man Records

This entry was posted by Jeff Niesel on Friday, December 25th, 2009 at 3:22 pm and is filed under Reviews, Vinyl. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.