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.

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I picked up the latest round of Jack White-produced 7-inch vinyl singles that are available on Third Man Records, the label run by the White Stripes/Dead Weather/Raconteurs front man. White produced all three singles and recorded them at his Third Man Studios, located in a Nashville storefront complex he’s recently taken over. “Fly Farm Blues” is a self-produced White solo effort. Culled from the It Might Get Loud documentary in which White appears, it’s a raw, noisy number that finds White busting out an old school blues tune he wrote and recorded straight to two-track. I like the song alright, though it’s pretty harsh-sounding. And there’s nothing on the b-side, which is a bit of a disappointment.

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You gotta admit Jack White never wears out his welcome. Right as the White Stripes’ garage blues was catching on, he switched musical gears to put out an eloquent country album with Loretta Lynn. Then, he threw himself into the neo-garage Raconteurs, sharing front man duties with Brendan Benson, playing second fiddle even though he’s clearly the superior guitarist and more charismatic singer. Now, with Dead Weather, which has just issued its debut, Horehound, he’s changed his tack again.

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On the verge of the July 14th release of their debut album Horehound, The Dead Weather announce the uncensored Cinemax debut of the short “Treat Me Like Your Mother.” The groundbreaking film was directed by Jonathan Glazer, whose credits range from such highly-acclaimed feature films as Sexy Beast and Birth to award-winning music videos for Radiohead.  In a rare event, the film will premiere in full on Cinemax on July 11th at 9:55 p.m. and continue to air on all of the Cinemax multiplex channels for the following five weeks.

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