A bag of White Stripes goodies to celebrate 10 years since Elephant

by Travis Lupick on April 9th, 2013 at 2:50 PM

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It was with a heavy heart that the Straight penned the story on the breakup of the White Stripes back in February 2011.

Despite Meg and Jack White taking their final bow however, Stripes records have continued to trickle out from the band’s label.

“Third Man Records will continue to put out unreleased live and studio recordings from the White Stripes in their Vault subscription record club,” Meg and Jack wrote in a farewell address.

Since then, we’ve waited with eager ears for each note of previously unavailable material from the mighty alt rock duo that once was. And today (April 9), got wind of what’s possibly the most exciting release to date.

In celebration of the 10-year anniversary of Elephant, which led with the White Stripe’s career-shaking single “Seven Nation Army”, Third Man Records is offering a heap of sounds related to the eponymous 2003 album.

From the label:

Of utmost excitement is a 2 x LP blistering live set by the White Stripes recorded July 2nd, 2003 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. Titled Nine Miles From the White City, this 26-song, 79-minute, tour-de-force performance is indicative of the absolute explosiveness Jack and Meg embodied at the height of their 2003 touring. Highlights include a rare live performance of Captain Beefheart's "Party of Special Things to Do", an especially frenetic "The Hardest Button to Button" as well as the Stripes Christmas tune "Candy Cane Children." Hearing "Seven Nation Army" in the middle of a set (and not as a closer or encore where it would soon find itself for the remainder of the band’s career) is a quaint reminder of the inauspicious beginnings of the future stadium anthem. The crystalline soundboard recording is best experienced through the impromptu, off-the-cuff performance of a song written on-the-spot that would be come to called "Little Cream Soda." The song would be re-discovered (via an audience recording) by Jack and Meg during the recording of their album Icky Thump, dusted off and recorded for what would become the White Stripes final studio album.

Here’s a sample from the collection: