That’s right, anti-technologists across the world, you can now celebrate the second coming of The White Stripes’ first three albums (1999’s The White Stripes, 2000’s De Stijl, and 2001’s White Blood Cells), because they are once again being released to the world at large for purchase and consumption on vinyl LP, this time via White’s own Third Man Records. All three albums — out of print in North America since 2005 — have undergone “the utmost care” in preparation for re-release: “We started by mastering each LP from the original analog master tapes, the first time this process had been used for any of these titles. While extremely labor-intensive, this method ensured that the material was never converted into a digital signal. The result is an audio quality that stiffens the hairs on the back of your neck.”
The albums are all pressed on 180-gram vinyl for the first time ever, and all of the artwork is reproduced from the original photographic prints to make the albums that much more perfect. In fact: “These are the versions The White Stripes want people to have for posterity.”
The reissues will also be handed over to the Smithsonian to document the continued development of Delta blues. Further details, including super-collector red-and-white-vinyl versions, can be discovered here, but if you’re really an anti-technologist would you be on the internet?
• The White Stripes: http://www.whitestripes.com
• Third Man: http://thirdmanrecords.com