Blunderbuss Listening Party

[woodisgood]

This is from the comments section at the Vault, and I thought it would be good reading here:

Posted by natediggle on 02.21.2012 at 03:55 PM

What an amazing event. Thank you to the entire staff for hosting us! And the review? This is a blistering album that is an instant favorite of all TMR releases. There are so many music styles represented, including garage rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, and even ragtime piano. "Trash Talking Tongue" may be my favorite, but it is so hard to pick! Jack's lyrics are very honest and yet ironic, and one song even touches on the White Stripes break-up. Don't be fooled into thinking that Blunderbuss is a "slower" album because of the first single. There are many songs with crushing back-beats and rapid fire lyrics. You can definitely tell that these songs can only be represented by Jack as a solo album. Thank you Jack and TMR for giving us a chance to hear this BEFORE the media monsters. You have an amazing staff. -NateDiggle (blue suit)

[love_islander]

This is from the comments section at the Vault, and I thought it would be good reading here:

Posted by natediggle on 02.21.2012 at 03:55 PM

What an amazing event. Thank you to the entire staff for hosting us! And the review? This is a blistering album that is an instant favorite of all TMR releases. There are so many music styles represented, including garage rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, and even ragtime piano. "Trash Talking Tongue" may be my favorite, but it is so hard to pick! Jack's lyrics are very honest and yet ironic, and one song even touches on the White Stripes break-up. Don't be fooled into thinking that Blunderbuss is a "slower" album because of the first single. There are many songs with crushing back-beats and rapid fire lyrics. You can definitely tell that these songs can only be represented by Jack as a solo album. Thank you Jack and TMR for giving us a chance to hear this BEFORE the media monsters. You have an amazing staff. -NateDiggle (blue suit)

If he didn't put that blue suit bit in, I would have taken this as an objective opinion...

[orangeshoeskid]

Has anyone said yet whether they played an album or cd?

[achouza]

Has anyone said yet whether they played an album or cd?

cd

[anonymousbrunette]

I'll post something more detailed when I'm back in front of a computer but hot damn, you guys (and gals) are going to love this album. At the risk of being redundant, this sounds truly like a record Jack could only have done now and it's the culmination of everything his fans have witnessed over the last decade.

Everything said here already is spot on. But I dare say that the best of Mr. White may be yet to come.

[orangeshoeskid]

Has anyone said yet whether they played an album or cd?

cd

laaaaame

[NotACollector]

Pfft, who cares about that?

Were most of them heartbreak songs? Any lyrics that particularly grabbed you?

[shaneoftheroad]

So did they play a CD on a Mac through the sound system? I wonder if it's because the vinyl hasn't been pressed yet. That's gotta be it.

I do like what I'm hearing about the album so far though. Very anxious to hear it for myself.

[cwja]

well, that was a lot of fun.

This completely cracked me up when I read this earlier. Thanks for the eventual update as well but this was beautiful.

[Aquamarine]

This is from the comments section at the Vault, and I thought it would be good reading here:

Posted by natediggle on 02.21.2012 at 03:55 PM

What an amazing event. Thank you to the entire staff for hosting us! And the review? This is a blistering album that is an instant favorite of all TMR releases. There are so many music styles represented, including garage rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, and even ragtime piano. "Trash Talking Tongue" may be my favorite, but it is so hard to pick! Jack's lyrics are very honest and yet ironic, and one song even touches on the White Stripes break-up. Don't be fooled into thinking that Blunderbuss is a "slower" album because of the first single. There are many songs with crushing back-beats and rapid fire lyrics. You can definitely tell that these songs can only be represented by Jack as a solo album. Thank you Jack and TMR for giving us a chance to hear this BEFORE the media monsters. You have an amazing staff. -NateDiggle (blue suit)

Well, this is promising. And the impression I'm getting is that there is not a specific combo on the album that can be identified at the Jack White Band (or whatever they decide to call themselves), and therefore also his touring band? If--as I gather--the album comprises a cast of thousands/quite a lot?

[7th_son]

Great descriptions all, so glad to hear some thoughtful opinions. Cover art is deadly cool. Bring it on!

[Alabama Woody]

Sounds like a killer time. Glad to hear that the album is good and that you had a good time. Congrats! Lucky Bastards.

[2crazikids]

It was awesome. Beyond compare. Will write more when on computer. Very cool.

[Kali Durga]

But I dare say that the best of Mr. White may be yet to come.

Those words make my heart beat faster.

[ellisintransit]

I have some stuff to input here. They did play the album through the McIntosh audio player and amp. I caught a glimpse of the running time on the display before they pressed play, and it is 43:57. 7 songs on side A, 6 on side B. Catalog number is TMR-139. Back cover is a photo of Jack standing in front of a Nashville Electric Service Substation with white brick, which looks to be about the same style of brick as Third Man HQ.

What everyone else has said about the sound of the album is pretty dead on. If you like Jack's musical style in general you are going to love it. GBMS is definitely the point of comparison, but I think mostly because of the keys. The piano work on the whole album really stood out to me. Love Interruption is the only song with no percussion or drums, and a couple of the tunes had hand clap sections. That classic Jack whammy sound on the solos is there, and for whatever reason it gives me goosebumps every time. For comparison sake, I never had Dead Weather in my mind but thoughts of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs entered my head during a couple of the songs, but then how could they not? All in all I felt it was fresh, and what natediggle said seems pretty correct, that this album will stand out among the other big TMR releases.

Getting to go back into the lounge and offices was almost as cool as just getting to hear the album. For anyone who has been in the store or the blue room, you have a pretty good idea of how much they love design there and that lounge is amazing. The entertainment setup, the kitchen and restrooms, the offices, the trim even.

Blackwell did a q&a afterwards. He said the idea of the listening party was Jack's idea, so that real fans could start getting the word out instead of having to rely on someone who doesn't care in the first place (journalist-wise I would assume.) He touched on the recording, saying that it wasn't really a "2 weeks in the studio" thing so much as a do it at your leisure kind of thing. (I say why not, when the studio is literally in your back yard.) Didn't go into detail as to who performed on the album, but did say that it wasn't what you would consider the "usual suspects" of TMR releases.

Asked about record store day proceedings he said there will be something going on, but nothing as big as last year as pertains to the event or the amount of releases. 2-3 special releases are POSSIBLE for RSD.

Someone also asked about the educational series. For anyone keeping score on that, the releases WILL all have a TMR catalog number. As far as why they can't sell them, Ben brought up several factors that make pretty good sense as far as dealing with ensembles of people who cannot enter into a legal contract due to age, then mechanical royalties to the people who wrote the songs, and also proper crediting. There will be chances at getting one of these through contests or charity auctions as TMR has done with other limited items in the past. Ben mentioned he had worked for almost a year to get all of that up and running, and he deserves major props for that. Very cool stuff.

I think that does it for my input. We had to clear our pockets (phones, wallets, notepads even) when we entered, so everything had to be noted mentally. Where is my mind? I don't know but there's only so much space in it. Ha. I really really really can't thank the Bens, all of the TMR staff and especially Jack for this treat and the hospitality. They are all ridiculously nice and go out of their way not only to run that place so well, but to make sure everyone who comes is shown a good time. I can't wait for this album. Actually, even more so I can't wait to see what Jack does with it live in Birmingham in a few weeks. I thoroughly doubt anyone who has a sweet tooth for Jack will be disappointed.