‘Lazaretto’, the ultra LP that Jack built

[yizzle]

Some of you vinyl aficionados will have seen the story over the last few days about Jack White (of White Stripes fame) releasing his upcoming ‘Lazaretto’ LP on a vinyl pressing to end all vinyl pressings. Not only has every aspect of vinyl-pressing as a discipline been applied, but it shows a very important fact… vinyl as a medium is on the rise again.

The age-old argument about the advantages and disadvantages of vinyl rages on as ever, but Jack White certainly manages to kick dust into the faces of vinyl opponents with his album offering. The 12 inch “Ultra LP” version of the album ‘Lazaretto’ is one of the most comprehensive and thoughtful vinyl record releases we’ve seen in a very long time.

The record uses every trick in the book to give the listener an experience you’d never get from a digital purchase. There are hidden tracks beneath the labels, with one of the tracks playing at 78 RPM meaning it’s quite possibly one of the only LPs to have 33, 45 and 78 RPM tracks on one release. One side plays from the inside outwards and the other has two parallel grooves, giving you different versions of the same intro to a track.

Even more amazing are the “floating holograms” that can be found after the end of the record on one side. You need to watch the video to really see how it works.

Here’s a rundown:

• 180 gram vinyl

• 2 vinyl-only hidden tracks hidden beneath the center labels

• 1 hidden track plays at 78 RPM, one plays at 45 RPM, making this a 3-speed record

• Side A plays from the inside out

• Dual-groove technology: plays an electric or acoustic intro for “Just One Drink” depending on where needle is dropped. The grooves meet for the body of the song.

• Matte finish on Side B, giving the appearance of an un-played 78 RPM record

• Both sides end with locked grooves

• Vinyl pressed in seldom-used flat-edged format

• Dead wax area on Side A contains a hand-etched hologram by Tristan Duke of Infinity Light Science, the first of its kind on a vinyl record

• Absolutely zero compression used during recording, mixing and mastering

• Different running order from the CD/digital version

• LP utilizes some mixes different from those used on CD and digital version

Source: djworx.com