The Icky Thumpeth – White Stripes News

As you have no doubt already heard, the new White Stripes album is presently streaming in a low-quality audio format on a website hosted by that venerable bastion of all things music-related on television, MTV.  To listen, simply click here.

For the visually inclined, here’s the video for their lead single off Icky Thump, called “Icky Thump”:

Despite being released on Warner Bros., and despite all the speculation of a return to form of the band’s simple bluesy garage rock heyday, this is one bizarre album. There is no doubt that the power of this band has extended well beyond the sphere of unadulterated songwriting craftsmanship and into the murky bowels of Jack White’s enigmatic, manufactured rock’n'roll star persona. What other internationally known rockstar would have the cojones to pull off the bombastic musical theater of a song like “Conquest” at the height of their career? At least half of these songs wouldn’t work at all if it weren’t for the sheer presence and force of his charisma (and that’s not a bad thing; it’s more of a testament of Weber’s theory of charismatic leadership applied to pop music).

So, perhaps while listening to this free audio stream, the always on-the-go businessman in you realizes that it would be much more convenient for your listening lifestyle if you could just plug this album into your laptop real quick like while you were waiting for your connecting flight to an important business meeting. Well, you’re in luck! For fast-acting White Stripes fanatics there are 3,333 Jack and Meg USB drives available for purchase here. The 512MB drives offer up Icky Thump in “Apple Lossless Format,” whatever that means.

But maybe you’re more old-fashoned than that. If you live in the United Kingdom, own a record player, and plan on picking up the current issue of the NME, you’ll find a neat pressing of the 7″ single “Rag and Bone” (one of the better and stranger songs off the new album) affixed to the front cover. The downside to this ploy is, of course, that you would be stuck with a copy of the NME.

I believe Icky Thump will also be available on an ordinary CD format starting Tuesday, June 19, 2007, for those of you who still buy CDs.

Supposing the marketing geniuses at Warner Bros. still haven’t nailed down your preferred method of Icky Thump consumption, you can also catch the Detroit duo on the road, although they are conspicuously staying away from their former, scorned hometown. Tour dates after the jump.

White Stripes 2007 tour dates (thanks to Brookln Vegan):

Jun 14 – O2 Wireless Festival – Hyde Park London, UK
Jun 15 – O2 Wireless Festival – Harewood House Leeds, UK
Jun 17 – Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Manchester, Tennessee
Jun 19 – “Secret” NYC show – go to the Virgin Megastore to possibly win free tickets. It’s a crapshoot.
Jun 24 – Deer Lake Park ++ Burnaby, BC Canada
Jun 25 – Yukon Arts Center Whitehorse, YT Canada
Jun 26 – Shorty Brown Multiplex Arena Yellowknife, NT Canada
Jun 27 – Arctic Winter Games Arena w/Lucie Idlout Iqaluit, NU Canada
Jun 29 – The Pengrowth Saddledome ++ Calgary, AB Canada
Jun 30 – Shaw Conference Center ++ Edmonton, AB Canada
Jul 1 – TCU Place ++ Saskatoon, SK Canada
Jul 2 – MTS Centre ++ Winnipeg, MB Canada
Jul 3 – Thunder Bay Community Auditorium ++ Thunder Bay, ON Canada
Jul 5 – Molson Amphitheatre ++ Toronto, ON Canada
Jul 6 – Bell Centre ++ Montreal, QC Canada
Jul 7 – John Labatt Centre ++ London, ON Canada
Jul 8 – Ottawa Bluesfest w/2007 Cisco Systems Ottawa, ON Canada
Jul 10 – Moncton Coliseum Arena ++ Moncton, NB Canada
Jul 11 – Charlottetown Civic Centre ++ Charlottetown, PE Canada
Jul 13 – Cunard Center ++ Halifax, NS Canada
Jul 14 – Savoy Theatre ++, Ashley MacIssac Glace Bay, NS Canada
Jul 16 – Mile One Center ++ St. John’s, NF Canada
Jul 22 – Cumberland Civic Center w/Dan Satain Portland, Maine
Jul 23 – Agganis Arena ++ Boston, Massachusetts
Jul 24 – Madison Square Garden w/Grinderman and Porter Wagoner New York City, New York
Jul 25 – Chevrolet Theater ++ Wallingford, Connecticut
Jul 27 – Grand Opera House ++ Wilmington, Delaware
Jul 28 – Patriot Center ++ Fairfax, Virginia
Jul 29 – House of Blues ++ North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Jul 30 – Sloss Furnaces ++ Birmingham, Alabama
Jul 31 – Snowden Grove Park Amphitheater ++ Southaven, Mississippi
Sep 13 – Kiva Auditorium (to be rescheduled) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sep 15 – Austin City Limits Festival Austin, Texas
Sep 16 – Austin City Limits Festival Austin, Texas
Sep 18 – Bayside Concerts @ The Embarcadero * San Diego, California
Sep 19 – The Forum * Inglewood, California
Sep 21 – Greek Theatre * Berkeley, California
Sep 24 – William A. Egan Civic Center * Anchorage, Alaska
Sep 26 – Paramount Ballroom * Seattle, Washington
Sep 27 – Paramount Ballroom * Seattle, Washington
Sep 28 – Idaho Center Theater * Boise, Idaho
Sep 29 – The “E” Center * Salt Lake City, Utah
Sep 30 – Snowking Center * Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Oct 2 – Rushmore Plaza Civic Center * Rapid City, South Dakota
Oct 3 – Fargo Civic Auditorium * Fargo, North Dakota
Oct 4 – Pershing Center Auditorium * Lincoln, Nebraska
Oct 6 – Aragon Ballroom * Chicago, Illinois
Oct 7 – Aragon Ballroom * Chicago, Illinois

* w/ Cold War Kids
++ w/Dan Sartain

Not sure what you’d be getting yourself by going to one of these shows? Maybe you’d like to try a simulated experience of seeing them perform their new songs live first? Hmm? Try this on for size (from the Jools Holland show):

Here’s the interview from the show:

Finally (finally!), you can also read an old-fashioned, newspaper-style interview with Mr. White at the New York Times website.

-Reported by Todd