No, that isn’t a typo. Some time during former White Stripes frontman Jack White polishing off his debut solo record and busy promo tour he found the time to celebrate the third anniversary of his record label Third Man Records.
But as with anything that Jack White does he decided to produce something totally unique for the occasion – a special limited edition vinyl release that in a world first plays at 3 RPM, not 33 RPM, 3 RPM.
That means the listen correctly the the music contained on the record your record player would have to spin at only three revolutions per minute which we’re pretty sure is impossible.
“The world’s first 3 RPM record is a study in contradictions– it’s cut at the slowest speed yet it plays faster than anything you’ve ever heard,” said a statement from Third Man Records.
“It’s a compilation of 7 inch records but it’s packaged like a 12 inch. But the 12 inch sleeve is made like our 7 inch sleeve (as it is one continues piece of paper folded in half and put into an acetate sleeve). A bit like a snake eating its own tail.”
“It comes with three bumper stickers yet there is no bumper. We gave it away for free yet given what it has fetched on eBay it is proving to be fairly valuable.”
“It’s easy to play but impossible to hear. You put your finger on it to slow it down, but this is no easy task and we estimate it would take 333 days of 33 hours training per day for your finger, hand, and arm muscles to spin at a continuous speed of 3 rpm for X hours and X minutes.”
According to Pitchfork, the record contains every “Blue Series” single the label has ever released and was given for free to all the attendees at the three year birthday celebrations.
We had a look to see how much one of these babys was going for on eBay but at the time of writing we couldn’t find one auction. Still we’re sure with an item as hot as this won’t take long before someone puts another one up for sale.
Watch the video below of one of the frustrated owners attempting to slow down the record so he listen to it.
