White Stripes - Icky Thump

I would like to be sexy dancing to this right now

"irritating throwaways"

i still hate them for making one of those throwaways so popular (that incredibly annoying my doorbell from the last album.. thank god theres nothing as irritating on the new one)

Man, I did love that song

Roberto: who are those people?

from pearlysociety.co.uk:

The London tradition of the Pearly Kings and Queens began in 1875, by a small lad named Henry Croft.

Henry was born and raised in an orphanage in Charlton Street, Somers Town, London, NW1. At the age of 13 he had to leave the orphanage and make his own way in life. His first job was as a Municipal Road Sweeper in the market of Somers Town. Henry worked hard in the market and soon made many friends, he was particularly drawn to the Costermongers who were a tough breed of market traders. He got to know more about their way of life, their generosity and their fashion of smoke pearl buttons sewn on the piped seams of their trousers, jackets, waistcoats and caps. This showed their status as they worked the market stalls from day to day. The Costermongers were caring and looked after each other if they were sick or in need.

Henry was so fascinated by this way of life and decided he would like to help those who were more unfortunate than himself, including the children back at the orphanage where he had spent his early life. He knew that in order to collect a lot of money he needed to draw attention to himself. So as Henry swept the market streets he started to collect all the pearl buttons he found that had fallen off of the clothes of people visiting the market, and when he had enough he started to sew them on his cap and then continued until his entire suit was filled, the very first smother suit.

Because Henry was an orphan he had no one to help him with his suit so he had to learn how to sew. It was this that started the tradition, which is still carried on by descendants of original Pearly Families, that the Kings do all the designs and sewing. Designs on suits tend to run in families but here are a few that you may see and recognise:

Horseshoe = Luck

Doves = Peace

Heart = Charity

Anchor = Hope

Cross = Faith

Wheel = Circle of Life

Symbols of Playing Cards = Life is a gamble

Flower Pots = Costermongers

Donkey Carts = Costermongers

Henry Croft was in so much demand for his charity work, as many of London's hospitals, workhouses and orphanages needed help, that he turned to his friends the Costermongers and they did not let him down. Many of the Costermongers became the first Pearly Families. There were 28 families, one for each of the London boroughs, one for the City of Westminster, and one for the City of London.

Each outfit can hold many tens of thousands of buttons on it and can weigh as much as 30 kilograms or more. There are two types of suit - a Smother Suit and a Skeleton Suit, the former having very little cloth showing and totally covered in buttons, and the latter having far fewer buttons.

It is estimated that when he died in 1930 (aged 68), he had collected over £5000. The equivalent in today's values would be approximately £200,000.

His funeral was a spectacular affair, and was filmed by Pathe News. All of the Pearlies attended (roughly 400) and they followed the coffin to where Henry was buried. The charities that he had helped over the year all pulled together to help pay for a statue of Henry for his grave. Unfortunately in 1995 the statue was vandalised and no longer stands in the cemetery. It has been replaced with a headstone, inlaid with Henry's photograph, so it can be easily found by visitors.

The statue has now been fully restored and can be seen in the crypt at the church of St. Martins in the Field, Trafalgar Square.

The Pearly tradition has survived for over 125 years and hopefully it will continue for many more to come. We still have a few families who can be traced back to the original generation of Pearlies. Henry Croft's family still carries on the tradition with his Great-Granddaughter wearing the title of 'Somers Town'.

http://whitestripes.kungfunation.com/images/USBset.jpg

From the White Stripes shop: $57 each, or buy both for $99

That's the "USB Drive" version(s) of "Icky Thump" btw.

Thanks Nicky!

titchyschneiderMk2:

"My Doorbell" was the best song on the last album. Almost everything else could have been called irritating throwaway, but not that song. I love "My Doorbell" too.

Oh god, don't throw them away. Meg and I can use them. We can give them a home. I mean if you don't want them...

Excellent use of Rag and Bone

they kinda look like idiots. no offense.

Yes, `cos they normally look so dignified, don't they!

Incidentally, I take back my original quasi-scathing review of the single. I still wince at the widdly prog bits, but otherwise, I'm hooked.

what's up, Alex?? doing well??

one thing occurs: curious that they did not throw on that Coke commercial diddy ... it almost might have worked quite well as a little palate cleanser maybe on the second side. and they also could have been like "oh yeah that was some throwaway we wrote for the new album" ... now it stands out more crassly..

Icky Thump was one of 3 CDs for sale at the cashier's booth at Whole Foods when I was there yesterday. Good to see that WS have gone for the all-organic, free-range rock.

My "Icky Thump" LP is in the mail and I'm going to see them on saturday night !

I know nobody else cares, but whoo !

good times

these
are
the
good times

leave
your
cares
behind

these
are
the
good times

good times

these
are
the
good times

our
new
state
of mind

these
are
the
good times

Bhahahahahah! Nicky rulez!

i like this album,it's very enjoyable in it's way of returning back to the "white blood cells" basics,gimmicks and self parody ( i thught i got tired of that,but i didnt really) and again,they remind me of the pixies among others (am i the only one?), but i wonder: should i see them live?
when i think about the fact that they are only 2 persons,the arrangements of the songs will be even more stripped down while being played live, and i'm not sure it worth the 50& ticket, in a place where i probably couldn't see much anyway..
why can't they get another musician to help them on the live performence?on the record,there is another level of playing that is probably missed live.
just to add a rhythm guitar or something (not to mention a bass player,which is a curse for them isn't it).

why can't they get another musician to help them on the live performence?on the record,there is another level of playing that is probably missed live.

they really don't need it - a lot of the excitement comes from their frantic attempts to make enough noise, despite only being a duo. you gotta see them at least once...

little cream soda is totally killing me today.

"you gotta see them at least once..."

thanks ,i took notice.but it won't happen this time cause the only seats available are far, far away from the main stage.
"
the stripes owe a lot to "thee mighty ceasers" don't they?

amazing to think that it's the stripes that are probably the most successful garage band ever,while most of them will dissapear or at least keep their dayjobs forever.

some pictures from the Toronto YMCA appearance this week:

http://www.edge102.com/shared_gallery/cfnyfm_2007_7_5_16-28-19/0.jpg http://www.edge102.com/shared_gallery/cfnyfm_2007_7_5_16-28-19/12.jpg

http://www.edge102.com/shared_gallery/cfnyfm_2007_7_5_16-28-19/7.jpg

http://www.edge102.com/shared_gallery/cfnyfm_2007_7_5_16-28-19/8.jpg

http://www.edge102.com/shared_gallery/cfnyfm_2007_7_5_16-28-19/9.jpg http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/01b8b2a8-f449-4746-8e42-e3e213ae7ba8/whitestripes004.jpg

i've enjoyed them at festivals and huge venues in the past, but i totally understand not wanting to pay $$$ for such an experience...

xpost ok those pics are seriously adorable. In fact, this whole past week has been nothing but warm, fuzzy white stripes love, what with them randomly showing up in tiny canadian towns and performing on public transport. For the kids!

Since Nicky posted the YMCA pictures, I may as well show off the fruits of my 8-hour queue with my general admission tickets. I took my 15 y/o siblings (coincidentally named Jack & Elizabeth Megan) and we were front row, on the barricade, in front of Jack!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1308/738572052_6edd1d3eee.jpg?v=0
this is the kids having their mind blown. note I <3 Jack / I <3 Meg face paint that got them plastered all over the jumbotron.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1071/738494594_022885ee9a.jpg?v=0

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1360/738572014_0597f4a944.jpg?v=0

FANTASTIC Show, oh god. And yes - The White Stripes are For The Kids!

anyone going to the Madison Square Garden show? cant decide if i want to, im not really sure what to expect. I've only seen them in small-ish clubs, twice, so this would be different and I'm just not positive I want to hang out with 20,000 tweens.

im kinda touched they did a show for the kids. always thought that would be their ideal audience. although not sure they have enough songs that are catchy enough for the little uns.

xpost with pictures. I am candy stripped with envy at the vantage point you had :~)

Also loved seeing Jack sit down to play some blues with that street musician (from youtube link above)

My favorite story about kids and The White Stripes is about the grade school class that sang one of their songs for them. After the second album came out, a grade school teacher in Detroit recorded his class singing "Apple Blossom," and sent the tape to Jack and Meg. Jack said that he and Meg were genuienly moved by it, so the kids must have done a good job.

The show last night at Bluesfest here in Ottawa was amazing !

They basically played an all blues set, to prove they could headline a blues festival (as if there was any doubt - Kanye West is headlining too).

I saw them when they were touring for GBMS and this show blew it away. He was goin' crazy on the solos all night.

They only played 3 tracks of the new one though, sadly, though their version of "Icky Thump" was better than the album version, so that's good I guess. I really wanted to hear "Little Cream soda", "Conquest" or "Rag and Bone" though.

Ah well, still a hell of a show. Best live show I've seen in awhile.

You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told) Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs-bS7BW8qI

"Catch Hell Blues" live a couple of months ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs-bS7BW8qI

i love the little proggy breakdown in this

HOOS

HOOS LET THE PROG OUT

HOOS! HOOS HOOS!

I'm deeply disappointed I missed this.

This is like one of the very best songs of the year. Sorry the album didn't live up to the hype.

oh god. i'm sorry guys. i've matured, i promise.

lol has college turned you into a zepp fan

:/

haha

today zeppelin, tomorrow coldplay

haha, I totally missed the clusterfuck portion of this thread

tangentially related question on my mind: I don't know shit about Zep, but I know that I am loving "Immigrant Song" and am really not loving "Stairway to Boredom". What other Zep will I like?

LOL such a cute question about Led Zep. And "Stairway to Boredom" is correct. You're on the right track, Rev! Why not start with the Led Zep III album, from which Immigrant Song is from, but which doesn't sound like anything else on it, really. Or you could just cut straight to the chase and get to the LZ album almost everyone agrees is the ultimate shit - "Physical Graffiti". Up to you.
Hopefully someone else more helpful than me will come along with You Tube clips or something.

I love this album, but god that mariachi track is goddam awful.

I was thinking about this album earlier today, actually. It would feel strange to pull it out, but perhaps I should.

Reverend, my friend, check out Houses of the Holy. Some of it's even dance music!

this album is oddly off-putting and I never listen to it. sad, really cuz Get Behind Me Satan was one of their best.

agreed, for some reason i think I listened to this once and didn't go back to it. there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it, it just wasn't necessary.

also, yeah, houses of the holy is the best zepplin album, certainly the only one I ever listen to and own

This album is great, but more so in a sort of, last round of the stripes just doing their usual stuff. I give then credit for debuting on warners with an album.of songs that are not always the most complete, but have tonnes of energy and fun. It's kind of like a return to their earlier albums, but less raw. The synths on the title track still sound awful tbh, and I like the sentiment of the lyrics but hate how they're delivered/written (sounds clunky af... reminds me of some of princes 'political' lyrics actually) I know a lot of ppl liked it as it sounded different for the stripes, but I'm not sure different quite worked for them, and I'm tempted to say if you think thats one of the best things they did, or did here, you might not like them that much.