Jack White is no fan of digital music distribution, digital recording, or non-vinyl releases in general, but that won’t stop him from exploiting a few digital options on the side. The Dead Weather released an iTunes exclusive EP today with live videos and audio from their surprise set at the Third Man Records and Novelties pop-up shop this past summer in Los Angeles

Here’s the official Live From Third Man West tracklist, via their official site:

1. “Forever My Queen” (Pentagram Cover) - audio only
2. “Hang You From The Heavens” - audio/video
3. “I Cut Like A Buffalo” - audio/video
4. “So Far From Your Weapon” - audio/video
5. “Treat Me Like Your Mother” - audio/video

“I Cut Like a Buffalo” is the third single off the Dead Weather’s debut album, Horehound, and the A-side to Jack White’s new band’s cover of The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band’s “A Child of a Few Hours is Burning to Death.” Jack has always been obsessed with old films and he’s certainly not afraid to give his acting chops a try, so I’ve been curious about what he could do as a director. At the Toronto International Film Festival, however, he ruled out any upcoming film projects, except for a Dead Weather video that he directed. And here it is…

This White-directed music video was apparently shot at his Nashville Third Man Records headquarters (hence the same blue background from all the label’s promo pics). Watch it here or embedded below (via Prefix):

The song “A Child of a Few Hours is Burning to Death,” by 1960s psychedelic rock band The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, has been featured regularly as a live cover on the Dead Weather’s recent tour, so it’s no surprise that a studio version will be included as the B-side to the band’s next 7” single.

The West Coast Pop Art Experimental… take breath… Band released a string of records in the late 60s, which included a lot of cover songs and somewhat unusual originals, such as an all-silent track called “Anniversary Of World War III.” Far out, man. Jack White and company’s selection comes from 1968’s Volume 3: A Child’s Guide to Good and Evil.

Oh, I forgot to mention the A-Side: the third single from the Dead Weather’s debut album Horehound will be “I Cut Like a Buffalo,” a song White has said he originally meant to record with the White Stripes.

There are quite a few live YouTubes of the band playing “A Child of a Few Hours is Burning to Death,” all with varying degrees of audio quality, but this one’s a good start.

Jack White may have ditched his hometown of Detroit to settle down more comfortably in Nashville, but he’s definitely not leaving behind his old stomping grounds to fester amid the recession. In fact, the White Stripes, Raconteurs, and Dead Weather rock star is trying his hand at philanthropy.

The Detroit News reports that White covertly donated $170,000 towards the restoration of Clark Park field, a baseball diamond where White played ball as a kid. “He was good,” said Mo Blackwell, former brother-in-law to White and father of Dirtbombs drummer, Cass Records founder, and Jack’s right-hand man at Third Man Records, Ben Blackwell. “Smooth left-handed swing.”

Jack has always kept in touch with the volunteers at the park, including Deb Sumner, who recalled meeting once-girlfriend “Rene Wellzinger, or however you say it.” Sumner had been imploring Jack to do a charity concert for years when an LA lawyer called on behalf of a then-anonymous donor. White’s donations paid for restorations that include new dugouts, grandstands, and a revamped infield.

Aww. I can tell that we’re going to be friends, Jack.

Jack White’s second pop-up Third Man Records vinyl retail shop location and dates have been revealed by LA Times’ Randy Lewis, and, once again, the Dead Weather just happen to be in town for a couple shows on the same dates. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of next week, the Third Man Records and Novelties West store will be selling various merchandise from the Third Man roster (White Stripes, Dex Romweber, Raconteurs, etc.).

Last time they did this, Matt Pinfield even put in a couple hours as a guest clerk, so I wonder who might show up for the LA branch. If you’re in that area right now, you may want to set up camp downtown at 448 S. Main St. asap, ‘cause Jack’s whole traveling circus should be causing quite a stir.

Jack White’s Third Man Records store, label, and recording studio in Nashville seemed like a relatively small, isolated project at first, but more information keeps coming out these days that suggests of a much more ambitious undertaking. Even by Jack White standards.

On top of reissuing the entire White Stripes catalogue, dropping a dozen albums/singles, and watching the money roll in for his new pricey subscription service, Jack White’s boutique vinyl shop is opening a branch at 131 Chrystie Street in New York City, Product Shop NYC reports.

The NYC Third Man Records store grand opening is set for July 16th, the same day The Dead Weather will be performing the first of a two night stand at Terminal 5. How is he getting all this done so quickly? And what city will Third Man pop up in next? So many questions.

Everyone’s reporting today about the White Stripes’ upcoming Canadian tour documentary that I posted about a month ago and I’m feeling a little left out, so here’s a Jack White bit for the day’s festivities.

It’s well known that Jack’s a purist when it comes to retro recording techniques, but nowadays the Internet has become the bane of his artistic expression. Speaking to The Ampersand, the Dead Weather, Raconteurs, and White Stripes frontman sounded off on Pro Tools for the second time in as many weeks and added that though he can control his method of recording, but the release and promotion of his precious analog gems still requires that pesky series of tubes:

“Do I really need a MySpace page for this f—king music?” White asked. “Do I really need to do that? There’s a part of me, that just out of spite, says I don’t want to do it because it’s so antithetical to what I do. I just question what it all means. If a million people see your webpage, how many people actually buy something, buy a record or a song? Feels to me, if you give them a chance to fast forward, rewind, or click off to the next web page, they will do it.”

What’s more, the Internet also interfered with White’s Dead Weather unveiling. “If not for the Internet, we would have loved to have done six months of small clubs down south to really build up what we are and discover what we are,” White said.

Luckily, Jack’s just a little cranky about the digital revolution and not quite crotchety yet. By the way, one little bit about the upcoming film The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights which hasn’t made today’s reports is that it is slated to close the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Okay, I feel better now.