We’re only a week away from the release of the White Stripes’ epic Under Great White Northern Lights box set, but a few trailers and scenes of Jack White bowling aside, this is our first complete listen of a rather notable piece of the bundle: the first ever official live album from the White Stripes.

NPR is streaming all 16 tracks from the record, which compiles various performances from their 2007 whirlwind Canadian tour that arguably contributed to Meg White’s tour-canceling “acute anxiety.” In light of that last bit (not to mention the final scene in Emmett Malloy’s film), this whole project intrigues me even more than their last documentary, 2004’s The White Stripes Under Blackpool Lights.

The annual South by Southwest Music, Film, and Interactive Festival will descend upon Austin, Texas in almost exactly one month from tonight, but aside from a few über-hyped projects, the full film screening list wasn’t fully known until yesterday’s announcement.

Though our recent rummaging through the Sundance Film Fest roster proved notably fruitful, SXSW’s lineups kind of pwned it in a way, offering quite the competitive array of music and/or musician-related films for us to ogle.

Now we could spit out a whole post for every single one of these, but that’s not how I roll, so let’s just throw the hand on the table, kids:

At a limited time starting price of $179, the new epic White Stripes documentary, live album, live DVD, and photo book box set is kind of a tough sell during the current economic climate. Don’t get me wrong: this thing looks great (and if Third Man wants to send us a copy to review, please do!), but I’ll probably be purchasing one or two of those items unbundled come spring.

In the meantime, Jack White and company have released a brand new trailer of said Canadian tour documentary, The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights. Whereas previous clips and teaser trailers only featured a performance of “Let’s Shake Hands” (from the 10th anniversary show live DVD) and a somber walk through a cemetery, this is a more proper trailer, featuring various clips that presumably cover the full scope of the rock doc.

Watch it here or below:

I’m happy to have renewed my subscription to Jack White’s Third Man Vault just in time to get the heads-up about tomorrow’s big announcement, but perhaps I should’ve saved my 7 bucks for this epic box set instead. Jack White and company will begin taking pre-orders tomorrow on WhiteStripes.com for a limited edition release of their Canadian tour documentary, The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights.

Now here’s where it gets interesting:

Surely you know of guitarist, drummer, singer Jack White and perhaps you’ve heard of actor, upholsterer, philanthropist, or Luddite Jack White, but we’ve got a new one for you today: lecturer Jack White.

“I don’t know if Bob Dylan or Tom Waits are as authentic as I think they are. Perhaps they’re not,” White told Dublin’s Trinity College last night, according to NME, where he spoke and received an honory patron medal from the University Philosophical Society. “Sometimes you start thinking that maybe Britney Spears or someone like that who’s doing exactly what they want to do in the way that they best know how, is more authentic than any of those people you could mention.”

Back in July, we reported on a little proclamation Jack White made to the Edmonton Sun, which we thought was noteworthy: “I’m re-releasing every record I’ve ever been a part of,” he said. “So I’m collecting all the old ones and getting them back on our shelf. If there’s [a] kid in Nunavut who wants that 45, I want him to be able to get it, if he wants it. I don’t like out-of-print records.”

We were particularly excited at the time about the potential for reissues of rare early White Stripes singles, including “Lord, Send Me An Angel,” “Jolene,” “Let’s Shake Hands,” “Look Me Over Closely,” and more. Well, Jack White put out a press release last night that not only confirms his previous announcement, but adds some new rare recordings to the massive reissue project.

Members of White’s new Third Man subscription service, the Vault, are set to receive alternate versions of the White Stripes’ first 7” release: “Let’s Shake Hands” and a cover of Marlene Dietrich’s “Look Me Over Closely.” The versions on this new release are outtakes from the original 1998 recording sessions.

But that’s not all: Third Man are also giving Vault members a double Live In London LP by White’s last band the Raconteurs.

And the Candy Cane Children of Nunavut rejoice!

Jack White caused quite a stir at the Toronto International Film Festival this past weekend, announcing the White Stripes’ denial from the Guinness Book of World Records, an upcoming album he recorded of Nashville transit bus drivers, and, of course, spoofing Kanye West. Most importantly, however, is that reviews of the new White Stripes documentary, Under Great White Northern Lights, have all been (pardon the pun) glowing.

A scene from the film, which sounds like a somewhat somber affair, came out today as an “exclusive” on multiple sites, but it’s up on good ol’ YouTube now, so there goes that. Between this scene and the much talked about poignant final “Meg crying” scene, I, for one, am hoping they found a distributor at TIFF to get this thing into theaters.

Watch Jack and Meg walk through a cemetery in Canada while a live performance of “We’re Going to be Friends” plays here or embedded below:

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.

The newest Weird Al parody video just dropped tonight and Jack White should be proud to learn that he is now in the company of Michael Jackson, Madonna, and dozens of the other top music stars in Yankovic’s musical comedy canon.

I’m not going to analyze the video too closely (analyzing any Weird Al news just feels dirty), but cartoon versions of Jack and Meg White make appearances and the music is basically identical to “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” from White Blood Cells.

Watch the video for “C.N.R.” below or here:

Radiohead’s manager is taking a more digital direction, but Jack White has no cell phone, hates Pro Tools, and has started his own analog revolution. While I was digging around at the new Third Man Records vinyl subscription service for Friday’s post, I noticed that Jack seems to be including the White Stripes in his new Nashville-based project. At first it seemed that contractual obligations could prevent him from taking free reign over the White Stripes catalogue, but then I remembered those extremely limited singles he put out in the early, pre-contract, days (“Lord, Send Me An Angel,” “Jolene,” “Let’s Shake Hands,” “Look Me Over Closely,” etc.). Well, my suspicions have been confirmed and we’ve got big news for fans of early White Stripes:

Jack White leaked more of his ambitious plans for Third Man Records to the Edmonton Sun’s Jane Stevenson over the weekend. “I’m re-releasing every record I’ve ever been a part of,” White said. “So I’m collecting all the old ones and getting them back on our shelf. If there’s [a] kid in Nunavut who wants that 45, I want him to be able to get it, if he wants it. I don’t like out-of-print records. I don’t think that’s fair.” I’m not sure if she is referring to the above statement, but Stevenson also specified that White’s effort would include “a massive reissue of The White Stripes’ catalogue on vinyl.”

All of the early White Stripes singles have been available on the Internet as low-quality bootleg MP3s, but original hand painted copies of Jack’s early vinyl are very rare and go for big bucks on eBay (The Go and The Upholsterers might enjoy a return to the spotlight as well). If Jack White can actually pull off this massive reissue project, the folks at the Marlene Dietrich estate might be getting some nice royalty checks and the Candy Cane Children of Nunavut will be very happy.