Elaborately Packaged Music (4 Viewers)

[dudley]

Think my favourite is the first US Maple LP sleeve. Comes in a brushed steel sleeve, weighs a ton, but looks amazing

 

[nooleen]

the most interesting one i've come across recently (though i don't have a copy) is the durutti column's debut, whose cover is made out of sandpaper - the idea being it will destroy the other records in your collection.

feederz did that as well, although it would only destroy your other records if you leave them out of their sleeves in which case they're going to end up fucked anyway

maybe it was a cunning ploy to get people to put records back in the sleeve

 

[travispickle]

I don't mind fancy packaging on vinyl or cd's, as long as it's not too fussy or gimmicky, in which case I steer clear.
Any cd box sets I have fit neatly enough into my shelves. The only slightly awkward one I have is Nick Cave's Push The Sky Away, which is designed like a notebook. It's too tall to fit standing up on my shelves, so I have to lie it on top of other cd's.

 

[Lili Marlene]

The sandpaper thing is a situationist reference, Guy Debord's memoirs (Mémoires - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
came in a sandpaper sleeve to wreck your copies of Jane Austen and Dickens that you kept on either side of his book.

I think the sex pistols talked about doing it for their debut as well but gave up on it. It's one of those things that's clever the first time you hear it anyway.

I suppose these days you could package some ransomware in your MP3's or use your album stream to mine for bitcoins.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I bought a cdr some years ago directly from the label guy. It was encrusted with stuff and he told me later it was asbestos. I'm not sure if that's really what it is.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Guy in work got this a while back:

PROPHECY.DE | Alcest - Le Secret

Strictly limited wooden case (size: 24x16x5 cm) including a replica of the key on the front cover sunk in the top of the case. Content of the case: the limited Digibook CD of "Le Secret", an Alcest metal brooch, real handpicked leaves of ivy and an excerpt of the "Le Secret" lyrics handwritten by Neige. Limited to 500 copies and available for Prophecy club members and in Prophecy's online shop only.

REAL HANDPICKED LEAVES OF IVY

 

[pete]

that @SONYMEGADRIVE took it to another level

Bullets | thumped.com

 

[nooleen]

a replica of the key on the front cover sunk in the top of the case

magic shooooes?

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[Unknown Convict]

i have this

Very interesting packaging for this one - liver of sulphate and urine soaked

great c.d.

 

[oh shit]

neil young and roy harper etc are selling music on vinyl aimed at luxury consumers. these are people who are middle-aged and older who were fans of their music years ago and have in the last few years bought new turntables, having chucked their records out 25 years ago. they have a shitload of disposable income and treat vinyl as a luxury item and the record player as a status symbol. they are the people who will pay £50 for a special edition of a recording they already have on at least 2 other formats.

this is of course also conditioned by the fact that vinyl is a niche product anyway and that it's relatively expensive to press it well, but relatively cheap to chuck in loads of added on 'art' and bits of cardboard, so you can symbolically account for the higher price and then add a fair whack on as pure profit.

I think I have a similar rant/essay on the Spiderland box set thread.

If you're a relatively unknown band or a DIY band or whatever, it's a bit different, actually it's a bit stupid and suggests the record can't speak for itself, so to speak.

 

[nooleen]

neil young and roy harper etc are selling music on vinyl aimed at cunts

fixed

 

[oh shit]

Lots of them name their record players

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

The Jesus Lizard's David Yow Announces Debut Solo LP Tonight You Look Like a Spider | News | Pitchfork

 

[nooleen]

the most interesting one i've come across recently (though i don't have a copy) is the durutti column's debut, whose cover is made out of sandpaper - the idea being it will destroy the other records in your collection.

"Tony got the idea from the Situationists about the sandpaper book, and decided to do some with a sandpaper sleeve. It was Joy Division that stuck the sandpaper onto the card. I was mortified. I didn't really know them. I went to the Factory office, which was one room in Alan Erasmus's house, but I had to walk out. I couldn't bear to join in."

The Quietus | Features | Things I Have Learned | Vini Reilly: Always The Bridesmaid, Never The Bride

 

[therealjohnny]

If you pull the zipper down you can see his package

 

[washingcattle]

feederz did that as well, although it would only destroy your other records if you leave them out of their sleeves in which case they're going to end up fucked anyway

maybe it was a cunning ploy to get people to put records back in the sleeve

I loved this.

Unfortunately the factory where it was made was basically a mequilladora and many of the workers developed cancer.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

The thing about that Feederz one and as far as I can remember that US Maple one is that they were just regular new record price(or only a little more) when they were released. Not like two or three times the price of a new record.

 

[pete]

it looked a lot more like real puke in 1988

Rocket Science: Violence - The Vomit Bag 10" 1988

 

[Jerry Twig]

If you're a relatively unknown band or a DIY band or whatever, it's a bit different, actually it's a bit stupid and suggests the record can't speak for itself, so to speak.

I don't see why great art means that the record can't speak for itself. Surely you can have both? Personally, I think it's great if a band uses the artwork to express themselves as well. (Provided the price is more-or-less the same)

 

[Anthony]

I have a few special edition things that don't fit on the shelf. As a result I rarely see them. Dramatic packaging win?