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Best/Worse Unusul Music Release Tactics
So a combination of the CD thread and the recent Indelicates album has got me thinking about the way music is released and whether off the beaten track methods of releasing album/singles etc have been any good or not.
In terms of the Indelicates, they released Diseases of England to pre-orderers in three parts. I can see the idea behind it but for me it just meant that I never really listened to it as it was never the "full album" so I initially felt it had back fired. However when I got the last CD and saw the box to stick all the discs in and the fact that the CD spines matched up to spell the album title I was a bit more enamoured with concept.
So what else has been done? Well Ash did that thing where they released a single every couple of weeks. It was a great gimmick for a couple of months but then I got tired of the drib drab of new songs. Plus them not being in a cohesive album has meant that while there's a few great songs among them I virtually never listen to them apart from on the rare occasions when I listen to music on shuffle.
Then there's that Flaming Lips 4 vinyls simultaneously nonsense, which is ludicrously impractical and daft.
Also daft is bonus cassette's - stupid idea really, not good sound quality and people like me who just about remember the tail end of cassettes enough to have a bit of nostalgia probably don't have access to them now as they certainly weren't going to lug around their parents old cassette deck and have long ago dispensed with their venerable Walkman.
More relevant was Radiohead's pay what you want stunt with In Rainbows, kind of surprised not to see this internet equivalent of an honesty box rear its head a bit more.
SO what else is there out there and which release gimmicks have you enjoyed/hated?
I used to hate it when an album was released, then rereleased a few months later with bonus tracks/better packaging.
UK extreme metal label Peaceville were persistent offenders back in the day. I remember when Dusk... by Cradle of Filth was first released in 96, and came in a smart black book type case. Then, annoying, a couple of months later it was rereleased in an even smarter coffin shaped box. Er, cough, so I'm told.
Vinly-wise, love labels that put in loads of effort (and I don't mean coloured vinyl with a free sticker). Great Pop Supplement always release great packages. Dust To Digital too. They often release CDs as part of a book or collection of photographs. The Take Me To The Water book and CD of immersion baptism songs and photos is a joy to behold.
Billy Childish did a nifty thing with The Spartan Dreggs.
They released three albums but you could only get the third one by sending the record label tokens cut from the sleeves of the first two.
Similar to Ash...
...the Wedding Present did their singles club (a ltd 7" every month for year) back in the early 90s.
Beck's 'Song Reader' release from last year (a book of original lyrics and music) also stands out as being fairly original (ignoring what used to happen in the 1950's).
Bands doing floppy disks was annoying
re: Flaming Lips
are you referring to Zaireeka? I can agree it's a bit impractical, but if you can get all the discs synced, it's a really damn good album.
I was indeed
It's the kind of thing I like the sound of initially and then I stop and think and go, "that's just a little daft that is."
Would like to hear it though.
The vinyl edition of that was just a limited edition RSD release.
The CD edition, while slightly impractical, is fantastic. A wonderful experience with some of the Lips' best songs on it.
Ah right
Didn't realise there was a CD release, that makes a bit more sense.
you should
Its a great record, there are "mixed versions" out there, but im sure it was never officially released mixing the 4 cds together.
Some of the songs were released as stereo mixes later on.
As b-sides to the Soft Bulletin singles. If you can get the Soft Bulletin Companion (CD-Rs put together by the band around the time of Soft Bulletin to promote the album) you'll find them on that.
speaking of the lips
the limited edition usb gummy bear skull was a bit weird
back in the 80's you'd get all sorts of weird things that records came in
i recall one that came in a sealed bag of vomit
cant rememebr who it was by, but why would you do that?
There was a Sonic Boom record...
...(I think - maybe Spectrum) where the transparent sleeve contained an oily liquid. I remember the record store owner saying half the ones that were delivered had split thus leaking the contents...as has mine last time I checked.
Also Duritti Column's sandpaper sleeve on Factory. Supposedly designed to scratch neighbouring records when racked.
Deerhoof brought out a flexi book
http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/deerhoof-breakup-song.html?sef_rewrite=1
Each track was on a separate square cut-out flexi disc record bound in a book. Contemplated it, but ended up not buying it as it as it'd be pretty annoying to actually listen to. Fun little item though.
spiritualized Pill Box concept
was very clever for Ladies and Gentlemen.....right down to consumption instructions
I quite like my Saloon door packaging on Unkles Psyience Fiction....however i was more intrigued to learn not so long ago that that cd has a bonus track at the begining of the cd, as did as heard on radio soulwax part 2...so that was a gimmick that was there for years without me ever knowing....i dont know of any albums out there that did this, but im sure theres more
Really?
I own both those albums and had no idea. I don't even own a CD player these days, which is somewhat telling as to how we tend to consume music via computers more now (my laptop is connected to a proper amp and speakers etc), so the actual physical ability to rewind a CD is lost to me; I've never found a way to listen to or rip a track zero. I managed to track down the track zero Citizen's Band from SFA's Guerrilla a while back but I guess now I'm on the hunt for the zeroes from Psyence Fiction and As Heard...!
your suposed to play the cd for 4 seconds and reverse search scan or whatever you call it.
Unkle was just a mess of sounds and words, i really cant remember, but the 2manydjs was a version of Kylies cant get you out of my head
Who was it who released a cd
That was only one copy , and it was sold in a porche where the cd player had been modified do you couldn't get the cd out?
Merzbow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noisembryo#Merzcar
Well the Flaming Lips album was originally 4 CDs at once
which is still pretty impractical but less so. I think Record Store Day this year is the first time it's been released on vinyl.