Here’s the first images of the forthcoming Amon Tobin box set, both open and closed, designed by Oscar & Ewan, and based on a flower press. Released on 21st May, it contains 6 x 10″ vinyl, 7 x CD, 2 x DVD and several posters – you can pre-order it here at an early bird price.
My good friend Aaron Thomason aka 2econd Class Citizen will release his 2nd album in early May this year, I’m lucky enough to have heard it in many stages of production and he’s outdone himself this time. To head off the promotion and campaign, Equinox Records have cooked up a treat for 25 lucky people.
“Perception / Identity”, the second postcard package on the label, includes two beautiful vinyl postcards – designed by the American illustrator toobz – and features two new exclusive songs which will give you a preview of what you can expect to hear on his album “The Small Minority”. The set goes on sale tomorrow (Friday Feb 24th) from the Equinox shop – be quick!
The limited CD / Book / flexi disc edition of The Search Engine is highlighted on the Creative Review blog. You can still get a copy from the Ninjashop but I’m told they are running low on stock.
Nice piece by David Hine (The Bulletproof Coffin, Batman, Spawn, Strange Embrace) on his Waiting For Trade blog – great that some of the keen-eyed comic community is picking up on the record thanks to Henry’s involvement – thanks David 
New Demdike Stare release – ‘Elemental’ on Modern Love. The package is a quadruple sleeve with two gatefold sleeves glued into each other, designed by Andy Votel. The first two 12″s of four are included on orange and purple vinyl.
There’s a podcast based on the release too:
Demdike Stare – Irrational Advice by modernlove
1-3 – Camberwell Green, 4-5 – Liverpool lights, Loka live, 6-12 – killing time in the air
And here it is! After at least 18 months since I supplied a quote to Noah Uman for his reissue of ‘The Medium Is The Massage’ celebrating 100 years of McLuhan‘s record of the book, it finally dropped through the letterbox this morning. It’s gorgeous, full deluxe mini LP style CD sleeve, 40 pg booklet and all in the style of the original (check my copies of the LP and books below).
I’m sharing page space with some pretty esteemed commentators too: Warhol, Woody Allen, Steinski, Don Joyce, Jello Biafra, DJ Spooky… The CD is out on Five Day Weekend (who also have releases from Edan, Mr Chop and the ’80 Blocks From Tiffanys’ DVD) on December the 12th. Well worth it, a unique record, history, literature, social commentary, cut and paste and comedy all rolled into one.
The Audio Janitor ’Composition 11 – audio roulette for three turntables’, triple vinyl and insert in plastic folder, Liquid Sky Music, 1999, record store find, London.
The set contains three copies of the same record, a compilation of sounds, beats, spoken word and atmospheres, to be played simultaneously with effects by dropping the needle anywhere on any side for 10-20 minutes. The Audio Janitor is a pseudonym of DJ Olive and this is no.3 of 333 copies.
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Equinox Records out of Berlin have been around for a while and they currently have a sale on in their shop so I recently hoovered up some bits I fancied. The packaging and design aesthetic of the label is very strong, being overseen by the label head Gunter Stoppel aka DJ Scientist. There is a look of unbleached card, circular designs, B&W inner sleeve photography and a multitude of formats including colour and clear vinyl, 5″ and postcard records, cassettes and other oddities. It’s a varied roster, mainly concentrating on instrumental beats and electronica with a heavy leaning toward Hip Hop and sampling. Of course I would be first to recommend 2econd Class Citizen but the new David Vangel album is excellent as are releases by Davinci and Deckard amongst others.
I can’t say enough good things about the bags and DJ equipment that German company Magma makes. DK and I have been using them for a while now and they have the suss to tailor some of their kit to exactly fit the airline baggage size restrictions which mean we can take these onboard when we fly because they fit in overhead lockers. Check out their new catalogue, they pretty much have a bag for every need and they are all customisable with pull out compartments. They also make laptop stands, covers and sleeves, headphone and needle bags and more.
Some very beautiful CD packaging was recently sent to me from the RX:TX label in Ljubijana, Slovenia. It’s a tri-panel CD pack with die-cut windows that show through various layers of card to reveal parts of the CD disc inside as the only colour.
The CD disc is designed so that it can be viewed either regular or upside down and the titles still readable. Depending on which way up you have the disc it changes the colours viewed through the windows on the other panels.
Remember this a few weeks back? Well, they are available to order now if you send a ten pound note in an envelope to:
Matty Skylab c/o The Bootstrap Company, The Print House, 18 Ashwin Street, London, E8 3DL.
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They are also asking people to include with their order anything related to The Night Sky – Space, Planets, UFO’s, Space travel etc for a mail art project.