blogpost :: by Eden Hemming Rose   comments (10)

at 23 July, 2008 14:44,  seanh said...

I've had this long string of twine sitting in my apartment for the last few months that arrived as part of the Tryst Haunt 7" winter shipment. The string has been saved, despite limited storage space, in anticipation of the day when the 7"s are properly ripped and cataloged (i.e. stuffed in a box), so the package might be restored, with a heavy sigh of relief, to its comforting starting point.

My obsession, I think, is a sort of mournful, exaggerated reaction to the decreasing significance of packaging in this era of lasers, manned space flight and 160kbs AAC mp3s.  

at 23 July, 2008 21:09,  cory said...

I don't really dig on plastic too much, especially when it needs to be tossed. The as is method works much better in the long run, simply in respects to waste, plus there isn't the risk of really damaging your purchase... jewel cases occasionally break, making for hassles later down the road. Plus being that so much of the music I purchase comes in the mail, you get to rip that package open... but then again, I try to save that packaging for reuse, so opening it is a calculated process... man thinking about it, I feel like my Grandma at Christmas... :)  

at 24 July, 2008 16:49,  Fantastic Ego said...

i still haven't opened my copy of the Death Chants cd-r on the Cauliflower Dreams label because it's literally sewn in between two pieces of plastic. I have the files on my computer, i can listen to it anytime i want (and i do, it's a really great release), but i'm not going to want to open something that i won't be able to put back. also, as cory pointed out, lord knows we don't need any more plastic trash floating around.  

at 24 July, 2008 21:31,  brad rose said...

i'm so glad i'm not the only one. i agree with all of this (and i am in the same boat with that death chants CDR, ged - i refuse to rip it open. this is where filesharing comes in superhandy).

i have an uneven universe tape from the NNF fest that i got months ago from tomentosa, but it's in a plastic bag and then stapled shut with a piece of stamped paper. still haven't listened to it, though it's starting to drive me a little crazy since they're one of my fav. bands right now. but i'd rather it be packaged in a way that i didn't have to even make this decision. fuck, i think i may be OCD.  

at 25 July, 2008 10:47,  EHR said...

I wasn't actually thinking of plastic pieces - more like glued paper or the twine seanh mentioned, that kind of thing. I'm not a fan of throw-away plastic either.

But I guess I still lose. ;)  

at 26 July, 2008 07:57,  P. Somniferum said...

I did a lengthy series of releases in the 90's called the Splice Girls. It was the variety of releases (cassette) that you had to destroy to get into, but further than that, most of the recordings themselves were designed to self-destruct when they were played. The tapes were usually treated either with some sort of chemical or weather. Other than the obvious entropic associations, it often gave the listener a new experience of sound every time they listened. Well, for as long as the tapes lasted.

Chop Shop did a lot of destroy-to-listen packaging. Heavy industrial type of stuff that was always attractive.  

at 28 July, 2008 07:35,  Edgar said...

nice poll! i voted and here are my additional cents: while i like the idea of a 'use once and destroy' recording (or something of the like), i probably don't want to drop $$ on something like that, unless the music within is timeless or otherwise superb. because i'm sort of in the same boat as Brad--if i have to destroy it to open it, there'll probably be some heavy dissonance about the event of opening it. i guess something like a sticker/seal isn't so bad--i'll break it to listen to it--but if there's more serious destruction required, it kind of bugs me. i feel like when you pay for a tape, cd or record, you pay for the whole bundle--music, case, packaging, etc. so if you have to destroy one part of it to enjoy another part, it's kind of unsettling. why not just download it & spend your $$ on a t-shirt or something?  

at 28 July, 2008 22:04,  db said...

The MPA theory on this is you should have to open the package for a couple of reasons -- it's meant to be a gift, and it's an assumption of mine that a gift should be wrapped, since having to think about what it is (even if that's just for a few seconds) is key to full appreciation. I also like it because it makes it obvious whether someone has actually listened to it or bought it just to resell on ebay, and I specifically like buying from people who actually listen to things. That said, you should be able to keep everything together, so usually I ship wrapped packages containing handwritten notes, texts, polaroids and other jazz wrapped in some kind of ribbon/cloth/wax package and then place that in a container (a prayer box, a biohazzard bag, whatever fits the theme) so you have to open it, but you don't end up losing everything. I can't imagine doing this for production runs of more than fifty but so far that hasn't been a problem.  

at 08 August, 2008 01:10,  Zully said...

no destroy. always love, respect.  

at 10 August, 2008 15:03,  Greg said...

I like having to break the packaging at least a little bit. It feels like making a commitment to the thing, no going back now sort of thing.  

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