It's become clear to me as I've been doing these that I've barely scratched the surface of what I have: I daren't count them for the same reason I daren't calculate how much money I've spent on records - I'm scared of the outcome. It seemed likely though that over the course of the 45 pieces the dominant trends of my record-buying would make themselves known. In an early post I talked about how in the seventies, seven inch singles weren't "special" the way that they are now, at least to a faction of the record-buying public. They sold in their thousands to a public to whom the words 'limited edition' aroused nary a flicker of interest. This record then, is the obverse of that. It's modern (2008), limited edition (number 194 of 300)and put together with extreme care. I've added a clip of side one's track, "Sun Without End," side 2's track is similarly ramshackle, but not quite so paranoid. It's a touch quiet, but the distortion you can here is on the record too - it's not a fault in reproduction or in my recording. That's a leaf on the edge of the picture, I sat the laptop in a plantpot to get a view of the deck with the webcam
I mean ramshackle in a positive way, but for all that, there's not much here really, to love or hate. I like it, but without passion. The record-buying subset of mine that this falls into is what I call "airy nothing-folk-records." To me it's all about the packaging (in this instance.) I listen to the record, but what lingers is the experience of taking the record from the box, unwrapping it and putting it on the deck, which is a pleasure I get to experience again, but in reverse, once it's finished.
Now, a quick break for credit, where credit's due. The label, The Great Pop Supplement spend their time putting out beautiful limited edition pieces, and this, at 300, is one of their larger editions. They're a tiny label run from somebody's back room and a good 90% of their releases are 7 inchers, each one handle and presented lovingly. Judging by how quickly their stuff goes, they must be doing something right, so hats off to them.
Maybe you could argue that this fetishisation of vinyl is a bad thing for music, like those people who will frame your record sleeves - the ownership of the physical artefact becomes the important thing, rather than the music itself. If that were the case, then yes it would be, but, in the words of The Long Blondes, you could have both.
I have a lot of singles. Some of them I really like, some of them I once really liked and some of them are and always were mistakes but I've never bought a record just to own it - everything gets played* There are numerous limited edition things for sale that I'm ignoring RIGHT NOW - this one, this one and this one for starters and that's jusrt from the labels that email me. (Although, actually I would like a couple of them...)
Thing is though, the aim is for a fantastic-sounding record presented in a beautiful package that can easily be fawned over. I have a few examples of that and they may well make appearances at some point before we reach 45 #45. This one's here though, in part to illustrate that sometimes the zenith I described is missed. I'm very much into this sort of thing though, and Whysp's myspace cites obscure late-60s folk band Forest as a big influence, which is a winner in my book - I had to take a punt at it.
This leads me on to my final point, something I've not touched upon - exclusivity. I had to have a punt on it right then and there because if I'd hung around it'd be gone. In this case, I'm lucky (in case it goes, there's one for sale here at £8 on Netsounds, 12/12/09) On one level, it's a marketing con/decision (delete as applicable) but on another level it makes sense - small labels don't have the space or the resources to make and stock thousands of the things, and I don't imagine that the market for them is that big. The secret I suppose is making your pressing number just a bit smaller than your market. I admit that I like numbered editions, they feel more personal somehow, unique (after all, I have the only number 194 of these in the world!) and indie. I feel I've rabbitted on rather overmuch though, so I'll leave that one hanging.
*well yes, the exception is my mispressed mono Revolver, but I was given that and I've got another copy of Revolver which I play, and that's 60s vintage, so nyerr
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