06 February 2010

what we learned from "In Rainbows"



The new massive attack album is available for pre-sale. The vinly edition costs £ 30.00!! that's over fifty dollars for us americans. You can pre-order 'Heligoland' at thevinylfactory.com where you can also buy ridiculously expensive records by air, monkey, xx and hot chip to name a few.

taking a page from Radiohead, Massive Attack as decided to only offer this one vinyl edition. No $12.99 100gram disc in traditional jacket, and why? because vinyl enthusiasts are much more into the hobby of collecting than mp3 hoarders. It's not only important for us to have a physical copy, but we specifically want that limited edition collectible - 180gram - foil printed - gate fold, with an additional 12" and free download... (whether we can afford it or not.)

and that's the problem, sometimes we cant. $50 bones is whole lotta paper to be dropping on a brand new record. And it's a little frustrating they don't have a more afordable vinyl option. After all a good record player only costs $100. To put things in pespective, letting go of fifty bones for a record is sort of like spending $5,000 to fill up your car, but it comes with a free car wash.

At least at the end of the day Radiohead did release a simple and affordable copy of 'In Rainbows,' though i had already emptied the coffers for the limited edition version which is stored (entombed in plastic) and rarely, if ever, sees the light of day. I like special editions, but i also like dj'ing and podcasting. Do you think i'm going to bring a fifty dollar record to the club? Hell no! And yet, i hardley ever spin cds, and i never spin mp3's, so basically, while Massive Attack has offered a beautiful and collectible presentation of their latest sonic offerings, they have done so at a price point which will cause it's exclusion from my set, which (podcast and dj sets combined) prevents a couple thousand people a month from hearing the music.

here's my suggestion, if you are going to sell me a fifty dollar record for my collection, can you include a cheappy disc i can play out, with out fear of capitol losses?

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