Tags: letterpress, printing, closed, business, handwork, quality, craft, stories, submissions

I just finished reading David Byrne’s article from the January Wired, called David Byrne’s Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars - In the same issue is David Byrne interviewing Radiohead’s Thom Yorke

These articles don’t really talk about the creative process, or the like, but instead focus on current music business models, and in some cases, the lack of music business models and how record labels and artists are trying to stay afloat, and stay relevant. Actually, the David Byrne piece dovetailed nicely into the mythos of Radiohead’s release of In Rainbows, which you can read more about here…

These two discussions talked about the future of music and music distribution. Both of these artists hypothesized that digital downloads were the way to go, and surely the way that we would be going in the future. After stewing on their thoughts for a week, I realized that the larger implication is that there won’t be any need for physical CDs. They’ll be a liability for record labels, and artists, and dusty relics from a bygone age for the fans - think cassette tapes in 1997. I didn’t and don’t necessarily disagree with their positions. Since allowing IODA to distribute my work, digitally, I get monthly checks from the works being digitally distributed through venues like iTunes, eMusic, etc… and it’s been a real win-win deal. However, in some instances I also offer specially packaged discs. The specially-packaged discs is really the springboard to my point, and what has preceded it has been a preface to my position.

I can’t believe for the life of me that we’ll ever get away from hardcopy CDs. I think that things will take a different turn. I think that packaged CDs could even become a luxury item, but I know they’ll never go away. Yes, it’s true, there are some that it would be nice if they went away like high-gloss 4-color jobs that makes even the crummiest sounding recordings look good. But what about the packaging being connected to the artist and their musical intention. The experience of an artist or a label’s release begins with the first time you pick up one of their CDs, or even just see it on the shelf. That relationship is being formed from the very first time that you begin to experience the visual representation of those sounds. That’s how Sgt. Pepper’s worked, Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers, Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Nirvana’s Nevermind, the list goes on and on. For just a second analyze your experience of those recordings, and now try to compare that experience by seeing 64×64px jpeg show up on your iPod. Somehow, it’s just not the same.

I believe that we’ll see an increase in the creation of specialty and private edition packaging for music. I believe that this will set artists and labels, who are interested in an integrated approach to the music and its presentation, apart from those artists/labels/bands that aren’t intimately involved in their branding and positioning. Independent music has been doing this for decades, they’ll continue to, and I believe that one of the things that will really allow them to harness and achieve a higher level of aesthetic integrity in reduced quantities, because of the proliferation of digital music distributors, are those firms, such as Hand Work, that are willing to focus on short-runs.

The future of music packacing is unique, one-of-a-kind short-run packages that truly represent the artists, bands and labels that produce them, exactly like Evan Bartholomew and Somnia Music’s releases, which were featured last week. The time when we needed to adhere to logistical planning and supply-chain requirements to get into Wal-Mart, or Tower Records has passed. Wal-mart’s never had space for indie music, and likely never will, so we can give up that dream and the plan towards homogenizing our “product” to get on their shelves, and sadly Tower’s closed its doors, as others have, and are sure to as well. Like the passing of any epoch we can lament with sentimentality what came before us, and shaped who we’ve become, but the birth of the new epoch, particularly this one, is filled with hope, possibility, and the chance for the independent artist/label to harness the power of history and move forward with great possibility at our fingertips.

At the Hand Work press, it’s my goal and my vision to be on the front lines of this movement; where artists and labels can take control of their work, utilizing digital means to reach new ears, and also producing limited, hand-crafted private editions to distribute to friends, fans and connoisseurs of quality. Take a look at some of our short-run letterpress packages here, and contact me directly, if you’re looking for something different.

Tags: radiohead, thomyorke, davidbyrne, talking, heads, wired, letterpress, printing, private, edition, cd, music, pacakge, pacakging, handmade, hand-crafted

I’d like to highlight some beautiful work that has recently come across my desk. Anybody who spends any time on this site, or knows my work, knows that I have intense passion for recording and music packaging. In fact, I’ve collected music packaging, making the distinction that it’s not been about the music, for over a decade. Throughout my collecting I’ve come to some conclusions about what I like in music packaging. I like hand work, craft, individuality, nuance, subtlety, and an imperfection that alludes to the touch of human hands. In our current state of mass production automation, especially in printing, getting quality work that embodies these qualities is often difficult. This is especially true in the areas of homemade where haphazard crap is passed off as one-of-a-kind or unique. It’s true that something can be homemade and unique, but also missing the elements of craft, nuance and subtlety. Therefore, it’s a rare opportunity when I come across a package that seems to hit all of these criteria, let alone two.

In this instance, I’m talking about the releases of Evan Bartholomew and his Somnia Sound releases. These releases, Somnia Sound 001: Caverns of Time and Somnia Sound 002: Secret Entries Into Darkness, which I’ve taken to calling just 001 and 002 are a packaging examples par excellence! These packages embody nuance, subtlety, hand work, individuality, and slight enough imperfections to know that these originated from human hands.

Each of these releases is hand-sewn by Ray Massini, Evan’s partner. Each of these releases uses a fold-over style self-assembling package that’s bound by sealing wax. 001 utilized handmade paper from India and a beautiful relief print done with a rubber stamp, same for the text under the flap. Now the execution of the rubber stamp is nothing short of fantastic, but when this is combined with the excellent hand-sewn quality in the Indian paper and the wax sealed flap this is a real beauty. 002 is much like the 001, except that for this run then went with a French Paper mill that has been beautifully offset printed. Again, this one is hand-sewn, and bound with sealing wax.

These two packages are some of the best that I’ve seen in a long time. In my mind these releases herald the return of the handmade, if only as a neo-luddite response to automation and imperfection in every aspect of our daily lives. Ray and Evan collaborated on the package, with Ray focusing on the illustration and sewing and Evan focusing on typography and other aspects. Inspired by labels like 12k, Raster Norton, Fax which do limited copies, and quality packaging, they work to create organic packages that also offer an element of environmental sustainability.

I’m extremely pleased to have the opportunity to experience these release. Not only is the packaging great, fans of ambient music will truly enjoy the dense and organic CD that this excellent packaging houses. Visit them online at http://www.somniasound.com .

Tags: cd, package, evanbartholomew, ambient, packaging, relief, printing, printmaking, handmade, homemade, typography, nativestate, records, music, graphic, graphicdesign

So in a rare act of exploring You Tube I found some more Hatch Videos with Jim Sherraden talking about the letterpress process. This first one is a pretty nice one from a North Carolina television station in 1991, and then a newer one below. Again, Jim’s talking about “preservation through production”. This first video clearly illustrates that even nearly twenty years later Jim doesn’t tire of talking about Hatch, printing, and the letterpress and wood-carving process. Not only is Hatch an institution, Jim’s an institution, as well. The last video here is especially cool, because it really puts Jim in more of a craftsperson, rather than a spokesperson, light. Enjoy.

Tags: Letterpress, printing, vandercook, hatch, jimsherradan, nashvile, oldstyle, antique, print, proof, type, printmaking, MSU, michigan, state, eastlansing, video