Don’t you just love mad stuff and the people who buy it!
Some of these things are mad in a brilliant, innovative and daring way, some are just bonkers. Oh how I’d of loved to have a been a fly on the wall when the C5 was sketched out – why is it aerodynamic?
Where would we be without that small group of people prepared to try, prepared to mix things up to see what happens! Long live those who aren’t scared of failure.
The Synthaxe.
The Sinclair C5.
The Jenson Interceptor.
The Stylophone.
The Instamatic Camera.
The original TV Tennis video Game.
….and of course more recently the brilliant Amstrad Telephone Email machine.
Anyone can imitate or regurgitate, very few innovate. As Sir Freddie Laker is reported to have said ‘The only man who doesn’t make mistakes is the man who doesn’t do anything’.
Anything related to Queens of the Stone Age (fanboyism)
One of my favorite set of posters is from the Queens tour in 2008; a set of four that I purchased from Jacknife Posters (after they sold out at the gig).
Anyway back to the real subject matter of this post. I had previously purchased Melissa Auf Der Maur’s (MAdM’s) self titled album back in 2004 and found it a solid listen. When the new album was announced (Out of Our Minds (OOOM)) my interest had been whetted by the previous album and the album package available at the official site. Temptation proved too much and the wallet was presented to the Mac Book Pro, thereafter it was just the question of the waiting game (AKA delivery).
After a couple of delays in production the vinyl a dispatch date was set; unfortunately this coincided with the Icelandish volcano (Eyjafjallajokull) blowing it’s top and delaying the delivery further. Which was only mildly annoying, so I didn’t report it to the national news (though I was tempted during one whingefest).
The box has a blood red coloured lid, with some “trickles” of blood flowing onto other parts of the box. Opening the box up, the first thing you see is the black T-shirt which is 100% cotton. Yes I really just did put that in bold text. The Blood Healer print on the tshirt looks pretty dam cool (two colour print (red & white)). Next on the list is the tote bag, again 100% cotton with a 2 colour print. The smaller parts of the package such as the bookmark, buttons and sticker are exactly what they are. A bookmark, buttons and a sticker.
Now moving onto the comic book. I’m not a comic book fan in terms of the actual reading of them (Axe Cop excluded), but I do like to have a look at the different art styles and techniques of the artists. In this case there is no writing bar some lyrics on the first page. The comic uses the same prominent red throughout to highlight varying things from a flower to an open wound(!). Jack Forbes style is quite simple from a first look but when you look closer there is a lot of subtle detail in place on every page. I think the comic is a very strong part to the package.
The 7 inch picture disc is a nice slab and plays ‘Out of Minds’ and ‘Lead Horse’ from the album. The design of the disc itself is good but not overly attractive. The LP is a beautiful thing. Now in terms of the quality of the vinyl itself I’m no expert but the bright red colour it’s comprised of just gives off a feeling of – I want to play this!
The Album
I’m not going to go into too much depth here, as my inane ramblings are enough to put someone off music for life. After having a few weeks of listening to the album, I can honestly say it’s a good direction from MAdM’s first and a lot stronger overall. The first album was heavier which I liked (Followed The Waves is a cracking track) but I felt it was a little disjointed with a few too many “skip” tracks.
On OOOM there are songs with catchy hooks (Out of Our Minds, The Key, 1000 Years), a couple of progressive tracks (The Hunt, Lead Horse) and the little gem of Father’s Grave. There’s the usual talky track that a good number of albums seem to contain (This Would Be Paradise) but it doesn’t grate too much (well not yet anyway).The rest of the tracks compliment the album and only ‘This Would Be Paradise’ gets skipped every so often.
Overall it’s a good album (8/10 for those looking for a marker). It’s always a nice surprise when any of the tracks pop up on a random playlist, which for me shows the quality of the output by MAdM.
The Film
To be honest I haven’t watched the film yet, but from the little I’ve seen there’s been a lot of care and attention put into the production.
The End
I’ll let you make your own mind up as to whether the package is worth buying.
While I’m here (shameless self promotion following) Rosslyn Digital’s sister company Rosslyn Promotions can supply promotional merchandise that includes tote bags and t-shirts.
Update
As per my initial thoughts I received the following from the OOOM mailing list:
This is Melissa. It has come to my attention that Vinyl has not been shipped in sufficient packaging and some of you have already received, or may receive damaged records.
I sincerely apologize to anyone who gets damaged OOOM and of course I’ll send you another Vinyl if yours is broken.
To let us know if you got broken vinyl, please find the receipt from your purchase in your email and then forward that onto merch@phi-montreal.com and put “BROKENVINYL” in the subject line.
If you can’t find your receipt, no worries, just reply to this email. We’ll still need to find you in the system so please use the email you purchased with and give us the first / last name on your credit card or your pay pal email address of purchase.
Thank you for your understanding, patience and support. The little OOOM engine that could, will get it right – I promise! Thanks for Reaching for it…
xMAdMx P.S. Little treat to try and make up for this inconvenience is …. MP3 Download of “ISIS SPEAKS” Live & Intimate from Volcano Show in Finland!
Here’s a few points to consider when planning your next web site.
Your web site maybe creating the ‘first impression’ of your business.
Think about it, would you answer the phone ‘no, go away!’? Exactly!
Would you put up a neon sign next to the M1 saying ‘its easier to get a quote from our competitors who are [...]
