Another new category launches in Jukebox Heart: PKG. It’s all about the Packaging…
This category celebrates the adventurous musicians who not only take brave steps in their avant-garde music, but who also believe the presentation is as much at stake as the music. This particular category is one of my favorites, because I’ve often purchased records solely for the packaging. The most successful, of course, succeed on all fronts.
Kicking off this category is a very obscure seven-inch single by Clubhouse. The name of the track you are hearing is “Architecture of Noise”.
A brilliant packaging concept whose work can only be that of a trained industrial designer. First, the music is harsh, abrasive, noisey, engaging and full-spectrum – all the hallmarks of an experienced noise composer.
The record ships flat, like any other 7-inch single, and fits nicely in a polyurethane sleeve. But in order to play the record, its jacket, a small portion of which is glued to the center of one side, must be unfolded and bound up in a three-dimensional diamond shaped origami-inspired obelisk – see the photo above. The cardboard shape is sharply sloped and allows most tonearms to play the record through to completion. My headshell, however, kind of nicks the edge over the last several grooves. This is a brilliant idea in packaging.
