Coming off the back of SowingSeason’s excellent ‘Let’s Get Physical’ series, I thought I’d commandeer it for a little bit and add a few additions of my own to the Sput collection – largely because collecting physical media is something I’m very passionate about, but also because I want to highlight to people who aren’t all that familiar with CDs, vinyl and other forms of great merchandise, just how creative and interesting they can be. I come from an ancient era where you had to walk around to your local retailer and pay £10-£20 for the album you desired most. As you can imagine, after meeting the archaic prerequisites, you’re compelled to wear the hell out of the CD you just bought, simply because of the effort and funds that went into attaining the record. As Sowing has touched upon in previous segments; consumption of music in 2023 is done so with relative indifference, as music enthusiasts are afforded the luxury of gorging on dozens of new albums a week for free, or for a small fee a month. And while I am as guilty as the next person for doing this, I make a concerted effort to support the artists I like by buying a CD, record, T-shirt or whatever it may be – partly because it helps the artist/band out, but also because there is no greater feeling than owning the physical release. Holding the artwork and putting on the album is a wonderful experience in itself, but I have a penchant for scoping out esoteric physical releases, because I love it when an artist expresses themselves beyond the realms of writing music. As such, I’ve amassed some interesting things over the years and hope to show you guys some of my favourites, in my version of this series.

For this edition, I’m going to go in gently and blend some interesting editions I have, along with some conventionally standard physical releases that have some personal significance.

 

(1) Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis (2010) Boxset

I thought I’d start off strong with one of the most interesting physical releases I’ve ever seen. At the time, I managed to snag this artefact for a modest £20, and the level of thought that went into it is simply astounding. This sturdy box has a plethora of goodies, nestled inside its many facets. The box has the usual banal trinkets such as pin badges, a beanie hat, flag and luggage tag, but the box distinguishes itself with a multi-faced box with multiple windows to open up, revealing more excellent pieces of artwork. There’s also a few unique pieces included here as well – including a flipbook for the music video “Farewell, Mona Lisa”, a TV switch that can turn off any Television, and a CD that has the face of the album’s disc turned into a vinyl record, that actually plays the LP’s bonus tracks. Out of all the special editions I’ve ever seen or bought over the years, this is one of the most interesting.

(2) Till Lindemann – Zunge (2023) Fan boxset

When this was first announced I purchased it immediately, simply because of its unique design. Zunge translates to tongue, so it seems only appropriate this unique edition for Till’s new album comes in a cushy pillow, presented as a slab of succulent meat, housed inside a butcher’s styled meat package. Unfortunately, this package is a one and done job, so if I tear open the meat container to get to the CD, which is encased inside the meat pillow, I won’t be able to seal it back up. Nevertheless, this type of special edition is extremely desirable for me because of its striking presentation, inimitable artistry, and Till-centred humour; as such, it makes this one of my favourite physical releases to come out in a long time.

(3) Godflesh – Post Self (2017) Signed

This is just a bog-standard CD – housed inside a digipak (that is framed, with gravity taking hold as the plastic CD holder inside the case slopes down) – I bought upon release. However, the significance here is I got it signed by the Brummie legends at one of their gigs. I’ve only ever seen the band once and it wasn’t in a conventional venue. No, I was fortunate enough to catch them just outside of my home town in a literal wooden shack with a capacity of about 150 people. When I found out about this gig, I was shell-shocked that the band were playing in such a place in the middle of the woods. As you can imagine, I asked Justin why he was playing in such an unorthodox environment; his response was that they come up to the Lake District for holidays all the time, so this particular gig was a stop-gap for getting to their destination. For a band as legendary as Godflesh – masters who have crafted some of the most despondent music of all-time – it was somewhat bizarre, albeit very wholesome, seeing the duo chilling in a small field with their families and dogs, sipping tea from their flasks, enjoying everyone’s company and soaking in the sun. When I anxiously approached Justin and Ben to sign my CD, my worries were immediately dissolved by their affable and welcoming dispositions. After talking to them for a little bit, I then had the privilege of seeing Godflesh crush that tiny wood shack to splinters with their iconic industrial racket.

(4) HEALTH – HEALTH/Elphaba 7” split (2005) Signed

Like the Post Self album, I brought this 7” split to their Slaves of Fear tour back in 2019. The split itself is fairly common these days and pretty cheap, but back in the day this record was quite difficult to acquire. I managed to find one and took it to get signed out of all the other pieces of HEALTH merch, because it’s the first release they ever put out – released way back in 2005. John was quite surprised and amused when I initially pulled it out, because it clearly had some nostalgic connotations. However, the main reason it makes this blog is because the actual gig was fantastic – being inside a small pub-type venue, I camped myself under one of the venue’s speakers, right at the front of the stage, soaking in all of the band’s biggest hits, and a large portion of the band’s exceptional forth record, Vol.4 :: Slaves of fear.