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-- EDM CD's and their lazy (or lack of) booklets

EDM CD's and their lazy (or lack of) booklets

I enjoy buying physical CD's more than any other format of music. I like the experience of going to the store, buying the product, and then opening it up and reading the CD booklet and looking at the artwork while I pop the CD into my car stereo. Or when something comes in the mail, finally getting that package...

But why are so many EDM labels/artists so fucking lazy when it comes to booklets? The compilations never have anything outside of song credits. Some of the artist albums have a couple thank you's and nothing else.

The latest two CD's I bought this week:

Onra - Long Distance ($16): no booklet
Black Dog - Music For Real Airports ($18): 4-page booklet with just a picture in the middle

Is it that hard to put some lyrics in the insert? Or a couple pages of creative artwork? Or some thoughts on the album? Anything?

I buy CD's in other genres and every one of them always has lyrics or something in the booklet to make the physical purchase more enjoyable.

The only EDM CD that I've bought that has had a good booklet was Solarstone's Anthology One, where Rich Mowatt wrote an autobiography about the duo and how each song on the two-disc album fit into their careers.

R

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Re: EDM CD's and their lazy (or lack of) booklets

quote:

Originally posted by osterzone I enjoy buying

I stopped reading.

quote:

Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On '

Lovecraftian?

Fhtagn.

the Linear notes in the Balaces series are actually pretty intresting to ready

"i would like to thank my supporters and the kick drum."

what else do you need?

It might not be laziness. Some excellent musicians have trouble saying much about their music. They simply prefer to let it stand on its own.

Aphex Twin is one example. Burial is another.

Also, with rock albums there is an obvious motivation for heftier booklets: most of the songs have lyrics, and often lengthier and more elaborate ones than in dance. But much electronic music has either no lyrics at all, or extremely simple ones that are obvious on a single hearing.

quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles Aphex Twin is one example.

Yes, I adore Richard's outlook. He's such a little fucker, but he's right- band music, performance music, music with lyrics- that's all up for talking about. Electronic music typically says all it needs to say by just being what it is.

And so here we are.

Some nice artwork never goes unappreciated. I do love Ultimae's digipack cases with sixteen page booklets of gorgeous artwork. There's an electronic label that definitely doesn't scrimp on the physical side of things.

Mostly though, it's just materialism. The thrill of purchasing something shiny. Beyond that initial inspection, how often do you actually look at album inlays?

prodigy the fat of the land had a nice one i remember

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Some nice artwork never goes unappreciated. I do love Ultimae's digipack cases with sixteen page booklets of gorgeous artwork. There's an electronic label that definitely doesn't scrimp on the physical side of things. Mostly though, it's just materialism. The thrill of purchasing something shiny. Beyond that initial inspection, how often do you actually look at album inlays?

Not often, but a physical album is a piece of art, and I feel like the "art" aspect has fallen by the wayside. Releasing an album with no booklet or worthy insert is the same to me as giving someone a blank disc with sharpie on it.

some of the best records in my collection are nothing more than a record in a plain white sleeve with the tracks labeled in marker...i guess no art makes them less good right?

quote:

Originally posted by IL Duce some of the best records in my collection are nothing more than a record in a plain white sleeve with the tracks labeled in marker...i guess no art makes them less good right?

I'm not talking about the music. I'm talking about the value in appearance.

i honestly think that you don't know what you are talking about.

quote:

Originally posted by osterzone Not often, but a physical album is a piece of art, and I feel like the "art" aspect has fallen by the wayside. Releasing an album with no booklet or worthy insert is the same to me as giving someone a blank disc with sharpie on it.

I don't think it has "fallen by the wayside" because that implies electronic albums used to have more inlay material. I've got CD albums dating right back to the 80s and there really hasn't been much change in this respect. In the 80s/early 90s CDs were such a novelty that a CD inlay was often filled with ugly black and white text telling you how to take care of them. Back then if you valued the physical package you'd buy the LP with full-sized artwork, not the CD with its tiny 5" cover.

The idea that CD albums are physically valuable is an incredibly temporal and short-lived one, sandwiched between the vinyl era and the digital revolution.

The biggest "art" aspect of the album is the sound that flows into your ears.

Seriously, though, in most cases the album art is not even made by the musicians, and most people will be listening to the music while doing other stuff at their computer, walking with their iPod, or driving down the road, not sitting idly and gazing at the beautiful album booklet. Seems to me there is little reason for a producer to invest much effort in the physical look of an album.

quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles Seriously, though, in most cases the album art is not even made by the musicians, and most people will be listening to the music while doing other stuff at their computer, walking with their iPod, or driving down the road, not sitting idly and gazing at the beautiful album booklet. Seems to me there is little reason for a producer to invest much effort in the physical look of an album.

Sometimes it can add to the atmosphere of the album. The Sabres Of Paradise's album Haunted Dancehall had excerpts from a fictional book of the same name in the inlay that portrayed a wonderfully seedy London underworld, and having those images in your head when listening to the album really added another dimension to it.

But generally, I'd agree. This is dance music, after all, which is designed to be heard in a darkened room with no knowledge of who made it or what it's called, let alone lyric sheets or pretty artwork to plant ideas in your head.

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