Nick Splint’s 2012 favorites: The Objects – The Cosmic Clash
This list of my most wanted physical albums released in 2012 veers off into the terrain of music as object. It’s a category most of us make room for on our shelves in the manifestation of a signed copy of this or a colored vinyl copy of that. Some of us even frame our album sleeves or have those limited edition thumb drives released with the digital copy of the album inside. Most of the time this all gets a bit too expensive to obtain, but frankly the resurgence of the physicality of music owes a lot to this hand-numbered and pressed, deluxe box set, limited run mentality.
Really, this is a list of some of my favorite releases that also happen to be my favorite object pieces of the year (and would gladly accept as belated christmas gifts), starting off with reasonably priced and working down the list to the outrageous.
Liquid Swords (The Chess Box) – Genius/GZA
24.95
The two disc box set includes remastered tracks, intrumentals, a 20-page book, and a miniature chess set that fits snugly onto the chessboard transformed from the upturned box’s lid. Considering the albums cover art features a pulpy Wu-Tang battle on a cosmic chessboard and the lyrical references to chess in Liquid Swords this boxset makes an obvious bit of genius itself.
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Don’t Break My Love: A Collection – Nicolas Jaar/CSA Records
40.00
Nicolas Jaar has mixed together a really great compilation here. He could have ended it at that and Don’t Break My Love would still have found its way into my heart and at the top of my pops. But instead of stopping at the music he went further and had the thing put into an tiny aluminum “prism”. Four unmarked buttons and two headphone jacks. That’s it. Small (even smaller than it looks), minimal, industrial-looking. It’s a statement on music presentation and physical experience.
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The African Guitar Box – Mississippi Records
149.99
A five LP limited set of 200 copies housed in a hand-made box made from the salvaged wood remains of Mississippi Records previously demolished building. The music is just fucking beautiful, mostly dry acoustic guitar and simple male vocal recordings collected from Kenya, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Uganda and elsewhere. At five LPs it’s an overwhelming block of music but every bit of it continues on in peace, creating a sense of calm that carries itself easily from side A across to side J.
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Ultimate Box Set – The Residents
100,000.00
Forty years ago this month the ultimate troll band released their first album, 1972’s 45 “Santa Dog”. To commemorate, The Residents are selling what’s being called their Ultimate Box Set. If you’re familiar with this brilliant and strange group of anonymous musicians and performers you’d be right to assume this Ultimate Box Set would in fact be ultimate. Limited to ten copies and with the price tag of 100,000 dollars you can buy this full sized fridge filled with every first-run release since that cold night in ’72. Every record, DVD, CD-ROM and DVD is stuffed into your new 28 cubic ft. fridge along with your very own “genuine” eyeball mask. This is just insane:
THE ULTIMATE BOX SET INFOMERCIAL from The Cryptic Corp on Vimeo.
