A List of the Weirdest Records Ever Made
Who says that a record must contain music? Formats like vinyl, tape and CD are merely storage devices for sound. And while there are standards about how sound should be preserved on these formats, there’s room for, er, interpretation.
Take this article from FACT which offers up this list of “conceptual” releases, none of which are coming soon to a radio near you.
When you’re finished this list–and features real recordings–go here for even more weirdness.
TOP 10 CONCEPTUAL VINYL
1. Roger Miller – Pop Record/Evolving (RRR 1985, re-released 1998 as a 7 inch) – Side A consists entirely of record noise, pops, scratches, etc., which eventually wear away (from playing) and are replaced by completely new record noise: a constantly evolving record. Side B consists of 4 bars from a Bach fugue, inscribed directly into the vinyl.
2. Laurence Lane – Bip C/W Bip vinyl with barcodes.
3. Evil Moisture/Cock Esp – Monsters of Cock (released on twelve different labels simultaneously): 381 songs on 5” vinyl.
4. Christian Marclay – Brown Vinyl 7” – The sound of the artist’s farts.
5. Janek Shaefer – Recorded Delivery (Hot Air) – A voice activated Dictaphone on its way through the postal system
6. Jonty Semper – Kentaphion – A field recording of the one minutes silence at princess Diana’s funeral.
7. The Beach Boys – Good Vibrations (Hot Air) – ‘Good Vibrations’ pressed at 1rpm.
8. Mainpal – Sound engineer for advertising agency does high concept picture disc and sound file plagiarism.
9. Pan Sonic – Arctic Rangers (Blast First, 1998)- Designed like a toy soldiers pack. Inside, beats on one disc, tones on the other.
10. Nomex – A Moment In Eternity (Adverse) Run-out grooves-nothing so descriptive as a date on this one.
