Coffee Table: Thom Yorke Feeling Pulled Apart Vinyl EP Artwork Rant

Earlier this month, Thom Yorke released a brilliant 2-track EP which showcases the first two original tracks he has written since his 2006 LP “Eraser”. In his true nature, both tracks take on personalities of their own and feel a bit different than much of his other work, drawing some fans closer and alienating others. I’ve always liked his unpredictability, however, the focus of this post is to discuss the way he has decided to package and distribute this release.

Flipping through a stack of vinyl at a local Newbury Comics earlier today, the sleeve of the vinyl version of this EP begged for my attention. It’s absolutely stunning in appearance. Everything from the texture of the paper to the sheer minimalism of the design and the die-cut front cover, Yorke has balanced the emphasis on not just good music, but a good package as well. Each track on the 180-gram vinyl gets it’s own side, allowing each to be cut very loud with the grooves getting plenty of real estate for the best sound quality a vinyl record can achieve. 

Although not at all a new or fresh concept, what I’ve liked about Yorke’s approach to selling music is the fact that every channel is used; there are dozens of online shops this EP can be purchased from to make downloading as convenient as possible for the average listener. However he refuses to forget about the collector; the person who is welling to shell out extra money to get their hands on a limited-edition tangible product. Although very much a niche market, with digital at the forefront of musical content distribution it’s always interesting to see the record and it’s packaging being made available as an art form in and of itself, as opposed to just the music.