IDM Mailing Archive

quoted 3 lines thank you!

>thank you! >that's all i've ever thought that blech meant. why does it have to mean >anything more? look at the cover! how deep could it be?

My God, man. I cannot believe you can put a piece of work like the Blech cover down. That is one of the single most well designed and wonderful inlays of any CD. Learn what good layout is, for Pete's sake. :) It's ok.. to each his own, I suppose. Shane

quoted 3 lines My God, man. I cannot believe you can put a piece of work like the Blech

>My God, man. I cannot believe you can put a piece of work like the Blech >cover down. That is one of the single most well designed and wonderful >inlays of any CD. Learn what good layout is, for Pete's sake. :)

To me, a good layout must be functional. The Blech CD cover art has a virtually unreadable tracklist, which means it loses lots of points with me (as do 'Chiastic Slide' and Kenny Larkin's 'Metaphor,' two other nice-looking DR covers that sacrifice content on the altar of form). C. -- Chris.Hilker (cspot@hyperreal.org) "Sex is the darndest nougat murder, something something e-mail something something la la la la beable beable trousers and dingaling nougat..."

Excerpts from mail: 29-Oct-97 Re: (idm) german 'blech' by "Chris.Hilker"@hyperreal

quoted 5 lines To me, a good layout must be functional. The Blech CD cover art has a

> To me, a good layout must be functional. The Blech CD cover art has a > virtually unreadable tracklist, which means it loses lots of points > with me (as do 'Chiastic Slide' and Kenny Larkin's 'Metaphor,' two > other nice-looking DR covers that sacrifice content on the altar of > form).

Your response leads me to ask one simple question: What's the point of a tracklisting anyway, other than to refer the track by name to someone else? Tracknames are so trivial these days. Especially for a band like Autechre, does it make such a huge difference? Aaron np: kumo (airbag)

quoted 4 lines Your response leads me to ask one simple question: What's the point of a

>Your response leads me to ask one simple question: What's the point of a >tracklisting anyway, other than to refer the track by name to someone >else? Tracknames are so trivial these days. Especially for a band like >Autechre, does it make such a huge difference?

In the case of Autechre, yes, track titles don't make a big difference, since theirs tend to seem fairly arbitrary. But in other cases, titles can illuminate the intentions and meaning behind a track. Case in point: Orbital's 'In Sides.' The emotional content in "Adnan's" carries more weight (for me, at least) in light of the fact that the title is the name of a young victim of the Bosnian civil war. It puts that heartbreaking, keening synth line that runs through much of the song in perspective. Similarly, "Dwr Budr" is Welsh for "dirty water," which suggests that on one level, that track refers to a then-recent oil spill off the coast of Wales. To me, the track presents the spill from the point of view of a sea creature, as a clouding over of one's surroundings, like a grimy fog. It's really a shame that some artists don't put more thought into what they choose to call their tracks, but I hope I've shown that titles at least have the potential to offer more than simple identification. C. -- Chris.Hilker (cspot@hyperreal.org) "Sex is the darndest nougat murder, something something e-mail something something la la la la beable beable trousers and dingaling nougat..."

How 'bout the Andrea Parker - Melodius Thunk CDS? Brilliant dark red letters on a dark green background make your eyes do some crazy stuff while trying to focus on reading them. You have to use a bright white spotlight to read the info on that thing (or maybe a black light, as I haven't tried that). Irene McC wrote:

quoted 9 lines On 29 Oct 97, Chris.Hilker wrote: Re: (idm) german 'blech':

> On 29 Oct 97, Chris.Hilker wrote: Re: (idm) german 'blech': > > > To me, a good layout must be functional. The Blech CD cover art > > has a virtually unreadable tracklist, [...] as do 'Chiastic Slide' > > [...] that sacrifice content on the altar of form). > > ABSOLUTELY !!! Tri Rep was 'minimal' but at least if you look > closely, it's all there somewhere. But Chiastic Slide is just > contrived and doesn't even look good, *IMO*.

I like quality cover art, but I feel it should go hand in hand with readable tracks titles/production/writer info. If one is going to make these so hard to read, then don't include it at all. Many pieces of my vinyl collection have nothing but the artists name on it (if that!). How bout those MLO white labels?

quoted 1 line And don't even start on SAW 2 :-)

> And don't even start on SAW 2 :-)

Boy, I've spent many-a-time spliffing back and pondering the images on this baby while its playing. Aaaah, the good ole days =;-) L8r, Kev. ------ FreyGuy <Everyday is FreyDay> Network & Lotus Notes Administrator Hansen Corporation / A Minebea Group Company *KevFrey@evansville.net kfrey@hansen-motor.com WebSite: http://www.evansville.net/~kevfrey/ Rule #8 from Horror Movie Character Survival Guide: "As a general rule, do NOT solve puzzles that open the portals to Hell."