Record Without a Cover

Record Without a Cover
Studio album by Christian Marclay
Released 1985
Recorded March 1985
Genre Free improvisation
Label Recycled
Christian Marclay chronology

Record Without a Cover
(1985)		 Footsteps
(1989)

Record Without a Cover is an album by artist Christian Marclay. It was released in 1985 by Recycled Records. The album was sold as an LP record with no cover or protective packaging, such that the damage from shipping, storing, and playing the record becomes a part of the work.

Composition

Marclay performing at Hallwalls in 1985

Marclay recorded Record Without a Cover in New York City with a four-track machine.[1] The album opens with the audio artifacts from multiple vinyl records being played. The sound grows louder before Marclay introduces drums and bells. It leads into samples including classical music, a tango, various sound effects, and "Caravan" by Duke Ellington.[2]

Record Without a Cover was sold without any packaging, such that the wear and tear on it gradually transformed the sound of each copy.[3] The record's reverse side is printed with instructions not to "store in a protective package", which gradually becomes less legible as the record is played repeatedly.[4] Marclay wanted to ensure that "you can't ignore the medium", and the evolving sound of the record blurs what he originally recorded and the way in which the record has physically changed.[5] The record's transformation can be interpreted as a form of spontaneous composition, with each copy becoming a distinct performance.[3]

Release and legacy

Record Without a Cover was originally released in 1985 by Recycled Records and distributed through the New Music Distribution Service.[6][7] It sold several thousand copies.[8] The album has since become a collector's item, particularly among vinyl aficionados.[9][10] Japanese label Locus Solus reissued the album in 1999.[6]

The Wire included the album in its list of "100 Records That Set the World on Fire".[11] Tank magazine characterized Record Without a Cover as "one of the most important moments in the history of 20th century sonic art", likening its "conceptual neatness" to John Cage's composition 4′33″.[12] In 2008 Japanese musician Otomo Yoshihide paid homage to the album. For his installation "Without Records", Yoshihide dragged styluses across turntables without any vinyl.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Yeung, Peter (April 19, 2014). "The Weirdest Records of All Time". Vice. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  2. ↑ Smith, RJ (January 1986). "Christian Marclay: Album Without a Cover". Spin 1 (9): 32.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Young, Rob (February 14, 2005). "Don't sleeve me this way". The Guardian. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  4. ↑ Dworkin, Craig (March 2006). "Unheard Music". Western Humanities Review 60 (1).
  5. ↑ Kelly, Caleb (September 2009). Cracked Media: The Sound of Malfunction. MIT Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-262-01314-7.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dworkin, Craig (February 2013). No Medium. MIT Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-262-01870-8.
  7. ↑ Pareles, Jon (November 28, 1985). "Music and the New Technology". The New York Times: C18. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  8. ↑ Chardon, Elisabeth (August 11, 2012). "Christian Marclay, 24 heures chrono" [Christian Marclay, 24 Hours Flat]. Le Temps (in French). Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  9. ↑ Powell, Mike (October 27, 2006). "Eye Art". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  10. ↑ Sherburne, Philip (October 2002). "Christian Marclay". Frieze (70). Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  11. ↑ "100 Records That Set the World on Fire". The Wire (175). September 1998.
  12. ↑ Young, Rob (2004). "Turning Tables: The Vinyl Genius of Christian Marclay". Tank 4 (1).
  13. ↑ Hendrickson, Tad (November 16, 2011). "Christian Marclay and Otomo Yoshihide Clear the Decks". The Village Voice. Retrieved April 29, 2015.

External links