Haven't really heard of this, but it is a fresh new gimmick to add to the already fascinating allure of vinyl records- check this out from a post on Pitchfork.com
"We wouldn't ordinarily advocate scratching your vinyl, but in this case, we'll make an exception. Black Moth Super Rainbow, the convention-thwarting Pennsylvanian bunch responsible for last year's Recommended Dandelion Gum album, have gone and pressed said release into a turntable-ready LP.
Okay nothing so unconventional there, but wait! This isn't just any vinyl we're talking about here. This is, as you may have noticed in the headline, scratch'n'sniff vinyl!! Yes, the friction created by running something coarse (a fingernail, say) across the cover of this record will unleash odors as yet un-smelt by the noses of men! Women, too!
As if this olfactory offering weren't enough, the vinyl version of Dandelion Gum also includes a bonus track not found on the CD, "The Dark Forest Joggers". Both formats are available now via Graveface Records."
If by "fresh" you mean approximately 40 years old, yeah, I suppose this gimmick is new. This was first done many years ago, the first time in the late 60s, I believe. My memory has faded to the extent that I can't remember what the first LP was, but I think it smelled like patchouli.
ReplyDeleteI myself have a 12-inch single from 1975 of the Brothers Johnson's "Strawberry Letter 23" which smells like (naturally) strawberry. It was also on red vinyl. I seem to remember something else around the same time with a vanilla smell. One "problem" with these was that they would smell up anything next to them (unless you put them in a plastic sleeve). If you don't care about adjacent records smelling, then no worry.
And, for what it's worth, it's not really scratch and sniff VINYL. It's the covers! You could just as easily make CD covers or cassette covers or 8-track covers (!) smell the same way. Of course you could actually make vinyl with a scratch and sniff LABEL on it. Now that's never been done, as far as I know...
and by the way, my name is David, NOT david - it's MY name and it's capitalised, and I prefer not to be illiterate online