Touchable Sound At First Sight

DATE: 9/27/2010 | BY THE D.A.P. STAFF

In an era that advocates streamlined product and music at the click of a mouse, Touchable Sound celebrates those independent-spirited bands and musicians who make their own records, relishing the opportunity to produce labor-intensive one-off artifacts with no prospect of remuneration. As Henry H. Owings puts it in his introduction, it is a book that "honors those that invest countless hours to further their art... It's about having an attention to detail and a disinterest in the bottom line."

Curated by Brian Roettinger, Michael Treff and Diego Hadis, and organized by region across the U.S., Touchable Sound focuses on rare, labor-intensive, exquisite and unique examples of American seven-inch record design spanning nearly 25 years, lovingly documenting the obscure and the hard-to-find with the help of musicians, artists and designers. Many of these records--by bands such as Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, Chromatics, Fast Forward, Nuzzle, Gogogo Airheart, Young Ginns, Men's Recovery Project, Angel Hair, Universal Order--have never previously been seen by a wide audience and were originally pressed in extremely limited runs. Editorial contributors include Henry Owings (Drug Racer Records, Chunklet magazine), Sam McPheeters (Vermiform Records), Tom Hazelmyer (Amphetamine Reptile Records), Kristin Thompson (Simple Machines Records) and more. Designed by Brian Roettinger, the book contains photographs of every record documented.