CD: Michael Gordon, Timber, Slagwerk Den Haag
Michael Gordon’s piece Timber is a percussion work, played by the dutch ensemble Slagwerk den Haag. The 6 musicians play on instruments called ‘simantras’ (resonant wooden bars modeled on Byzantine church instruments) which resemble planks of ordinary “2 x 4″ and produce amazing deep resonating sounds with rich overtones.
Together with Michael, and Cantaloupe Records in New York, I designed a special edition of the Timber cd, in a wooden box, hotstamped with the design for the cd. I also produced a wood print for the booklet and and discface.
The wood print is also made as a large poster.
Mentions of the packaging for Timber in reviews:
“Music collectors are suckers for creative album packaging, and with Timber, composer Michael Gordon has a winner. It comes entombed in medium-density fiberboard, laser-etched with a starburst of 3-D planks. Thankfully, the Bang on a Can cofounder’s latest is as musically compelling as its mantel-ready wooden case.” – Time Out Chicago, August 10, 2011
“Collectors will be interested to know that physical copies of Timber – as opposed to the download versions – are packaged in very smartly designed, special wooden boxes made out of inch-thick, medium-density fibreboard – a very cool and appropriate presentation.“ – Classics Today, August, 2011
“And then there’s the packaging (by the Cantaloupe label) for Michael Gordon’s new work Timber. The music is nothing more than six guys pounding on two-by-fours (it sounds surprisingly sublime), and the CD comes in a stunning wooden box. Hats off to the small labels who continue to keep music vibrantly alive.” – NPR, July 23, 2011
“Not only is this release musically pleasing, it’s easily one of the coolest packaging designs for a CD we’ve seen in a while. Instead of a jewel case, the CD and liner notes are packed in a wooden box -that weighs about a pound! Seeing performance details carved into the side of a wooden box is much for aesthetically pleasing and, I’d imagine, environmentally friendly, than plastic tray inserts.” –The Signal to Noise Blog, August 11, 2011