Its finally here.. (or is it?) is a post on The Hickensian

“I’m off to liberate my bank balance. See you next week…”

Such brave words I spoke on Tuesday. As Jeremy, Richard and Tom all found out, bankruptcy need not be feared. It would seem that UK Music store is a little understocked with music. That Apple and the Independent labels couldn’t clinch the deal hasn’t helped. After much searching, I did find some back-catalogue Starflyer 59 albums that I wanted, and for that I’m really grateful.

While I love the speed and convenience of downloaded music, I really miss the packaging. I have a fetish for scrutinising liner notes while listening to the album, and enjoying the time put into the booklets design. For the last 2 Radiohead albums, I’ve spent extra to get the special edition cloth bound book versions. Hail to the Thief came with a large map with their trademark random notes, and they feel like special things.

Ideally, as well as the cover art being downloaded into iTunes, you could at least get a pdf of the CD’s booklet. Or am I alone in this compulsive need to know who did mixing desk duties?