A lot of electronic musicians seem to really love releasing limited vinyl these days. It drives fans crazy as they try to complete their collections, and it drives up a band’s popularity. Boards Of Canada did it with a promo record a few years back, and Aphex Twin did it in Texas at the end of last year. But Aphex Twin’s newest limited record has music fans talking, with copies showing up online before his performance even began.
As Pitchfork reports, Richard D. James, the man behind the legendary electronic project that is Aphex Twin, played at London’s Field Day Festival today, and along with it came his first concert livestream, and a new, mysterious record. Of course, fans of his are no stranger to this. At a performance in Texas last year, James released an all-white record featuring only the location and the date of the performance. These copies were subsequently snapped up by eager fans, clamouring for any piece of the electronic legend’s music.
Today though, Aphex Twin released another mysterious record. This time, a record in a sealed green sleeve, inside of a bag bearing the Aphex Twin logo. As Crack reports, all of the records were sold out by 2pm local time.
Most frustratingly though, before Aphex Twin’s performance even began, record flippers had already taken to eBay to sell their copies for as much as £500 ($867 AUD).
So @AphexTwin releases an exclusive 12″ vinyl for Field Day, and yes someone is already selling it for £500 on @eBay Oh dear, oh dear :-( pic.twitter.com/9vha8n9C2Z
— Scanner (@robinrimbaud) June 3, 2017
While this is of course almost expected these days (Record Store Day, anyone?), we really have to wonder about the sort of folks who go to music festivals just to buy exclusive merch, and then sell it for an inflated price. Have a heart, and if you don’t want that piece of rare vinyl, don’t treat it as an investment, leave it for a dedicated to fan to find and treasure.
