Archive release

The Emperor's New Music

Gerry And The Holograms · 2016 · Vinyl-7-Inch · GB · CACHE017

Reissue by Finders Keepers Records for Record Store Day, 2016. Given away for free at selected record stores. Reproduction sleeve hand-stitched together on all sides, with record glued inside. 100 numbered copies. Finders Keepers press notes: Possibly the rarest and most confusing art-house non-record remnant from the post-punk/DIY era recreated to coincide with the delayed liberation of the forthcoming lost Gerry And The Holograms LP. Direct from imaginary 1979 anti-masters Finders Keepers latest tangible antic is landing inconspicuously within the racks of the people who care most this Record Store Day. Championed by Frank Zappa as his favourite new band on release and Rivalling Durutti Colums famed sandpaper sleeve for its situationist zeal this second release by masked electronic pantomime punks Gerry And The Holograms was not even an audible record rather an unplayable disc encapsulated in glue under the name The Emperor’s New Music. Refabricated and further “stitched-up” for everybody’s safety, this limited re-enactment comes in a tidy run of 100 replicants, even rarer than the original article (which now commands upto 150 quid in pricey punk/KBD circles). In an era where people frame vinyl records to decorate their walls The Emperor’s New Music and it’s holographic dissidents yet again predict our future from their 1979 capsule. How many other records will evade the evil needle? "A conceptual and unplayable anti-record. Each record was pasted with glue to the inside of the picture sleeve. Two variations of the sleeve exist: with or without the Rough Trade logo. In 1980 a few copies came in a third sleeve variation which was credited to "The Charlie Parkas". Absurd Records label boss (Lawrence Beedle) in quoted as saying "It took the best part of a week to paint and glue them into the bags". The numbers made are unknown but around 500 is the most likely number. The music itself does not actually exist - rather the records were actually unsold singles from Rabid Records' catalog but with a paste-on Gerry & The Holograms label on one side to fool the buyer that the record actually exists."