Music

Listen to 100 different copies of The White Album played at once

by Tyler Munro

via Dust and Grooves, who did an incredible photo series on Chang and his peculiar collection

When it comes to The White Album, Rutherford Chang has that shit on lock. With more than 700 copies of the iconic Beatles classic in his collection, he’s become somewhat of an authority on the album, running exhibitions in its honour—and by extension his own. His latest move is a different kind of tribute: he’s layered audio from 100 different pressings of the album, all in varying states of condition, and the result is a little disorienting.

It’s only the first side of the album’s first record, but as the warped and scratched versions of the vinyl slowly and subtly shift out of sync, the otherwise recognizable classics become all but unrecognizable in the end. For Beatles fans it’s a new way to listen to the album, an at once sobering and hallucinogenic experience. For record collectors it’s an interesting study on vinyl preservation and deterioration.

For everyone else? It’s mostly kind of annoying, but still worth checking out. Do that below, via Gizmodo.