Arigato

I know this is a kind of backwards way of doing things but I've just ordered some CD packaging. You would have thought it would be better to write and record some songs first.

I've ordered 50 Arigato Paks from Portland-based Stumptown Printers. I found Stumptown when I got the Blankets soundtrack by Tracker, another Portland outfit. I don't want to bang on about the Portland connections, but this soundtrack was for the beautiful comic novel Blankets, by Portland-based Craig Thompson.

The Arigato Paks are gorgeous, self-assembly CD packs made of thick, recycled card. There's a window at the front so that you can insert your own artwork on a slip of paper. I went to a Laura Gibson (Portland-based singer/songwriter) gig in Brighton and she was selling a little EP of covers that she'd done, called Six White Horses, sold in these Arigato Paks.

Anyway, my idea is that I'll write and record a CD of songs to put in these packs. It feels like the right thing to do to buy Portland packaging. Not least because the packaging looks and feels so God-damn good!

Maybe I should do the whole thing backwards... I could finish this blog first, then perform the gig, fly to Portland, record the songs and finally write them.