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Say what you will about the vinyl resurgence, but artists keep turning to the ancient media format to try out high-tech tricks. The latest in that trend is Donald "Childish Gambino" Glover, Pitchfork notes. When his Awaken, My Love! album from late last year lands at your local record store (or, more likely, an online retailer) on May 19th, it'll come packed with a cardboard VR headset and an app that gives access to live performances recorded in 360-degrees from Glover's "PHAROS Experience." Next week in London, you could even attend a VR screening party for the record if you're so inclined.
The Motown-esque album doesn't come cheap, however. Its twin 45 RPM LPs, glow-in-the-dark cover art and other accoutrements will set you back somewhere around $60 depending on where you buy it.
Most recently, rap duo Run the Jewels released Run the Jewels 3 with an augmented reality component for not only the vinyl version of the record, but all of the group's merchandise. RTJ also toyed with virtual reality in their 360-degree video for the single "Crown."
And for plain old engineering wizardry, look no further than Jack White's Lazaretto record. That Ultra LP features vinyl-only hidden tracks under each side's label, with one playing at 45 RPM and the other 78 RPM. That's in addition to locked groove songs on each side in and a number of other special features.
Meanwhile, the high-tech physical format that sought to replace vinyl in the '80s (the compact disc) continues its death spiral seemingly everywhere outside of Japan. For a preview of what your $60 will get you from Awaken, My Love!, check out the 360-degree video for album opener and lead single "Me and Your Mama" below.