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Now this is utterly fascinating:

You can now turn your favourite music downloads into playable records made from materials you have lying around the house. Amanda Ghassaei, 24, from San Francisco has created the world's first laser-cut wooden records using songs from Radiohead and Joy Division. And the software engineer has made the instructions available to download, making it possible to create your own at home.

Ghassaei previously used 3D printers to print records from her MP3 downloads.
She wanted to find a way for people without 3D printers to make their own records, and has designed a way of making records out of paper, acrylic and wood. Ghassaei created a digital waveform file from the MP3 and converted into a PDF. Needles on a record player pick up vibrations based on the shape of the record's surface. The waveform was then cut into the wood using lasers to create the 'shape' of the song.

There are complete instructions on how to pull this off at home at the website, but check out the final product. This is so compelling and hypnotizing:

Radiohead - Idioteque - Laser Cut Wood Record from Amanda Ghassaei on Vimeo.

Which reminds us of this kick-ass Radio Lab segment on "looping" and musical degradation, entitled "Everything and Nothing":

Our lives are filled with loops that hurt us, heal us, make us laugh, and, sometimes, leave us wanting more. This hour, Radiolab investigates the strange things that emerge when something happens, then happens again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and … well, again.

The segment on the recordings of William Basinski starts at min 2:45 and focuses on what happens when looping cassette songs degrade over time.

It's utterly fascinating.

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