Move Over Vinyl: Listen to the Rolling Stones on the World’s First Concrete Record

Move over vinyl; concrete records are here at last. German engineer Ricardo Kocadag has developed what Thump is reporting to be the world's first functioning concrete record, cut with the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

We've already seen records 3-D printed, laser-cut into wood, pressed into chocolate and etched into a tortilla, The Vinyl Factory points out. A few years back, one Swedish band even released a limited-edition mold for a D.I.Y. ice record that actually plays until it melts.

Alternative Press adds the ashes of a burned Bible, menstrual blood and a cocktail of human hair and urine to the list of strange substances that have been pressed into vinyl records. All things considered, it's pretty incredible that no one has ever thought of making a record out of cement until now.

As Fact Magazine reports, Kocadag created the record using "ultra-high performance concrete" that engineers are developing for use on bridges and high-rise buildings. The point of the project is to demonstrate how precise and fine the new "super-concrete" material is.

The playable slab is about a quarter of an inch thick and works on any regular turntable. While the video below fails to demonstrate its durability, it's safe to assume the record has a longer lifespan than the easily scratchable, meltable and breakable mediums of vinyl and CDs.

Because Kocadag approached the project from an engineer's perspective rather than an audiophile's, the focus of the project is on the materials used rather than the sound quality. That being said, the record sounds decent enough.

Why the developer chose to etch the record with "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and not something more thematically relevant, such as something by Concrete Blonde or any songs titled "Concrete Jungle" remains unclear, but maybe artists will catch on to this medium for cutting records in order to avoid the delays on pressings caused by the vinyl boom.

Listen to the Stones' classic hit on concrete via Electronic Beats, below.

Tags

Vinyl, Vinyl records, The Rolling Stones