Woob “Return To The City” Keycard Edition unboxing

Last night I came home to a special little package in the mailbox mailed directly to me by Paul Frankland. Frankland is the man behind Woob. He has released an excellent pair of albums as Journeyman with collaborator Colin Waterton, as well as a few other releases as Max & Harvey.

So the latest Woob album, entitled Return To The City, has finally landed in a physical format. Although 24-bit digital files of the album have been available for some time, the physical release was delayed… until now. I must say right off that this is a pretty deluxe package, the most ambitious yet even considering the extra mile Frankland went with 2010’s lovely Repurpose album which also came out in several slightly different editions. With the various release formats of Return To The City, it makes sense to clarify what is what. Posts on the official Woob blog indicate that, aside from the pure digital and keycard editions, a special one-off Mainframe Edition was also released that included an analog monophonic synthesizer called the Monowuub. This uber-deluxe edition is not listed on discogs at the time of writing. Instead the Keycard Edition is listed on discogs as being the Mainframe Edition. This is the version I received.

Strictly limited to 50 copies, only 33 were signed and numbered by Frankland with a silver sharpie. Upon opening I discovered I had received lucky #2! What’s most noteworthy about the Keycard Edition is the inclusion of a few extra goodies, including 4 bonus tracks that were not included in the digital-only release and some additional images and videos. The keycard itself came packed in a nice case with a magnetic clasp. Once you pop the keycard out, you swing the USB connector out to plug it in.

Frankland is really on a roll these last few years with all his projects and many enjoyable releases. Musically, I’d say Return to the City is his strongest effort since the original Woob1194 release. Be sure to check out the Woob Bandcamp pages for further information about other recent releases and singles.

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~ by phonaut on January 26, 2012.