VWMusic

All images courtesy of Koeppel Design

By Anthony Montalbano
anthony17882001@gmail.com

We recently got a hold of Koeppel Design’s catalog cards for vinyl records and had some time to sit down and use these thick cardstock placards as well as the record placeholder. But first, a bit about Koeppel Design.

Based out of San Francisco, California, founder Kate Koeppel had an image for simplistic but stylish and high-quality vinyl record accouterment. Founded in 2013, Koeppel Design provides products for vinyl lovers by vinyl lovers ranging from denim and canvas record tote bags to LP “now spinning” blocks to dividers and bookends!

Today, we’re here for the catalog cards and placeholders. Simple and elegantly designed, this European Birch placeholder is great for keeping your spot where your current record came out of, marking favorite records, or used in conjunction with the catalog cards like I did to mark a section I wanted to catalog first. With cataloging in mind, this takes us to the archival quality thick cardstock catalog cards.

These 4×4 inch cards offer to place all information you could ever need right at your fingertips. A physical “Discogs,” if you will, that you can customize with your own personal information. Each two-sided card has places for artist, album, weight, color, RPM, and “other,” release year, country of origin, purchase location, price, date, standout tracks + thoughts on one side. And there’s more Discogs-style information on the other such as label and catalog number, genre, grading for the sleeve, and record itself.

All images courtesy of Koeppel Design

Included with the bundle of cards is a fast-drying, fine-tip pen that is water and fade-proof and won’t bleed through, so no worries on getting ink on your sleeves, which was honestly the first thing I worried about.

My personal experience with these cards: I took a liking to the standout tracks, purchase location, and notes section. I had wanted a way to record where and when I had purchased my records, especially if it was somewhere with a special memory, such as my copy of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds: Who Built the Moon? that I had acquired at my first show not only in New York City but at Radio City Music Hall, first time riding in a limo with a bunch of great friends.

Other notes include albums great for after a breakup, something just fun to listen to any time, things to listen to when you’re sad, mad, angry, upset, and any other myriad of emotions or to invoke other memories or emotions.

The card catalog is a great way to get closer to your collection on a deeper, more personal level and adds another level of collecting on top of just Discogs. Going through my collection to add cards to records I have either forgotten or didn’t know I had was a great way to re-discover music and play the music that I haven’t listened to in a long time.

All in all, the process is cathartic and can be quite meditative and even a way to learn new things about your records you may not have known.

All images courtesy of Koeppel Design

– Anthony Montalbano is a contributor for www.vwmusicrocks.com and may be reached at anthony17882001@gmail.com