Design and music are intimately linked like high school lovers locked in a tongue twisting, locker humping embrace. After all the gum swapped in this hot and heavy, long running legacy of merged passion it’s incredible that the possibilities of the blend are still endless. The seven inch record format is the decades long mainstay of punk rock, noise, and indie music because most folks interested in filling the world with these sounds is broke. The relatively low cost of pressing seven inches makes it an ideal way to crystallize explosive tones. Thankfully the resulting records often arise with inspired hand made covers full of glue, grit, imperfect ink and collaged craziness.

If you’ve pined to see a wide survey of the best 7″ embodied mayhem that has been unleashed upon the world over the past few decades you’re in luck. Brian Roettinger, Mike Treff, and Diego Hadis have compiled 300 creative designs into a book called Touchable Sound available now via Sound Screen Design. To celebrate the release of Touchable Sound, Brian graced the dublab studio to share some of the music behind the images. He is not only an incredible designer, grammy-nominated for his packaging of No Age’s album “Nouns” but also a musician and die-hard fan of obscure vinyl releases. The bottom line is you’re in good hands. Tune in and swap spit with these inspiring sounds.