Stopping by Rough Trade East yesterday was a poignant reminder of one of those long-time interests tickling the back of my brain: how to represent the messiness of music online. The posters, vinyl, Tshirts, stickers etc. in a way that isn’t just stimulating to look at but also useful as an interface. The Paul’s Boutique 20th Anniversary website (which launched earlier this month) comes close.

The obvious design challenge is how to make the mess not completely overwhelming in a flat space the size of my screen. (We’re not in a record shop, after all). The dial not only achieves this (being set to low on page load) but also makes the mess discoverable. Cool. I only wish the interactivity of the individual elements were treated with as much elegance.

Man, 20 years later this album still totally kills it. Listen to the whole thing here.