Mos Def’s New Album Available In “Dry Clean Only” Format

When I was a kid, I thought that children’s books labeled “educationally sound” were actually supposed to make noise. So you may be more savvy than I when you read about The Music Tee, which the press release claims is “an innovative new T-shirt that literally weds music and fashion by embedding digital music in the shirt.” Embedding in the shirt? Does that mean that someone would be able to command Mos Def’s The Ecstatic–which is being released in the format on July 7–to play merely by feeling me up while I’m wearing one of these enhanced tops? Hot damn! Sadly, the reality of The Music Tee is much more boring, as evidenced by this description of the first item in the collection:

The Original Music Tee, a “mix tape” shirt containing “album art” on the front and a play list on the back, features such up-and-coming artists as The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Alice Russell, Theresa Andersson, WAZ, Magic Arm, Lettie, Passenger, Holmes, Amy Kuney, Charlie Mars, The Silent Years, Mason Proper, Nive Nielsen and Afternoons. Each shirt also has a hang-tag printed with a URL and a unique code allowing the purchaser to download the play list.

Hmph. “Embedding” my butt, that’s more like “packaging with.” Anyway, a preorder page for The Ecstatic isn’t up yet, but judging by the prices of other shirts in the collection, the Music Tee edition of the shirt will set you back somewhere around 60 bucks. (UPDATE: It’ll be $45 $39!) And there isn’t even a built-in graphic equalizer? C’mon, guys! LnA Music Tee [lnaclothing.com]