Thursday, December 23, 2010
Round album covers in 2010
Something I've really enjoyed this year is the abundance of great new music, both locally (from Australia) and overseas. At some point, it span my head around how many of the albums I was enjoying appeared to be channeling the Zeitgeist with their cover designs, including some of my favourites, such as Cloud Control's superb Bliss Release and Miami Horror's relentlessly danceable Illumination. Here's a small selection:
Line 1 - All India Radio, Cloud Control, Miami Horror, Gyroscope
Line 2 - Custom Kings, Empire & Love, Caribou, Broken Bells
This sample could have included many, many more - everyone from Motorhead to Karnataka, or more embellished circular designs such as The Bag Raiders or The Wilson Pickers. Solo artists also used circles, though in a less direct way - Glenn Richards, Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox, Dan Kelly... And there were also designs that, while round, were less absolute with the form, such as Gypsy & the Cat's Gilgamesh.
As for the music, it was a year where every kind of retro seemed to be referenced, but in inclusive and original ways, with such bands as Tame Impala and Miami Horror distilling their influences to produce thoroughly appealing and original music that held album-length magic. Tame Impala's shimmering psychedelic prog is a great listen (though I must admit the album design reminds me of Al Stewart's Time Passages).
My personal favourite album of the year was undoubtedly Nicholas Roy's In a Shoebox Under the Bed, which is a model of contemporary pop/rock songwriting, full of wit, great hooks and real heart. At points I was even reminded of Kevin Gilbert, which is high praise indeed! Totally recommended - buy it!
And the category of "Girls with birds in the hair" this year is clearly owned by Norwegian black metal band, Kvelertak, for their self-titled album.
Line 2 - Custom Kings, Empire & Love, Caribou, Broken Bells
This sample could have included many, many more - everyone from Motorhead to Karnataka, or more embellished circular designs such as The Bag Raiders or The Wilson Pickers. Solo artists also used circles, though in a less direct way - Glenn Richards, Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox, Dan Kelly... And there were also designs that, while round, were less absolute with the form, such as Gypsy & the Cat's Gilgamesh.
As for the music, it was a year where every kind of retro seemed to be referenced, but in inclusive and original ways, with such bands as Tame Impala and Miami Horror distilling their influences to produce thoroughly appealing and original music that held album-length magic. Tame Impala's shimmering psychedelic prog is a great listen (though I must admit the album design reminds me of Al Stewart's Time Passages).
My personal favourite album of the year was undoubtedly Nicholas Roy's In a Shoebox Under the Bed, which is a model of contemporary pop/rock songwriting, full of wit, great hooks and real heart. At points I was even reminded of Kevin Gilbert, which is high praise indeed! Totally recommended - buy it!
And the category of "Girls with birds in the hair" this year is clearly owned by Norwegian black metal band, Kvelertak, for their self-titled album.
Labels: Girls with birds in their hair album covers, music, Round album covers
Friday, November 21, 2008
Girls With Birds in Their Hair album covers
The reason I haven't done a roundup of animal or bird album covers for a while is that, in the last few years, this concept has exploded to an uncontainable extent. I considered trying to pick favourites - still extremely difficult - or grouping them in categories, ie: "Horses," "Monkeys" or even "Jellyfish." Still basically impossible though! And no, I don't think they're doing it so I'll blog about it here :).
With everyone from Nick Cave (Grinderman) to Mercury Rev to Enya featuring animals on their covers there is seemingly no restriction on genre either, though it's interesting to note where the zeigeist spontaneously occurs simultaneously.
The oddest subgenre of these (as previously noted in another post) is the Girls with Birds in Their Hair theme, evidently still a widespread hairdressing problem, with these being only three of the more aesthetically pleasing examples from the current crop. All fine albums from accomplished artists by the way, so you could do worse than collect on this basis :).
And yes, I owe lots of emails, sorry about that...
Labels: Animal album covers, Bird album covers, Girls with birds in their hair album covers
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Recent bird album covers 2
There are lots of new animal and bird album cover designs around, so I thought I'd kick off this latest run with just birds. A couple are truly iconic images focused on the bird as an image, there are a few hummingbirds and owls, and quite a few with birds more as an incidental, sometimes two-dimensional part of the design.
The first two have a similar feel, in spite of very different intent and music styles. The Clubbers Guide is a favourite - bird as a simple, imaginative device engaged with the concept - as is Andrew Bird's snooty budgie, which captures the witty spark of his music well. As for that Wilco cover, that is pure genius, capturing a mood perfectly in the most stylish way possible - a picture that says so much, both in content and design, and a very powerful image. Those owls on The Terrible Twos are way cute - let me know if you're recording a CD and want a cartoony design along those lines (or even a naturalistic cover illustration) - I'd like to do one.
(Click on pic for closeup - list and short reviews below)
Top rowClubbers Guide to 2007 - Mixed by Kid Kenobi & Goodwill - 38 track latest definitive guide to upcoming dance music Various Artists - The Coodabeen Champions Present Sunday Nightingales - ABC Radio collection of great female vox, from Laura Nyro and Lulu to Beth Orton and Joan as Policewoman The Finches - Human Like a House - Acoustic Folk pop from female fronted San Francisco duo and friends Wilco - Sky Blue Sky - Seventh album sees Tweedy, Stirratt and Co. re-embrace roots influences with a classic rock feel
2nd row Claude Vonstroke - Beware of the Bird - Innovative underground dance music, first album on this label Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha - Third solo album and best yet, which is some achievement (they're all great!) The Hard-Ons - Most People Are A Waste of Time - Return of iconic Sydney pop punk three piece Uncle Ho - Roads to Roma - Broken beats and dub backdrops mash up electic mix of sounds from across the world
3rd row City City City - The Perimeter Motor Show - mostly instrumental with diverse instruments and a jammy, occasionally dissonant sound. I like this a lot! Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males - Drowning in the Fountain of Youth - first full-length from local songwriter, inventive musically and lyrically The Terrible Twos - If You Ever See an Owl - Something different from Matt Pryor (of Get Up Kids) and the New Amsterdams, a cool, hook-laden children's album! Mr. Knightowl - Classics for the Calles - Hardcore gangtsa rap
4th row Rebel Meets Rebel - David Allan Coe (with Pantera) - Witty country metal featuring Dimebag Darrell's guitar Belles Will Ring - Mood Patterns - Chiming and melodic debut recorded in our own Blue Mountains by a rising star band! Einstellung - Wings of Desire - Birmingham four piece debut with hypnotic post-industrial sonic architecture Miguel Miggs - Those Things - All star lineup fronting more organic dance-music approach by deep house DJ producer
I thought about starting a separate category for female artists with birds in their hair, as demonstrated here by Sarah Blasko on What the Sea Wants the Sea Will Have and Emma Tonkin on The Anchor and the Albatross. These capture the vibe and themes of the respective albums perfectly, intelligently incorporating images of the artists themselves and the other elements (I hate albums that just have a boring photo of the artist on the cover).
Last but not least there is Hatebeak, the death metal band from Maryland, whose lead singer is an African grey parrot named Waldo (smart species, the African grey). The cover itself is evidently a tribute to Judas Priest. Waldo records separatelyfrom the band, due to a sensitivity to loud noises, so don't expect a tour. With the CD singles sold out, an album is in the works.
The first two have a similar feel, in spite of very different intent and music styles. The Clubbers Guide is a favourite - bird as a simple, imaginative device engaged with the concept - as is Andrew Bird's snooty budgie, which captures the witty spark of his music well. As for that Wilco cover, that is pure genius, capturing a mood perfectly in the most stylish way possible - a picture that says so much, both in content and design, and a very powerful image. Those owls on The Terrible Twos are way cute - let me know if you're recording a CD and want a cartoony design along those lines (or even a naturalistic cover illustration) - I'd like to do one.
(Click on pic for closeup - list and short reviews below)
Top row
2nd row
3rd row
4th row
I thought about starting a separate category for female artists with birds in their hair, as demonstrated here by Sarah Blasko on What the Sea Wants the Sea Will Have and Emma Tonkin on The Anchor and the Albatross. These capture the vibe and themes of the respective albums perfectly, intelligently incorporating images of the artists themselves and the other elements (I hate albums that just have a boring photo of the artist on the cover).Last but not least there is Hatebeak, the death metal band from Maryland, whose lead singer is an African grey parrot named Waldo (smart species, the African grey). The cover itself is evidently a tribute to Judas Priest. Waldo records separatelyfrom the band, due to a sensitivity to loud noises, so don't expect a tour. With the CD singles sold out, an album is in the works.
Labels: Animal album covers, Bird album covers, Girls with birds in their hair album covers
