October 2011
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ALBUM ARTWORK: JAY-Z AND KANYE WEST - WATCH THE...
Watch The Throne’s cover could be the first link between couture and rap. Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy was appointed to design the artwork for the album collaboration between Kanye West and Jay-Z. When first approached to tackle the album cover, Tisci admitted to having some doubt and and said that he wasn’t ready:
“When they first asked me, I was really scared. And then, we began...
September 2011
3 posts
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ALBUM ARTWORK: THE DRUMS - PORTAMENTO
Portamento’s cover art is a childhood snap of singer Jonathan Pierce, showing the youngster with devilishly bad case of camera red-eye standing in front of a green wallpaper as a smiling older woman looks on; a crucifix hangs behind Pierce on the wall.
The first track from the album is titled “Book of Revelation” and comes as a reaction to the religious indoctrination Pierce...
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ALBUM ARTWORK: JOY DIVISION - PLUS MINUS (+-)
On the 20th Anniversary of Ian Curtis’ death, record label Rhyno issued a limited edition package with some of the most famous Joy Division songs.
The picture on the cover is a monochrome inverted version of stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The original picture belongs to NASA and was part of a 2005 new release:
“Why Plus Minus (+-)?” You might ask yourself. In 1988,...
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ALMBUM ARTWORK: AUTRE NE VEUT - BODY EP
Yes, the cover above is what you think it is: a close-up of a female sex organ. Attention-grabbing, this artwork is a metaphore for the music of this New York based artist. Asked in an interview, how did the cover came about, he responded:
Autre Ne Veut: The theme of ‘Body’ is just that: corporeal expressions of our visceral experiences. The cover art was created by Alex Gitman as the result of...
August 2011
1 post
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ALBUM ARTWORK: WASHED OUT - WITHIN AND WITHOUT
Washed Out’s debut album, Within And Without has a very eye-catching cover. The image was also used in June’s issue of Cosmopolitan accompanying an article titled “Is this the most satisfying sex position?”. You can check the image in its other form below:
~ Vlad Anghel
July 2011
4 posts
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ALBUM REVIEW: INCUBUS - IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
When a band’s sound changes or even progresses, it is always a process that if not good, then definitely controversial. Most fans will always be more reticent to accept any major change that a musician or band may want to make to its sound. If the characteristic sound that brought its fans stays for more than one album, there will always be a strong rejection from any hardcore fan to anything new,...
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ALBUM REVIEW: WASHED OUT - WITHIN AND WITHOUT
The biggest problem with the chillwave movement - right next to all the bedroom references - is that you can’t utter the words “I listen to chillwave” without sounding like a complete twat. I wish to not be misinterpreted. It’s not the music in itself. Well, not always. It’s the name which is a bigger joke than Klaxons’ nu-rave or NME’s Thames-scene. The (real) downside is that bands labeled as...
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ALBUM REVIEW: THE HORRORS - SKYING
Back in 2007, when Strange House came out, had you asked most people about The Horrors, they would have shook their heads with disapproval and dismissed the five Southenders as mere jokes. In 2011, you could probably ask the same people and they’d tell you how surprised they are of The Horrors and their growth. For the rest, the ones who stood by the boys from day one, the evolution can only...
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ALBUM REVIEW: MEMORY TAPES - PIANO PLAYER
To have your debut album adored by critics is quite risky, you know. All of a sudden, people’s expectations are getting higher, and if your second release fails to reassure them you’re great, they will tear you apart and eat you alive.
Metaphorically, of course, have no fear. And yes, Memory Tapes is one of those artists. His debut album, Seek Magic, made everybody give him a warm round of...
June 2011
1 post
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INTERVIEW: ANDREI HATEGAN (THE AMSTERDAMS)
It’s not often that Romanian bands get noticed abroad. With their portfolio, The Amsterdams are quite a rarity. Even as newcomers, they created a fuzz and, after playing Romania in 2007, The Dandy Warhols called them the best band on the Romania alternative scene. In the meantime, the boys didn’t just pat themselves on the back. With two self-produced albums already, Adolessons and this year’s...
May 2011
3 posts
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ALBUM REVIEW: WILD BEASTS - SMOTHER
Wild Beasts are, in fact, one hell of a catchy band. Not evident, sure, but there is no denying the Brits know how to dazzle you, creep into your soul with seemingly Victorian tales (even if they’re not really, the only place where you can possibly see them unfold is under 19th century grey skies). No surprise then that their fan base has been growing and that ‘cult band’ is not a way to...
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ALBUM REVIEW: HERE WE GO MAGIC - THIS JANUARY
Today’s review is about a band that started as a solo project and had the debut album recorded in an apartment and then expanded to a five piece act, released a highly praised sophomore and checked a lot of important festivals. Oh, and Thom Yorke likes them (naturally, Pitchfork should love them as well). Yes, I’m talking about Here We Go Magic here and yes, they’ve just released a new...
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ALBUM REVIEW: THE WAVE PICTURES - BEER IN THE...
There are bands that are hyped as soon as they release any material, bands that get to be both critic darlings and loved by the audience immediately. And then there are those who, while incredible beyond belief, are relatively unknown. The Wave Pictures is one of those bands. Not as popular as it deserves to be (not yet, anyway), but with a lot of potential and a strong and loyal fan base. Their...
April 2011
7 posts
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INTERVIEW: PAUL BALLO
Despite being only 22 years-old, Paul Ballo is already an established name on the Romanian alternative scene, having been a part of five bands already. He started out as a drummer for Go to Berlin, The Amsterdams and Kumm. Not satisfied with doing just one thing, he changed directions and created electropop act Hot Casandra and, together with his Go to Berlin ex-bandmate, Matei Teposu, he started...
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ALBUM REVIEW: OF MONTREAL - THECONTROLLERSPHER EP
You can’t really say of Montreal like to stay in one place. Their love for experimentation, playfulness and schizoid songs has been a given from day one. So there should be no surprise that the opening song of the bands new EP, thecontrollersphere, sounds like a completely different band. Black Lion Massacre is so claustrophobic and has so many crashes, metallic sounds, heavy obtrusive distorts...
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ALBUM REVIEW: TIMES NEW VIKING - DANCE EQUIRED
If one should use a single word to describe Times New Viking’s sound, then that word would most likely be “noisy”. They’ve always resembled a bunch of highschool kids recording in their parents’ garage and ready to kick everyone’s ass. And the interesting thing is that, underneath all that distortion and abrasion, almost every tune is basically an exuberant pop song.
Their new release, Dancer...
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ALBUM REVIEW: THE WOMBATS - THIS MODERN GLITCH
So many of today’s bands are used to having two or three good songs on analbum, turn them into singles, and have the rest as „filler songs”. Sadly, The Wombats’ new release, This Modern Glitch, seems to follow the same path
There are those few songs that shine: Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves), Jump Into The Fog, Anti-D (interestingly enough, the first three singles) and Last Night I Dreamt (a much...
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ALBUM REVIEW: EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY - TAKE CARE,...
Instrumental bands – tricky things, aren’t they? The fact that there still are bands today willing to be so raw and naked, with every note in plain sight, not masked by bombastic vocals, proves that this type of music still has a chance to make a delicate but lasting impact on our and future generations. That makes them harder to judge.
One of the bands who shine in this field is the American...
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ALBUM REVIEW: CAT'S EYES - CAT'S EYES
Sure, The Horrors have always been labeled (at times rightfully) as a gloomy, gothy, morose band. But even in their darkest hour, the five Southenders have gleefully quoted the likes of The Shangri Las and the Phil Spector-chaperoned girl groups as influences. Even when the whiff of krautrock was strong, a hint of that bit of the 60s was there, in the spoken lyrics or drum patterns.
From these...
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ALBUM REVIEW: PANDA BEAR - TOMBOY
Remember October? When Panda Bear kept saying - well, lying to us is the more exact term - that Tomboy was coming out soon? Obviously, it didn’t, because mid-spring clearly does not qualify as “soon”. But all this aside, we can’t feel anything else but joy at finally seeing Tomboy released. Tomboy which does things pretty much by the book. If “by the book”, you think of You Can Count on Me’s...
February 2011
4 posts
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ALBUM REVIEW: RADIOHEAD - THE KING OF LIMBS
Thank you for waiting. This is how Radiohead announced on their official site the release of their brand new and highly anticipated album, The King of Limbs. And I can bet on whatever you want that for several people Valentine’s Day tasted better than ever. The band initially announced the release for 19 February, but then suddenly they changed their minds, and fans were able to download the album...
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ALBUM REVIEW: BRIGHT EYES - THE PEOPLE'S KEY
In June 2009, Conor Oberst declared that he will put an end to Bright Eyes, after more than one decade, mentioning that he would like to “clean it up, lock the door, say goodbye”. Retire in full glory, one might say, although “retire” is an overstatement, considering the guy has at least three musical projects at this moment, including the supergroup Monsters of Folk (with whom he actually...
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ALBUM REVIEW: YUCK - YUCK
I will admit that I was a bit (if not more) unhappy with the break-up of indie poppers Cajun Dance Party. They were good, no denying, and their brand of 80s scented pop with hints of The Cure never failed to make me smile. But, as sad as I was, I cannot be but happy at the band that emerged from the ashes of CDP, Yuck.
As it has been said many times before and by better people than me, Yuck sound...
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ALBUM REVIEW: CUT COPY - ZONOSCOPE
Remember 2008? How awesome it all was when Cut Copy was the coolest thing around with their In Ghost Colours? Remember that sax solo? How nobody, nobody thought it was cheesy? And the way they used female vocals? Pure genius! Well, this is 2011 and the Australian trio is back with what should be, I’m guessing, a slight departure from the New Order-scented, French house-loving electro rock. Truth...
January 2011
4 posts
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ALBUM ARTWORK: CUT COPY - ZONOSCOPE
Cut Copy’s latest album Zonoscope set to be realeased February 8, 2011 features cover art of New York City engulfed in a waterfall, created by the late Japanese photomontage artist Tsunehisa Kimura.
Kimura’s montages feature bizarre conjunctions of colossal man-made monuments with vast natural phenomena, huge, clean, clear, sharp images of fantastic but realistic collisions of the...
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ALBUM REVIEW: WHITE LIES - RITUAL
Without calling White Lies’ debut album a masterpiece, as that might sound like exaggerating, one should agree it was a promising debut, and it’s not a mistake to say that almost each song of the album had a single potential. Given these circumstances, it was only natural for fans and reviewers to expect something similar, maybe even better, from their sophomore. The release of the first single,...
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ALBUM ARTWORK: RATATAT - LP4
The meaning of the album art for Ratatat’s latest album is revealed in their interview with DazedDigital:
~~~
DD: What’s with the birds on the record/artwork? Ratatat: That’s my bird - she was in the studio with us when we made the record, so we kinda put her there. You can hear her in the record, her sounds - so we sampled the bird. In the track Grape Juice City- you can...
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ALBUM REVIEW: HURTS - HAPPINESS
Of course, what you are to read is a case of taking sides. With Hurts it’s impossible not to take one side (love them) or the other (hate them). Their wet hair, their ‘Tears For Fears shot by Anton Corbijn’ photographs, their sax solos, their lingering 80s synths, their early 90s (electro) pop sensibilities. The Mancunian duo seems to love making it hard for some to accept their sheer existence,...
December 2010
7 posts
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ALBUM REVIEW: MGMT - CONGRATULATIONS
Here’s a statement that might shock: MGMT (and Andrew Vanwyngarden in particular) love the 60s. The headbands, the long skirts, the psychedelic videos, Vanwyngarden talking to animals, these sort of things hint that the above statement is true. Ok, maybe the music as well. News that they would team up with Spacemen 3’s Peter Kember for their new album wasn’t much of a shock. Yes, it spawned...
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ALBUM REVIEW: THESE NEW PURITANS - HIDDEN
Bands develop as time goes by. They add new layers to their music, shift creative direction and play with structures, concepts and melodies. The Horrors did that withPrimary Colours and the world’s jaw dropped. People barely had a chance to recover after the shock and These New Puritans released We Want War.
Now, if you had a bite of Beat Pyramid, you are aware that these boys aren’t exactly the...
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ALBUM REVIEW: BEST COAST - CRAZY FOR YOU
Shangri-Las and Ronettes boys and girls know there is no reason with you shouldn’t bang those drums like it’s summertime and sing about heartaches. Little sweet 60s surf pop chords sneaking in your bones, making you lip-sing every word and harmony. Lyrics about pretty boys and teeny love affairs sang with hope of the perfect love story in every little distort. Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno...
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ALBUM REVIEW: DIAMOND RINGS - SPECIAL AFFECTIONS
Moronic and douchy behavior seems to be the standard nowadays. And it’s mostly the people who call every band that seems different or they haven’t heard of a hipster hence douche band. (Yes, we know hating hipsters is cool now and, guess what, this makes you cool… hence a hipster) Sadly, Toronto-native John O’Regan, better known as Diamond Rings, is bound to get the same treatment. With his...
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ALBUM REVIEW: A SUNNY DAY IN GLASGOW - AUTUMN,...
Some say autumn is perhaps the most depressing season of the year. Dead leaves, cold rains, the feeling that everything that has a beginning also has an end… you get the main picture. Thus, to call an album Autumn, Again might seem self-explanatory, perhaps even a bit disappointing for those of you who are craving after complicated and sophisticated metaphors. However, it’s A Sunny Day...
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ALBUM REVIEW: ARCADE FIRE - THE SUBURBS
Recording in a church, major love from David Bowie, Terry Gilliam directing their webcast. Plus incredible outputs, albums that never fail to send chills down your spine, grand and lavish orchestrations without any irony or cheesiness. Arcade Fire are one of those bands that make you want to put down those instruments because it is blatant you will never be like them. And if you can’t be like...
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ALBUM REVIEW: STEREOLAB - NOT MUSIC
Some called them one of the most influential and innovative British bands of the ’90s. Others called them too experimental and obscure for their own good. Whatever your opinion is, one thing is clear: Stereolab are not a band that can just be ignored. They’ve been around since 1990, released nine studio albums to date, and managed to survive a lot of line-up changes (including the...
October 2010
5 posts
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KRAFTWERK - RADIO-ACTIVITY
“Radio-activity” album by Kraftwerk has an iconic image like all the previous Kraftwerk albums.The man behind this images are photographer Robert Franke and Emil Schult a german artist who is famous for his collaboration with Kraftwerk.He has created most of their sleeve designs since1973. (On some later albums, the credits are obscure enough to cause some doubt as to the extent of...
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GUSTER - KEEP IT TOGETHER
Guster’s 4th album “Keep it together” features the work of famous editorial photographer C.Taylor Crothers He has shoot countless editorial jobs for top music publications, as well as winning packaging and publicity assignments from major and indie record labels. Relying on his skills of building direct artist relationships, he has learned how to balance access with...
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GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR - YANQUI U.X.O.
“Yanqui” is the Spanish word for “Yankee”. The liner notes also refer to “Yanqui” as a “multinational corporate oligarchy”, while “U.X.O.” stands for “unexploded ordnance”. The packaging of the album contains an arrow diagram and is accompanied by a photograph of falling bombs.
Back Cover
The handy diagram on the back...
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BEACH HOUSE - TEEN DREAM
The stunning cover art (another in a series of aesthetic slam-dunks for Sub Pop) provides a neat parallel to the music itself. The zebra pattern, ostensibly a reference to the album’s opening track, is rendered in a pink pastel tone, so desaturated as to barely be percepted, against the white background. In most cases, a zebra pattern is the pinnacle of “loudness”—a visual so striking that it’s...
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DEERHUNTER - HALCYON DIGEST
The photograph on the cover of Halcyon digest was taken by George Mitchell in 1982 at the Starlight Lounge. That was when Bradford Cox was born. The Starlight Lounge eventually closed down and became a sign shop, Bradford worked in this building when he was younger.
Pictured on the cover is Dennis Dinion, a contestant in The Miss Star Lite Pageant at the Star Lite Lounge on Ponce de Leon...
September 2010
6 posts
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INTERPOL - OUR LOVE TO ADMIRE
At first glance the cover looks like an image from National Geographic or a still from an Animal Planet documentary. On closer inspection you see that the animals are in-fact taxidermy. They were shot in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. The cover and inside imagery are the work of New York photographer Seth Smoot. Most of the images are staged in a dry or cold landscape and depict...
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PETER BRODERICK - HOME
Home’s cover is the work of Chad Crouch, a visual artist and a good friend of Peter. He also runs the Hush Records label to which Peter is signed.
You can find more of his works here.
Peter Broderick: The original painting! I stopped by the artist’s house, my good friend Chad Crouch, just to pick up some CD’s and posters, and he gave me the painting!! My mom said...
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THE RADIO DEPT. - CLINGING TO A SCHEME
The inspiration for Radio Dept’s third album comes from frontman Johan Duncanson. Following is an excerpt from an interview with Johan:
Your cover art fits the music in an abstract way. How do you comes up with the covers – do you know right away when you see what you want?
Johan: Sometimes I’ve been going through my parents old photos and I’ve found something – like the Pet Grief cover,...
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MENOMENA - FRIEND AND FOE
Illustrated by Craig Thompson of “Blankets” fame, the front cover of “Friend and Foe” has eight possible permutations, four when the CD is in the case, and four when it’s in the player (it’ll be there a lot)— and that’s not counting all of the slight variations you can get by rotating the disc when it’s in the tray. The drawings— a...
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ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS - THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE
Our fourth post about Antony’s artwork is dedicated to his new EP “Thank You For Your Love”. Pictured on the cover is Michael Cavadias shot by Anthony in New York in the early nineties.
In 1990 Anthony Hegarty moved to Manhattan to attend the Experimental Theatre Wing of New York University (NYU). Cavadias came to New York from California to attend the same theater program....
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KLAXONS - SURFING THE VOID
Hello dearest readers. Because of some recent changes in my life I couldn’t post that much in the past weeks and I wish to apologize for this. To improve the quality of the blog we have deleted all ads on the blog. Hopefully, Surfing The Void’s cover story will make for a good comeback.
The picture adorning the cover of Klaxons’ latest album is that of a cat in a spacesuit....
August 2010
16 posts
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JARVIS COCKER - FURTHER COMPLICATIONS
The second art cover for Jarvis “Further Complications” is made by the well known photographer,publisher and film director, Rankin who established his reputation when he launched Dazed & Confused with his business partner Jefferson Hack in 1991.
From his iconic shot of Kylie lying naked and prostrate, to the Queen smiling enigmatically, Rankin’s iconic, intimate portraiture...
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BOW WOW WOW - SEE JUNGLE!SEE JUNGLE!GO JOIN YOUR...
The album cover is famous partially due to the controversy that was triggered by Annabella Lwin’s mother who alleged exploitation of a minor for immoral purposes, and instigated a Scotland Yard investigation. As a result the band was only allowed to leave the UK after McLaren promised not to promote Lwin as a “sex kitten”.Lwin was almost made to quit the band by the controversy...
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FAD GADGET - THE BEST OF FAD GADGET
The Best of Fad Gadget is a double compilation album of singles released in 2001 ,a few months before Frank Tovey’s sudden death.The album design and art work is done by Angela Hayward .Frank Tovey was particularly infamous for spreading his naked body in shaving cream onstage, an image of which is depicted on the cover of The Best of Fad Gadget. Sounds magazine described him as...
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IRON & WINE - OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS
This is a wonderful piece of art for an indie folk album. It’s the best visual representation of the feeling of the album.
The introspection and self awareness of those halcyon days when you have had time to languish around in the grass and clover sum up both his laid back finger picking and downbeat breathy vocals. Iron & Wine has only just made the transition to studio...