Visual Cover #03: Album Art in a Modern World

As a child, I was obsessed with the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s cover. It was this odd, haunting collage/photo that impacted me as soon as my older brother brought it into the house. Drastically different than the pop, jazz or soul covers I had seen, it was a conceptual artwork with a vague funerary air and a sense of absurd theatrical comedy. Assembled by the band from a drawing by Paul McCartney in conjunction with pop artists Jann Haworth and Peter Blake, it changed the assumed perception of what a record cover could be.

This visual was an extension of the band’s growing sensibility and world-view. The lineup of characters featured James Joyce, Aleister Crowley, Bob Dylan and Karl Marx, as well as various gurus, actors and artists. Their “Lonely Hearts” club had a fecund and ingeniously stocked membership. The album won numerous awards, including a Grammy for Best Album Cover. It was a perfect object, melding packaging and sonic brilliance, in the process declaring that these weren’t just some famous guys singing, but visionary artists who belonged in the company they were surrounding themselves with. The album raised the stakes for everyone and helped usher in the view of the band as cultural auteurs.

Make the jump to see this month’s album cover art spotlights…

1. Hot Chip – “Why Make Sense” (Domino)

Using a hand-screened printing process, the new LP from these disco soldiers will come in 501 different colorways. Also, no two will be printed exactly the same, which will render every CD and LP artwork singular and unique. It’s a sweet idea that makes the act of purchasing seem somehow more intimate, and hey, it’s not an oppressive mix some old boyfriend made “just for you” with a horrible, hand-drawn cover. Enjoy the uniqueness without any expectations.

2. Damien Dubrovnik – “Vegas Fountain” (Alter)

A stainless steel laminated shelf hangs from a support rod with another support strut visible underneath, its surface so polished that it reflects details in the room’s architecture like some pre-homicide Brian DePalma tracking shot. Fluffy, white towels contrast the hard, unforgiving angles. A humming tension saturates this image.

3. Various Artists – Turkish Delights (Ostra Discos)

A lovely beauty reclines au natural in a tranquil infinity pool. It’s 1987, and you are enjoying a perfect afternoon in Marmaris. “Another Rakı, my dear?” is followed by, “Yes, I got tickets for the KLF tonight.” A great compilation of Turkish proto-disco reworked for the contemporary floor.

4. Cristian Viviano & Kuo Climax ­– Bouq Family & Friends EP Vol.8 (Bouq)

There are snakes and a bear, birds and a happy sun, as a fuzzball of sorts jumps rope. Good vibes exude from this watercolor, like the trippiest children’s book that beautiful girl from Sicily inexplicably brought to your pal’s last house party.

5. Alka Rex – Orleans Bardel EP (Nervmusic)

Oh man, clowns. Clowns used to always freak me out. A childhood neighbor kept a painted, life-size wooden one in her window; we swore she was a Satanist. This is a great rendering of some theater or carnival balcony. Mr. Clown’s giant head just needs to rest. Is he staring at me? Get me out of here, his eyes just moved.

6. Various Artists – Vol. 1 (Tiptop Audio Records)

Tiptop Audio makes digital control interfaces for analog synths, and their modules are suited for making contemporary dance tracks and live sets. This comp showcases some of the people who use their gear, and it boasts a great illustration of the patch cable madness that I often dream of.

7. Mark Barrott – “Bush Society” (International Feel)

On a verdant and lush hill sits a house—a house for the Buddha, or a house for a composer working away in a kind of sensual austerity. The image is centered with a wide border, and a fragmented font overlays the full cover. No confirmation, but this feels like Peter Saville’s work.

8. Gilb’r – “Le Maitre Des Illusions” (Versatile)

Versatile Records honcho Gilb’R delivers a floor-filler complete with Memphis-inspired cover art (think the Memphis design group started by Ettore Sottsass in Milan, not the cities in Tennessee or Egypt). Volume-rendered and primary-colored, it is a bizarre sensibility. I once stayed at a place in Urbino that was entirely Memphis design—retinal overload.

9. V/A – French Disco Boogie Sounds (Favorite Recordings)

Compiled with love and élan by Charles Maurice, this smoking comp comes with an appropriately retro cover featuring trois belle jeunes dames—and you know they are on roller skates!

10. Misstress Barbara – “Je Suis Charlie” (Loose Records)

Techno veteran Misstress Barbara offers up this EP in response to the horrific events of January 7. The cover is a simple and elegant thought-cloud drawing, reminiscent of Saul Steinberg’s work. The image of the unified pencils stands as an elegant symbol of Charlie Hebdo’s courageous defiance of any religious or state oppression.

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