Noteworthy album covers of 2012

Let us begin.

http://pitchfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/news/44878/header.jpg

woah

I'll be sick of seeing that every time I open the thread by next Friday. The curse of being the thread opener, i guess.

This gives me a typography boner

http://i.imgur.com/K79Ri.jpg

Undecided about this one. Alejandra Deheza is clearly a beautiful subject, but nothing about this cover means anything.

http://i.imgur.com/BRkca.jpg

that School of Seven Bells cover is bad. I agree with you on the typeface of Kinny record.

School of Seven Bells Goes Tory? I always knew there was something about them I didn't like.

http://i.imgur.com/wVHzx.jpg

http://pitchfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/news/45028/header.jpg
black dice- mr. impossible

xp ilxor, is that the same artist who did this incredible stopmo Fleet Foxes video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yAxIdkF2Qo

http://i.imgur.com/6id9q.jpg

Bocca Grande - Little Pianist

"Let's put a SSSMILE on that ALbum of yours..."

I'm not even entirely sure what's going on here...
Xiu Xiu - Always

http://www.polyvinylrecords.com/shared/uploads/photos/05997_prc-236estore.jpg

that is the worst.

Xiu Xiu's had a pretty storied run of terrible covers, thats about what I would expect at this point.

they're finally done the sensible thing and gone all straight edge on us

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GiiyG5aQETA/Twyb0P05S2I/AAAAAAAAG2w/0Hq9n5V-72o/s300/1326218315_2382096398-1.png

Necrocomiccon - Mjölnir For Nothing

haha!

xiu xiu cover looks like a combo of the graphic design of the last washed out album + the gross body imagery of the last toro y moi album, these are obvious hints that this will be their chillwave magnum ops

chillwave magnum opus

Magnum opi are not very chill.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BR-tzN8pL._SS500_.jpg

the vinyl cover is pretty nice too

http://i.imgur.com/f7KSE.jpg

I have no idea who Alcest is (are?) but that cover is gorgeous. Like the midpoint between the last Planningtorock album cover and Fever Ray's "When I Grow Up" video.

Clint Heidorn - "Atwater"

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/27/89/2789501724-1.jpg

Guided by Voices - Let's Go Eat the Factory

http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2011/12/Guided-By-Voices-Lets-Go-Eat-The-Factory-608x608.jpg

http://duplicate-records.com/DUPLICATE%20RECORDSartistfiler/duplo51large.jpg

Omega Centauri - Universum Infinitum

you need to look at it full screen size rly

album is worth checking if you like Wolves In The Throne Room btw

http://images.hhv.de/catalog/detail_big/00254/254965.jpg

Guatafan - Chicas De Oro

that cover is quite a deal better than the music within

haw i'm just listening to it now, it's a bit like 'I Think We're Alone Now' but tinnier

Nacho Picasso - Lord of the Fly
http://hypetrak.com/images/2012/01/bsbd-nacho-picasso-lord-of-the-fly-cover.jpg
In line with last years. Is alright.

Wrong code, here it is:
http://hypetrak.com/images/2012/01/bsbd-nacho-picasso-lord-of-the-fly-cover.jpg

sensitive all-woman nu-folk band?

:) Rap, actually.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AOwMy3Kw354/TreyXcmwU_I/AAAAAAAAAAo/mvBcIe8OBF0/s640/cadillac_Ep_front.jpg

Cadillac- s/t

the sun is her boobs

band logo looks like a teddy bear hat

Talk about your golden globes.

http://www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/2012-01/1326797309_santorini-through-your-eyes-2012.jpg

LEARN TO KERN

Oh wow.

Johnny, you a designer?

I'm simply a wannabe.

Live by my motto below.

'Loose my macbook'

http://shop.rapbay.com/images/products/preview/313332.jpg

Ahaha omg that is BAD

Banana is not proportionate, other than that, I see no problem with it.

http://www.deejay.de/images/xl/5/9/92359.jpg
Flights of Fancy- vol 1 12"

http://i.imgur.com/IpE9Q.jpg

the mars volta - noctourniquet

wow that Flights of Fancy record is gorgeous. i'm immediately interested in hearing the music inside.

http://media.detailsofmylife.net/uploads/2012/01/The-2-Bears-Be-Strong.jpg

wow that Flights of Fancy record is gorgeous. i'm immediately interested in hearing the music inside.

― jed_, Thursday, January 19, 2012 4:35 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's pretty cool

http://soundcloud.com/international-feel/flights-of-fancy-vol-1-tempo

cheers mizzell. i like it.

mars volta one is nice too

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/13/73/1373535761-1.jpg

Everything, Now! - Do It On The Moon.

Disclaimer: I play in this band. Still think the cover is bad-ass.

i think i like it? is it an army trying to invade an egg with a vagina stuck to it?

exactly

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61HLFMRAs0L._SS400_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zU1%2BMr3CL._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KU8er3PYL._SS500_.jpg

http://pyecorneraudio.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/pye-corner-vol3frontsmall.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61je5pz%2BMyL._SS500_.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ma3YF.jpg

That^ is gorgeous enough to make me want to listen to the album.

i like it

nice pic

http://hangout.altsounds.com/geek/gars/images/1/7/9/0/0/315555_277116378996945_125281450847106_732290_1470164190_n.jpg

Gangrene - Vodka & Ayahuasca

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6059/gangrenevodka490x490.jpg

yasmin is v v pretty btw

bit of a problem that the single name is totally illegible though

yeah

it's "light up the world"

http://thenoiseis.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/cartoon-violence-4.jpg?w=500

album is so-so college rock but ^this is cracking me up

lol at the one guy laughing while everyone else is shocked

That cover looks like it was drawn by Al Jaffee.

hahaha http://i.imgur.com/zi7hd.gif

I was gonna say! Always kind of comforting to see that kinda style pop up again.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/metal/lilacs.jpg
Lilacs and Champagne- s/t

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/music2/giffoni_evidence.jpg

That's nothing fancy at all, but it's just perfect.

yes, it's really nice

bugs me that giffoni isn't on the same line as the rest of the text.

love that last one

http://4.thisbeatgoes.net/files/2012/02/Big-KRIT-4Eva-N-A-Day-mixtape.jpg

^^
awesome

has he dropped the 'big'?

Return of 4Eva just had KRIT on the front too so i don't think so

feelin' this

http://i.imgur.com/EXprL.jpg

Chances of that cover being better than the music within? Pretty solid. I like the cover though.

http://cdn.topspin.net/secure/media/serve_by_sku/2624391/stream/102b035d.jpg?e=1328372955&authkey=1328372955_847984328923c0aa302bbc6dab786eb1

i really like this cover

[the album also features diane birch on additional vocals]

It'd be better without the "Phenomenal Handclap Band" text.

(I know next to nothing about the band, the name just makes me irrationally angry)

you see i was thinking it would be better without the 'form & control' text !

and like you i knew nothing re the band until it dropped through the letter box today

I like both lines of text AND I like this band. So there.

I've never really heard any of their albums, but I remember KEXP playing a song of theirs I really liked.

neener neener.

(I like both band and text and cover, too)

One of the guys on npr's all songs considered who isn't bob boelin was talking them up quite a bit a few years back. Don't remember what they actually sounded like, but maaan do I hate that name.

A+

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-49bEp8t7KjI/TtuB0hB1RgI/AAAAAAAAAn4/uX42XHTgAg4/s1600/IMG.jpg

Dan Sartain- Too Tough to Live

Would like to see Madonna cover as a lenticular

haha otm

http://cdn.ghostly.com/images/artists/168/albums/381/GI-153_1400x300_540_540.jpg

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/37/98/3798934440-1.jpg

God, that last one sucks.

i like it, it's interesting.

the Rhine Gold one is really brilliant though.

is that paz?

Love the Rhine Gold and have decided that I also really like the Phenomenal Handclap Band one, at least the title type. But I can't picture that one existing as anything other than a vaguely musty smelling LP.

Buildings feels like it's trying too hard, or at least having the title on the oranges pushed it that way for me.

the last krit album cover was awesome too

Buildings whatever that is is the worst thing itt so far by about 50000000 miles

terrible.

yeah the handclap band cover just bothers me, its too blatantly trying to be a "all things must pass" or "houses of the holy." good at the aesthetic it's trying to represent but too much instagram's p much ruined that for me

yeah i stumbled upon that one kind of randomly (while searching for a completely different band called Buildings) and was like UGH HOLY SHIT

yeah, i'm real glad that's not the dc band buildings

The Phenomenal Handclap Band is dope as fuck

http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2011/09/cyan.jpg

is his hand super high res with some sort of blur/contrast effect on the rest? feel like my brains getting messed with here

Someone basically was tweaking with the 'shadows/highlights' feature in photoshop.

What's that?

Kindness- Cyan 12". Not sure yet about the song, but the sleeve kind of jumped out at me for whatever reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jddGsBE_eIs

thumbs up:

earth (wish i liked the music)
kinny (damn that's great, too bad bout the label logo)
lana del ray (want to say it's vacant, but something about it...)
bocca grande
necrocomiccon (dumb, but i lold)
guided by voices (weirdly beautiful)
nacho picasso (huge sucker for bad retro fantasy art)
flights of fancy
mars volta (only okay, but good okay)
black mill tapes
lilacs and champagne
carlos giffoni
madonna
dan sartain
rhine gold (so so lazy, but w/e)

do not love:

school of the 7 bells (assume this was a joke, JF?)
black dice (weird, cuz they've done some of the best album art of the last 10 years)
alcest (barf, self-important nothing)
guatafan (???)
julien dyne
foxy shazam
paul brill
d'marc cantu (dgi, i should love this but instead hate it)
yasmin
gangrene
herzog
buildings (striking, but no)
whatever tf that last one was

no opinion on the rest

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/music2/howlinrussian.jpg

Young Magic - Melt

http://i.imgur.com/Szqp3.jpg

neat

a bit too obvious "liquify" effect in photoshop, but wow if that isn't a striking cover

wooden shjips remixes ep. simple and perfect

http://www.indierockreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/WoodenShjips-300x300.jpg

i always love seeing that font

wooden shjips one is making me feel oddly weepy and im not sure why.

young magic is nice. get a ho-hum, treading-water feeling off wooden shjips and that cadillac one upthread. agree about the font though.

i know wooden shjips isn't chillwave but that cover reads very generic chillwave to me

Wooden Shjips one is perfect, especially playing off the artwork for the parent album, but I also sort of feel like it should be a Trans Am album with that font. Or like Trans Am should have used that Wooden Shjips font for this one:

http://images.artistdirect.com/Images/Sources/AMGCOVERS/music/cover200/drd000/d073/d073358f7g0.jpg

picked this one up this morning, i like it a lot

http://images.emusic.com/music/images/album/131/216/13121640/600x600.jpg

That looks the special fx always used in tv and movies when someone's about to enter a wormhole.

...in the 1960s

tempest

Frankie Rose - Interstellar sleeve/vinyl

http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/img/large/slr150-color.jpg

*drool*

does look v nice, though i am trying v hard not to be tempted into buying a vinyl copy of a record i expect to be lukewarm on

The three tracks on soundcloud from this album so far are light years ahead of the album from a couple years back with "The Outs".

good good

lol I just preordered a copy and I don't even have a turntable anymore.

frankie rose is streaming here if you want to sample

http://s.dsimg.com/image/R-3246578-1322209899.jpeg

Hmmm

http://991.com/newGallery/Whirlwind-Heat-Types-Of-Wood-356791.jpg

I remember that band's name, but from a LONG time ago.

gross

that record is like four years old

oops. Sorry guys, for a number of reasons.

http://cdn.songonlyrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Ladyhawke-Anxiety-album-cover.jpg

Ladyhawke - Anxiety

Album Covers Featuring Tiny People Living In The Artist's Or Cover Model's Hair

ooh there's a new ladyhawke? is it good?

It's not "around" yet afaik.

Single is ace though.

good to know!

http://i.imgur.com/t5BEh.jpg

zany

hope this works

http://media2.haulix.com/14644/PromoImage.jpg?width=425&height=425

That's some Thee Oh Sees looking shit right there.

My first album cover of 2012:

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/35/68/356871944-1.jpg

http://theepoch.bandcamp.com/

torche cover makes me so happy http://i.imgur.com/zi7hd.gif

http://cdn3.pitchfork.com/news/44506/e5ca8bcb.jpg

Chantal Morte - Mental Short

http://i.imgur.com/9TY6l.jpg

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/news/44668/1932149b.jpeg

lol, check 5th post in thread

Oops! :)

http://malleusdelic.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/ufomammut_oro.jpg%3Fw%3D450%26h%3D450

I'm a big fan of the work by Malleus collective, but I prefer their tour posters, which are not as subdued as the more tasteful albums, heh.

I voted for this one in this week's Cover Art Battle.

http://metalriot.com/wp-content/uploads/Pilgrim-Misery-Wizard.jpg

It's currently runner-up to this. The B&W makes it seem incomplete to me.

http://metalriot.com/wp-content/uploads/Witchaven-Terrorstorm.jpg

http://www.purpletapepedigree.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/KA_Grief-Pedigree_front_hires-650x650.jpg

Ka - Grief Pedigree

so not good. this thread is baffling to me. last good album cover = that young magic thing that johnny posted.

appreciate chantal morte and ufomammut as drawings, like in terms of technique and execution, but that's about it.

i dunno, maybe i'm being too squeamish abt the chantal morte art... it's certainly striking and memorable.

I like it. You see all these kinda random things but might miss that Ka is lurking behind them, masked up and watching your every move.

Also, I think you misunderstand the point of this thread.

the point is i comment on things ppl post, no

I like that Ka cover

xp "noteworthy" != best

good point

in that case, that Sot7B cover is endlessly noteworthy and should be reposted as often as possible

yeah this thread became the rolling cover thread, as opposed to 'best of the year'/'worst of the year' getting muddled in previous times.

http://i.imgur.com/flNwV.jpg

10 personal favorites so far.

http://i.imgur.com/2u9iO.jpg

I know how they did that, but kudos for doing it excellently!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31YDrq1JSZL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

xp i don't know how they did it! the seamlessness of it is giving me a headache.

how am I just seeing that Grimes sleeve now, it's badass

http://i.imgur.com/1iJ3y.jpg

boxed set:
http://i.imgur.com/JlD59.jpg

not crazy about the band name look/placement but the rest of it is v. nice. the album is fantastic also.

how am I just seeing that Grimes sleeve now, it's badass

That drawing is quite Savage Pencil-ish imo, but not as acid-damaged and melty.

The first thing I thought when I saw that Grimes cover was "Headache EP"!

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/CarterTuttiVoidAlbumFront.jpg

Carter Tutti Void - Transverse

@_@

Try scrolling up and down that picture: trippy

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T8TQoXwnJkA/TxXK0ydBcEI/AAAAAAAAAg8/vnG8Q3WQ_ds/s1600/Batida_soundway_Records_Tumble_Weave_Tumbleweave_Blog.jpg

Batida- s/t

I like!

Yeah, A+ to that.

betcha the album is super good too
soundway, right?

is the new Dntel one OK or so average it hurts? YOU DECIDE:

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/426061_327174504001030_118874201497729_973847_252651105_n.jpg

Coming out on Pampa tho, which is weird/cool.

love it.

lol dntel tho

New Spiritualized cover:
http://cdn2.pitchfork.com/news/45536/9680614a.jpg

huh.

lame.

tbh, though, "Huh?" is kind of how I feel about Spiritualized anyway.

lame.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, February 24, 2012 4:40 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Meh

Makes the last couple of BJM covers look positively iconic.

Am I the only one who at first thought the Spiritiualized pic was some kind of a "no hotlinking" image?

http://www.monolake.de/files_images/cover/large/ml-026.jpg

Pretty cool, though I think that particular way of typing the artist and album name has been done to death in electronic music.

Yeah, that whole cover could be something straight out of the Touch Music catalogue

http://cdn2.pitchfork.com/news/45575/425309c3.jpg

Santigold - Master of My Make-Believe

I actually kinda dig that one, but Kanye's going to be jealous.

lol thats amazing

is that santi in drag? also lol at wiley-style painting

yeah, i assume all four are her

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/41/48/4148646126-1.jpg

brass tax

Ha! My de facto username for many years was "brasstax" on a number of different sites...who is this?

i dont think she ordered so many eggs, or is possibly annoyed she didn't get as many as she wanted

part of her job is eating 13 eggs every morning

A veritable barfer's dozen.

Yum. Can't wait for breakfast.

Looking forward to the Chris / Cosey / Void record. I hope it is as trippy as the cover.

Could that Batida band possibly sound as cool as that cover looks? I'm probably going to be disappointed, right? What's his / her / their deal?

Love the Dntel cover (and I'm not a Dntel fan by any stretch of the imagination)

I love the Earth cover. The colors are spectacular.

http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/img/large/slr150-color.jpg

this got my hopes up that all copies were like this. just opened my copy to normal-ass black :(

I think they only pressed 500 that way (one of which I'm fortunate enough to own).

Whoever posted it in the thread didn't have any info, just a pic. I would have jumped :(

I didn't know it was limited until AFTER I'd posted/bought a copy. Only learned it when someone mentioned the pre-order was sold out.

Could that Batida band possibly sound as cool as that cover looks? I'm probably going to be disappointed, right? What's his / her / their deal?

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Friday, March 2, 2012 8:14 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

if you like energetic tropical dance music:

Soundway are set to release the debut album from Batida, the brainchild of Angolan / Portuguese DJ Mpula aka Pedro Coquenão. A distinctly modern and vibrant project with its feet firmly rooted in the past, Batida combine samples from old 1970s Angolan tracks with modern electronic dance music. Music is the starting point but through dance, graphics, photography, radio and video, Batida expands, taking in politics and social commentary but always bringing it back to the party.

Being the first of a string of brand new projects, this eponymous first album sees Soundway taking a slightly different direction in 2012 and beyond. Championed mostly for their work in un-earthing and re-releasing classic, rare and vintage tropical recordings, Soundway have started signing new acts that have drawn on and been inspired by the kind of music found on the label’s groundbreaking compilations and re-issues.

What originally started out as a radio show designed to promote new African music has slowly evolved into a collaborative project crossing continents.

Whereas nearly all of kuduro (Angolan electronic music) has no obvious references to its country’s musical heritage, it is deeply engrained in Batida’s music. Sampling tracks from 1970s Angola, Batida is a reinterpretation of Angola’s musical past, bringing it firmly into the modern day.

Batida’s high energy live show features dancers, live samples, percussionists, MCs alongside visuals and images (both archive and new) of Angolan streets, war and fragments of tribal life.

http://cdn.rap-up.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/dawn-richard-armor-on.jpg

Dawn Richard - Armor On

I hate that ugly overused font, but cool photo/wardrobe idea.

So similar to the new School Of Seven Bells!

would look much better without the font. Looks like a watermarked image as is.

Also the font is ugly.

i have a weakness for tracklists on front covers

http://www.dafont.com/birth-of-a-hero.font

It's almost ubiquitous in low-budget cover art design at this point. Ick.

yeah, i'm not defending the font itself, just what it's used for.

Yeah, I do like large swaths of text in some situations, and if she'd chosen a different font I might have liked it here too.

http://i.imgur.com/oIkqt.jpg

haha!

The letter spacing on the word 'father' hurts my eyes. Funny cover tho.

Sinead O'Connor achieving the 3rd-tier Celtic-trad look here

http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/richmedia/images/cover.gif

cf. Green Linnet record covers: http://greenlinnet.com

err...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HRoevuyhL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

yeah, mojo had that in their reviews section as the cover, whereas, amazon has the art as this :

http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/richmedia/images/cover.gif

which is a little better ..

fuck. soz.

go look @ amazon, its different.

http://www.clashmusic.com/files/imagecache/node_article_image/files/sinead-oconnor-2012-album.jpg

Both are terrible but the first is at least interesting-terrible.

I caught her on some british TV show and the presenter (can't remember who it was) showed the cd and she was like 'THAT IS NOT THE COVER'

she was wearing lots of weird saggy pvc and had a horrible myspace tattoo as well

lol

that Fritz Kalkbrenner made my stomach drop when the effect started working

I've always liked the cover aesthetic for CDs released by Nonplace, and IMO the latest album by Burnt Friedman is their best yet:

http://www.irieites.de/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/burnt_friedman.jpg

http://static.boomkat.com/images/527237/333.jpg

http://www.technique.co.jp:88/photo/img/201202/NON33CD_2.JPG

http://nonplace.de/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/non33.jpg

Sorry about the multiple images, couldn't find any single pic where the cover was laid open.

what's that sound like? it's gorgeous.

favorite ones on this thread are monolake and wooden shjips. love the earth one, too. bought that lp tonight and the girl who checked me out was all proud on behalf of her friend, who happened to have done that particular cover!

into this:

http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2012/03/Matthewdavid-Jewelry-608x608.jpg

matthewdavid - jewelry

That looks as though there are cutouts on the foreheads--is that so?

http://magiska.vlsweb.net.br/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/cover2-400x400.jpg

v #rare and #based album cover. not sure about #secrete tho.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/photosizer/upload/anathemaweathersystemscover.jpeg

http://www.soundsbetterwithreverb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/whirr-pipe-dreams-400x400.jpg

http://gallery.mailchimp.com/f8a522aed8c526a8208b32684/files/netherfriends_middle_america_web.jpg

yeah those three are terrible

That Middle America/Netherfriends thing is pretty cool, actually.

Hah I know that Netherfriends guy. He's on a mission to record a song in every state in the USA. Really nice dude.

i wonder if the Anathema one was done using an iphone app

http://tinyplanetphotos.tumblr.com/

http://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/covers/frying-on-this-rock.jpg
White Hills- Frying on this Rock

beach house - bloom
http://i.imgur.com/hIh35.jpg

awful

trypophobia thread is thataway

gah, there hasn't been a "noteworthy" album cover posted since the break. burnt friedman art is kind of cool in a "looks like a detail from a mati klarwein painting" sense, but other than that...

fu if you don't think God's Father cover is notable

http://www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/2012-03/1331036180_cover.jpg

New Build - Yesterday was Lived and Lost

Posted here for its terribleness btw

New Album is Sad, a Lemon

Apologies if this has already been posted- I'm on a phone and can't see images- but holy crap, I love this:

http://new.assets.thequietus.com/images/articles/8317/laurel_halo_quarantine_1332348513_crop_550x550.jpg

good god, why?

Ok, never mind

no, i hate everything, don't worry about me

i think its great.

yeah, i love it

was gonna post it here but i could only find small versions

Turns out it's a detail from the painting Harikiri Schoolgirls 2002 by Makoto Aida

http://www.lassiwithlavina.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ACAW-AIDA.jpg

There's a piece about the painting here btw:
http://boingboing.net/2010/09/03/makoto-aidas-schoolg.html

okay, this drawing is p great:

http://boingboing.net/features/aida/harakiri.jpg

the digitally dicked with version posted above, otoh, is hideous. and i dunno, i feel like i have at this point seen enough manga-style japanese art depicting cleverly butchered schoolgirls to last me a fucking lifetime.

http://www.tomentosarecords.com/gpssalp.jpg

^great record

(sylvester anfang II)

that is: Silvester Anfang – Perzische Tapijten (2012)

interesting note: first pressing of 500 sold out. 250 more currently being pressed. pressing denoted by 1st in rougher matt sleeve, 2nd in glossy sleeve…

one of those rougher matt sleeve pressings took a beating in transit

http://exclaim.ca/images/strange1.jpg

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx90unL2yZ1qcvrtro1_500.jpg

silvester anfang ii looks pretty great! hard to tell w such a small pic, but thumbs up

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s720x720/552633_10151434956285227_379787640226_23383306_2010158406_n.jpg

ignore the copy, great illustration.

high on fire - de vermis mysteriis

http://cdn4.pitchfork.com/news/45593/0af63b8c.jpg

love the shine on the dog's nose!

http://i.imgur.com/Qje0O.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61Pkfbb6Z-L._SS500_.jpg

Sigh – In Somniphobia

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/news/45148/header.jpg

silvester anfang ii Perzische Tapijten looks pretty great! hard to tell w such a small pic, but thumbs up

here is a bigger one:
http://www.borguez.com/uabab/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Perzische-Tapijten.jpg

dang, i hope it actually comes wrapped in an ancient towelette like that, not just a picture

but a picture's cool too

au cover is also great. i get seriously into agate sometimes.

http://thenjunderground.com/storage/Gossip-Joyful-Noise.jpg

Wow is that bad!

yeah, just do not understand. something good might have come of the basic image, i guess? if the background were a different color maybe, and if the text played up the garish WTF-ness. i mean, i'm reaching, perhaps because i like the gossip & beth, but i don't see how those elements could be combined in a less successful fashion.

do love sigh – in somniphobia. much better "painted cover" than either high on fire (their worst yet? at least tied w snakes) or day trader.

Beth Ditto's hand is strangely fascinating to me but everything else on that cover is a complete howler

high on fire (their worst yet? at least tied w snakes)

Definitely their worst album cover, though their cover art been heading downhill since "Blessed Black Wings."

more op art...

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/CarterTuttiVoidAlbumFront.jpg

Carter Tutti Void - Transverse

It's really ugly and a really old idea, but that sort of stuff still fascinates the shit out of my eyeballs.

yup

you do wonder wtf artists see when someone presents an idea like that ditto cover.

its like they just dont see it the same as the rest of us eg. the last lady gaga album cover ..

that gossip cover is like bizarro http://onetinyhand.com/

mpp has had an even worse effect on cover design then on music, huh

dang, i'm sure this is familiar to everybody but me, but so great! detail:

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/dondetail.jpg

dangit. wrong thread. well, it should be an ablum cover...

wtf at hamm's hand there

I'm finding that Mad Men pic to be incredibly haunting. Any context there? I know it's off-topic/mistake, but seriously I need answers.

that gossip cover is like bizarro http://onetinyhand.com/

― grimes - (the elder scrolls iv:) oblivion (diamonddave85), Monday, March 26, 2012 11:44 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

One Tiny Hand is horrifying.

That Mad Men picture would make a great Storm Thorgerson cover for the next Umphrey's McGee album, I Can Barely Hold My Drink.

I'm finding that Mad Men pic to be incredibly haunting. Any context there? I know it's off-topic/mistake, but seriously I need answers.

― Badmotorfinger Debate Club (MFB), Monday, March 26, 2012 1:15 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

One Tiny Hand is horrifying.

― Badmotorfinger Debate Club (MFB), Monday, March 26, 2012 2:02 PM (52 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i dunno where that mad men pic came from originally. random promo image, i suppose? agree w MFB that it's haunting, very well composed and lit, but yeah, the one tiny hand concept kind of creeps me out.

http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2012/03/theesatisfaction-awe-naturale1.jpg

http://www.stalley330.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Stalley-Savage-Journey-to-the-American-Dream-Cover-Art-By-Patrick-Martinez.jpeg

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/news/45927/5840772c.gif

new Peaking Lights

Is that an animated gif? I was wondering recently if anyone had used one for an album cover yet.

it's linked from pfork, not sure if the gif properties reflect something that the actual cover will do or if they're just animating it for shits'n'giggles

http://i.imgur.com/jUMbs.jpg

chromatics - kill for love

cover connection:

http://www.bompstore.com/media/10/a20791913057b14ed31bb_m.jpeg

country loveless

Is that an animated gif? I was wondering recently if anyone had used one for an album cover yet.

― Valéry Giscard d'Staind (NickB), Tuesday, March 27, 2012 8:04 AM Bookmark

Nina Sky did for a single cover

http://www.ninaskyhigh.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/DayDreamingfinalcover.gif

ha, just noticed the witch house triangle on there. i guess they must be hanging with CREEP a lot.

did anyone explain John Hamm's creepy hand yet?

Might just be my computer but that gif is a bit clunky eh?

no you're right, it's not very good

hamm hand was from a photoshop blog called onetinyhand

linked upthread

oh okay, i skimmed that post and thought it was in reference to the gossip cover. that is a horrifying site.

I think the gif is made from still photos, so it couldn't be made fluid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdVsoUTKBUI

i'm not a graphics person, i don't have reason to know that shit

whiney repping trucker hat/beard crew

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/429183_10150586897174821_6014499820_9341916_36981421_n.jpg

damn that album cover goes hard

okay, now that's fucking hilarious

phones & glasses A+

great title, too

his covers are always horrible! that looks like michael jackson's torso is on fire and floating through space

no peace for him even in the afterlife ;_;

is that skeleton wearing a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre (TM)?

God, Mickey is such a dork.

http://pitchfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/content/pink%20moore.jpg?wmode=transparent

uh

uh

uh

uh

amongst all the other wrongs in play, it looks just like she's queefed a cabbage

haha well that's pretty much what you'd think an r stevie moore/ariel pink jawn would look like

http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/the-walkmen-heaven.jpg

Too fonty.

LOOKS
FUCKING
STUPID

Yeah, I love a good typography cover. Someone let them know that's not one.

wow that pink/moore cover is quite bold

When you uninvert the colours in that Ariel Pink cover, it actually looks pretty cool (except for the Yin Wang thing):

NSFW, obviously

Why couldn't they have just used the original instead of the arty inverted one?

"Yin Yang"

lol

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhldsfmaskdngoaeisjfd;

that walkmen one is really bad

http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2012/03/Bear-In-Heaven-I-Love-You-Its-Cool1.jpg

name?

i like it

Bear in Heaven- I Love You, It's Cool

Dr John keeping it real

http://www.nonesuch.com/files/imagecache/section-artists-image/media/images/dr-john-locked-down-450-sq.jpg

we can't all be george clinton

that is p amazing actually

the album sounded ok while they were reviewing it on npr but it also sorta reeked of black keys

Just the fact that he's even approaching being aggressive in any way again is refreshing. He's been dishing out meaningless jingles for decades.

this kinda thing is total catnip to me, stolen from the punk thread:

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/29/54/295457560-1.jpg

Not a big fan of Cold War Kids, but I love this style of cover (note to The Walkmen: typography based covers done right can look really good!)

http://www.rocknbeats.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Cold-War-Kids-Minimum-Day-e1326828917613.jpg

dr. john throwing back to his old psychedelic swamp days! nice cover!

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/97521115e37654b955862a731674ff0b/8055.jpg

^^i thought i hated dr. john until i heard this album, which is a heavy groove, maaaan

like that fake limbs. reminds me a bit too strongly of pissed jeans shallow though.

reminds me a bit too strongly of vivian girls though.

(the text mostly)

Fake Limbs cover rules

http://www.side-line.com/images/uploads/march12042012.jpg

It Hugs Back - Laughing Party
http://www.ithugsback.co.uk/records/artwork/laughingparty-front&spine.jpg

Friendly Strangers - Where We Go, We Grow
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/80/17/801703134-1.jpg

I do not like these past three covers, band names or titles.

it hugs back have done some lovely sleeves, but that is not one of their lovely ones.

http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o428/xr2saish/artworks-000017271135-736wqc-original.jpg

Slava - Soft Control

Can't remember if I posted that already. Yet another hands-only cover, kind of fascinated by the moisture content of this one though.

for some reason that gives me the creeps.

Yeah, that hand looks like something they found in the fish counter at Sainsbury's.

it must be some kind of oil with water on top to give that droplet effect, no? very weird

http://www.side-line.com/images/uploads/march12042012.jpg = http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kzfjwpH3AI1qafdxeo1_500.gif

Slava cover connection with this one...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1c/DK_Plastic_Surgery_Disasters.jpg/220px-DK_Plastic_Surgery_Disasters.jpg

just caught up on this thread after 2-3 months, here's a few i didn't see yet

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dCD1pjndL._SS400_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41bLD8bFWVL._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ems1Se8-L._SS500_.jpg

^^ second one is Mirrorring - Foreign Body

quite like the mirrorring one, though i don't love the music tbh

Like the Mirroring cover, too. Cover connection with the Flights of Fancy one!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61YJtfm6ywL._SS500_.jpg

Zammuto – Zammuto

dope

The Wake - A Light Far Out
http://music.is-amazing.com/sites/music.is-amazing.com/files/thelights.jpg

Great White Buffalo - Tightrope
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/31/11/3111689088-1.jpg

Tiger Waves - Don't Be YOurself
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/36/89/3689307729-1.jpg

thread is always full of bafflement. only "noteworthy" covers good or bad in the last few days are the slava and the zammuto, and the latter's no great shakes...

http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2011/09/cyan.jpg

is this supposed to be BOB from twin peaks?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AWWygQ9o1A4/Tk5jwtaQAjI/AAAAAAAAADM/HUs4af2DUgA/s1600/1296187746_cover.jpg

http://www.experimedia.net/images/brr217lp.jpg

^ this was a december 2011 release, but I really love this photo

Following up on that James Ferraro cover with the iPads on it, this is horrific:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zEle%2Bs3FL._SS500_.jpg

Whistla - Enter the Swivel

^ this was a december 2011 release, but I really love this photo

Bummed that this did not load, but this was supposed to be Early Astral from Chris Forsythe and Koen Holtkamp:

http://blackestrainbowrecords.bandcamp.com/album/early-astral

xp that's some Lawnmower Man-level silliness

lol @ "Tiger Waves"

Whistla cover is some straight up have you shagged ariane yet?

Haha yes!

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s320x320/548395_272701499474774_130149957063263_571357_321094478_n.jpg

Birch Cooper - I Was A Teacher

oh god, it reminds me of
http://www.joltradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/pictureplane__thee_physical1.jpg

what do you call this "aesthetic" ?

fugly

Trollgaze

'Internet art'

Kai's Power Tools

speaking of net art, i present the new gatekeeper lp:

http://i.imgur.com/tQtVf.jpg

what do you call this "aesthetic" ?

― kelpolaris, Thursday, April 12, 2012 12:10 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

local band CD bin at a record store in the 90s?

overall this is a p bad year for album art!

But probably a good year for purposefully bad album art.

the aesthetic is called "sea punk"

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/fashion/Seapunk-a-Web-Joke-With-Music-Has-Its-Moment.html

Basically another branding of nostalgia. It's funny cos i read mentions of Seapunk somewhere but only just now realized when i was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s i went through a phase with my brothers were our clothes were like really neon colors and tropical themed and completely stupid. I didn't get the reference cos I just never thought that style was worth digging up. How wrong i was.

Sounds more or less like the 2012 equiv to the 2008 hipster jackass that wears headbands everywhere.

i wouldn't call the pictureplane cover seapunk, to me it seems pretty standard '11 net art style whereas seapunk is mostly met with eye rolls even within the net art community

adam did u rock hypercolor?

No, i thought that was gross, cos it only changed colors after you sweated all over it.

http://www.bluecollardistro.com/neurotrecordings/images/nr-lp-079-ltd-full.gif

ok that's gorgeous

is that an LP?

Pictureplane is straight up Magic Eye. Skillful focusers will see a dinosaur and an American flag.

heh

http://www.stonesthrow.com/images/2012/vex-eulogy.jpg

http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/images/uploads/quakers600.jpg

The Ufomammut looks like a CD to me, but I'd be very impressed if it was vinyl.

That's the limited edition vinyl.

Sweet!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51W%2BfWe06rL._SS500_.jpg

AU - Both Lights

AU's been posted before. still like it. agate!

so who is the "vex" of the maxfield-parrish-eque cover just after the ufomammut

http://bonnieraitt.portmerch.com/stores/images/D/slipstreamdetail.jpg

'landlady's late fee'

Looks like Tori Amos' surgeon got to Bonnie.

go back to best/worst. this noteworthy thing is just not happening

no, i love this thread's hodgepodge

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61tkkz7V6tL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Battles - Dross Glop

Multi-coloured dog poop anyone?

That's the remix version of Gloss Drop btw. The phrase that springs to my mind looking at that is 'you can't polish a turd'.

I'm not asking for Bonnie Raitt's cover to be literal or anything, but what does "Slipstream" have to do with her walking up an industrial staircase?

I like that we are going for "noteworthy" rather than good or bad, because in most cases it's obvious. But for some of the ones Bee OK posted upthread I have no idea if they liked them or not.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m28305lYXe1rtx1w5o1_1280.jpg

http://cdn03.cdn.gorillavsbear.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Quarantine-Hyperdub-575x575.png

Laurel Halo - Quarantine

^ forgot to press the show 300 more posts button and didn't see this was a repost. . . apologies

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m28305lYXe1rtx1w5o1_1280.jpg

I think the above pic belongs to this thread:

Manchester Manbears group appreciation Thread!!

The band above is an unlikely mix of dudes from Les Savy Fav, Orchid, Panthers, Black Army Jacket, and matt pond PA, with DFA ties. The cover is striking and highlights this oddness.

gotta be a reference to:

http://i42.tinypic.com/b4hog4.jpg

jam city - classical curves

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7268/6941610230_4af09c3c8c_z.jpg

<3 <3 <3 perfection

hate it

I would skip that Jam City record because of that cover.

Yeah, that's kind of awful.

literally no idea what you all dislike about it, i love the imposing inexplicability of it

It looks like a shitty desktop wallpaper from a decade ago

that graphical style is still being proudly displayed in the signatures of posters on vbb car forums

don't hate the jam city cover, but it's quite dull. it could be advertising flooring or glazing material in an architectural trade magazine. except for the spilled motorcycle, but that's not doing much for me.

lex otm

yeah that's a good one

love it, it's my jam!

Terrible.

yea that jam city is actually kinda nice, i think the datedness is sorta the point. also gotta love how divisive it apparently is lol

http://cdn2.pitchfork.com/news/46193/51efdc41.jpg

Ty Segall Band, "Slaughterhouse"

Wow. Looks like Nick Blinko drew The Beyonder. I don't know that I like it, but well done.

http://rumplo.s3.amazonaws.com/images/tees/0000/1099/1099-0.jpg

http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7088/7095669279_bba585f499.jpg

Amazing resemblance to Don Van Vliet

I like the Jam City even though the "COLD IMPOSING 80s HE DOESN'T HAVE A NAME HIS NAME IS DRIVER ALSO MIDNIGHT CITY" aesthetic is rapidly getting played out.

http://music4dance.org/_nw/154/11582805.jpg

^ Too easy to mock the terrible covers you find in the emusic listings, but this one cracked me up

wow that Flights of Fancy record is gorgeous. i'm immediately interested in hearing the music inside.

― jed_, Donnerstag, 19. Januar 2012 22:35 (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Been playing this pretty much 24/7 lately, makes up for the immense letdown Six Cups Of Rebel still continues to be.
Also still the best artwork of 2012 so far.

http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles5/144372/projects/3242019/f3f066ce15efdb6fe6c5a34a3c5d6be9.jpg

it's an EP not an album but I think we can all agree on this being a noteworthy aesthetic shift for Akufen

hmmmm, I saw that he hinted at this direction by doing a night a few years ago which was a parody of Ritchie Hawtin's Cube called ... 'The Pube'...

the shittiest cover of 2012?

http://cdn03.cdn.gorillavsbear.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/PURITY-RING-SHRINES-575x575.jpg

Not crazy about the lungs, but other than that, I like it. What is it?

purity ring - shrines

out in july apparently

Patheticallly I know what that akufen cover is referncing. Used to get played on the St Columbs college bus to strabane if we had a wacky driver
http://www.discogs.com/QFX-Freedom-The-Album/master/91278

ha, good spot

i didn't really get an 80s vibe out of the Jam City one?

http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/datassette-people_without_mouths-front.jpg

That's very nice

http://i.imgur.com/9WNS8.jpg

(MGMT - Congratulations)

still awesome

When in doubt, go with Ausgang.

works for fuxa

http://i.imgur.com/FDMRY.jpg

http://sloshmusic.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/424376_10150696623091223_16662646222_11686548_1044345649_n1.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81Ei3BryrxL._AA1500_.jpg

love that akufen

two wings pretty great too

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FYYWApYcL._SS500_.jpg

Cate le Bon - CYRK

good album, imo

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61i-Hg6mwWL.jpg

The last two are pretty great minus the type on the bottom.

wow WORLD KID is a terrible one

the 'two wings' one is especially bad because i really had to study the stupid little naked people to figure out what letters they were representing

album covers that say "[title] by [artist]" are generally pretty shitty though, yeah

want to read a whole book in that naked people font. jk. i do not.

i really like the world kid one although "by", yeah

Maybe there should be a general thread for naked people font but here is my favourite (obviously not very recent):

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8lRGZoO4YYE/SjN__ylr_QI/AAAAAAAAAnI/zwx5K1QBGDE/s1600/bongwater-the_power_of_pussy.jpg

Good call Nick, was thinking the same thing about the cover connect. That Bongwater album is all time classic.

Dave Dub - The Treatment
http://stonesthrow.com/images/2012/davedub_gatefold_front.jpg
http://stonesthrow.com/images/2012/davedub_gatefold_back.jpg

yeah, that's fantastic

that's awesome

Great incorporation of type too, which always seem to be the hardest thing when designing album art.

http://5166-hypetrak.voxcdn.com/images/2012/03/sebastien-tellier-cochon-ville.jpg

goin ham

http://cdn02.cdn.gorillavsbear.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/cover-575x575.jpg

cassette cover

being a pedant, but re: that dave dub cover, it looks like hand-lettered text, not type

hand-lettered typography

Might not work...

http://www.resident-music.com/image/cache/data/miscellaneous/may12/umberto-500x500.jpg

Umberto - Welcome to the Chillzone

god, that's great