Noteworthy album covers of 2020

agreed, horrible cover

the fawning for this dude

lol, everyone here seems to hate him! ;P

oh not here, no. just in general, he feels pretty inescapable elsewhere

Surely Tame Impala can't be the first album cover to use a photo from the Kolmanskop, Namibia ghost town?

https://www.thevintagenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/BeFunky-Collage-106.jpg

That place is a Storm Thorgerson wet dream.

Сталкер in the desert

i normally love this annual thread, but has to be said, its not the best of starts to the year re cover designs.

I was going to ask if the Tame Impala cover was a pre-existing piece of art - it's a weird one where I love the image, but I don't feel like it bodes well for the music inside. I guess it's like, if I saw the image alone, I would be all "YES! Portentousness! The folly of man! Nature returns to conquer! Look upon my works ye mighty!" But seeing it as an album cover, I'm just "this music is going to be boring".

The Homesick cover is really cool, I love that aesthetic.

(I guess that really dates me & my tastes, lol)

Antti Lötjönen (Finnish jazz bassist), Quintet East. Not out till April:

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1368219521_10.jpg

Viscera, Obsidian. Out in March.

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1055657978_10.jpg

Cordyceps, Betrayal. Out in April.

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2793536543_16.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SQoWzO0.jpg

Arca - @@@@@

eww

exactly.

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0563368616_10.jpg

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2355841713_10.jpg

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/5e3dd93620256b00096ba218/1:1/w_320/2017%20%E2%80%93%202019_AAL.jpg

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/5e4d5209f98c800008cf6620/1:1/w_320/King-Krule-Man-Alive.jpg

king krule "man alive"

x's and p's that Arca cover is so bad I have to wonder if that's a Perry Farrell project

I kind of hate every album cover presented in this thread so far lol, the one I like the best is King Krule but I don’t like his music at all.

I don’t understand if the watermark on the Against All Logic is an aesthetic choice or if they just couldn’t be bothered licensing the stock photo

Really liking the cover of drummer Ted Poor's new album:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71QHzn8bAqL.jpg

http://www.nme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Bene%CC%81t-696x696.jpg

"Horrible 70s Album Titles" thread is now a musical genre

https://i.imgur.com/eepQRwm.jpg

Pedro Vian Ibillorca

JoJo - Good to Know

https://www.rap-up.com/app/uploads/2020/04/jojo-good-to-know.jpg

(For the avoidance of doubt — the promo-style copy at the top is actually part of the retail artwork.)

Kehlani - It Was Good Until It Wasn't

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EXd5dfdUMAEn3_k?format=jpg&name=large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EXd5dfcVAAEohKn?format=jpg&name=large

1995 epilepsy - 1995 epilepsy

https://assets.boomkat.com/spree/products/659431/large/0810025347567.jpg

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3858028849_10.jpg

chicano batman - invisible people. good album, too.

has a very Hipgnosis vibe in my eyes

Charli XCX - How I’m Feeling Now

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EX7WNhXXkAA-yoV?format=jpg&name=large

Great tunes, but this might be the worst album cover of 2020.

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1efcc0ec46584256375b78cda1b7abda73a7b6c2/0_0_3000_3000/master/3000.jpg

Let's try that again with a different URL...

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1efcc0ec46584256375b78cda1b7abda73a7b6c2/0_0_3000_3000/master/3000.jpg?width=700&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=491a828ac1d536350379cdbca80728ef

god i hate every cover in this thread except maybe 1995 epilepsy

Fuck, this cover art from the Strokes is ugly. Looks like it was drawn by a first grader. Is this seriously the best thing they could think of?

https://fordhamobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Nyckole-Lopez-ram-jams.jpeg

it's Basquiat isn't it?

helena hauff - kern vol. 5

https://exclaim.ca//images/helena-hauff-kern-vol-5.jpg

https://exclaim.ca//images/helena-hauff-kern-vol-5.jpg

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3997242001_10.jpg

https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2020/07/Black-Marble-I-Must-Be-Living-Twice-1593697092.jpg

This thread has been neglected.

Moodymann - TAKEN AWAY

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1317778650_16.jpg

So many good covers missing here.

Nnamdi - Brat

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1974276704_16.jpg

Bibio - Sleep on the Wing

https://music.mxdwn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Bibio-Album-Art-2020.jpg

Moses Sumney - Grae

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2251086377_10.jpg

Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - What Kinda Music

https://www.magneticmag.com/.image/t_share/MTcwNDE5ODQ5NDk4MDExMzI2/tom-misch-and-yussef-dayes-what-kinda-music.png

And notable because this is my least favorite album cover of the year so far:

Jerry Paper - Abracadabra

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0478067739_16.jpg

Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids - Shaman!

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0991919912_10.jpg

xp you trippin, that's magical af and it beats the heck outta this

https://i.imgur.com/oaJSMbF.jpg

Ha, yeah that Jerry Paper cover art is pretty amazing in its own way, and definitely deserves to be here.

What's the baby + keyboard one?

That Jerry Paper album cover really could've been content with the Hee Haw font, the barbershop quartet shirt, and that awkward crouch. I'm not sure the snail eyes were even strictly necessary.

it's really more of a beach boys shirt, barbershop quartets tend to wear red striped vests

https://img.discogs.com/yfrO9J_RwOxady4xmHHobOze0b8=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-15678059-1595758414-1124.jpeg.jpg

https://img.discogs.com/yfrO9J_RwOxady4xmHHobOze0b8=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-15678059-1595758414-1124.jpeg.jpg

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/8158IuZmUQL._SL1500_.jpg

i like looking at the Deep Purple cover more than i'd like the album i'm pretty sure

also the band name/font and cover have a very desert/stoner vibe.

Lol at dissing Basquiat, one of the most important and influential figures in modern art, via the Strokes album upthread.

The actual cover is different than the one posted though, that one seems like a digital reproduction.

Btw, Basquiat himself did design the cover for Rammellzee’s Beat Bop

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2133996219_10.jpg

bloke from hiatus kaiyote

parody of dated aesthetic feels v dated itself now as does the unbearable self aware irony of it all

excerpts I heard on bandcamp are as horrible as could be expected

Throw it in here:

https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=109867

Weird that the title doesn't show up. It was my feeble attempt at a 'Rolling Abominable [Current Year] Album Covers' thread.

at least 1/3 of this thread could go in there tbh

*sigh* we've been through this

http://i.imgur.com/PEG9C.jpg

new concept for 2k11 -- you decide whether they are 'good'/'crap' etc

― nax arrrrrgh (nakhchivan), Thursday, December 16, 2010 3:00 PM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Noteworthy album covers of 2011

I mean I'd throw the Jerry Paper cover in the other thread, but yeah I figured "noteworthy" meant just that, and not as a judgement of quality.

Fair enough. I tend to parse it as a positive adjective but it doesn't have to be, it's true.

https://www.discogs.com/Orb-Abolition-Of-The-Royal-Familia/master/1704143

Nubya Garcia - Source

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3209158474_16.jpg

https://storage.highresaudio.com/2020/06/25/ziipvi-bachredemp-preview-m3.jpg

Nothing, The Great Dismal

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/5f5b92a489222a602f235cd3/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/NOTHING.jpg

Nice.

That's a great cover. Is it the first glimpse of the Large Sad Man without his cowl? (I'm assuming by that name/title combo it's funeral doom?)

indie-shoegaze with a tiny sprinkle of doom iirc

Ah, ok.

Eartheater - Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin

https://i.imgur.com/k5I1xA8.png

sturgill simpson - cuttin grass

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkUbcyAUwAAjLl0?format=jpg&name=small

https://redirect.haulix.com//R0q_T4qcda14kEJYon_ChRt2O3vvmcRzzzkK7iTMMJE%3d/PromoAccessory_165765.jpg

might be huge, sorry

^ that was Coathangers

simple, but does something to my eyes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2523226261_16.jpg

This is the new Zavoloka

Dang had no idea there was new Zavoloka, will check out asap

Magic Oneohtrix Point Never

https://i.imgur.com/RtiGsgE.jpg

Done by the amazing Robert Beatty, his website is a treasure trove of killer album covers.

Mrs. Piss – Self-Surgery

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4118909094_10.jpg

Duma - Duma

https://i.imgur.com/RJURKXM.jpg

wow

Keleketla! - Keleketla!
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0794793379_10.jpg