Monday August 24, 2009
“Best of the Decade” lists are starting to pop up everywhere around the ‘net getting a jump start on the top tracks and albums that define the noughties. I started thinking about what I thought the best albums of the last ten years were and started to come to the conclusion that I was still in high school at the start of the decade and therefore there is a bit of a lull in the taste of music I had. From most of the lists I have seen, half the blogosphere are in the same kind of boat.
So I thought about the cover art, because I have always loved looking at covers and even bought albums that had rad covers on a whim. So here is my list of favourite covers for the noughties! Feel free to add more…
The Strokes – Is this it? – 2001
The Strokes was an easy choice. The artwork that goes with “genre defining” new artists is really important because it sets the tone for everyone who comes after. I don’t think the cover follows the tone of the music, but it is so simple and memorable that it was hard to ignore, like the overall effect of their impact as a band. Its says kiss my ass, but in a tasteful way.
The Streets – Original Pirate Material – 2002
This image totally nailed the feel of the music for me. That of the grimey city, the night, the tales of what the middle-class saw as common youth who don’t have a brain or a voice. Then came Mike Skinner, someone who represented the lower class with a pride and charm, comedy and an uncaring arrogance about how unpolished and in-time his music was. The cover sums up who he represents.
Sebastien Tellier – Sexuality – 2008
The sexual, retro and dream-like tackiness of the art totally reflected Sebastien’s vibe. Especially when applied to an LP record sleeve. He fitted the “man with a beard sings intelligent love songs of the 70s and 80s” and added an overt sexual tackiness to it which is perfectly displayed here, adding to his attitude and mystique.
Arular – MIA – 2005
Kala was probably executed a bit better, but this was the first physical impression of MIA and what her music looked like. It is global, vibrant, political and has an appropriated cut-and-paste digital feel. MIA packaged her look and feel perfectly as raw, colourful but also with a naive pastiche feel. This has been imitated since with a slew of Microsoft paint style DIY artwork which now had a reference point.
Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreak – 2008
Instead of going for the “rapper gives street credit to different music direction” angle, Kanye went all out and reinvented his image as a glasses-and-tuxedo-donning blipster balladeer. It would have been too easy for him to go with a picture of himself on the cover screaming “Hey, it’s still me’” in his usual over-thought “Im a rapper, but Im into clothes” look but it went totally opposite and stripped it bare. A deflated heart-shaped balloon on a light grey background with a respectable font, genius!
Radiohead – In Rainbows – 2007
Most people would probably go with “Hail to the Thief” or “Kid A” as being more influential artistically. This one had more of an impact on me. It was colourful and signaled Radiohead’s return to more organic-sounding tracks. The fully justified text with that weird use of big gaps on the lyrics pages had such an impact on me I still want to use that treatment of text for everything I start.
Soulwax – Any Minute Now – 2004
Anyone who has the confidence to use this kind of optical illusion on a cover and actually hide the band name and album title gets massive attention from me. I still can’t figure out how this was done, I believe minutely smaller dots were used to create the text but I still don’t really know.
Hot Chip – The Warning – 2006
This cover gave me something to imagine when I listened to the music. It was playful, coulourful, and a little bit mathematical in a childish way. You are drawn into wondering what the music sounds like through the graphics, and then once you hear it you say “I get it” and then you have an affinity with the art as well as the songs.
Kings of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak – 2004
I can’t really pull this one apart too much because I’m not a hundred percent sure why I love it, maybe I just like the music. I think maybe because of the simplicity, it adds a fragile beauty to the image of the music which is so raw, but also gives it a glaring sexuality. I hate the font, but it still grabs me because it feels separate to the music and I like how it changed my association of it to wedding invitations and sentimental cards.
Justin Timberlake – Futuresex/Lovesounds – 2006
Gotta give the guy points for being cool with twisting the record company to take risks with his image. I don’t know if they would have immediately approved of a guy who takes photos of himself getting blowjobs as a choice for the main photo job. The music is so slick and greasy that it is in perfect juxtaposition to the raw image quality of the picture – he isn’t even cropped into the centre and his arm trails off the edge. The fact he is smashing a disco ball doesn’t even make sense to the music, but who cares? He was willing to look like he didn’t care, which is such a big step for someone in such a high position as a pop artist. The uninspiring use of the text just adds to it all.
Words by Jimmy
Talking about FAVOURITE ALBUM COVERS OF THE DECADE"
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Neil Young was one of the main influences on the Kings of Leon and he used that script font on his album covers (Harvest)….guess thats what they were alluding to.