The latest in our continuing series is a new release from a band that’s not getting enough recognition: Telekinesis. They play kind of a harder-rocking and less whimsical Shins type music. I love the mix of retro and modern in this cover.
Today is the 20th anniversary of one of the great albums of all time, a gift from Seattle called Nevermind.
The music within is timeless, but so is the cover – a striking image just as powerful today as it was in 1991. The image, like Nirvana’s lyrics, can be taken in a lot of different ways, or maybe not “taken” at all. Is it about drowning? Innocence? The self vs. the dollar? Dada? Maybe all of the above.
The enigmatic cover of one of the most moving, emotional, and riveting albums of all time. It’s a concept album – a meditation on Anne Frank, childhood, parents, war and holocaust. You’re cheating yourself if you don’t give it a listen. HIGHLY recommended.
The cover art is nearly as iconic as the album itself. Like the music within, it’s a swirling, vibrating, super-charged jolt of guitar wailing. It’s pretty great, is what I’m saying.
I found myself watching a rerun of the MTV Movie Awards in an effort to lull myself to sleep last night. Instead, I was enchanted by the shows elaborate and fantastical set this year. The Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California was transformed into a magical wonderland filled with butterflies, jewels, caves, moss, etc. The creative mind behind this transformation was MTV’s production designer, Leroy Bennett. The obvious front runners in any MTV race are Twilight and Harry Potter, and the set accurately reflected the themes of these movies. The set would have fit in perfectly in any werewolf, vampire, or wizard world. Eerie trees and billowing fog created a beautiful and picturesque backdrop for the evening’s events.
Here are a few shots of Bennett’s work.
Here 35 year old Reese Witherspoon accepts the MTV Generation Award for her body of work.
This is the most recent album from one of my favorite bands, Cheap Girls. I saw them open for Against Me! in Hunstville, Alabama in January, and it was rather extraordinary. Check out the art work:
I love the faded photograph within the faded photograph, and I love the title even more. The music? Greater still. Check them out:
One of our favorite bands here at Basis Design is The Decemberists. We love the music, we love the folklore, and we love the language. Incidentally, we also love the art. Specifically, the cover art:
This is gorgeous, first of all. But it’s also married very closely to the themes of the album, as well as the setting and language used within it. The Hazards of Love is a concept album concerning the lovelorn fates of a maiden, a shape shifter, a forest fairy queen, and an evil rake. It takes place in the taiga, old and cold forest far north. The starkness of the color, the simplicity of the black night and the grey trees, conveys both beauty and menace on the cover of the album. I love it. The density of the “trees” is a mirror of the density of the songs, the repeated and overlapping musical themes, and the often challenging old-english style wordplay. A success.
This cover fits into the stark and foreboding mood of one of their E.P.’s, The Tain.
Another concept album folktale, another stark and lovely design.
The second (of three) categories for Decemberists album covers is olde-timey-ish folk art send-ups. Yeah, that’s right. Check out Picaresque, Her Majesty the Decemberists, The Crane Wife, and Castaway’s and Cutouts:
All the covers are a reflection of the band’s self-conscious literary flavor. While the music is generally contemporary and folk-rock oriented, the lyrics, the stories, and the stage banter is straight from an earlier century. I like the feel of these “jokes on us” covers, because they work as excellent (and funny) art just as well as tongue-in-cheek self identification from the band.
Then there is a third category, only broached by their most recent album. Not coincidentally, this new album is fresh and new for the band; it’s more country than anything else, and about as happy sounding as a jaybird. The title, The King is Dead, might just refer to their medieval and pre-modern preoccupations. Or it might be a play on The Smiths’ masterpiece, The Queen is Dead. Who knows? We’ll see where they go next.
Bill Simmons is the James Cameron of sports columnists. He makes more money than anyone else, everyone on the internet reads his work, and he’s the de facto favorite sportswriter of the general population. He has a feel for the pulse of the nation, if you will, and a middle brow sensibility that brings in readers of all stripes. His recent (and second) #1 New York Times Bestseller is titled The Book of Basketball. It’s Simmons’ exhaustive take on the history of the league, the best players and coaches and teams. It is a very entertaining 700 page list in the guise of a book. And now, thanks to enthusiastic fans, it even has a poster. Check it out:
Pretty slick. Simmons fans will notice many of the inside jokes, and everyone can appreciate the mustache on Larry Legend.
On November 11, 2010, In Music, By Wes
You may have heard Mr. West on the news recently. His latest meltdown/outburst occurred on the Today Show and on his own Twitter feed. His new, highly anticipated album is coming out November 22nd. Coincidence?
The name of the album and cover art on the album were controversial as well. Titled “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” this was the original cover art:
Interesting to say the least. Also, Wal Mart won’t carry it, to say even less. Here’s the new cover:
Much less interesting.
As much as his personal stuff gets in the way, he’s right about one thing: You can’t argue with the music. Here’s Runaway, a new track.
This is the Official EA Sports NCAA Football 11 Cover for the PS3:
It is an abomination, an offense before God and man alike, a stain upon the surface of the earth, and an obscenity. Forthwith, I give you an alternate, and altogether awesome, cover, which I shall soon be purchasing from it’s creators:
