The Cover Up

Officially Moved!

2010-08-10T08:44:00.001-04:00

The Cover Up has officially moved! After this post, this blog will no longer be updated. The address of the site is the same, but the RSS feed is now located at http://feeds.feedburner.com/the-cover-up. The new version of the site includes a tighter design, a working search, related posts in the sidebar, a tag cloud, Lightbox on all posts, improved audio embeds and some other additions. Be sure to check it out! New posts coming soon.

Heads Up

2010-07-15T10:52:00.001-04:00

Just a heads up. I'm currently in the process of moving this site to a Wordpress installation. Hopefully it will be done soon and I can start posting again! That goes for The Cover Down as well. Stay tuned...

CoverCast #6: Spiritwalk

2010-04-16T09:40:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted much here for a month or so. I've been busy. But I did have a chance to put this relaxed mix together, featuring a few recent favorites. Take note of the track from Dela's Robert Glasper beat tape and The Roots track from their Dilla covers compilation. Also, rest in peace Nujabes and Steve Reid, both great artists. Oh, and props to the Freer & Sackler Galleries for their "In The Realm of the Buddha" exhibit. I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to take photos... I'll be putting together some more mixes soon.

Download: ♪ CoverCast #6: Spiritwalk

1. Erykah Badu - Agitation
2. Bonobo - Eyesdown
3. Dela / Robert Glasper - Dizzy
4. José James - Love Conversation (Featuring Jordana de Lovely)
5. The Roots - Hall & Oates
6. Daedelus - Order of the Golden Dawn (Featuring Laura Darling)
7. Nujabes - Moon Strut
8. Dimlite - In Groups To The Hydrando (Album Edit)
9. James Pants - Thin Moon
10. Gonjasufi - Sheep
11. Whitefield Brothers - Chich
12. Jaga Jazzist - Toccata
13. Four Tet - Plastic People
14. Steve Reid - Lugano

RELATED
CoverCast #5: WAVE
CoverCast #4: 9/6
CoverCast #3: Three
CoverCast #2: Jazz Epic
CoverCast #1: G4G4

BT - These Hopeful Machines

2010-02-19T11:15:00.000-05:00

Illustrator Aaron Jasinski illustrated this amazing piece for popular electronic music artist BT's newest release. I've been following Jasinski's work for years through DeviantART, where he is somewhat of a celebrity. I agree with him that this is some of the best work he's done, taking advantage of the very long insert. You can see what it looks like in person on his blog.

A fantastic piece all around, falling in line with much of his other music-inspired pieces (below). If I were at all a BT fan I'd pick this up immediately.

Aaron Jasinski
BT

Method Man, Ghostface & Raekwon - Wu-Massacre

2010-02-19T11:13:00.000-05:00

How perfect is this cover for the upcoming Wu-Tang release? Wu-Massacre is a collaboration between Method Man, Ghostface and Raekwon finally set to be released on March 30th. It will also feature Wu-Tang affiliates RZA, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna and others.

The artwork was handled by Chris Bachalo, a comic artist who's been in the industry since 1989, known for his exagerated, cartoon-like figures. He has worked for both Marvel and DC, illustrating titles such as The Sandman, X-Men Unlimited and his own series Steampunk.

I suddenly feel like posting an entry on hip-hop album covers done by comic book artists. I can think of a few. If you have any suggestions, feel free to comment!

Chris Bachalo
Wu-Tang

Freeway & Jake One - The Stimulus Package

2010-01-26T17:31:00.005-05:00

I was considering picking up Freeway and producer Jake One's new album on Rhymesayers, but after seeing this I have to buy it. Thanks to Mykola for pointing it out. Rhymesayers has been doing well with the crazy packaging as of late.

I can't post this without mentioning the designer, Brent Rollins. Rollins has had a hand in a number of albums in my collection, including classics like Black Star, Blackalicious' Nia, Latyrx and others. You can check out an entry I wrote on his work for Junk Science way back in '07.

Just How BIG Is The Stimulus Package?
Brent Rollins
Freeway
Jake One
Rhymesayers

RELATED
By The Throat
Never Better
Feeding Einstein

Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day

2010-01-22T10:53:00.002-05:00

I'll admit, Kid Cudi's music hasn't grown on me yet. I'm not exactly sure why. "Day 'n' Night" was cool. What he did with Nosaj Thing's instrumental was good. The Lady Gaga beat was nice. But the album never clicked for some reason. Either way, that isn't what this post is about. It's about the cover art!

The artwork, Cudi's face against a vibrantly colored full moon, was illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz, a Jersey-bred artist made popular by his innovative use of oil paints, collage and mimeograph in the 80's for Marvel and DC Comics. After a period of creating movie posters in the 90's, he was approached by Def Jam to make an album cover for EPMD's third release Business As Usual (above). Later he was commissioned to create the art for RZA's first Bobby Digital album (above), using 70's-era Blaxploitation film posters as inspiration. Also of note is his book Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix (below), an illustrated biography of Jimi Hendrix, written by Martin I. Green.

Oddly enough, the first time Sienkiewicz work caught my attention was after seeing his amazing paintings in the third Venture Brothers DVD release (below). Look at Brock. He totally just killed a bunch of guys.

Bill Sienkiewicz
Comic Creator: Bill Sienkiewicz
Kid Cudi
RZA
Venture Brothers

RELATED
Robocop (1988 Import Version)
Graduation

Madlib - Madlib Medicine Show #1: Before The Verdict

2010-01-20T16:30:00.008-05:00

I'm having trouble keeping up with Stones Throw. It seems as if every product they release is designed specifically to make me reach for my wallet. The first in Madlib's monthly album series, Medicine Show #1, is no exception. To start things off he's brought along Detroit MC Guilty Simpson, a precursor to their OJ Simpson release coming later in April.

The vinyl edition of the album is being released in a hand-printed sleeve designed by Jeff Jank and produced by the Hit + Run Crew. I'm enjoying this trend of hand-made album covers and hope it continues. Tonight in L.A. there will be a release party with live screen printing. I wish I could be there. I'll have to settle for the video produced by ABCNT (top). But if you're in L.A....

Download: ♪ Guilty Simpson - "Before The Verdict"

Madlib
Guilty Simpson
Hit + Run Crew
ABCNT

RELATED
Beat Konducta Vol. 1, 2, 5, 6
Donuts
Stones Throws Posters, Prints, Artwork
Yesterdays Universe

BTS Radio ReLaunch

2010-01-20T15:10:00.003-05:00

After a long hiatus, BTS Radio is finally being relaunched. It's felt like a long time since I anxiously awaited every show a few years back, providing me with mixes by beatmakers like Jneiro Jarel, Flying Lotus, DJ Mitsu and others (in fact my second post on this blog was about BTS). But it's great to have it back, especially now that the global beat scene has exploded.

DJ Andrew Meza will be hosting a guest mix every Tuesday and digging up a mix from the archives every Thursday. Of course this will all be graced with art direction by Charles Munka (aka Ques) of LCP United, now also associated with Brainfeeder. Joining the team is Paul Rodriguez, the official photographer who's work has appeared in Spin, Current TV, Ubiquity and other spots. This week's mix is by the UK-based production duo Letherette, featuring their beats and a few favorite tracks.

Download: ♪ Letherette - Beat Showcase #003

BTS Radio
Ques
Paul Rodriguez

RELATED
BTS Radio
Waiting For Annie Clark Mix

Various - You Don't Know: Ninja Cuts

2010-01-19T16:33:00.023-05:00

Just one of the purchases in my short obsession with record label compilations last year, Ninja Tune's You Don't Know: Ninja Cuts, the fifth in a series of collections they've released, is a 3-disc package bringing together old, unreleased, rare, remixed and new recordings. Ninja Tune veterans like Mr. Scruff, The Cinematic Orchestra and Bonobo make an appearance, along with newer arrivals like The Long Lost, Cadence Weapon and Yppah. It's a decent view of where the label has been and where they're going, especially for those not familiar.

Ninja Tune decided to use a fittingly futuristic Syd Mead illustration of a lush orbiting space station for the cover. Each disc has it's own artwork, but this is the most interesting. The insert also folds out into a poster, which I scanned (above). Vegetables in space. X-Ray Delta One has a great collection of Syd Mead work on Flickr, three of which are below.

I had the pleasure of hearing Mead speak at my school in 2007. He is famous for his futuristic conceptual work, especially his vehicle designs. His work has appeared in many films including Tron (light cycles!), Blade Runner, Star Trek, Aliens, Turn A Gundam and Yamato 2520. He's also done designs for a Sega Saturn game I played years ago, Cyber Speedway (below). Not only are his vehicles great, but the music (by the mysterious Bygone Dogs), really made an impression on me back when most video game music I had been exposed to was 16-bit Genesis tunes. Skip to 3:50 to hear what I'm talking about.

Syd Mead
Ninja Tune

RELATED
Just Briefly

Top 10 Albums of '09

2009-12-16T15:54:00.006-05:00

Another year, another list. 2009 was strange for me in terms of music. While 2008 seemed to offer a long list of great albums, '09 felt more subdued. Of course this could be the result of two key music stores closing in my area, leaving fewer convenient shopping options. So there will be a few albums I haven't had the chance to hear yet. You'll also notice that four releases on my list were digital or limited releases. A sign of the times, I guess. But on to the list...

10. ZKPRZ - ZKPRZ

A suprise release for me, sent by emcee Madwreck himself. The ZKPRZ are sort of a continuation of The Others, a hip-hop trio from the now-defunct Third Earth Music. I loved their albums several years ago, so I'm glad to see them return with the same level of quality. It's free, by the way.

9. Squarepusher - Solo Electric Bass 1

I'm always up for a new Squarepusher album. Hearing Jenkinson minus the electronic drum'n'bass noodling sounded promising to me, knowing his appreciation for jazz-fusion and his skillfull bass playing. I honestly enjoyed this as much as last year's Just A Souvenir.

8. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

Warp Records made a lot of noise this year celebrating their 20th anniversary. In a list of new artists, they also signed Bibio, previously on Mush Records. Known for his atmospheric cut & paste style of electronic folk, this time around he included a bit of J Dilla-esque instrumental hip-hop to great effect.

7. Hyperdub - 5 Years of Hyperdub

Late this year I started collecting record label compilations, all due to my enjoyment of Hyperdub's 5 year anniversary collection. I've had friends trying to get me into dubstep for a while, so this was a good crash-course on one of the best labels working in genre.

6. Exile - Radio

Instrumental hip-hop is still alive. Exile's Radio is proof of that. Taking radio and feeding it directly through his MPC, manipulating everything from music, voices and even static, he managed to craft not only an amazing set of beats but also include a bit of social commentary.

5. The Gaslamp Killer - My Troubled Mind

I'll just say it; Brainfeeder is the future. Flying Lotus' camp is pushing hip-hop to it's limits, and The Gaslamp Killer is second-in-command. He somehow managed to make this 15 minute mini-album feel epic in scale, editing obscure samples and fusing that with more electronic influences. I'll definitely be on the lookout for a full album from him and anything else Brainfeeder releases.

4. Tortoise - Beacons of Ancestorship

After three years, post-rock group Tortoise finally released a new album, rekindling my appreciation for them. The album is as modern and experimental as their other releases, but with an added sense of solidity. It also pushed me to explore guitarist Jeff Parker's solo work, which I should have done long ago.

3. Triorganico - Convivencia

Now Again was spot-on with this release, a fully acoustic album by California-based Brazilian jazz trio Triorganico. Right as my obsession with Quarteto Novo was at full swing, the trio put together a more modern approach of a similar form. It's also one of the most relaxing albums I've heard this year.

2. Dak - Standthis

I've thought there was something special about Leaving Records ever since their blog went live. Their first release, Dak's Standthis, is a heavy, experimental collage of beats and sounds that really resonated with me. I still need to hear the recently released b-sides, Standthis (Otherside).

1. Shafiq Husayn - Shafiq En' A Free Ka

A suprise favorite by Sa-Ra member Shafiq Husayn, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Shafiq En' A Free Ka. What I got was the most organic, soulful album I've heard this year. The amount of collaboration with other great LA artists throughout the album is what I think attracted me most. This is all-around great music, even overshadowing Sa-Ra's '09 release Nuclear Evolution.

Honerable Mentions

Hudson Mohawke - Butter
Harmonic 313 - When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence
Sa-Ra Creative Partners - Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love
Quantic & His Combo Barbaro - Tradition In Translation
Nicolay - City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya
Dam-Funk - Toeachizown
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Broadcast & The Focus Group - Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age
Madlib - Vol. 5-6: A Tribute To...
The Long Lost - The Long Lost
MF Doom - Born Like This

RELATED
Obligatory Top 10 Albums of '08

Whitefield Brothers - Earthology

2009-12-10T10:09:00.001-05:00

Jan and Max Whitfield, Munich-born founders of deep-funk pioneers The Poets of Rhythm, have returned with a follow up to their once-rare 2001 album In The Raw. The new album continues their signature combination of American Meters-inspired funk and African Afrobeat. This time around they're bringing guests including rapper Edan, funk-outfit El Michels Affair, Quantic and others. The album is now available digitally in Stones Throw's online store. The physical release comes later in January.

The artwork and unique type treatment for both the single and LP were designed by Lewis Heriz, an artist that appears to have a knack for creating African and Latin-inspired posters and album covers. This is evident in his work for East London club night Sofrito (below). I also think I recognize a cover he designed for a compilation of tracks from UK jazz label Impossible Ark. You can get a more thorough view of his work in his online portfolio.

Download: ♪ The Whitefield Brothers - The Gift (Featuring Edan & Mr. Lif)

The Whitefield Brothers
Lewis Heriz
Now Again

RELATED
In The Raw
Convivencia

Miles Davis - Tutu

2009-12-08T15:34:00.007-05:00

I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of Miles Davis' work during the 80's. For a long time I've been slightly turned off by the overtly synthetic feel of a lot of jazz created at the time, in comparison to my love for the organic nature of the genre in the 70's and early 60's. But I also realize that some of the most iconic images of Miles came from this period, including the photograph from his sixth album to come after his hiatus in the late 70's, Tutu. The photos, taken by Irving Penn, are fitting for a musician often referred to as "The Prince of Darkness". These two portraits (below) have become defining images of the man.

Photographer Irving Penn died just two months ago at the age of 92. He left behind a strongly consistent body of work. It varies widely in subject matter but almost always keeps with his signature style of black and white photographs displaying simple, strong composition and contrast.

Penn attended school to become a painter. After a period of doing design work for Harper's Bazaar, he became a fashion photographer for Vogue Magazine, with his photographs appearing on 150 covers for the next 50 years. During his time he also created a striking portrait series of people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Later in life he focused on still-lifes of found objects, including cigarette butts and skulls. This work appears to deliberately contrast with the perfection of the models in his fashion photography, attempting to find beauty in objects and people that otherwise wouldn't be considered so.

Penn's work has been displayed in a number of galleries, including the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. You can read a more in-depth article about Penn on The New York Times' site, and memories from those he worked with collected at Interview Magazine.

Irving Penn
Miles Davis
Irving Penn, Fashion Photographer, Is Dead at 92
From the Archive: Remembering Irving Penn

Daedelus - Just Briefly

2009-12-02T16:16:00.004-05:00

British designer Pandayoghurt's work has been making the rounds recently, blog-wise. But I thought I'd make note of the great album covers I ran across while browsing his portfolio. Included is a cover for a retrospective of Daedelus' work (above), released on Ninja Tune in 2006. It features what looks to be some sort of deconstructed machine accompanied by appropriately dandy flourishes to the left.

Also in his portfolio are covers for producer Caural's second Mush release from 2005 (above) and mcenroe's 5 Years in The Factory from 2004. He has more cover art on his site along with some newly added work that's worth checking out.

Pandayoghurt
Daedelus
Caural
mcenroe

RELATED
Reefer
Of Snowdonia
Love To Make Music To
Live At Low End Theory

North / South / East / West

2009-12-01T15:48:00.000-05:00

If you're racking your brain trying to figure out what to get me for Christmas, English photographer Shaun Bloodworth has collaborated with Give Up Art and Bleep to put together this gorgeous package. It contains 14 photographic prints and a compilation album, documenting electronic music artists from 4 regions, including the likes of Flying Lotus, Daedelus, Mike Slott and Hudson Mohawke (below). A few of these are shots from Bloodworth's LA Dope series.

It's great to see a photographer documenting a musical movement this way, reminiscent to what Francis Wolff did with jazz or Martha Cooper with early hip-hop. I'd also be interested in seeing photographs of the artists in their creative spaces, like Rafael Rashid's "Behind The Beat". Maybe that will come next?

The standard edition is limited to 500 copies and includes the 14 prints and CD. The deluxe edition comes with a poster and what looks to be different packaging. If I had more money at the moment I would have already made my pre-order. Maybe Santa will get me a copy? Preview of the tracks below...

Shaun Bloodworth
Give Up Art
Bleep

RELATED
Shaun Bloodworth's L.A. Dope
Butter

Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No

2009-12-01T14:02:00.001-05:00

James Blagden, a New York-based artist who's had work in a variety of publications including WaxPoetics and URB, created an animated short chronicling the hallucinogenic baseball antics of Dock Ellis. Ellis was well known for his no-hitter in 1970, performed while under the influence of LSD. A recorded interview with Ellis inspired Blagden and Chris Isenburg of No Mas to make this short.

I'm suprised I've never featred Blagden's work before. I've been a fan of his wobbly neon-colored drawings for a while. Above is a great piece he did showing Grandmaster Flash permorning one of his signature moves. Below is a slightly creepy illustration of Dangermouse and Cee-Lo. He's also done an intriguing album cover for Spank Rock and Benny Blanco. You can view more of Blagden's work in his online portfolio.

James Blagden
No Mas
Dock Ellis

RELATED
The Odd Couple
WaxPoetics #26

CoverCast #5: WAVE

2009-11-06T06:00:00.005-05:00

Download: ♪ CoverCast #5: WAVE

It's been a while since my last CoverCast, but I finally put something together this week. Partly inspired by the new Shafiq Husayn album, this is a selection of future soul/funk tracks. I hope you enjoy! Click the cover or link to download.

1. Sonar Kollektiv Orchester - Ain't No Dream
2. Electric Wire Hustle - Perception
3. Ta'Raach - Catch My Breath (World) (Featuring J Mitchell)
4. Shafiq Husayn - Dust & Kisses (Featuring Noni Limar)
5. Eric Lau - I Don't Do It To (Featuring Tawiah)
6. Dwele - Workin' On It
7. Platinum Pied Pipers - Pigeon Hole
8. The Sa-Ra Creative Partners - Can I Get You Hi
9. Dam-Funk - (My Funk Goes) On & On
10. Muhsinah - NetKnot
11. The Foreign Exchange - Take Off The Blues (Featuring Darien Brockington)
12. Robert Glasper - Butterfly

RELATED
CoverCast #4: 9/6
CoverCast #3: Three
CoverCast #2: Jazz Epic
CoverCast #1: G4G4

Shafiq Husayn - Shafiq En' A Free Ka

2009-11-03T10:56:00.004-05:00

Last month Shafiq Husayn, 1/3rd of the Sa-Ra Creative Partners, released his solo debut on Plug Research. The album's an eclectic blend of soul, hip-hop, jazz and electronics with an African spirit throughout. It's a deep, soulful record and is some of the best music I've heard this year. A surprising release that I highly recommend. It also features fellow artists Bilal, Count Bass D, Om'Mas Keith, Daedelus on accordion, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson on arrangements and others. More than a solo record, it's a family affair.

The beautiful cover and insert photos, in what looks like an African antique shop, come from Cover Up favorite Eric Coleman of Mochilla. As Shafiq explains in the video below, Coleman actually helped come up with title of the album after they watched "Shaft In Africa". The packaging's design was handled by another favorite, Stephen Serrato.

Be sure to check out Plug Research's other videos for more insight into the album. At the bottom of this post you'll find a sampler of the album.

Shafiq Husayn
Sa-Ra Creative Partners
Plug Research

RELATED
New Amerykah Pt. 1

Various - 5 Years of Hyperdub

2009-10-23T20:49:00.004-04:00

While lurking around dubstepforum.com I ran across a thread essentially talking trash about the cover of Hyperdub's 5 year anniversary compilation. "So, Hyperdub 5 has the ugliest cover art ever known to man". I've got to disagree. The cover was designed by Manuel Sepulveda, the same designer behind the cover of Harmonic 313's latest releases. I think the abstract pattern and symbols fit very well with the dark, digital, futuristic themes Hyperdub plays off of.

Someone in the thread linked to Sepulveda's Flickr account, which I hadn't seen before. It included some detail shots of the cover. If you look closely you can see a repition of the Hyperdub logo (I didn't notice that until a few minutes ago). He has quite a few other pattern-based pieces on Flickr which I think are worth checking out, along with a set of album covers, including that Squarepusher cover I love so much.

Another interesting note is that the album is packaged in a miniature DVD case, about the size of a regular jewel case. I've never seen a case like this and it's a great step to make this release unique. The compilation features one CD of new tracks by Hyperdub artists and friends, including Kode9, Burial, Flying Lotus, Samiyam and others. The second disc includes older Hyperdub tracks, some being released on CD for the first time. I was really anticipating this release and got exactly what I expected. Two hours of dubstep and dubstep-related music, all of it good. I highly recommend it.

Manuel Sepulveda
Hyperdub

RELATED
When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence
Ultravisitor

Embedded With Mos Def in Japan

2009-10-15T11:49:00.003-04:00

Current TV's new music-focused show, Embedded @ Current.com, premiered last night. The first episode is a 48-minute documentary following Mos Def's experiences during his tour in Japan along with some insight into him as an artist. Of note is his use of a mask during his stage show, inspired by MF Doom. They should do an album together already! They know they want to. Stop teasing.

Hopefully the forthcoming episodes of Embedded are this good. Later features will include Common, Ben Harper, Thievery Corporation, The Decemberists and the Silversun Pickups.

Embedded @ Current.com
Mos Def

RELATED
Mos Def @ Amoeba

James Pants - Seven Seals

2009-10-08T23:09:00.001-04:00

James Pants' new album Sevel Seals, "inspired by being in the mood to start a cult", is being released on November 25th. Above is a video of "some dude called Max who explains [and] breaks down the deeper meaning and hidden themes in the artwork" by Matt Rex. Download "Thin Moon" from the album and dance around as if you're in a cult.

Download: ♪ James Pants - Thin Moon

James Pants
Stones Throw
Liger Vision

Nique - Framed & Unfocused

2009-10-08T22:22:00.007-04:00

Here is an album cover illustrated by fellow VCU-alumni Richie Pope, a Richmond-based illustrator influenced by "Expressionism, comic books, politics, hip-hop and music in general". Nevada-based rapper Nique sent several reference shots which Richie drew from, cut apart and gessoed together. He made several posts following the progress of this piece on his blog. Also of interest is a series of black and white painted portraits of Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Singers he is currently working on. Lost At E Minor recently interviewed him about his work.

The cover is for Nique's mixtape which is being released later this month. The cover is meant to show that he is framed You can hear samples of his music on his MySpace page.

Richie Pope
Nique
Lost At E Minor Interview

DJ Okawari - Mirror

2009-10-07T17:30:00.000-04:00

I'm usually not big on vector collages like these. I've seen a few too many poor imitations on sites like DeviantART. But the execution and color palette of these covers for DJ Okawari's first and second albums makes them work. They were illustrated by Marumiyan, a Japanese illustrator and designer. His portfolio site features a heavy selection of work ranging from advertising, posters, apparel, branding and more. I, of course, really enjoy his album packaging section.

DJ Okawari is a Japanese DJ and hip-hop produce who's work consists of glossy beats and the jazzy piano playing I often hear in Japanese production. His newest album, Mirror (top), features a guest spot by Amanda Diva along with others. The translation of his bio is a bit iffy, but I can see that he's also worked with the Ohio hip-hop group Five Deez (where have they been?). You can hear samples of Okawari's work on his MySpace page.

MIRUMAgraph
DJ Okawari

D.C. Record Fair #3

2009-10-07T12:02:00.002-04:00

The third DC Record Fair last Sunday at Comet Ping Pong was exciting. Hundreds of vinyl junkies came through. I spent a lot of money. Pizza was eaten. Unfortunately I missed getting a signed poster by Mingering Mike. But I had a great time.

Above is a slideshow of photos I took while I was there. The Vinyl District (one of the sponsors) posted a photo recap of the fair, including a few of my shots. BrightestYoungThings has an article on the fair featuring some great shots by Sergey Guryakov and Mia Mabanta. I'll be posting scans of the records I bought to The Cover Down once I have my scanner in order.

The Vinyl District: DC Record Fair Recap
BrightestYoungThings: DC Record Fair in ALL It’s Glory
Comet Ping Pong

RELATED
Washington, D.C. Record Fair

Various - Warp20

2009-09-30T10:00:00.003-04:00

Warp Records recently shipped out their Warp20 box set, celebrating their 20 year anniversary. The box includes a 192 page booklet showcasing the covers of every Warp release up to this point, a double CD of tracks selected by fans on Warp20.net, another double CD of Warp song covers, a triple 10" vinyl of "secret treasures", an hour-long mix CD and a double 10" vinyl of hand-picked loops. It is a beautiful thing.

Hardformat shot some great images of the packaging (above), highlighting the design work of London-based studio YES. In terms of Warp related, they've also created designs for Maximo Park, in collaboration with photographer Amber Rowlands.

London-based Dan Holdsworth is responsible for the photography, which features the purple infinite ribbon that has been used throughout Warp's anniversary campaign. Holdsworth is well known for his environmental and landscape photography, often using long-exposures.

I skipped out on this release, unfortunately. I believe it is sold out. However, the fan-picked and covers CDs are now available separately on Bleep.

Warp Records
YES
Dan Holdsworth
Hardformat

RELATED
Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age
Butter
When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence
Los Angeles

Electric Wire Hustle - Electric Wire Hustle

2009-09-29T19:51:00.003-04:00

While wandering around the Stones Throw message boards, I ran across a recommendation for a soul group from New Zealand. Interesting... I was pleasantly surprised to be confronted with an amazingly mellow electronic/soul/hip-hop track with a beautiful vibe by a group called Electric Wire Hustle (I assume in reference to Common's song "Electric Wire Hustle Flower").

What immedietly grabbed my attention was the video for their song, "Perception", produced by New Zealand studio Mofresh, featuring stark, almost black & white shots of the group, shaking tambourines, lit-up instruments and quick images of women that make the track that much sexier. I can already tell that I will wear this song out in a month or so. The group, lead by multi-instrumentalist Taay Ninh with Mara TK on vocals and Myele Manzanza on drums, has a similar spirit to that of Sa-Ra and The Platinum Pied Pipers, both of which they've worked with.

To match the future-soul the group is making, they hired New York-based designer Jeff Docherty to handle the packaging for their debut EP. Docherty's managed to put together a very attractive, minimalist package with a suitably "electric" logo and colorful abstract illustration, which looks great when animated. Along with work for clients like The Gaurdien and The New York Times, he's also designed album packaging for artist Meredith Bragg.

Their EP was released on September 9th in New Zealand on their own label, Every Waking Hour, and features guest appearances by Declaime, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Stacy Epps and others. Also be sure to check out this great live video of the group in the studio.

Electric Wire Hustle
Jeff Docherty
Mofresh

CoverCast #4: 9/6

2009-09-25T06:00:00.003-04:00

Download: ♪ CoverCast #4: 9/6

As I mentioned earlier, my job's been a little stressful recently. So this week I put together a mix of tracks that are good for keeping me sane during my daily 9 to 6. The impressive Astrud Gilberto edit by Shigeto comes from a free EP download available at the ISO50 blog. I've also used a track from Nicolay's fantastic new album, Shibuya: City Lights Vol. 2, released this week. Now get back to work.

1. Herb Pihofer - Hail Ceasar
2. Jeff Parker - Beanstalk
3. Koushik - Coolin’ (Instrumental)
4. Jackson Conti - São Paulo Nights
5. Astrud Gilberto - Berimbau (Shigeto Edit)
6. Triorganico - Correndo
7. Nicolay - Omotesando
8. 9dw - Thinking Makes A Mistake
9. Savath & Savalas - Pavo Real
10. Quantic & His Combo Barbaro - Undelivered Letter
11. Quarteto Novo - Síntese
12. Cut Chemist - Spoon
13. Samon Kawamura - Out-Take 0810-012
14. Bibio - All The Flowers
15. Tortoise - Charteroak Foundation
16. Toumani Diabaté - Elyne Road

RELATED
CoverCast #3: Three
CoverCast #2: Jazz Epic
CoverCast #1: G4G4

Martha Cooper - The Hip-Hop Files

2009-09-24T20:28:00.000-04:00

This Current TV clip by Thomas Green is a year old, but it showed up on TV a few minutes ago and I thought it was worth posting for those who haven't seen it. From Current.com:

"Martha Cooper was a photo-journalist living in New York City when she first began documenting the origins of B-boy (short for break-boys) and hip hop culture. While other New Yorkers at the time saw this movement as a trite, uninspired or even offensive fad, Martha found a new form of expressing art. Through her camera lens we recount the infancy of hip-hop culture, from the alleys and subways of New York to the masses beyond the boroughs."

Martha Cooper
Hip Hop Files: Photographs, 1979-1984 @ Amazon.com
Current TV

RELATED
DUBLAB : Defining Future Roots Radio
Gorgon Visits An Independent Record Store
Jay Smooth - Free Radiohead Revolution

Broadcast & The Focus Group - Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age

2009-09-24T12:09:00.004-04:00

UK-based psychedelic-pop band Broadcast have returned with a new (50 minute long) mini-album on Warp Records, in preparation for a full-length to be released sometime next year. The album is a collaboration with The Focus Group, aka Julian House, a designer and music artist with a similar affinity for library music and electronics.

I love the album cover as well as the video, "#1: Witch Cults", above. Physical copies will be available on CD October 26th, with vinyl being sold during their US tour. Below is a segment of the story written by Jonny Trunk that Warp recommends reading while listening to the audio trailer which you can download underneath. You can read the rest here.

"Some party. I only realized that the punch had been spiked when I started laughing at things that weren’t funny. I staggered out into the mansion’s highland gardens to get some air and to try and get some kind of peace and quiet in my busy head, but it was no use. Even outside everything around me became louder, weirder, brighter, darker, I just couldn’t seem to get a hold on anything normal at all. The warm night’s breeze seemed to blow me towards a dimly lit path that led me to a large, ancient walled garden. And right in the middle of this walled square sat a huge black cube, which seemed to be making peculiar disjointed twinkling sounds. I looked around and I swear that all the plants and herbs and everything planted was watching, listening and moving about to the sounds this giant cube thing was making. I remember thinking it was all quite enchanting but in the wrong sort of way."

Download: ♪ Broadcast & The Focus Group - Audio Trailer

Broadcast
The Focus Group
Warp Records

RELATED
Butter
When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence
Los Angeles
Ambivalence Avenue

Washington, D.C. Record Fair

2009-09-24T12:08:00.007-04:00

Another D.C. Record Fair is being held on Sunday, October 4th at Comet Ping Pong on Connecticut Avenue. I'm excited about this because I had a lot of fun at the last fair. I also think it's cool that they used Mingering Mike artwork for the poster. I can't wait. Saving money...

Washington, D.C. Record Fair
The Vinyl District
DC Soul Recordings
Som Records
Mingering Mike

Eyedea & Abilities - By The Throat

2009-09-24T08:22:00.002-04:00

I am not the big Rhymesayers Entertainment fan that I was in high school, but they still manage to grab my attention every now and then (Brother Ali!). Eyedea & Abilities is one RE duo that I never fully examined. But recently they've released their third studio album together, By The Throat. The album combines Eyedea's talent for emotionally-charged fast-raps and the indie rock sound he's been exploring with his band, along with DJ Abilities' production and scratching skills.

The album cover, a watercolor illustration featuring a barrage of artillery symbolically being stuffed through a window, was created by Minneapolis-based artist Michael Gaughan. Gaughan's well-rounded body of work includes "drawings, paintings, collages, sculptures, performances, events, installations, and music". I especially like his drawings and watercolors, like the illustration above done for Troma Films. His portfolio site is actually a little bizarre (in a good way) to me, switching from paintings of flowers and landscapes of superb craftsmanship to, well, other things of the NSFW nature. But it's all good.

Above is a video for the track "Junk", direced by Maria Juranic with photo direction by Bo Hakala.

Download: ♪ Eyedea & Abilities - "This Story"

Michael Gaughan
Eyedea & Abilities
Maria Juranic
Bo Hakala
Rhymesayers
Crushkill Recordings

RELATED
Never Better

Sleepy Ed - Summer Sounds Summer Love

2009-09-24T08:21:00.006-04:00

Download: ♪ Sleepy Ed - Summer Sounds Summer Love

Summer is over. Fortunately, it's still warm enough outside (here, at least) to not really notice. My friend, Miami-based artist, designer and musician Sleepy Ed, has put together a mix of "tropical themed goodies" to celebrate the season. Another mix is on the way. Not only does he have good taste in music, but he is also a skilled artist, as evidenced by the show poster for his band, Little Beard, below.

Download: ♪ Sleepy Ed - Summer Sounds Summer Love

Sleepy Ed
Little Beard

Koushik - Outside My Window (Instrumentals)

2009-09-22T19:09:00.004-04:00

Slow posts this week and last week. Job is hectic, etc. Anyway, in a string of free releases by Koushik through Stones Throw Records, today they are offering up an instrumental version of his album Out My Window for free. One week only! It also includes "5 or 6"(?) beats which were not included on the album. Hopefully you didn't miss Beep Tape up for free last week and Tell Me What You See, which I'm still confused about.

Of note is the cover photo shot by photographer Eric Coleman, half of the Mochilla production company with Brian Cross. The timing is good, considering his solo show which will open on the 24th at Mochilla Headquarters in Los Angeles. Of course, I won't be able to go. I'm on the other side of the states. But maybe you can make it? His portfolio is beautiful, which you can see here.

Download: ♪ Koushik - Out My Window (Instrumentals + Bonus Beats)
Download: ♪ Koushik - Tell Me What You See

Koushik
Eric Coleman
Stones Throw Records

RELATED
Convivencia
Wax Poetics - The Brazil Issue

Mick Boogie / Peter Bjorn & John - "Stay This Way"

2009-09-14T11:42:00.012-04:00

Mykola Dosenko, the artist behind the pixel-based videos for Kanye West's "Robocop", DJ Shadow's "This Time", and DJ I-dee's "Swollen Dome" was asked by DJ Mick Boogie to put together a video for his new mixtape, Re-Living Thing. The free download is a remix project using songs from Swedish indie-rock band Peter Bjorn & John's album Living Thing. It is similar in concept to Mick Boogie's Adele remix project.

The song, "Stay This Way", is a remix by DJ Jazzy Jeff featuring rappers Big Pooh, Phil Nash and Chaundon reminiscing about their care-free younger days, appropriately played out in Mykola's signature video game-inspired visuals. It is a worthy addition to his string of animated music videos. Good times.

Download: ♪ Mick Boogie / Peter Bjorn & John - Re-Living Thing
Download: ♪ Mick Boogie / Adele - 1988... The Remix Project

Mykola Dosenko
Mick Boogie
Peter Bjorn & John

RELATED
"Robocop"
"Swollen Dome"

CoverCast #3: Three

2009-09-11T07:10:00.003-04:00

Download: ♪ CoverCast #3: Three

Unfortunately, I didn't make many posts this week. But I did put together a new CoverCast. This week I wanted to share some great electronic music and a touch of instrumental hip-hop. Some old, some new, some sort of new. Thanks to Ed for sharing the Joy Orbison track. It's crazy. Everyone loves dubstep these days, right?

1. Phaseone - Marty & Sonietta
2. MONO/POLY - The George Machine
3. The Clonious - Emora
4. Daedelus - Get Off Your HiHats
5. Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo
6. Clark - Mercy Sines
7. Zomby - One Foot Ahead Of The Other
8. Dr. Who Dat? - Laws of Clover
9. Squarepusher - Greenways Trajectory
10. Yellow Magic Orchestra - Technopolis
11. Bumps - Tryplmeade Gorsmatch
12. Teebs - Untitled
13. Thavius Beck - Under Pressure
14. Ceephax - Hull Pressure
15. Plug - Brave Lick
16. Hudson Mohawke - Rising 5
17. Gonja Sufi - Ancestors
18. Ras G - Incoming
19. Stevo - Milky Way Driver
20. 00Genesis - Geomancer

RELATED
CoverCast #1: G4G4
CoverCast #2: Jazz Epic

U2 - I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight

2009-09-11T07:00:00.006-04:00

David O'Reilly was asked to create the cover of U2's single, I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight, (with type by Jon Klassen) to complement their amazing video work that I mentioned previously. Apparently there is an alternative cover using a photograph, but it isn't nearly as interesting as this. Also, for the heck of it, I'm going to post O'Reilly's "Octocat" short, because it's brilliant and you should probably watch it.

David O'Reilly
Jon Klassen
U2

RELATED
"I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"

Hudson Mohawke - Butter

2009-09-03T14:28:00.006-04:00

I had to share this artwork posted by Warp Records today for the upcoming Hudson Mohawke album, Butter. It's pretty ridiculous and I love it. You could toss this on a kid's Trapper Keeper and it would be perfect. There's nothing better than iguanas, hawks and hippos to let you know that this music is going to be wild. All it needs is three wolves to go with that giant moon. Also, that logo type is gnarly.

The artwork was a collaboration between Dom Sum of the Scotland-based LuckyMe collective and Kon-om-Pax, who's done work for DFA, Warp, Planet Mu and others. Kon-om-Pax is also responsible for the cover of HudMo's Warp debut EP, Polyfolk Dance (below), which used fingers as type. You can check out his show-reel here. Butter is being released on October 12th. You can listen to and download the sampler below.

Download: ♪ Hudson Mohawke - Butter Sampler

Hudson Mohawke
Kon-om-Pax
Dom Sum
LuckyMe collective
Warp Records

Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

2009-09-02T15:10:00.016-04:00

As a lot of people already know, Jay-Z is releasing his eleventh studio album next Tuesday. Despite the amount of searing hate and frustration I've encountered over this release on Twitter and message boards, I've enjoyed the tracks I've heard so far. Of course, I've never been a die-hard Jay-Z fan, so my opinion's not going to be as strong as others. But no matter how much you dislike BP3, at least give the album cover some credit.

In an interview with MTV, Jay-Z explains how the mass of instruments on the album cover were used to remind people that hip-hop is still about making music, rather than focusing on radio hits, gimmicks and money. Thanks to Nah Right posting scans of the full CD insert, I found out who's responsible for the cover. Along with art direction by Greg Gigendad Burke, the image was taken by UK-based photographer Dan Tobin Smith who, according to BronImagingBlog, has been shooting professionally since 1999 after graduating from the London School of Communication. Much of his portfolio includes imaginative still-lifes, often set up to play tricks on the eyes of the viewer.

It is similar in execution to what Axel Peemoeller did with the Eureka Tower Carpark, or the popular chalk tromploi street drawings, where standing at a specific angle is necessary for viewing the piece properly. Smith has in his portfolio another piece, "Letter E", very similar to the cover of BP3 (second image), created in 2008, with set design by UK-based set-designer and interior stylist Nicola Yeoman (I'm wondering if she had a hand in the cover as well). The image above shows the set from a different angle. Below is another similar image created for the Creative Annual Review in 2007.

UPDATE
A friend of mind posted this to Facebook. It's a great video of the process behind the cover photo.

Dan Tobin Smith
Nicola Yeoman
Jay-Z

RELATED
Jay-Z Rhapsody Commercial

CoverCast #2: Jazz Epic

2009-09-02T07:10:00.009-04:00

Download: ♪ CoverCast #2: Jazz Epic

Very soon after I put together the first CoverCast, I decided to pull out some of my favorite records and stay up until 5 AM to create an epic 45 minute long mix of loud, soul-churning jazz-fusion. This is the end product. The plan was to make a non-stop blend of heavy jazz-rock, like tracks two through five. But I decided to spread it out a bit, eventually splitting the mix into movements (ala the epic fusion suites of yore) with appropriately epic titles (I've never heard the word "PEREGRINATION" before). Fusion was a staple of my music diet in high school and on, so I hope you enjoy it. I know I did... Click the link or covers to downloat the zip file, which includes the tracklist.

Intro
1. Laurence Welk & Orchestra - Moon River / Soundcraftsman - Instructional Test Record

Movement I : The Vivication
2. Tony Williams - Some Hip Drum Sh!t
3. The Mahavishnu Orchestra - Vital Transformation
4. Jean-Luc Ponty - Enigmatic Ocean, Pt. 2
5. Al Di Meola - Morning Fire

Movement II : The Peregrination
6. Weather Report - Scarlet Woman / Trazana Beverley - No Assistance
7. Airto Moreira - Wake Up Song
8. Larry Corryell & The Eleventh House - Yin
9. The Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Worlds / Arthur Ashe - Learn Tennis
10. Tony Williams - This Night This Song

Movement III : The Ascension
11. McCoy Tyner - Fly With The Wind
12. Flora Purim - Open Your Eyes (You Can Fly)
13. Ashok Ingle - Raga Darbari / Devadip Carlos Santana & Turiya Alice Coltrane - Guru Sri Chinmoy Aphorism

Movement IV : The Resurrection
14. Stanley Clarke - Life Is Just A Game

Georgia Anne Muldrow - Umsindo

2009-09-01T07:00:00.003-04:00

In July Georgia Anne Muldrow released a new album, Umsindo, featuring 24 tracks of her trademark heavy funk and soul music. Around this same time her partner, Dudley Perkins, also released a new album, Holy Smokes, solely produced by Georgia, focusing more on his rapping skills than his former Stones Throw releases had. Both Georgia and Dudley seek to send a message trough their music, which Dudley explained in this very interesting interview with LA Record.

The cover art for both releases complement each other, painted by Seatle-based artist Tokio Aoyama. Aoyama's portfolio is filled with music-inspired portraits, with artists ranging from Miles Davis to Questlove to Kenn Starr. It's easy to see where his influence comes from. I love his psychadelic treatment of both covers. They also work well as a continuation of the work he did for Dudley and Georgia's previous release, The Message Uni Versa. You can see much more of his work on his MySpace page.

Tokio Aoyama
Georgia Anne Muldrow
Dudley Perkins

Jay Z Rhapsody Commercial

2009-09-01T06:50:00.003-04:00

I'm actually impressed with this new commercial, featuring Jay Z posing through imitations of his album covers. They all end up being pretty accurate and recognizable. Now let's see them try that with the cover of Blueprint 3! Heh. Speaking of his new album, I'll be posting that once I figure out who's responsible for the cover art. I think it is pretty successful, being the first Jay Z album to not feature his face.

Jay Z

CoverCast #1: G4G4

2009-08-28T09:01:00.008-04:00

Download: ♪ CoverCast #1: G4G4

Today I'm posting the first ever Cover Up mixtape (I don't want to call it a podcast), G4G4. I've wanted to create a mix for a while, so I pulled together some of my favorite tracks and artists from this year to see what I could come up with. It's mostly a selection of hip-hop and electronic music. The track list is below and you can click the covers to download. I plan on doing some more mixes later. For the front and back cover I used photos I took at the Freer & Sackler Galleries in D.C. I hope you guys listen and enjoy.

1. Triorganico - Balloons
2. Blu - Amnesia
3. Prefuse 73 - Regalo
4. Mabanua - Liquid
5. Misel Quitno - Pull It Down Somewhen
6. ZKPRZ - Phantasmagoria
7. Flying Lotus - Parisian Goldfish (Take Remix)
8. Harmonic 313 - Dirtbox
9. Willie Isz - Shine
10. Samon Kawamura - cp2sk (Featuring Christian Prommer)
11. J Dilla - Spacecowboy vs. Bobble Head
12. CO$$ - Be Like You (Featuring Terem)
13. Exile - Stay Tuned (Here)
14. Dak - fortheSUN
15. The Gaslamp Killer - Baiafro
17. Luke Vibert - Computer Complex
18. Squarepusher - Seb-1.02
19. 9DW - Begin To Sing For Appetite

Transmitting Live Volume One

2009-08-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

I never post my own work on this blog. But since it's a free download, I thought I might as well share. On Monday Potholes In My Blog released a collection of unreleased and exclusive hip-hop tracks mixed by DJ Traumatix and asked me to do the cover art. The mix features artists such as Buff1, Dela, Blame One, Panacea, Big Tone and others. You can read more about it on Potholes and more about the cover on my portfolio's blog.

♪ Download: Potholes In My Blog Presents… Transmitting Live Volume One Mixed by DJ Traumatix

Potholes In My Blog
DJ Traumatix

Yuri Suzuki - The Physical Value of Sound

2009-08-20T11:15:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Ghostly International made a post about a solo art exhibition in Tokyo, Japan by artist Yuri Suzuki. The exhibit features several pieces experiment with vinyl records and sound. The concept of the show is to display the value of the physicality of music in a time when most people experience music only in digital form. My favorite piece is the 5-armed turntable, each arm playing it's own individual part of the record simultaneously. Suzuki explains the exhibit on his website:

Recently, the media that surround us has changed from analog to digital -- for instance, photography, film and music. These days, most sounds are recorded only digitally. I feel uneasy about digitalisation of music because I wonder if they will survive to next generation. Digital based music media is just "data", in other words, "virtual". When objects lose physicality, they turn into virtual.

Yuri Suzuki is a London-based product designer and electronic music artist with a masters from the Royal College of Art in London. His Flickr account gives an extensive look at the work he's done.

Yuri Suzuki
Yuri Suzuki @ Flickr
Ghostly International

The Cover Down Update

2009-08-20T11:14:00.005-04:00

Updates to The Cover Down (my second blog for posting album cover scans) have been slow recently. This is mostly likely due to me not being happy with the quality of my old HP scanner, the time it takes to scan a single sleeve, attempting to post more often on this blog and just being busy in general. Also, the search function is still broken (same for this blog). But I have managed to get a few pieces up.

Highlights include the packaging for Milton Nascimento's Clube Da Esquina 2, the artwork from Gil-Scott Heron's Winter In America, several Airto posts and my treasured copy of Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland. I've also been posting a few of these on Discogs, as I've recently started cataloging my music collection there. I'll be adding more posts soon.

The Cover Down

DUBLAB : Defining Future Roots Radio

2009-08-20T11:14:00.002-04:00

Thrillhouse Productions created a short documentary segment for Current TV highlighting Dublab, a non-profit internet radio station. Daedelus and Leaving Record's Matthewdavid make an appearance, along with some other familiar faces. I have a lot of Dublab material to catch up on...

Dublab
Thrillhouse Productions

Triorganico - Convivencia

2009-08-18T16:13:00.003-04:00

In the past few years I've developed an interest in Brazilian music, digging through the catalogs of artists like Airto Moreira, Milton Nascimento, Lo Borges, Jorge Ben, Hermeto Pascoal and a few others. I've only skimmed the surface, I'm sure. But I am really excited for this new release on Stones Throw's Now-Again imprint, Triogranico's Convivencia. Trioganico is an L.A.-based jazz trio grounded in bossa nova, including Pablo Calogero on saxaphone and woodwinds, Ricardo Pasillas on percussion and Fabiano do Nascimento on guitar. The album is made up entirely of acoustic instrumentation performing minimalist compositions, the majority of them being originals. The album's now available on vinyl and CD, along with MP3s through Stones Throw's store.

Stones Throw art director Jeff Jank kindly sent along the artwork for the album, featuring Stephen Serrato's recognizable design style and Brian Cross' brilliant photography. The cover reflects the organic nature the group strives for in their sound, combined with a great logo (above) and layout by Serrato. Serrato mentioned that the vinyl release was delayed due to the manufacturer placing the sticker on the album itself rather than the plastic. So I suppose the full photo is shown on the sleeve. Brian Cross, still one of my favorite photographers, provides his great attention to composition and framing and, as evidenced by the contact sheets (below) from Stones Throw's website, a great use of color. I'm waiting for my copy on vinyl so that I can get the full effect of both the music and the artwork. You can hear one of the tracks, "Tempo De Amor", below.

♪ Tri Organico - Tempo De Amor

Triogranico
Stephen Serrato
Brian Cross
Stones Throw

RELATED
Reset
At The Mall: Remixes
Ghetto Sci-Fi

Rubik's Cube Album Covers

2009-08-18T11:00:00.008-04:00

Invader, the artist behind the tiled Space Invader-inspired street art (view the invasion here) put together some Rubik's Cube recreations of popular album covers. The pieces, along with other works, are being shown in his solo show, Low Fidelity, at the Lazarides Rathbone gallery in London until September 17th. You can find more information on Creative Review.

Invader
Creative Review

The Decemberists - The Hazards Of Love

2009-08-12T14:13:00.011-04:00

I'm not that well-versed in The Decemberists' music. But after illustrator Josh Cochran mentioned the artist behind their cover art on his Twitter, my interest was peaked. The Decemberists are a Portland, Oregon-based rock band led by Colin Meloy, known for their folk-infused pop sound. I mostly know them for their Stephen Colbert beef. Guitar battles and such.

The album cover was illustrated by Carson Ellis, who happens to be Meloy's wife. Ellis' portfolio is a collection of loose graphite, pen and watercolor drawings. Her organic typographic work on the cover of Hazards is beautiful, with the concept also making it's way to the single The Rake's Song (above). Ellis is also responsible for the covers of previous Decemberists albums as well as Colin Meloy's solo work (below).

Carson Ellis
The Decemberists
Colin Meloy

Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins - Fascinating Fingers

2009-08-11T13:05:00.006-04:00

Jim Mahfood was asked to illustrate the cover for a new Shawn Lee / Clutchy Hopkins collaboration, Fascinating Fingers, being released in October. He previously illustrated the cover of their album Clutch Of The Tiger, which I mentioned back in April. This one seems to be a bit looser, which I like. He has more images on his blog.

Jim Mahfood
Shawn Lee
Clutchy Hopkins

RELATED
Clutch of The Tiger

Harmonic 313 - When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence

2009-08-11T10:29:00.001-04:00

Harmonic 313 (aka Mark Pitchard) released When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence back in February on Warp Records. Heavy on the synth-laden robotic beats, the album is a satisfying mix of Detroit techno, dubstep and instrumental hip-hop worthy of its title. It is essentially the soundtrack for when robots take over the human race, with track 4 proclaiming "Music is now a thing of the past", urging the listener to download a music substitute system.

While the design work was handled by Manuel Sepulveda, the HAL-esque cover uses a photo taken from the book Core Memory: A Visual Survey of Vintage Computers by San Fransisco-based photographer Mark Richards. It is an art book featuring portraits of vintage computers in the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. Robert Scoble has a lengthy interview with Richards about the book here.

One of two tracks to feature vocals, "Battlestar", makes a Dilla connection by featuring rappers Phat Kat and Slum Village's Elzhi. The video for the track (below), Harmonic's first video, was created by Sixty40, an Australian design and animation studio led by Matt Taylor and Mark Simpson. It was shot stereoscopically using two cameras to create a sense of depth, much like those animated 3D photo gifs you see around the nternet. The video's also been nominated for an award by the Portable Film Festival.

Harmonic 313
Mark Richards
Core Memory @ Amazon.com
Core Memory @ Boing Boing
Manuel Sepulveda
Sixty40
Warp Records

Mayer Hawthorne - "Maybe So, Maybe No"

2009-08-11T10:20:00.002-04:00

The second video for Stones Throw artist's Mayer Hawthorne debut, A Strange Arrangement, was released yesterday. Featuring skaters, Venice Beach and The Do-Over, it's convinced me that Hawthorne is awesome. It was directed by Henry DeMaio who also directed the video for "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" (below).

Mayer Hawthorne
Henry DeMaio
Stones Throw

Flying Lotus - Los Angeles

2009-08-06T08:07:00.029-04:00

Yes, another Brainfeeder-related post. But I should have posted this long ago. On August 17th, electronic music artist Flying Lotus will release the final piece of his three-part L.A. EP series. The EPs are an extension of his second release on Warp Records, Los Angeles, featuring unreleased tracks and remixes by fellow producers such as Dimlite, Matthew David, Ras G, Take and others. The artwork and packaging for both the EPs and the album came about through a collaborative effort between Flying Lotus, photographer Timothy Saccenti, design studio Build and design studio Commonwealth.

Commonwealth is a New York-based studio founded in 2005 by Zoe Coombes and David Boira, experienced in manipulating materials to create organic forms for contemporary art and furniture design. The sculpture created for Los Angeles was meant to reflect the "total insanity of Flying Lotus' style", with photos taken at varying stages of decay. Their beautifully designed portfolio site includes more images and a video of the sculpture.

New York-based Timothy Saccenti, responsible for photographing the sculpture, has an extensive portfolio of music-related photo and video work. This includes images of Pharrel, Erykah Badu, Prefuse 73, Jamie Lidell, Lady Sovereign and a long list of other artists. In terms of Warp-related work, he's also responsible for the cover and video for Battles' album Mirrors, but that's worthy of an entirely new post, really.

And finally, the design work was handled by Build, founded in 2001 by Michael C. Place, handling clients such as Sony Computer Entertainment, Getty Images and several record labels. I particularly like this record sleeve designed for artist Sky Tucker. Build also has several images of Los Angeles' packaging on their portfolio site.

Above is a great short film posted by Commonwealth that very well could have summed up everything I just wrote. It also reveals that this project will lead to further works. Either way, Los Angeles is my favorite album of 2008, including the packaging. The covers of the album and EPs are a perfect match for the dark heavy beats within, like one of Flying Lotus' drawings come to life. I also recommend checking out Steve Serrato's work on Flying Lotus' Reset.

Flying Lotus
Commonwealth
Timothy Saccenti
Build
Stephen Serrato
Warp Records
Brainfeeder

The Gaslamp Killer - My Troubled Mind

2009-08-05T08:31:00.003-04:00

The Gaslamp Killer released his long-awaited first EP, My Troubled Mind, on Brainfeeder yesterday. The album is about 15 minutes of what you'd expect from GLK; A dark, beautiful collage of psychedelic samples and dusty drums. It's available digitally through the usual outlets, like Bleep and Boomkat and also on 10" vinyl, limited to 2000 copies.

The EP's cover was designed by LA-based designer Ilias Panayiotou (check his portfolio on Flickr), with a photo by Theo Jemison (written about previously) on the back cover included in the digital booklet. The artwork fits right alongside the grim, grimy, red/black/white artwork for his previous releases, appropriate for delightful titles such as I Spit On Your Grave (artwork by Shepard Fairey, written about previously) and HELL And The LAKE OF FIRE Are Waiting For YOU!.

Yesterday Brainfeeder posted a link to The Gaslamp Killer's The Gaslamp Killers mix (above, left), well worth listening to. The promotional video below includes photographic direction by Theo Jemison and post-production by LA-based artist ABCNT, with a few familiar faces showing off copies of the new EP.

♪ The Gaslamp Killer - The Gaslamp Killers

The Gaslamp Killer
Ilias Panayiotou
Theo Jemison
ABCNT
Brainfeeder

Wax Poetics - The Brazil Issue

2009-08-03T08:02:00.014-04:00

Wax Poetics recently released what could become my favorite issue of their magazine so far, dedicated to the music of Brazil. Highlighting the issue is an interview by photographers Brian Cross (B+) and Eric Coleman with one of my favorite Brazilian artists, Airto Moreira. Moreira has played with the likes of Weather Report, Quarteto Novo, George Benson, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, his wife Flora Purim (who you may have noticed in this blog's header) and many others. The article includes great photos, two of which are by Cross, along with the image below shot by Chuck Stewart, who I've written about previously. The issue also includes articles on MPB-legend Gilberto Gil, composter Arthur Verocai (with great photos from the recording session for his self-titled release) and Brazilian soul artist Tim Maia. I have a lot of reading ahead of me.

Wax Poetics
Brian Cross
Eric Coleman
Airto Moreira

R.I.P. Baatin

2009-08-01T16:06:00.009-04:00

Baatin, from the original line-up of Slum Village (with T3 and J Dilla), passed away today. T3's now the remaining member from the original SV, with the addition of Elzhi. The photo above (Dilla, T3, Baatin) was taken by photojournalist Mpozi Mshale Tolbert (who passed away in 2006).

The first time I remember seeing Baatin was in the video for Slum Village's "Tainted" (above) from their third album, Trinity. The image of him, his turban and his unique voice was stuck in my head for a long time. T3 and Elzhi reunited with Baatin and brought in J Dilla's brother Illa J to record their new album, Villa Manifesto, that is supposed to be released on September 22nd.

Baatin
Slum Village
Mpozi Mshale Tolbert

Shaun Bloodworth - L.A. Dope

2009-07-31T16:37:00.014-04:00

Stones Throw linked to LA Dope today, a great photo essay by photographer Shaun Bloodworth documenting a few of the best artists out of the LA music scene. Give Up Art and Bloodworth took a seven day trip to the city to exhibit their work at the Low End Theory Club, taking photos along the way, including shots of Daedelus, Flying Lotus, Dam-Funk, The Gaslamp Killer, Exile and others. A lot of my personal favorites. Jneiro Jarel's in there, too. I thought he was in Philly? Anyhow, this is a great set. Well worth checking out, with more photos on the way.

LA Dope
Shaun Bloodworth
Give Up Art
Low End Theory Club
Stones Throw
Daedelus
Flying Lotus
The Gaslamp Killer

Spectral Sound - Spectral Sound Vol. 2

2009-07-31T12:15:00.008-04:00

Spectral Sound Vol. 2 is a compilation celebrating the 50th release of Ghostly International's counterpart label Spectral Sound. It's a mass of 50 chronologically ordered house and techno tracks including artists like James T. Cotton (Dabrye), Osborne, Matthew Dear and others. The best part about it? The download is only $11. It's tempting.

The artwork was created by Brooklyn-based artist Sougwen Chung. The work on her portfolio site is beautiful, including the poster above and a seperate page of great sketchbook drawings. Below is a video where she was asked by TWiN Studios/Rabbit Content to draw for 30 minutes while listening to an album of their choosing.

Also, I'm not sure why I never noticed this, but Ghostly has a page of visual artists they've worked with. I wish every label did this.

Sougwen Chung
Ghostly International

James Jean - Process Recess 3

2009-07-31T11:25:00.010-04:00

James Jean, illustrator behind the packaging of My Chemical Romance's Black Parade (mentioned previously), is releasing a new book in his Process Recess series sometime in September or October, according to Drawn.

I'm a proud owner of both Process Recess 1 and 2, so you can be sure that I already pre-ordered my copy of the third, especially considering how inflated the prices of the other books got. PR1 (bottom) and PR3 are essentially copies of Jean's sketchbooks, while PR2 (below) contains finished and development work. He is also releasing "Kindling", a book of removable prints, on August 26th.

James Jean
Drawn!

RELATED
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

Rodgers & Hart - Smash Song Hits

2009-07-31T09:36:00.002-04:00

Analog Apartment made a post yesterday about Alex Steinweiss, the designer considered to be the inventor of record covers. The image above, an album of hits recorded by Rodgers & Hart, is said to be the very first illustrated album cover. Undependent has more detailed images of the whole package. Supposedly every record before this was packaged in a plain cardboard or paper sleeve. Steinweiss became the first art director for Columbia Records in 1939 and continued to design covers through 1973 before he retired from the field to devote himself to painting.

Analog Apartment also mentioned that there is a book of his work available (above), which I'd oddly never picked up although I've noticed the book hundreds of times in stores. Interestingly, one particular Amazon customer review contests that Steinweiss wasn't exactly the first to create an illustrated album cover and mentions a series of covers by Decca Records at least six years before Steinweiss, as well as children's albums by RCA Bluebird. So I'm not sure how accurate the "inventor of the record cover" statement is, but the quality of Steinweiss' design work stands either way.

Alex Steinweiss
Rodgers & Hart
For The Record @ Amazon.com
Analog Apartment

Gorgon Visits An Independent Record Store

2009-07-31T08:31:00.006-04:00

Not exactly my experience with independent record stores. But then again, I'm not an alien.

SuperNews

Beck's Music Inspired Art

2009-07-28T09:54:00.008-04:00

It's always interesting to see beverage companies using artistic and cultural endeavors to promote something as simple as a drink. Like Red Bull, for example, who runs the Red Bull Music Academy and sponsors gallery showings, concerts and stunt events. Beck's Beer has taken a similar route by commissioning artists for a series of music-inspired pieces, derived from albums on Pitchfork's "Albums of The Decade" lists. They're collecting the pieces on a Flickr account.

For example, McBess's piece (top) is inspired by TV On The Radio's album Return To Cookie Mountain. Kid Acne's piece (above) is inspired by The Beastie Boy's Paul's Boutique. And Si Scott's (below) is inspired by Interpol's Turn On The Bright Lights. Each piece has it's own set which includes a few images of process work as well.

One aspect of the project I especially like is the Flickr pool they've created so that other artists can participate. So while I'm sure this project is very much in the name of advertising a brand, it is a great idea.

Beck's Music Inspired Art
McBess
Kid Acne
Si Scott
TV On The Radio
The Beastie Boy
Interpol

Farm Vegas - Heavy Skies

2009-07-27T17:00:00.008-04:00

When I'm cutting a project's completion dangerously close to deadline, my mind always thinks of my old professor at VCU, Robert Meganck. Meganck is known for pumping out at least two digital (and at times 'traditional') pieces a day, filled with strong colors, abstracted forms and keen sense of design. He's also known for his vigorous consumption of coffee. He's one of my favorite professors and I owe him for essentially getting me my first illustration job. So whenever I lag behind on work I think "Meganck could have done this in a few hours" and I push ahead.

These two covers were designed for the first two albums of Farm Vegas, a four-piece rock band out of Richmond, Virginia. The group has shared the stage with fellow bands such as Drive By Truckers, Carbon Leave and The Pat McGee Band. Their folksy, Americana influenced sound vibes well with Meganck's strong appreciation for true rock & roll music, which he expressed often in class. In fact, there's a section dedicated to it on his portfolio site.

The piece above was created for Richmond's 64 Magazine, illustrating the lyrics to "Flowers On The Wall" written by Lew Dewitt and performed by The Statler Brothers. Meganck has worked for a wide variety of clients and has won over 300 awards for his work. He continues to teach at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Robert Meganck
Farm Vegas

Two Years Old

2009-07-27T10:58:00.007-04:00

On Sunday The Cover Up turned two years old, marking my first post back in 2007 about Jeff Jank's work for Madlib's Yesterdays Universe. To celebrate I've given the blog a new look and finally purchased a domain name, the-cover-up.com.

On the sidebar I've included a directory of artists, each linking to a list of posts I've written about them. Unfortunately this relies on Blogger's search function which is currently broken. Hopefully Google will fix this problem soon. I've also added a Follower's widget towards the bottom so you can "join" or subscribe to the blog.

I've interacted with a few great people through this blog, so I will continue. Keep checking for updates. I hope to post more frequently and consistently, to this and The Cover Down. And if you have any recommendations or comments feel free to pass them along! Thanks.

U2 - "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"

2009-07-21T15:44:00.009-04:00

If you're unable to view the video, click here.

I'm not a big U2 fan, but I am a fan of David O'Reilly's work. O'Reilly is an Irish-born, Berlin-based artist and animator known for his abstract, experimental short-films and videos. Today he posted a video for U2's new single "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight", written/directed by himself and designed by LA-based illustrator Jon Klassen.

While Klassen was in charge of art direction, the video still has a lot of similarities to O'Reilly's short-film "Please Say Something" (above), a 10 minute story following the heartbreaking romantic relationship between a mouse and a cat. In terms of music videos, O'Reilly's also done a great video for electronic music artist Venetian Snares. You can see much of the rest of his work on his Vimeo page. Octocat!

As for Jon Klassen, he is an amazing illustrator who makes use of flat shapes, textures and muted colors to create beautiful environmental images. His online portfolio includes development drawings for the claymation film Coraline and a few other animations he's worked on including an ad for the Royal Bank of Canada.

David O'Reilly's
Jon Klassen
U2

Dak - Standthis

2009-07-20T11:48:00.014-04:00

Dak's Standthis EP is the debut release of Leaving Records, a new LA-based digital label created by electronic music artist Matthewdavid and visual artist Jesselisa under Alpha Pup Records. Their website is focused on sharing experimental music, mixes, found art and sound among other things. Their blog is worth clicking through, with a lot of great music downloads being offered.

I don't know much about Dak, other than him being an influential experimental beatmaker in LA. Members of STMB say he was an influence to fellow-producers like Brainfeeder-member Ras G. What I do know is that his EP is one of my favorite releases this year so far. Standthis is a collage of samples and textures creating organic, sometimes Dilla-esque beats. You can download his track "Gobetween" here.

I don't typically purchase MP3s, but for this I made an exception. The album is available on Bleep, iTunes, Amazon.com and a few other digital stores. Leaving is also taking pre-orders for the album on cassette tape with screen-printed artwork designed by co-founder Jesselisa and photos by Yemado (above). Jesselisa has done design work for other releases, such as Postal Service-member Dntel's Early Works For Me If It Works For You II, which you can see in her portfolio.

Update: Here's a picture of what the cassette tape is going to look like.

♪ Dak - "Gobetween"

Dak
Jesselisa
Yemado
Matthewdavid
Leaving Records

Willie Isz - Georgiavania

2009-07-13T08:16:00.020-04:00

After several years, Lex Records continues to put out crazy, unexpected artwork with their releases. This album is no exception. Georgiavania by Willie Isz is a collaborative project between Philadelphia-based producer/MC Jneiro Jarel and Georgia-based Good Mob-associate Khujo. The album is similar in style to what Jneiro did with the Shape of Broad Minds album, but adds much more southern influence to his psychedelic, atmospheric beats. Judging from some reactions I've seen, the album may be an acquired taste. But it will grow on you, at least if you're a fan of either Jneiro or Khujo's previous work.

The strange cover art, illustrating the mysterious 51st state of Georgiavania, was illustrated by James Jarvis. The CD's packaging folds out into the full illustration (above). The art isn't something I expected for the album, but that's what makes it great. It fits well with the bizarre instrumentation.

James Jarvis is a British artist who is known for his unique characters and vinyl toys, including "King Ken". After having his designs distributed by other brands, he co-founded AMOS in 2002 to distribute his products. In April he released a great animated short-film, Onward (below), with the support of Nike, inspired by his obsession with jogging. It features the music of "folktronica" artist Caribou (previously known as Manitoba).

James Jarvis
Willie Isz
Jneiro Jarel
Khujo Goodie

Reflection Eternal - Train of Thought

2009-07-10T15:21:00.015-04:00

I've been feeling nostalgic lately, digging through my CD collection and playing albums I haven't heard in-full since high school. One of those albums is Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek's Train of Thought, released in 2000 on Rawkus Records, back when being on the label really meant something. This was one of the albums I listened to non-stop until I could recite the lyrics. That's rare for me these days, but I'm hoping their reunion album coming out this summer, Revolutions Per Minute, can bring back some of that feeling.

The cover's always stuck in my mind. I can't imagine many hip-hop artists these days commissioning an oil painting for their album. The typography is a bit outdated, but the illustration by Jerome Lagarrigue remains strong. Lagarrigue is a French-born, RISD-graduate painter known for his portraiture, urban landscapes and fighting paintings. He's done a few other covers along with several children's books. I'm sure these small images don't do his large paintings justice.

Nine years later, here's Reflection Eternal's new video for "Back Again", directed by Dan "The Man" Melamid.

Jerome Lagarrigue
Reflection Eternal
Talib Kweli
Hi-Tek
Dan Melamid

Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

2009-07-09T08:25:00.017-04:00

Bibio is an artist I've been interested in for a while, but I never got around to picking up one of his Mush Records releases. English-born Stephen Wilkinson is known for his atmopsheric, folk-inspired tracks, often making use of field recordings and low-fi loops of acoustic guitars. This new album, his first release on Warp Records, seems to take a bit of a departure, somewhat more electronic. It even includes a few Dilla-instrumental-inspired beats, something I didn't expect.

The illustrations, which I think complement Bibio's sound very well, were done by Hungary-born, UK-based artist David Foldvari, who's work often consists of bold, black & white figures set against well-placed spot colors. His work as been used on several other album covers as well, including UK garage artist Just Jack's second album, Overtones. The first image below was used on the cover of one of the singles, Writer's Block, Pt. 1..

And this is a clip of Bibio piecing together the track "Sugarette" on an MPC, from the new album.

Bibio
David Foldvari
Just Jack

Michael Jackson - Dangerous

2009-06-26T14:32:00.010-04:00

As most people in the world know by now, pop music lost another legend yesterday with the death of Michael Jackson. Like a lot of people my age, I have fond memories of his music from my childhood, from watching a collection of his videos during an after-school program to trying to out-moonwalk friends. If anything, his death is a reminder that we should appreciate our iconic artists while they're living, just as we were reminded when we lost Isaac Hayes last year, James Brown in 2006 and many others.

Today I caught a message on Twitter from Mark Schiller, founder of The Wooster Collective, mentioning that the cover of 1991 album Dangerous was painted by well-known artist Mark Ryden. I'm not sure why I didn't know this, considering all of the issues of Juxtapoz I've read, where Ryden is a star. But it is an interesting bit of trivia for "lowbrow" and pop-surrealist fans, especially today. The cover is fantastically intricate with many details to pick out, reminding me a little bit of Mati Klarwein's work. Sleevage also covered this artwork in '07.

While browsing Ryden's portfolio I also caught this painting of another icon, Jimi Hendrix, which appears to have been done for Rolling Stone in 1999. And for the sake of nostalgia from my younger years, I'm going to include the video for "Remember The Time", a leading single from Dangerous, directed by John Singleton, featuring Eddie Murphy, Iman and, of course, Magic Johnson. Michael disappearing into sand always got to me as a kid...

Michael Jackson
Mark Ryden
List of covers by Mark Ryden

Various - SMACK! Sampler

2009-06-17T09:07:00.012-04:00

It's not often that I hold onto free sampler CD packaging, but this is different. Back in 2006 I picked this up at the local music store and immediately recognized the artist, Yuko Shimizu. She's been one of my favorite current illustrators for several years thanks to her surreal, textured, often ukiyo-e print inspired style. She is a graduate from and instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and I highly regret not being able to attend her lecture at my alma mater a few months ago. Oh well.

While visiting her portfolio site a few days ago I noticed a ton of sampler CD covers she's done for The Word Magazine's Now Hear This! series. (below), all of which are pretty amazing. You can see the rest of them and more of her music related work here.

Yuko Shimizu
The Word Magazine

The Whitefield Brothers - In The Raw

2009-05-30T11:28:00.007-04:00

At one time I was obsessed with The Poets of Rhythm, the Munich-based funk group that released their amazing album, Discern/Define, on Quannum Records in 2001. Still one of my favorite modern funk albums, it introduced me to similar groups such as Antibalas, The Daptones, El Michels Affair and others. So of course I try to pick up everything the group is involved with, including Now Again's reissue of The Whitefield Brothers' In The Raw and Karl Hector & The Malcoun's Saraha Swing.

These side-projects focus on the more African-influenced aspects of The Poets and includes album packaging which appropriately shares that influence. The minimalistic, limited-color designs were created by Toronto-based Way Shape Form, a team between Matthew Boyd and River Jukes-Hudson. What I like most about In The Raw's packaging is the insert that includes minimal information and several pages of abstract designs (two shown above). It also carries over the use of the African mask motif from the original Soul Fire release.

Saraha Swing's shares a few similarities in its approach, using only two colors throughout, along with some interesting photographic elements. Below I've included the first music video for the album which has a matching two-color aesthetic.

Way Shape Form
The Poets of Rhythm
Now Again

The Cover Down Returns

2009-05-22T10:51:00.008-04:00

Last year I set up a companion blog to The Cover Up called "The Cover Down", meant to be a constant stream of good album covers. Eventually it got boring and I stopped updating it. A few days ago I decided to bring it back, but this time restricting it to scans of album covers straight from my record collection.

I won't be able to update it for the next week or two as I'll be away from my scanner. But after that I hope to add to it pretty steadily. I've also got another new blog on my Bone Burnisher site, focusing on music, art, culture, video games and whatever else inspires me. Too many blogs?

The Cover Down
Bone Burnisher

Jazz Covers

2009-05-21T21:10:00.004-04:00

Vince the Slapchop guy was right. The Germans do make great stuff. For a few years I've been a big fan of German publisher Taschen's selection of books. "Illustration Now!", "The Golden Age of Advertising - The 70's" and their large but cheap books on artists like Egon Schiele being a few of my favorites. I ran across this book, "Jazz Covers", a few months ago and finally decided to pick it up.

I'm glad I did. This book is enormous, with almost 500 pages. Covers are organized alphabetically by artist, with selections dating back to the 40's up to the 90's. All covers have information provided next to them, some with brief descriptions and information on the artist. While I love my Blue Note Records album cover book, this is a nice reminder that jazz covers are more than Reid Miles and Francis Wolff (although they are well represented here and still awesome).

The book also includes interviews with people like Rudy Van Gelder and Creed Taylor, along with top 10 lists by DJs like King Britt and Gilles Peterson. You can actually take a look at the entire book on Taschen's website, if you feel like flipping through 500 pages of a digital Flash-based simulation.

Jazz Covers
Preview

Santana - Abraxas

2009-05-19T16:59:00.002-04:00

It was difficult for me to pick what Mati Klarwein album cover to feature in this post. I chose Santana's second album, Abraxas, because it seems to be the most recognizable. Ever since I bought this on vinyl, the cover has boggled my mind. It's a surreal collage of goddesses, elephants, Wodaabe men, a dude with sun glasses and a host of other things, chosen by Santana after seeing the painting printed in a magazine.

Mati Karwein was a painter born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1932, emigrating with his family to Palestine (Israel) two years later. His father, Yusef Ben Menachem, was an architect associated with the Bauhaus movement. His mother was an opera singer. At 17 he moved to Paris and studied with artists such as Fernand Leger, later meeting one of his major influences, Ernst Fuchs, as well as making friends with Salvador Dalí.

In the 60's and 70's he became well known for his complex, visionary paintings that would soon find their way onto a wealth of album covers, the most popular being Abraxas and Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. I hesitate to call them "psychedelic" as Mati himself said that he was not directly influenced by psychedelic drugs as he was unable to paint while using them. He strongly aligned himself with the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism (partly founded by Fuchs) which focused on techniques of the Old Masters, grounded in realism, and combining that with "religious and esoteric symbolism".

His work has been used on albums by Santana, Miles Davis, Buddy Miles, Jackie McLean, The Last Poets, George Duke and others. Wikipedia has a full list. I think the first cover I owned by him was Earth, Wind & Fire's Last Days & Time, which I got from my parents' collection. The image directly above is a portrait of Jimi Hendrix, meant for a collaborative album by Hendrix and arranger Gil Evans. Unfortunately Hendrix died before it could be recorded. Mati Klarwein died in 2002 after contracting cancer, leaving behind at least 600 paintings.

The Life & Art of Adbul Mati Klarwein
Mati Klarwein @ Wikipedia
Carlos Santana
Miles Davis
Earth, Wind & Fire
Jimi Hendrix

Alastair Graham - Impressions

2009-04-30T14:53:00.010-04:00

Several years ago, when I was still in high school, I came across some drawings of jazz musicians in JAZZIZ (I think) Magazine at my grandparent's house. I remember being pretty stunned by them. After that, I had forgotten the artist's name and had trouble finding the work anywhere. For all these years I've had these drawing in the back of my mind. Fast forward to two days ago and I run across one of the pieces, an illustration of Herbie Hancock, and learn that they were done by UK-based animator and illustrator Alastair Graham.

According to Jazz::Animated, Graham was a producer at TVC London, the studio that created The Beatles' animated film "The Yellow Submarine". Being a passionate jazz enthusiast, at one point he pitched an animated video to the late Joe Zawinul of Weather Report. Unfortunately the label turned it down due to budget issues. He's also done a variety of animation, books and album covers, shown in his portfolio.

The work I had seen was his Jazzfolio collection, a collection of 71 illustrated portraits of popular jazz musicians that took him 12 years to complete. I love them for how surreal and detailed they are, and how he was able to capture so well the personality of each musician. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I'd say I love Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Airto Moreira (top) and Marcus Miller (below). You can view the entire collection on his Jazzfolio website. You can also order the book through the store, which I'm hoping will arrive in my mail box soon.

Alastair Graham
Jazzfolio
Impressions: The Story of a Collection

Kanye West - Robocop (1988 Import Version)

2009-04-24T11:53:00.011-04:00

My buddy Mykola, a Ukraine-based artist and designer who I mentioned before for his DJ I-Dee and DJ Shadow videos, put together an amazing pixel-based unofficial music video for Kanye's "Robocop" off of his last album, 808s & Heartbreaks, inspired by 8-bit era side-scroller video games. He put a lot of work into this so I hope it does well! A few screen captures below.

Mykola Dosenko
Kanye West
Cat Playing Keyboard

Jamie Vexd - In System Travel E.P.

2009-04-24T09:29:00.006-04:00

This had to happen eventually. One of my recent favorite artists, Bruno 9li, has his work used on a record cover. That record belongs to Jamie Vexd, an electronic music artist out of the UK on Planet µ Records. This is the first time I've heard his music and I'm impressed. This is just a reminder that I need to check what's happening at Planet µ more often.

Bruno 9li is an artist out of Brazil who creates crazy detailed, pattern-filled, colorful drawings and wall murals that melt my brain. I'm glad someone would eventually pick up on his stuff and placed it on a album cover. Planet µ is a nice fit for his insanity, I think. Below is a great video, interviewing Bruno 9li and showing him work on a few pieces.

Bruno 9l
Jamie Vexd
Planet µ Records

Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

2009-04-21T17:06:00.006-04:00

It's been about a year since Cee-Lo and Dangermouse's second album was released and I still hear it everywhere. Commercials, stores, etc. I haven't had a chance to hear The Odd Couple but I did pick up their first, which I thought was decent. I remember once on their MySpace page someone commented "That one guy kind of looks like Cee-Lo!"... Anyway, that's besides the point. I like the cover art. If you check out their website, they've put together a pretty cool Flash-based design using the original artwork.

The artwork is by Icelandic illustrator/designer Siggi Eggertsson, now based in Berlin. His portfolio's impressive, with a very distinctive, colorful, graphic style. I think one piece that attracted me most was album packaging designed for British rock band The Delays, with art direction by Big Active. The cover is above. The rest of the packaging is worth checking out.

Siggi Eggertsson
Big Active
Gnarls Barkley
The Delays

Thrill Jockey - Record Store

2009-04-18T18:55:00.003-04:00

This is a limited edition vinyl compilation of new and unreleased Thrill Jockey artists, released especially for Record Store Day. I managed to pick up a copy, mostly wanting it for the new Tortoise track from their upcoming album (!!!) coming out in May. The cover immediately caught my eye at Som Records. I can't find a credit to who the artist is, but if anyone knows...

Anyway, go support your local music stores!

Record Store Day
Thrill Jockey
Tortoise

Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins - Clutch of The Tiger

2009-04-16T09:50:00.006-04:00

The mysterious Clutchy Hopkins does a long distance collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee. I have yet to pick up an album by either of them, but I plan to soon. I'm still baffled by Clutchy Hopkins, with his connection to the also-mysterious Misled Children. But the music is good, so it doesn't really matter.

What caught my attention about this particular album was the artwork done by Jim Mahfood, a well-known comic book artist in LA. I first came across his work after buying his book of sketches, Puttin' The Backbone Back, which included a doodle of DOOM. He also did a great comic based on the music of Atmosphere's Slug and Murs' second collaboration album, Felt 2, in which he illustrated the lyrics. Also just recently picked up his entry into the Sparrow art book series. Anyway, here's a video of him using a tooth brush.

Jim Mahfood
Shawn Lee
Clutchy Hopkins

Teebs - Record Sleeve Series #1

2009-04-13T17:26:00.004-04:00

Some interesting record sleeve remixes by Teebs of My Hollow Drum, posted on Brainfeeder.

Record Sleeve Series #1
My Hollow Drum

J Dilla - Dillanthology 1

2009-04-12T22:20:00.003-04:00

I had heard about the release of this Dilla compilation right around the time I had stumbled upon some great illustrations of Muhsinah and Stacy Epps in Zurich-based artist Anna-Lina Balke's Flickr account. About a week later she uploaded the Dillanthology artwork and I finally got the connection. Her portfolio contains very impressive drawing and design work combined with an impressive taste in music. Dilla compilation's available on Rapster Records.

Anna-Lina Balke
Anna-Lina Balke @ Flickr
Anna-Lina Blanke @ Behance
J Dilla
Rapster Records

Archer Prewitt - Wilderness

2009-04-12T21:51:00.008-04:00

For a long time I've been listening to The Sea & Cake, along with digging through John McEntire's other work and picking up Sam Prekop's second solo album. But it took me a while to finally get into Prewitt's music. When I finally did get hold of his album White Sky, I followed up by buying all of his remaining albums soon after. Another occasion where I should have listened to an artist a long time ago.

It's nice to see music artists creating their own artwork for their albums. In this case Archer Prewitt happens to be a professional illustrator, creating his own mini-comic "Sof'Boy" and working as a Marvel Comics colorist. The cover for Wilderness had always caught my eye, illustrated by Prewitt himself as far as I can tell by the liner notes. The cover of Three is pretty interesting as well. Below is an example of his Sof'Boy comic and a vinyl figure (photo by fb5) created by Presspop. There's a 24" version available at Kidrobot for $300...

Archer Prewitt
Archer Prewitt @ Lambiek.net
The Sea & Cake

Apollo Sunshine - Shall Noise Upon

2009-03-12T11:23:00.004-04:00

I'm not very familiar with Apollo Sunshine, but after seeing the cover of their album, Shall Noise Upon, in artist Cody Hoyt's portfolio I became interested. Apollo Sunshine is a band out of Boston, Massachusetts (explaining why MC/producer Edan is in their top MySpace friends), which Allmusic.com describes as "neo-psychadelic/indie rock".

Cody Hoyt, responsible for the album packaging, is an artist/designer in Sarasota, Florida. I found his work through BOOOOOOOM! and I'm hooked on his abstract drawings and paintings. Judging by his resume he's had quite a few group exhibitions in Boston. Be sure to check out his site for more of his personal work and other album packaging. Above is the cover for an Apollo Sunshine/Mickey Moonlight remix EP.

Below is an interesting music video for Apollo Sunshine's "Singing To Earth" created by the group's guitarist Sam Cohen and his girlfriend Sarah Graves.

Cody Hoyt
Apollo Sunshine

J.Period & Q-Tip - The [Abstract] Best Vol. 1

2009-03-12T10:16:00.004-04:00

I meant to post this a long time ago when it was released but never got around to it. The mix is a tribute to Q-Tip, mixed by J.Period. It features a long list of artists from De La Soul, The Beastie Boys, The Jungle Brothers to Blu, Amaanda Diva and Talib Kweli. Great music, all available for free on J.Period's website.

Fuse Green, designer of the album cover, contacted me and passed along his portfolio site. Fuse works out of Brooklyn, NY, at one point working as a creative director/designer for Ecko Unlimited and as a senior graphic designer for Rocawear. There's a lot more work and info on his website. I really like the collage work he did on the Q-Tip mix, especially the use of that strange object from Ramp's album Come Into Knowlege. Above is another cover he did for J.Period, this time for a Roots mix. Below is one of my favorite tracks from the Q-Tip mix, De La Soul's version of Tribe's "Excursions".

Fuse Green
J.Period
Q-Tip
De La Soul

The [Abstract] Best Vol. 1

Reefer - Reefer

2009-02-25T16:38:00.005-05:00

This is a great illustration by Kozyndan for Reefer, a collaboration between Alpha Pup artist Daddy Kev and The Unicorns member Nicholas Thorburn. After becoming close friends, the two isolated themselves in Maui, Hawaii and conceived this mini-album. The music sounds like something you'd hear sitting on a tropical island, but contrasted with Thorburn's darker-than-expected lyrics.

Kozyndan are an artist couple in California who I've mentioned before. I've enjoyed their work ever since seeing an illustration (above) for their good friend (and one of my favorite electronic music artists) Daedelus' EP The Household, released on Eastern Developments. The highlight of their portfolio site seems to be their panoramic pieces, always filled with millions details. They also have a very entertaining Flickr account.

Kozyndan
Reefer
Alpha Pup
Daedelus

Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program - Ghetto Sci-Fi

2009-02-20T12:45:00.006-05:00

Finally got my hands on Brainfeeder/Flying Lotus-associate Ras G's album, Ghetto Sci-Fi, a collection of spaced-out electronic hip-hop beats. The cover features an equally spaced-out collage of three African men and a space vehicle sitting beneath the stars on what I assume is a moon, designed done by Steve Serrato, who's work I've been seeing a few times lately. Unfortunately, it looks like his website is under construction. Or something.

Here's a clip of Ras G and Mr. Dibiase rocking SP-303s and a MicroKORG.

Ras G
Steve Serrato
Brainfeeder

The Beatles - Abbey Road

2009-02-20T10:55:00.036-05:00

Caught this weird time-lapse video on Boing Boing of tourists mimicking the cover of The Beatles' album Abbey Road. Designed by Kosh, shot by Iain Macmillan in the 60's, after being given only 10 minutes to shoot the image, which then became one of the most imitated in history. Tourists aren't the only ones copying it...

Even Kanye got in on it. I personally like George Benson and Booker T. & The M.G.'s versions the most. There's also a webcam, if you really want to know what's happening on Abbey road.

The Beatles
Iain Macmillan
Kosh
Boing Boing

J Dilla - Donuts

2009-02-18T15:59:00.017-05:00

February's been officially declared "Dilla Month"; a time to celebrate one of the most influential producers in hip-hop and 'neo-soul', James Yancey, who sadly died on February 10th, 2006, three days after his birthday. I thought this would be a good time to take a look at his album released at that time, Donuts.

Donuts was an important album for me. Although I wouldn't fully understand who Dilla was until the release of Champion Sound, I always looked for music with the "Soulquarian" and "Ummah" names attached. I played Common's Like Water For Chocolate and Badu's Mama's Gun endlessly. I remember picking up Slum Village's Fantastic Vol. 2 and loving it. But I still didn't know exactly who this Jay Dee guy was, back before I had music blogs to dig through and my only resource was Allmusic.com.

I was excited to get my copy of Donuts in the mail, finally getting a proper portrait of the man behind this music I had been connecting with for years. While listening to the album for the first time I jumped online only to find out that he had passed away that day. It was a surreal experience that made Donuts more than just a beat tape. Since then it has become one of those pivotal albums that changed my views on music and influenced my own art.

I had a few questions about the packaging for the album, so I went straight to the source, exchanging some emails with Jeff Jank, art director of Stones Throw Records. He shared some great insight with me along with the images to go along with this post. Here's a summary of what he told me.

Donuts is the album Jeff Jank has been most involved with on the label, through inception, editing and mastering, as well as the work he is proudest of. The process started as he and others would visit Dilla in the medical center. At one point he brought the handmade work he had done for Madlib's The Furhter Adventures of Lord Quas. Dilla was currently working on his album, The Shining, and asked Jeff if he could create some similar "bugged out" art for it.

Jeff had planned to do a panoramic illustration that followed the insert of The Further Adventures (shown above), along with Dilla's idea of taking photos in the strange medical masks they had him wear at the center. Donuts (title inspired by Dilla's obsession with junk food) came along and focus switched. At one point Jeff threw in the idea of placing the CD inside of a doughnut, having people eat their way to the music.

Soon after Dilla was out of the hospital, feeling better. He flew to Brazil with Madlib, Eric Coleman and Brian Cross from Mochilla, with plans to shoot some photos for the album. Unfortunately, he became too ill and had to fly back to Los Angeles. Stones Throw began to question the cartoon images they had planned for the cover and decided a photo was needed. This ended up being the image pulled from M.E.D's "Push" (produced by Dilla) video, directed by Andrew Gura (below). The resolution of the image was too low to use for the vinyl release, which is why it features an alternative cover.

While the album was in production, Dilla was on tour in Europe and his health was wavering. Soon after the tour was finished, Jeff had visited Dilla in December '05, during the time he was living with Common. He was excited for the release of Donuts and was playing tracks from The Shining. This would be one of the last times Jeff would see him.

Jeff Jank was never completely satisfied with using a low-res image for the cover, but it still lead to a few imitators. He mentioned that there were several, mostly tributes. I only know of a few. Not that it was an imitation, but Jeff also noted the similarities between Donuts and the cover of Common's album Be, as it also used a low-resolution image of Common smiling which had to be cleaned up in Photoshop.

I personally feel the album, art and music, was an appropriate way to say goodbye to a great artist. Dilla's posthumous releases The Shining, the re-issue of Ruff Draft and Jay Love Japan are all amazing albums, but Donuts is special. The cover has become an iconic image of Dilla in my mind and I'm sure for other people. I also can't look at a pink iced doughnut without hearing his music in my head.

Thanks to Jeff Jank for the help. Thank you Jay Dee for the music!

J Dilla
J Dilla @ Wikipedia
Jeff Jank
Stones Throw
Andrew Gura

RELATED
Madlib - Beat Konducta Vol. 1, 2, 5, 6
Last Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz & Percussion Ensemble - Miles Away
Madlib - Yesterdays Universe

Clue To Kalo - Lily Perdida

2009-02-06T11:18:00.005-05:00

Another album from Mush Records that I heard nothing about. "Clue to Kalo" was originally the pseudonym of Australia-based singer & producer Mark Mitchell. This expanded into a 3-piece live band later on. The music would fall under the "folktronica" label, if you like labels. The songs on the album are meant to be songs written by fictional characters about the also fictional character Lily Perdida.

The album cover was created by the interestingly-named Australia-based design team Webuyyourkids, who got their start making screen-printed concert posters. Their portfolio is deep had has a nice collection of posters, album packaging, animation, illustration and web design they've done. Originally I was led to think the album cover was done by someone named "Overeaten Duck" who was responsible for the work on their album One Way, It's Every Way. Thanks to the magic of MySpace, I was corrected. I still don't know who Overeaten Duck is.

Webuyyourkids
Clue to Kalo
Mush Records

Prefuse 73 - Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian

2009-02-06T11:07:00.004-05:00

This is the album cover for Preuse 73's new album, due April 14th. ~~Not sure who's responsible for it~~ According to commentor Judah, the cover is by Dan McPharlin, who I've been seeing a lot of lately and discussed previously. It's obviously riffing off of old prog-rock covers. Even the logo looks retro, in a very satisfying way. The reveal of new Prefuse albums always gets me excited, ever since I discovered Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives. I previously discussed the great work Kim Hiorthøy did for Prefuse's last album, which I thought was pretty successful. Can't wait to hear what this album sounds like.

Preuse 73
Warp Records

Dim Dim - Whip

2009-02-02T11:27:00.006-05:00

I hadn't heard of Dim Dim (aka Jerry Dimmer) until recently when the brightly colored cover of his album "Whip" got my attention. Dim Dim is a music producer living in Belgium, creating playful electronic music which kind of reminds me of Toy on Smalltown Supersound. He also appears to be an artist himself, making creating abstract paintings.

What I like most, though, is the packaging designed by Belgian artist/designer Oreli. Her clean-edged but detailed cat character fits well with the album's playful mood, I think. Her typography on the tracklisting is impressive, too. The rest of her portfolio is even more exciting. Below is a promo for the album created by Mumbleboy, Turisukoshiro, and Dim Dim himself. It's interesting.

Oreli
Dim Dim
Mumbleboy