Unbored

What’s in an album cover? There’s the old cliché that people carelessly throw around these days, ‘Never judge a ____ by its cover.’ It’s a painfully overused idiom, and one that in most cases doesn’t really apply to the art of record artwork; after all, it’s hard for an artist to convey vanity in that way. Okay, not always. Still, I found it interesting when not two months ago, whilst in a record shop in Camden, I picked out nine 7” singles purely by appearance. It helped, of course, that they were being sold for 50 pence each, but it was an interesting experiment all the same because I came home with a completely mixed bag of music. Most of it was less than impressive, but the fact remains that if bands can be clever and can market their music purely on the strength of the cover, there are bound to be some suckers out there that are dense enough to pick it up and buy it. Such as me.

Anyway, here’s my round up of what I think is some of the best artwork to have graced the covers of albums over the past twenty years. Enjoy!

15. Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity
As well as being an absolutely cracking album, the simplicity of the cover of the band’s 2004 album is reminiscent of the work of Jean-Michael Basquiat; rough, sloppily painted characters adorn the front in brave and bold colours – tasteful, if a little unsettling.

14. Drummer – Feel Good Together

There’s always something nice about an album that reminds you, both through its music and its cover, of something positive. To me, there’s nothing more positive than seeing a delicious ice cream dessert. Being a greedy man, this is why this album made the list.

13. Tortoise – Millions Now Living Will Never Die
One of the greatest instrumental post-rock albums ever conceived, Tortoise’s sophomore release from 1996 also has a pretty awesome cover. Nice understated blues and greys, minimal text, and fish. Could you ask for more?

12. Primal Scream – Screamadelica
Primal Scream changed the landscape of British indie in the early nineties, fusing guitar rock with acid house and rave in an unforgettable clash of styles. The cover of this, their third album, has become iconic and was even made into a stamp by the Royal Mail earlier this year. Not that people are willing to admit it, but that my friends, is rock and roll.

11. A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory
In my opinion the greatest hip-hop group of all time, followed closely by Public Enemy and NWA, A.T.C.Q. created some of the most interesting and intelligent jazz rap out there. The cover for this album, especially in its colours, relates to African, almost tribal imagery that reflects the raw, dry sounds the group used. Interesting to note is the appearance of Ron Carter, the legendary jazz bassist, as a performer.

10. Slint – Spiderland
Sometimes but not always, simplicity is King. In the case of Slint’s landmark 1991 album Spiderland, this is very much the case, with its stark black and white photograph of the band neck-deep in water, taken interestingly enough by Will ‘Bonnie “Prince” Billy’ Oldham.

9. Phosphorescent – Aw Come Aw Wry
I love the use of medieval imagery, perhaps due to my deep interest in the history of that period of time, but maybe because quite frankly, the stylistic possibilities of such simple imagery are many. I could’ve easily made this Fleet Foxes’ debut instead for that reason, but I as much as I love that record, this one is, to me, even better.

8. Foxhole – Push/Pull EP
The Kentucky-based mostly instrumental band Foxhole produced this EP for Burnt Toast Vinyl in 2006. The music within is interesting, multi-textural and the band are extremely proficient, but one of the things that stood out for me was their cover, an extremely simple balloon-shaped bubble rising upward, an interesting cover that reflects their music rather well – uplifting.

7. Papercuts – You Can Have What You Want
The delicate and hazy sound of the songs of Papercuts is one which is not timeless – it belongs rooted firmly in the late 60s, but exists in the present. The cover of You Can Have What You Want certainly looks like it belongs on a poster for a low-budget b-movie from that era; naked, featureless bodies floating, suggesting a kind of tranquillity. Interesting, very interesting. And creepy.

6.  Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come
Although the whole Blue Note Records-esque cover has been done and redone many times over, none work nearly as well as Refused’s effort, not only because it looks great but because of what the album stands for. Blue Note released some of the best, most influential artists ever to work in music, and with The Shape… Refused created something truly pioneering, original and revolutionary.

5. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – I See A Darkness
Will Oldham is, in a word, eclectic. How is it that he can follow up on a bright, folky and breathy album like Joya with something as dark, brooding and shadowy record as I See A Darkness. He’s an artist talented enough to make it work, and he does so with gusto – it turned out, and still is regarded to be his most defining work to date, a wonderful black cloud majesty looms over gorgeous songs throughout. And the cover couldn’t have been more appropriate.

4. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Déjà Vu (1994 CD Edition)
Their first, and arguably greatest album, Déjà Vu marked a turning point in American folk rock music (not least because only half of them were American) but also because of the meticulous attention to detail in the production that was rarely seen in the genre until then. For the hours put into recording it, however, the result is superb. It is a landmark classic album, and its artwork simple and instantly recognisable.

3. The Meters – Fire on the Bayou (2000 CD Edition)
The New Orleans scene has always piqued my interest, but it was The Meters who truly turned me on to the scene, especially with their later work with Allen Toussaint. From beginning to end, Fire on the Bayou represents the cream of Louisiana funk; melodic and grooving, the band firing on all cylinders at all times. The cover is simple, and doesn’t detract from the music in the slightest.

2. Sugarman Three & Co. – Pure Cane Sugar
With an album title and artwork like this, Pure Cane Sugar looks like something that should really only be from the mid-seventies. Gimmicky, to say the least. But it’s just so fun, damn it. The band presents an album full of bombastic, raw and dirty R&B-tinged funk. I was torn between this and Soul Donkey, the bands’ previous release, which is simply ridiculous.

1. Larry Young – Unity (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition)
You’ve got to hand it to Reid Miles; he made a name for himself creating some of the most well-regarded jazz album covers of the last sixty years, despite not actually liking jazz all that much. It seems amazing how well he was able to tap into the moods of the artists so well as to be able to create incredibly simple, Bauhaus-esque covers that conveyed so well the music that lay within. In this case, Larry Young’s innovative and experimental organ-led jazz, breaking into fascinating new territories within the post-bop genre. A true classic, both musically and visually.

Well, that just about rounds up the list. Feel cheated that some of the classics weren’t listed? Comment! And no, I wasn’t even tempted to put Dark Side of the Moon on this.