I’ve long been an admirer of the aesthetic of artist Stanley Donwood, the longtime visual collaborator of Radiohead, who’s created artwork for practically every Radiohead record. I think I first took notice around the time of Kid A and Amnesiac because the visual imprint of those two musically-tied records was so perfectly cohesive. I love [...]

Today, on his 66th birthday, David Bowie announced he was set to release a new album, The Next Day — his 30th album and first in ten long years of radio silence — on March 12. Along with that announcement, Bowie dropped that album’s first single, “Where Are We Now?,” along with a self-referential and [...]

Even in the age of digital music, I still enjoy looking at album artwork. I love finding trends and similarities between designs and photographs and typography. Lately, I’ve been noticing a trend of circles. Here are a few from 2012 I’ve come across. What did I miss?
Now Now — Threads

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Ty Segall & White Fence — [...]

I spend a lot of time listening to music throughout the year, making my lists of favorite records, the best songs and so on and on. But in the process I cannot help but look at and think about the album artwork and how that accompanies this music. Increasingly, in this digital age, album art [...]

Seemed like for awhile every indie band would use a seemingly low fi cover made from a Polaroid or retro-looking candid photograph as their album cover art. Pitchfork even looked at this trend not too long ago.
Now, I’m starting to see a new trend develop. Photos of beds, sheets, pillows and people ON said beds.
Here [...]

Before he was the the brooding baritone singer of The National, Matt Berninger used to be a graphic designer (albeit one who reportedly distracted himself by scribbling lyrics in the margins during meetings). So it sorta makes sense that he and the band would have a great, clean sense of design when it comes to [...]

Last year’s album from Broken Bells — a collaboration between Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) and The Shins’ James Mercer — was among my favorite records of the year. It was such a great mix of psychedelic pop instrumentation, Spaghetti Western soundtracks and electronic experimentation, but done in a way that was still very approachable. [...]

This one is pretty obvious. But still fun to see someone do an homage to Roxy Music’s iconic, and at one time controversial album cover. Plus, let’s keep it shallow here and acknowledge that any over with attractive women is sure to get at least some attention.
Here’s the cover to Love and Desperation, the [...]

Just read a review in Pitchfork of garage rock outfit, Turbo Fruits, a side project of sorts from the folks of the late Be Your Own Pet.
But really, I clicked on the link because of the rather familiar album art. Surely I’m not the first person to point this out the similarities with [...]