Just curious which album covers struck everyone's fancy this year.

I love:

New Pornographers with their burly, mustachioed man.

The Avett Brothers with their blackbird clutching a heart.

Andrew Bird with his lonely looking hawk(?).

Piano magic - part monster
Wilco - sky blue sky
Ulrich Schnauss - goodbye
Yellow6 - painted sky
Bob Ohrum - elevated
Sigur Ros - Heim/Hvarf
Explosions in the sky - all of a sudden, i miss everyone

The Twilight Sad's Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters - old 50's comic book look

menomena's artwork on the new album is pretty cool. the artist who did the cover will draw on butcher paper while the band plays live sometimes and after the show hand out portions to the crowd. one of the more unique ways of integrating visual art into a show i have heard of.

quote:

Originally posted by krugulitis:
menomena's artwork on the new album is pretty cool. the artist who did the cover will draw on butcher paper while the band plays live sometimes and after the show hand out portions to the crowd. one of the more unique ways of integrating visual art into a show i have heard of.

I just came in to talk about the Menomena cover. It's great, and twenty times more complicated and throught about than most. So much better than just a snap shot of the band standing in a field.

Even though I wasn't too interested in the album itself, one of my favorites of the year has to be Band of Horses Cease to Begin.

My favorite of the year is Andrew Bird though.

Menomena's is the first that comes to mind probably followed by Twilight Sad. A lot of dull, but polished covers this year (Arcade Fire, Band Of Horses) and a few eyeburners like Kala

At least the music was stronger on the whole than '06.

Person Pitch by Panda Bear is one of my favourite this year.

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Originally posted by BAfé:
Person Pitch by Panda Bear is one of my favourite this year.

By leaps and bounds, my favorite album art of the year -- and of the past several years.

Menomena's my favorite this year. But that's already been mentioned, so I will add:

Blonde Redhead - 23
Creepy multi-legged tennis player!

The National - Boxer
A photo of the band at a wedding, but a perfect fit for the tone of the album. Love the black and yellow color scheme, too.

Grinderman
Love the green monkey and the neon font.

I also really like the Band Of Horses one. But overall, a weak year for cover art, with lots of terrible covers.

The worst, to me, by far, was Ted Leo's Living With The Living. Ugh. Just awful. And I like the album.

Interpol - Our Love To Admire

I really like the cover to Boxer as well. It really fits the feel of the album. The name Boxer is questionable though. I have never felt that it isn't appropriate, but seriously, is it?

1. Menomena - gimmicky, but fun & interactive
2. Grinderman - A Howler Monkey cupping it's balls as it screams out in primal pain - No album cover better summarizes the music that's inside...except maybe...
3. Wincing the Night Away - Ugly, but the firing neurons on the cover perfectly capture the albums feel of a fitful nights sleep.

Lamest - Magic Bruce Springsteen - Tells me nothing and a bad picture of the Boss to boot.

Not too sure about the best cover art, I suppose Wincing the Night Away is fairly interesting. What I am sure about is the worst cover art of 2007 - Kala
Thankfully the music more than makes up for it.

I also love the Blonde Redhead cover. Really interesting, and original, and, I think, fits the mood of the album quite well. I hated the New Pornographers cover, despite really liking the album. I found the cover Ga^5 bewildering. Some sculptor from the 50's and 60's? WTF?

Some of the ugliest:

"Wincing the Night Away" -- The Shins (how can a band that makes such sublime music have such a hideous visual sense???)

"Hey, Venus" -- Super Furry Animals. The greatest pop band of the past ten years, regularly making the ugliest covers of the year.

"Shine" -- Joni Mitchell. Simply because the shot is taken from one of the most idiotic dance performances ever created.

"15 Again" -- Cassius. This is what I painted like when I was 15 too.

"Strawberry Jam" -- Animal Collective. Is that scratch and sniff vomit?

"All the Lost Souls" -- James Blunt. Just because, every time I see his face, I want to kick him in the teeth.

quote:

Originally posted by Peewee:
Some of the ugliest:
..."Strawberry Jam" -- Animal Collective. Is that scratch and sniff vomit?

Ha, I thought that one was pretty funny and exactly what they were going for. People found out the name and expected some cute but didn’t get it.

1)Interpol – Our Love To Admire
i dont know why , i only know that i love it!
2)Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
too real.seeing the cover i m feeling that i smell the smoke , that i hear some sounds.like an arty classic rock photo.call me insane but these machines makes me think of Flash Gordon somehow!
3)Coral - Roots & Echoes
very 60s n traditional.reminds me of my old vinyl records.

I'm glad to see Craig Thompson's illustrations for Menomena is getting the respect it deserves. Blankets is one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. If you haven't read it, go buy it, I can't recommend it strongly enough.

Strangest artwork of the year has to go to Bright Eyes with the secret messages and decoder.

I also liked Kanye's and Of Montreal's covers.

quote:

Ha, I thought that one was pretty funny and exactly what they were going for. People found out the name and expected some cute but didn’t get it.

I prefer by far the cute one!

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:

quote:

Originally posted by Peewee:
Some of the ugliest:
..."Strawberry Jam" -- Animal Collective. Is that scratch and sniff vomit?

Ha, I thought that one was pretty funny and exactly what they were going for. People found out the name and expected some cute but didn’t get it.

That's actually one of my favorite album covers of the year. Strawberries in motor oil!