Hardformat

Artist: Icarus
Title: Carnivalesque
Label: Not Applicable
Year: 2005
Designer: Ollie Brown, Sam Britton
Type of music: Improvised
Notes: This might look hand done with a magic marker, but it’s all printed. The choice of an ambient natural sounds CD booklet for defacing is a particular pleasure. The outer wrapper emphasises the appropriation and co-opts the listener into the process by forcing him/her to cut through it to gain access to the CD. A great example of anti design to place alongside Tortoise’s winningly nonchalant TNT CDR cover.

My review of this CD.

After corresponding with Isambard Khroustaliov aka Sam Britton about this release, it turns out each cover was in fact unique, not printed. Here are a selection of the other covers. I like the whole thing even more now. Check out the label’s excellent sampler NON010.