Artist: Kraftwerk
Single: Pocket Calculator
Label: EMI
Year: 1981
Designer: Unidentified
Type of music: Electronic pop
Notes: American promo. Kraftwerk are characterised by the uninformed as emotionless robots, but this is far from the truth as their taste for deadpan humour and playful design reveals.
Artist: Jazzanova
Album: In Between
Label: Jazzanova Compost Records
Year: 2002
Designer: Jutojo (www.jutojo.de)
Type of music: Varied, high quality diet of various shades of club music (broken beat, breakbeat, hiphop, nu-soul, nu-jazz)
Notes: This is one of the most distinctive, might I say even downright weird CD sleeves I’m aware of.
Artist: Various
Album: Studio One Soul
Label: Soul Jazz
Year: 1999
Designer: Adrian Self and Spikely Munche
Type of music: Reggae
Notes: Bold and beautiful – surely the motto on the door of the Soul Jazz design offices – means their sleeves rarely fail to delight.
Artist: Salif Keita
Album: Mouffou
Label: Universal Music
Year: 2002
Designer: Lucille Reyboz (photography), Jerome Witz (painting and design)
Type of music: Gorgeous Malian music from a world music superstar
Artist: Kornstad Wiik Album: Eight Tunes We Like Label: Moserobie Year: tbc Designer: Hakon Kornstad Type of music: Jazz Notes: -
Artist: Jim Black/Alasnoaxis
Album: Splay
Label: Winter & Winter
Year: 2002
Designer: Yoshimoto Nara (artwork)
Type of music: Grunge jazz
Notes: Winter & Winter’s ’smartpac’ packaging is as distinctive as Rune Grammofon’s digipaks.
Artist: John Fahey
Album: Red Cross, Disciple of Christ
Label: Revenant Company, Texarkana
Year: 2003
Designer: Noel Waggener
Type of music: Acoustic wonder
Notes: Fahey’s last album, done justice.
Artist: Akira Rabelais
Album: Spellewauerynsherde
Label: Samadhi Sound
Year: 2004
Designer: Chris Bigg (design and texture), David Sylvian (art direction), Lia Nalbantidou (photographs)
Type of music: Hauntingly beautiful.
Artist: Mika Vainio as Philus and Ø
Album: Tulkinta, Metri
Label: Sähkö Recordings
Year: 2005 (reissued, original releases 1993-8)
Designer: A.Men Architects/T.G. (design uncredited on some sleeves)
Type of music: Essential minimal techno
