Hardformat

Artist: Fennesz
Album: Endless Summer

Label: Mego
Year: 2001
Designer: Tina Frank
Type of music: Melodic noise
Notes: Tina Frank’s a genius. This is the limited edition version of the popular classic.

Artist: Matthew Herbert Big Band
Album: Goodbye Swingtime
Label: Accidental Records
Year: 2003

Designer: art by Hopper, portrait photography by Ali Mahdavi
Type of music: Skewed big band jazz
Notes: Not an example of great design per se, but consider my hat tipped to the playfulness of the silhouettes and the gusto of the silver squiggles indented upon the shiny black cover.

Artist: Deathprod
Album: Deathprod boxset
Label: Rune Grammofon

Year: 2004
Designer: Helge Sten , Kim Hiorthøy
Type of music: Dark ambient, drone
Notes: 4 CDs and a 32 page booklet in a heavy card box. To quote Spinal Tap;

David - “Well, I think it looks like death…it looks like mourning. I mean it looks…”
Nigel - “I think he’s right, there is something about this, that’s that’s so black, it’s like; “How much more black could this be?” and the answer is: None, none… more black.”
The box is black, the booklet is black, the music is black. All four albums each marked with a single icon on the cover and embossed on the CD itself, gloss on matte. As a compilation to mark the end of the Deathprod project, this is perfect.

Artist: Dock Boggs
Album: Country Blues, Complete Early Recordings 1927-29
Label: Revenant
Year: 1997
Designer: art direction: Jeff Hunt at Tote Design Laboratory, design and layout: Susan Archie at World of AnArchie

Type of music: Country Blues
Notes: Boggs’ rasp rings out from beyond the grave. I hope he’s found some peace there. This is more book than CD case. What colour is that, silver blue? Fine paper, lots of details, both visual and biographical and that young, smart-dressed man looking out at us across time from the cover, forever ready to play, but long gone.

Artist: 1-2: Various, 3-4: Andrey Kiritchenko, 5-6: Boca Raton
Album: 1-2: small melodies, 3-4: True Delusion, 5-6: Enzo/Further
Label: Spekk
Year: 2005-6

Designer: Design and photography by Nao Sagimoto (as mondii), 3-4: drawings by Olga Indovina
Type of music: Minimal, ambient
Notes: Three of my favourites from the Spekk label.

Artist: Various artists, featured: Taylor Deupree
Album: Various, featured: January
Label: Spekk
Year: 2004 to date, featured 2004
Designer: Various, packaging and design Nao Sugimoto (as mondii), featured: photograph uison

Type of music: Minimal, ambient
Notes: There have been 11 releases on the Japanese Spekk label so far. Each arrives delicately clasped in an absolutely beautiful card cover whose dimensions recall that of a small book. The actual size and the touch of the materials are delightful. I very much look forward to new releases from Spekk. Label boss Nao Sugimoto clearly has impeccable taste and has achieved a consistent label identity without imposing a visual straightjacket upon his roster. The format remains the same while the graphic design differs each time. (However delicious individual designs are from Rune Grammofon, for example, they still generally appear to serve the needs of the label at the expense of the individual identity of each artist.) Next post will feature a couple more of my favourite Spekk designs.

Artist: The Missing Ensemble
Album: Hidden Doors
Label: Mondes Elliptiques
Year: 2006
Designer: Cover Art: Ray Caesar Design: NosR

Type of music: Drone, ambient, noise
Notes: Hand-numbered edition of 500 in a card sleeve with a booklet of short stories by Brian Evenson and Mathias Delplanque (the first in English, the second in French). The wonderful sleeve art by Ray Caesar reminds me of Trevor Brown (who’s cover work I will no doubt be posting soon). His cleverly textured 3D models make me, a part-time 3D modeller myself, sick with envy.

Artist: Tortoise
Album: A Lazarus Taxon
Label: Thrill Jockey
Year: 2006

Designer: Tortoise and Sheila Sachs, photographs by Urs Odermatt
Type of music: Post Rock
Notes: Other Tortoise sleeves might be more clever (e.g. TNT) and I’m not bowled over by the typography, but for sheer pleasure, I’ll take the wonderfully titled A Lazarus Taxon any day. Urs Odermatt and Tortoise are clearly a match made in heaven.