June 2011 Archives

Walt Disney Records is scheduled to release Muppets: The Green Album on August 23, 2011. The album is a musical tribute to the Muppets, featuring 12 fan favorite songs reinterpreted by current artists. Appearing on the album are bands such as OK Go, Weezer, The Fray, Alkaline Trio, My Morning Jacket, as well as solo artists like Andrew Bird, Matt Nathanson and Amy Lee.

The album cover features a typographic design of Kermit the Frog composed of the names of the artists that contributed to the project. The design has a 1960s psychedelic look to it and Kermit is instantly recognizable.

Muppets: The Green Album is being released in advance of Disney's new comedy film The Muppets, which is coming to theaters this Thanksgiving. The soundtrack for The Muppets will be released by Walt Disney Records on November 22, 2011.

Songs included on Muppets: The Green Album are:

1. The Muppet Show Theme - OK Go
2. The Rainbow Connection - Weezer and Paramore vocalist Hayley Williams
3. Mahna Mahna - The Fray
4. Moving Right Along - Alkaline Trio
5. Our World - My Morning Jacket
6. Halfway Down the Stairs - Amy Lee
7. Mr. Bassman - Sondre Lerche
8. Wishing Song - The Airborne Toxic Event
9. Night Life - Brandon Saller of Atreyu and Billy Martin
10. Bein' Green - Andrew Bird.
11. I Hope That Something Better Comes Along - Matt Nathanson
12. I'm Going to Go Back There Someday - Rachael Yamagata

Below are six album covers that were preselected from this week's new music releases. They were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and for their noteworthy album cover designs. Please vote for the cover that you think is the best of the bunch. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.

Beyoncé - 4		David Cook - This Loud Morning
Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest		Selena Gomez & The Scene - When the Sun Goes Down
Dolly Parton - Better Day		Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra

Well, since "Happy Feet" is in the global news at the moment, it's time we checked out some penguins on album covers. And yes, Noah had a penguin stall on his ark, right next to his tux and the goldfish tank.

Happy Feet Soundtrack (2006)

Posted by: Foundation

No! Not that Happy Feet! That's a movie. I'm talking about "Happy Feet", the nickname of an emperor penguin who came ashore on New Zealand's North Island some five days ago. That's a long, long way from home. In fact, its only ever the second time one has been sighted in NZ (the other one was in 1967 in the South Island). And being confused, Happy ate a pile of sand thinking it was snow, got very sick and has now had a number of operations. Happy is getting better and will most likely fly back to Antarctica when daylight resumes down there in several months time. You can read more about Happy here.

The Penguin Cafe Orchestra Music from the Penguin Cafe (1976)

The Penguin Cafe Orchestra Signs of Life (1987)

The Penguin Cafe Orchestra was a collective of performing musicians created by classically trained British guitarist, composer and arranger Simon Jeffes. PCO recorded and performed for 24 years until Jeffes died of a brain tumour in 1997. Almost all their album covers feature penguins or people wearing penguin heads, or both.

Mr Popper's Penguins Soundtrack (2011)

Posted by: zeefritz

Mr. Popper's Penguins, which opened in US theaters June 17th, is a family comedy family starring Jim Carrey (as Mr. Popper) and is based on the 1938 children's book of the same name, by Richard and Florence Atwater. I've never read the book, but I'm guessing the penguin top right with the brighter orange beak might be "Captain Cook".

Supergrass - Lenny (1995)		Status Quo - Whatever You Want (1979)
Fleetwood Mac Penguin (1973)		Shelly Manne & His Men Shelly Manne & His Friends Vol. 1 (1995)

English alternative rock band Supergrass obviously decided that Lenny should be Lord Mayor of the penguins for the fourth single from their album I Should Coco. Lenny reached #10 in the UK singles chart. Another British rock band, Status Quo, used penguins on a few covers, including the first single and track of the same name from their 99th studio album. Sorry! Make that the 12th studio album - they only produced 29. The track was later re-recorded for their 2003 album Riffs. Fleetwood Mac, a British-American rock group (gee those Brits get around), couldn't decide on the artwork for their seventh studio album, Penguin. They eventually decided on a penguin, the band mascot most favored by John McVie. And the 1995 compilation release of some Shelly Manne 1950's recordings, depicts three penguins. Trust me, they're penguins. And that's all folks ... I'm all penguin-ed out!

According  to our AlbumArtExchange blog poll, the best album cover for the week of June 21, 2011 is for the self-titled album by indie folk band Bon Iver. The cover received 70% of the vote, which I believe is a record win for our poll. Weird Al Yankovic's Alpocalypse was second with 17%. There was a three-way tie for third.

The winning cover was created by Minnesota artist Gregory Euclide, who specializes in these unique relief paintings. Euclide's website is definitely worth seeing. He also has a Flickr account where you can see photos of how the Bon Iver was created. It is clear why this album cover won by such a landslide.

Below are 10 noteworthy album covers that were posted to the AAX gallery last week. They were selected simply because I found them to be interesting or a valuable addition to the gallery. They are listed by artist in alphabetical order.

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Posted by: Aequi		Posted by: Vocephus

Barbra has long desired to release an album with lyrics only by her longtime collaborators and dear friends, Alan and Marilyn Bergman. That dream will finally be realized with her latest release What Matters Most - Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman, coming August 23.

The new album, which Barbra personally produced, features ten Bergman songs which she has never previously recorded. Included in the set are the Academy Award-winning song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair, "So Many Stars" which was a hit for Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66, "Nice 'n' Easy" as popularized by Frank Sinatra, and "That Face" as first recorded by Fred Astaire.

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As I have written before, these déjà vu moments always seem to occur in groups of three. The third for this week is the cover for Maroon 5's latest single, Move Like Jagger, and the new compilation of music by Joy Division and New Order.

I Set My Friends on Fire - Astral Rejection (2011)

The cover for Golden Glow's album Tender Is the Night is virtually identical to that of Pearl Jam's 1996 album No Code. Tender Is the Night was released yesterday.

Below are six album covers that were preselected from this week's new music releases. They were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and for their noteworthy album cover designs. Please vote for the cover that you think is the best of the bunch. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.

Bon Iver - Bon Iver		Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
Jill Scott - The Light of the Sun		Night Ranger - Somewhere in California
Symphony X - Iconoclast		"Weird Al" Yankovic - Alpocalypse

This déjà vu moment was suggested by AAX gallery moderator gege. These album covers were created 36 years apart. We could probably do an article on album covers that feature beach umbrellas. I can think of at least one more, Tweekend by The Crystal Method.

Eleanor McEvoy - I'd Rather Go Blonde (2011)

Neil Young - On the Beach (1974)

Endeavouring to capture the essence of Joy Division and New Order, both Peter Saville and Howard Wakefield agreed that typography could be the link. They agreed that the Helvetica Heavy Italic from Technique, conveyed the 'look' of New Order, however Joy Division was predominantly uppercase. By merging the two, a TOTAL was created.

The design is a 'nod' to Run2's commercial packaging; while the out-of-register CMYK references the perils of clients printing without proofs, which now-a-days happens all too frequently...

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Check back this evening to see which album covers from this week's new music releases made the cut. There is quite a bit of elaborate illustration in this week's mix of covers.

Below are 10 noteworthy album covers that were posted to the AAX gallery last week. They were selected simply because I found them to be interesting or a valuable addition to the gallery. They are listed in no particular order.

Posted by: Lazlo Nibble		Posted by: Tim Barron
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Posted by: Scott		Posted by: Gobo

Portland's RockPop Gallery is a unique showcase of the best artistic and photographic talent from all areas of today's music industry. Founder Mike Goldstein has just published an interview with Roddy Bogawa, the filmmaker responsible for Taken by Storm, a recent documentary about artist Storm Thorgerson. As many of our readers know, Thorgerson is one of the most famous album cover designers of all time and best known for designing classic album covers for bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.

Interview with Roddy Bogawa on the documentary film Taken By Storm

RockPoP Gallery's Mike Goldstein interviews film-maker Roddy Bogawa about his new film titled Taken By Storm

When filmmaker Roddy Bogawa was in his teens, a ticket to a date on Pink Floyd's Animals tour exposed him to full-scale examples of the work of Storm Thorgerson and that artist's unique approach to rock music-related design. In Thorgerson's forward to the revised (2008) edition of his book on album cover design titled "Album Cover Album", he posits that record sleeves were "often the first place where pubescents come across the visual arts - being reluctant to visit galleries or read art books while in the throes of hormonal disarray" and, in this case, his words seem prophetic when you now take into account the path that Roddy has taken to becoming the talented multi-media artist he is today.

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The superhero action movie Green Lantern opened in theaters today. The film is based on the DC Comics character and stars Ryan Reynolds in the title role. It also stars Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins and Geoffrey Rush.

The soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard and released by Watertower Music this week. The cover for the album features an illustration of Reynolds as the Green Lantern with three characters from the film and a futuristic cityscape in the background. It is similar to one of the film's teaser posters.

Below are six album covers that were preselected from this week's new music releases. They were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and for their noteworthy album cover designs. Please vote for the cover that you think is the best of the bunch. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.

Bad Meets Evil - Hell: The Sequel		Black Country Communion - 2
Madeleine Peyroux - Standing on the Rooftop		Joy Division / New Order - Total from Joy Division to New Order
Jackie Evancho - Dream with Me		Neil Young - A Treasure

Come back later this evening to vote on your favorite album cover from among this week's new music releases. Like our Facebook page for immediate notification of new blog posts and to comment on them.

Below are 10 noteworthy album covers that were posted to the AAX gallery last week. They were selected simply because I found them to be interesting or a valuable addition to the gallery. They are listed in no particular order.

Posted by: Scott		Posted by: Vocephus
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There are several new Pink Floyd CD packages being released in 2011. One of the most impressive is the Discovery Studio Album Box Set. It includes all 14 of the band's original studio albums, digitally remastered by James Guthrie (co-producer of The Wall), and reissued with newly crafted packaging and booklets created by long-time artwork collaborator Storm Thorgerson. The set will be available on September 27, 2011 and is currently available for preorder on Amazon.com. Click the image below for a larger view.

The Discovery Edition albums are designed as an introduction to the artist, with all booklets including full album lyrics. Each album will also be sold separately.

Features:

• Box set including all 14 Discovery Edition studio albums on CD (16 CDs total)
• Digitally Remastered by James Guthrie
• Newly designed Digipaks by Storm Thorgerson
• 60-page booklet designed by Storm Thorgerson

Here is the cover of the soundtrack for the forthcoming final installment of the Harry Potter films. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is scheduled to be released in 3D, IMAX and standard format on July 15, 2011.

The score was composed by Alexandre Desplat, who finished the recording with the London Symphony Orchestra on May 27 at Abbey Road Studio. The artwork for the soundtrack is a square version of the main teaser poster. It features the films star in profile, facing down his mortal enemy, Lord Voldemort.

Below are six album covers that were preselected from this week's new music releases. They were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and for their noteworthy album cover designs. Please vote for the cover that you think is the best of the bunch. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.

Above & Beyond - Group Therapy		Arctic Monkeys - Suck It and See
Depeche Mode - Remixes 2 81-11		Iron Maiden - From Fear to Eternity
The Book of Mormon Cast Recording		Peter Murphy - Ninth

Check back this evening to vote for the best album cover from among this week's new music releases. This week we have covers by Death Cab for Cutie, Iron Maiden, Depeche Mode and a couple that you probably won't be expecting.

Below are 10 noteworthy album covers that were posted to the AAX gallery last week. They were selected simply because I found them to be interesting or a valuable addition to the gallery. They are listed in no particular order.

Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: zeefritz
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Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: Scott
Posted by: Da Guy		Posted by: Vocephus

Coldplay's new single, Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, was released yesterday. The track is now available on iTunes and at Amazon.com, except in the UK where the track will be released tomorrow. The song can be previewed on YouTube and it is also streaming on the band's website.

The song was produced by Markus Dravs, Daniel Green and Rik Simpson. Brian Eno is credited with "Enoxification" and additional composition. The song contains compositional elements of Peter Allen's 1976 song I Go To Rio, written by Peter Allen and Adrienne Anderson. The writing credit for Every Teardrop is a Waterfall is listed as Berryman / Buckland / Champion / Martin / Allen / Anderson.

The cover art for the single is disappointing for a Coldplay project. It is simply a photographic detail of graffiti with 1970s-style typography.

X-Men: First Class. the fifth in the X-Men film series, opened in U.S. theaters today. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, the film is based on the characters appearing in Marvel Comics and is a prequel to the original X-Men.

The album cover is a simple 3D typography concept. It does not feature the actors who star in the film.

English indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs have launched a special website for their new album The Future is Medieval. The website allows those purchasing the album to select the tracks and create custom artwork.

Here's an excerpt from the official FAQ:

How do I create my own album?
There are 20 tracks to choose from. Each track is represented by an object. Click on an object to preview the track. Then connect the cables to your favourite tracks to add them to your playlist.

When you have selected 10 tracks you can move on to create your own custom album artwork. Just drag the objects onto the artwork area. Change the size, rotate and mess about with them until you have a design you like.

Jack Kevorkian (right), the notable activist for who served eight years in prison for his cause, died in a Michigan hospital today. Kevorkian was being treated for pneumonia and kidney problems. He was 83.

In addition to be a physician and an advocate for physician-assisted suicide, Kevorkian was also a jazz musician and a talented oil painter. His work often featured grotesque subjects, such as a child eating a rotting corpse and Santa Claus crushing a baby in a manger.

In 1996, American metal band Acid Bath used one of Kevorkian's paintings and the  cover  for their second album, Paegan Terrorism Tactics. Because of the controversy surrounding Kevorkian, the album was banned was banned from Australia.

Acid Bath had already stirred up trouble by featuring a painting by serial killer John Wayne Gacy on the cover of their 1994 debut album, When the Kite String Pops. Both album covers are noteworthy because they were painted by notorious men, one known as "Dr. Death" and the other one of the most prolific serial killers in American history.

Both Acid Bath covers can be viewed in the AAX gallery. The Kervorkian cover features three rabbits pulling Jesus out of an Easter egg. It is an obvious commentary on the commercialization of Christianity.