John Foster takes music packaging very seriously. He has deconstructed the design of the recording industry through his personal work and his books, Maximum Page Design (HOW), New Masters of Poster Design (Rockport) and the upcoming For Sale: Innovative Solutions in Packaging Design (HOW) – out in October! As well as a monograph of Sub Pop’s Art Director, Jeff Kleinsmith, slated for publication by the label in 2009.

He will be poking and prodding various albums on a weekly basis so please be sure to keep an eye out!

This week’s victims: 

His Name Is Alive “Stars On E.S.P.” 

 

 

Is it worth listening to no matter what it looks like? I have been staring at this record for over a month trying to decide whether it is best suited for the Lost Records column or the design version. (You know which way the tree ultimately fell…) In the end, it seems almost criminal to not discuss the design of a 4AD release, so the decision was an easy one. I truly wish I had a column focused only on the work of v23 for His Name Is Alive alone. The difficult part in not having that possibility is deciding which HNIA album to focus on. In the end, I went with my ears and not my eyes and selected the one that I enjoy listening to the most. This record is a joy in all aspects - which is something that can be difficult at times with such an experimental collective.

Warren Defever is the driving force behind the group, growing out of his oddball compositions at home to making grand discs with multiple strong-willed collaborators – in his house. The ability to manipulate the music has led to some mixed results but on this record he comes through with some of his finest work. The key is the intense influence of classic styles of songwriting that permeate each track. The mix of gospel, dub, country, Motown R&B and krautrock never step one each other’s toes or more importantly overstay their welcome. “Dub Love Letter” is spacey like a straightforward Stereolab track. The little creak of a door opening that brings on the burst of country strum and Appalachian sung/chanted “This World is Not My Home” is a brilliant touch as is the swirling distorted lead guitar throughout the track. Seeing Mark Kozelek’s name on the credits you can hear his influence the most here. “Bad Luck Girl” is a poptastic burst with a walking guitar riff and girl group vocals that make you wish Vivian Girls or The Pipettes would cover this and actually have a killer melody at their sides. The underwater guitar break to end the proceedings (please listen with headphones – it’s worth it!) moves us to “What Are You Wearing Tomorrow” which simmers with apprehension and shows the Ian Master’s imprint with it’s battling strums and piano plunk.

 

 

“The Bees” could be a Beach Boys outtake from a late night session with it’s simple bass throb, bells and chimes and sweet, sweet vocals. The commonality in these songs is the amazing restraint shown by Defever. His touch is still all over the audio and in the old rockabilly surf guitar that gets swallowed by the angelic vocals in “What Else is New List” you can here his roots in Elvis Hitler. Once the girls take over the proceedings it lightens to a spooky strum and cymbal happy drumming before coming back for the finish and the big snare snap. “Wall of Speed” is more playful and studio driven and reminds me more of Master’s work in Spoonfed Hybrid as well as his ESP Summer project with Defever.

“Universal Frequencies” is the first male vocal and is a true homage to the Beach Boys work but has that spectral quality that ties the record together. When the theremin comes in you have to smile. The styles come and go for the remainder (no shortage of tracks but nary a dud!) “I Can’t Live in This World Anymore” is a clever reprise of “This World is Not My Home” but with a cleaner sound and comes across as more folky and crunchy. The odd timing splice in the middle is the kind of detail that Defever excels at and requires a dedicated listen. The strong writing continues straight to the low fi closer of “Last One” and it’s differing reprise of “This World is Not My Home” with a down home choral build that sounds as if the track is playing on a stereo behind the singers. I can only imagine that everyone involved in this masterpiece is singing here - as it would be the perfect close.

 

 

Credit: “Art Direction and Design by Vaughan Oliver at v23. Design Assistance: Timothy O’Donnell at v23. Cover, Star and Mitten Photography by Dominic Davies. Original whale photography by Howard Hill/Oxford Scientific Films.”

Any signs of creative interference in the design process by the artist? Not likely, although Oliver can be inspired by the music in unusual ways.

Does the look fit the sound? I have long since professed my design love to Oliver and the work of v23. This package would be worthwhile if only for the clever logo on the disc for the group (a “H” made from a music note with “NIA” running through the middle bar.) The cover features a fascinating trick that has graced a number of his pieces (and future HNIA releases) in using a photograph of a photograph. Staging Hill’s photos of whales and lit in an otherworldly manner with intertwined forks (that’s right – forks!) he manages to make magic with Davies. Oliver has often set up these shoots in his home or office or yard (and the use of cutlery is not uncommon) yet they seem as if transmitted from a cooler, spooky universe. They even manage to make silver oven mitts look majestic.

The booklet uses various images including a snapshot of Defever looking sleepy and a studio set up looking to shoot stars and wires as well as simple stripes and an iconic image of a man sitting on a ledge, with “ESP” laid out before him and manipulated with color halftone patterns. The area where the package is truly a designer’s joy is in the typography though. Using the cover to run the credits and switching fonts at just the right moments makes for a more engaging and strange experience interacting with the record initially. The inside back panel serves as an early version of the icing on the cake that follows. Giving each track a second name that is descriptive (have to listen to get this part after the fact) of the song and having that more prominent makes for fun reading. How many times can you say that about music packaging?

The wonderful part is that we get to see what was altered and what remained on the final version with just a flip of the case. “Movie” in particular gets a different font but is evocative in the same manner but with a more serious tone.  The overlaid type grouping that also serves as a band logo if they were to choose makes great use of the prominent “A” to bring the page together. The back trey shows the final product, with an added grid of rules keeping things in order. Having differing type treatments as well, as names for each track may serve to lessen the accessibility within but it more than makes up for it in playful sophistication which this record has in spades at it’s very core.

 

 

Final score (out of 10): 8.5 design, 8.5 for the music

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