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) as well as a monograph of Sub Pop’s Art Director, Jeff Kleinsmith, slated for publication by the label in 2008.
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:
M83 “Saturdays=Youth”
Is it worth listening to no matter what it looks like? I have always enjoyed Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez and his electrogaze (is that an actual genre? It should be.) The issue has been that it has been an eerie and claustrophobic, icy output that makes a strong initial impact but then needs one to be “in the mood” to listen to repeatedly. The album previous, “Before the Dawn Heals Us” was epic and metropolitan – but in a detached manner. “Saturdays=Youth” continues in that vein but connects more so in a personal fashion. Where “Dawn” seemed to shape a soundtrack for living in a nightclub and taking drugs that leave you detached and sitting in the middle of the dance floor while everyone around you moves, but all you can do is stare back at them with an absence behind your eyes – “Saturdays” lets you reach a lonely hand out and at least touch and talk to some of the others around you. You may come off as a snotty detached pillhead but it’s a start.
The main step forward has been in incorporating vocals to the sonic palette in a more direct fashion. Past songs used the voice in a Cocteau Twins-like sweep of sound. Here, they manifest themselves as the scribbles of a dark, well-read teenager. The importance is shown in the display of the lyrics in the design and in the accessible nature of singles “Kim & Jessie” and “Graveyard Girl.” Those two songs in particular beg to be heard repeatedly.
M83 has often been accused of treading in the production values of the vapid 80s and having a spoken word, teenage girl soliloquy following a Molly Ringwald reference won’t keep “Graveyard Girls” from suffering that fate. However, it actually does so in a complex, modern fashion that makes it so much more than a remake from the “Heathers” soundtrack. The remainder of the album ranges from pristine highs to pristine lows and Morgan Kibby’s added vocals bring a beautiful addition to the table, particularly on “Up!”
Credit: “Sleeve Photography by Anouck Berlin, Art Direction by Anthony Gonzalez, assisted by Paul A. Taylor, Artwork Design by Louise Downer at Blue Ink Creative.”
Any signs of creative interference in the design process by the artist? Uhhhh… that is Gonzalez taking the main art direction credit.
Does the look fit the sound? It certainly does. The cover photo plays out much like an ultra hip clothing catalog (where M83 would be the perfect house music) or the cast photo for an uber French take on the John Hughes, teen coming of age movie that dominated the 80s. The blown out lighting and mildly out of focus figures in the background gives it a more ethereal feel and makes for a more detached and arty presentation. The reference to Hughe’s catalog of movies is far from accidental by the way. The cover girl in the pretty in pink prom dress and the short red hair not only bares more than a passing resemblance to starlet Molly Ringwald; she takes up the entire page where “Graveyard Girl” graces the booklet with it’s lyrics.
Each song is given a portrait of an individual teen fashionista to adorn the page. Some are better than others but they all lack the power of the collected portrait of alienation and emotional coldness that overtakes you on the cover. Together, it strikes you even more the way that the kids stand shoulder to shoulder yet seem no closer to one another. An interesting thing happens in the middle of the booklet as a Kurt Cobain young doppleganger makes his only appearance on the page for “Up!”
In the end, it seems like Gonzalez’s contribution seems to be more on the mark than Downer’s. The selection of a thin serif typeface does little to help readability when it is placed over the busiest portion of the photograph where it competes with leaves and light colors. Cds are notorious for their iffy printing and registration issues and choosing such a font to knock out into white causes it to be choked out even further when this happens. It isn’t a mistake to have taken this chance as it continues in reverse with the black type overprinting the photographs on the interior and chokes out again in white on the back tray. I am fine with using type as texture and I don’t complain about readability simply for the sake of it but this layout is done in a fashion that leads one to think that the intention was for the words to be read. If that is the case, the designer has given them less than a fighting chance. There is also only one area of true design featured and it has nothing to recommend it as it is a black and white booklet panel of the song and production credits. Why the page would get the premium placement of the back of the booklet (which is the first thing you see when you open the case) is baffling.
Downer has worked with Erasure, The Charlatans UK and others but her work is pedestrian at best and makes me want to make a recommendation I almost never do: On the next release Gonzalez should see it through all the way and finish what he started in art directing the photos, in the layout.
Final score (out of 10): 6.0 design, 7.5 for the music
Anthony Gonzales almost became a professional soccer player until he was sidelined by an injury. Being a resident of Antibes, he probably supported Nice. Blah….
July 16, 2008 at 10:55 am