First quarter or 2008 recap continues with….Albums and Posters, because I can:
1. Neon Neon “Stainless Style” (Lex Records) – like the 80s gloss it vamps musically, the cover is like some great, lost, goth version of the Cars or Duran Duran.
2. Dirtbombs at the Middle East, Cambridge (Nate Duval) – it’s all about the fro man…
3. Why? At Great American Music Hall, San Francisco (The Small Stakes) – Jason Munn does it again building his type from 45’s making it artistic and accessible in that way only he can.
4. Portishead “Third” (Mercury) – icy and detached, yet smoky and mysterious; just the overlay of a “P” and “3” is all you need. Sometimes it’s what you don’t add that makes the image.
5. Bjork “Volta” (Atlantic) – I know I am jumping the gun on this one but I have been transfixed on this colorful big-footed baby ever since I first caught a glimpse.
6. Jose Gonzales at Variety Playhouse, Atlanta (Methane Studios) – Methane are masters of comically engaging illustrations but I also love it when they get arty and play with patterns. Plus how many cool posters involve shaving?
7. Shout Out Louds at The Parish, Austin (Decoder Ring Design Concern) – I am a sucker for an image that isn’t what it seems – even if it is overt. DRDC do so in amazing fashion here.
8. Nada Surf at the Metro, Chicago Poster (Little Friends of Printmaking) – Classic LFOP (look for an interview in coming weeks) as there are so many details in the scens that make up the ultimate large face.
9. Sun Kil Moon “April” (Caldo Verde) – what goes better with some Kozelek bleak ballads than a soft focus slightly askew black and white photo? I don’t know either.
10. No Age “Nouns” packaging (Sub Pop) – 68 page booklet on the interior is a bonus but it’s the simplicity of the title and type solution on the cover that grabs me with refreshingly huge chunks of white space in the closed in letterforms.
Most disappointing cover so far this year: Mike Doughty “Golden Delicious” – Mike: If you know what I mean. Me: Yeah, I ALWAYS know what you mean…
Bonus visual!!!!! GG Allin on pitchfork.tv – one week only and eye-poppingly (sooo NSFW it isn’t even funny) engaging in a carwreck fashion. I read about Allin for years in 80s zines and thought I would be disappointed once I finally saw him. When I managed to catch him in DC it was far more intense and disturbing than anything I could have been prepared for… and that just describes the smell…
I like.
Like I like end-of-year crits in A&D school, office christmas parties and website launches. When you spend nuff time crafting articles, photos galleries or whatever, a little shared retrospection of all that work is always cool.
Michael I say you put a piece of yr own; together something like “My Most Curmudgeony Moments” with Archie Bunker’s sweet grill for banner art
:P
May 2, 2008 at 2:18 pmMan, I just love #1. Doesn’t reek of overdesign like much of what follows. #3 kills too…
May 2, 2008 at 2:42 pmAllin doc is over (find it!!!) but now pitchfork.tv is running TV Party (cable access greatness from an amazing time in NYC!!!!) Check it.
May 3, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I really don’t like this 1st Quarter stuff. Makes it seem like some kind of financial site or something, rather than a break from that monotonous business bullshit.
May 2, 2008 at 12:23 pm