Bands & Design» Photography Archives – Bands & Design.

Antony and the Johnsons – Epilepsy Is Dancing (Single Cover) & Video

Rich — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:36:25 +0000

This is such a bleak and traumatic image. The woman’s face appears so pained and the addition of hand drawn angular illustration accentuates the anguish by obscuring parts of the woman’s face distorting her features into an even more pained expression. I love it.

The video is also deeply disturbing yet the song is beautiful.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Record labels that ooze style – Fool House

Rich — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:02:17 +0000

There is a treasure trove of small labels across the world who put out great music that isn’t considered financially viable enough for major labels. Great music that has a niche audience of a few thousand (and maybe more – majors generally aren’t interested if the band don’t have the potential to shift 10s of thousands of units). The labels often work closely with artists and designers to produce spectacular results. My friends and I refer to it as the “factory model”, as I’m sure many others do, based on the work on Factory Records. They started small and worked closely with designers such as Peter Saville (who defined the label visually from the very beginning). They were more than a record label, Factory Records produced concepts that helped define a generation, not only of Mancunians but of many Brits as well. A good record label can revolutionise.

With that rather verbose intro over it is my intention to hunt out the record labels that may well be considered a long side Factory Records in the future but for my generation and yours. These labels produce great products in spite of the ease of which they could release something only as an mp3 – the result of which reduces artwork to a 100px x 100px in the corner of a screen. These labels aren’t sticklers for tradition – they’re forward thinking agencies that recognise that the Record or CD itself is all part of the love affair people have with the band.

So to Fool House. A label that seems to ooze style in all aspects. They’re an imprint of infamous french blog Fluokids. Known for posting some of the coolest mp3s on the internet, hosting the coolest parties and after show events: you could blame them for new-rave but that wouldn’t be quite fair. With their set-up it would have been easy to launch an mp3 only download service; it takes about 3 clicks but as stated earlier this is a label that recognises that the product is as important as the music. Instead they’re combining both – physical releases accompanied by digital releases; additional remixes typically.

The artwork that accompanies their releases is a collaborative effort between graphic designer David Lamothe and photographer Gala Collette. Each record is released as a super limited 500 only 12 inch pressing.

Their first EP (pictured above), released back in October, contains four tracks by Mondkopf (including a remix by the legendary I:Cube). The artwork reminds me of something Storm Thorgerson may have come up with in that the artwork draws you in by not telling the whole story.

Their second EP release, released just over a month ago in January, contains two tracks by 33Hz plus a remix by The Shoes and Boombass (one half of Cassius). The artwork, similar in its moment in time snapshot to the first EP, is minimalist in its imagery but appearing to be the same high design a magazine like Wallpaper* is full of.

Their upcoming release is for Delorean, a group based in Barcelona, and is known as the AyrTon Senna EP. I’ve yet to discover what tracks it will contain and as far as I’m aware the artwork has yet to appear but I have little doubt that it will be worthy of owning.

Fool House then, a label with great promise, releasing great music with great artwork in super limited quantities – what’s not to love?

Blondie Vs Blur Vs Katy Perry

Rich — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 14:17:10 +0000

I was just flicking through the Sunday Times Magazine looking at “The Greatest Rock’n'Roll pictures ever” when I noticed an image I’ve seen many times before: Blur’s parody of Parallel Lines by Blondie but what I hadn’t noticed before was how much Damon Albarn’s Debbie Harry looks like Katy Perry. Scary huh?

So the new U2 album…

Rich — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:12:53 +0000

It’s all over the internets and I don’t like it. I love the image but I don’t like the album cover. I shall explain. The U2 artwork contains a stunning photograph by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto. The actual design though is deliberately non-committal; as softly-focused as the image on the cover. The lack of name implies a lack of ownership. What would Freud say? Only a band as big as U2 could release an album on which the cover has no mention of the artist but that doesn’t mean they should.
The music on the album is similarly unfocused. It fails to be significant and unlike say, The Joshua Tree, it fails to be timeless. In fact, Get On Your Boots is as good an indicator to the rest of album as you’re likely to get and it’s a complete mess.

Oh you’re right! That’s not the U2 album artwork up above. That’s Specification.Fifteen by sound artists Richard Chartier and Taylor Deupree and released in 1999. It’s not a Rip-Off though. But who’s at fault? Have U2 ripped these guys off? No, actually.

Hiroshi Sugimoto gave both artists permission to use his photo. That means he was aware of the existing artwork and the direction it took. I guess when U2 come a calling you don’t want to turn them down. There’s actually quite large differences between the two. Although not holding them side by side it seems that the U2 cover is lighter and has a large white border stated earlier contains absolutely nothing else. Some special edition versions of the artwork do feature two short parallel lines like an “equals” sign on the front one above and one below the horizon line which is odd in itself and it is at odds with the album title. The Specification.Fifteen album has all it’s information in panels at the very top. I actually prefer that version to the U2 cover.

Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart Artwork

Rich — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:13:37 +0000

Although officially designed by Peter Saville, architect Ben Kelly also claims rights to this iconic design. Kelly’s thesis for the Royal College of Art (1974) shows an almost identical image but engraved with the words Metal Lined Cubicles along side his pseudonym The Photo Kid.
Saville felt that the hard metal appearance was perfect as a representation of contemporary urban spirit; something that the band themselves also represented. Working with photographer Trevor Key the oxidised sheet metal was recreated with the pressing “Love Will Tear Us Apart” with “A Factory Record – FAC 23”. The back of the sleeve, rarely noted, contains less details than the front. It simply states “These Days” and “Joy Division”.

The record sleeve took on a far greater significance than capturing the contemporary urban spirit intended by Saville. The sleeve never really captured the melancholic feel of the song and with Curtis’ suicide shortly after recording the song the sleeve itself was misinterpreted as a headstone. I can completely understand this. My copy of the sleeve although of decent print quality shows a surface that looks as much like smooth stone as it does metal. Although supposed to be oxidised the actual image doesn’t show any orange rust spots which would give a more metallic impression. The result in any case is a design that took on an increased significance, an iconic significance way beyond its intended purpose.

Ceri Jones – My talented friend.

Rich — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:51:47 +0000

Ceri Jones is a graphic designer working in Cardiff. He is also a very good friend of mine. I’ve nicked this poster from his blog because I think it works so fantastically well as both poster and image. The band had insisted that promoters use the photograph for any tour related imagery. Most promoters just slapped a chunk of text on the photo and make it look like death.

By adding the lines it creates a bizarre sense of movement; almost like construction lines for the city. I think the line-spacing of the details is a little off but it sure doesn’t stop me enjoying the image as a whole.

Ceri’s blog is here.

South Central – Golden Dawn Video

Rich — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:32:20 +0000

I absolutely love this. A collaboration between Nothing to See Here and Grafik Warfare. Entirely shot on stills cameras in miserable weather there must be about 3000 images used in the actual video.The music video was produced and directed by Steve Glashier; edited by Mike Prior; photographed by Paula Fash and the assistant producer was Lucie Gooday. Light Sabre move and shakers were Foundry, Neale, Quan, Mad Steve and Daryl Bennett.