Trevino - 'Tactical Manoeuvre EP' by Jeroen Erosie

Link: Erosie
Link: 3024
Link: Marcus Intalex/Trevino

The latest on Martyn and Erosie's 3024 label features another wonderful sleeve from the latter. Trevino's new EP actually boasts an aesthetic that is both a continuation of earlier releases on the label (with its glimpses of Jacques Greene's 'Ready EP') and also a break from earlier imagery (with that more angular composition).

Trevino, by the way, is Manchester-based producer/DJ Marcus Intalex: a man better known for his drum & bass exploits who employs this alter ego for his techno-oriented output. Assumedly then delivering the kind of recordings that require a sharp-edged visualization.

 

Need For Mirrors - 'Alabama/Erotic Relapse'

New vinyl from drum & bass duo Need For Mirrors that's also the debut release on their Zoltar label. Limited to 400 copies, it comes in a silver die-cut sleeve revealing a hand-drawn inner: a nice touch that is likely to be repeated via subsequent releases.

"There seems to be a lack of visual expression with the way music is packaged and branded, often it's very difficult to add imagery to music and it's better to leave it faceless and let the music play. But with Zoltar we wanted the action to be visually led. Also by creating a physical product which will stand up as much as the music and add a another dimension to our experience."

The Cover Art of Reinforced Records

From: FACT

The Cover Art of Reinforced Records is a new book celebrating, you guessed it, the cover art of Reinforced Records.

Founded by 4Hero’s Dego, Marc Mac, Gus Lawrence and Ian Bardouille, Reinforced was one of 1990s club music’s most important labels, with a discography spanning hardcore, jazz/soul-fuelled drum ‘n bass and broken beat, including stone cold classics by Rufige Cru, Manix and Seiji. 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of the imprint’s formation, and to celebrate 4Hero have put together this ‘Collectors Guide’.

Available in hardback (£29.95) and paperback (£19.95) editions, The Cover Art of… exists thanks to Blurb, a boutique web service that allows users to design their own books and have them manufactured. The book will be available exclusively from Blurb, and for a limited time only. As well as images of more than 200 records in the Reinforced catalogue, the book includes a full discography, and it’ll make a fine addition to the bookshelf of the rave survivor/aficionado in your life. From a design perspective, it’s interesting to see how punchy hand-drawn cover art gradually gave away to fussy computer-generated imagery as the label grew older and technology evolved – there are easily as many monstrous sleeves in the Reinforced catalogue as there are beauties, which only serves to make the book more enjoyable.

For more information, and to thumb through an online preview of the book, click here.

Artwork by Alex Jenkins

Link: Alex Jenkins

Alex Jenkins is predominently known for his work as inhouse designer at XL Recordings. His most recognised sleeve is The Prodigy's Fat of the Land but he has also created work for one-off singles. His portfolio includes UK garage-oriented material for sub-label Locked On and, artist, The Streets while, additionally, he devised the look of the records for the drum & bass-propelled Jonny L and Breakbeat Era plus a featured release by The Freestylers.

What I like about this work is the idea of a colour-coded, perhaps collectible set (as with the Locked On releases) and the feeling of a 'used' product (again, with Locked On and also evident in the Breakbeat Era series). There's a utilitarian aesthetic from both the stencil text and the bold sans serif fonts that I think is also important in terms of continuing a lineage of underground club records as functional items. However, they are - as with some of the other images that I'll be referencing - of a particular age while very much in tune with the scenes that they represented.