Konx-om-Pax work for Lone

Link: Konx-om-Pax
Link: Lone
Link: R&S Records

A musician in his own right [actually signed to the magnificent Planet Mu], Konx-om-Pax has been busy developing visuals for the R&S-released material from Matt Cutler's Lone project. Culminating in the upcoming Galaxy Garden long-player, he's depicted a pulsating rave universe complete with writhing tentacles. A single, 'Crystal Caverns 1991', is out today while an animated album sampler video augments the project rather nicely.

Lone - Galaxy Garden - Album Trailer (R&S Records) from Konx-om-Pax on Vimeo.

Timothy Saccenti interview at Dummy Mag

Link: Timothy Saccenti interview

 “I don’t pay as much attention to the look or message of the artists themselves. That can be distracting. I try to treat it in a somewhat synthetic manner: turning the audio in to pure visuals; getting a sense of shape, colour and texture before filling in the blanks.”

 

Smallville artwork by Stefan Marx

Link: Smallville Records
Link: Stefan Marx

With a style that can touch on both demented scrawls of David Shrigley and the cute naivety of Mr Scruff, Stefan Marx has defined an irreverent aesthetic for Hamburg's Smallville Records. This might be seen as betraying some of the serious (and seriously good) music that both the Smallville label and record store purvey, but then maybe that's the point. There are arguably enough pious techno-oriented outlets typified by impersonal and often minimal sci-fi graphics. So maybe this approach highlights that human touch.

For The Record #4: Timothy Saccenti

Link: Timothy SaccentiLink: Skam Records
Link: Boards of Canada

Award-winning video maker and photographer Timothy Saccenti has been responsible for some great music imagery. The New York-based talent counts album art for Flying Lotus' Los Angeles and the upcoming Man Made Machine by Motor amongst his beautifully evocative output. That said, his lens has additionally captured the likes of Pharrell Williams, Erykah Badu, LCD Soundsystem, Animal Collective, Tricky, Arctic Monkeys and Usher. Asked to select a sleeve that he admires, Saccenti chose a 1996 release from Boards of Canada.

"The mysterious sleeves of the mid 1990’s still fascinate me," he says. "An all time favourite would be the Skam issue of the the 'Hi Scores EP'. I think that was a perfect match of the intentions of the artist being represented by the sleeve. Putting the music first, the simple text, the immediately identifiable turquoise colour scheme and also the genius move of having the information being printed as Braille left me baffled and excited. It made the listening process all the more intense. A prefect mix of mystery and emotion. Oh, and the music was fairly mind-blinding as well. Which never hurts."

Mouse On Mars - Parastrophics artwork

Link: Mouse On Mars
Link: Monkeytown

"...We found out about the Shakers — they were similar to the Quakers in the 19^th century. They tried to reconsider religion and use America as new ground to do that... They had a very tolerant idea of the non-material world and the idea of Jesus. They had this practice where they drew all these weird maps of things that happened to them in a day, including the ghost world and mathematical formulas. And this whole map looked like a score or a diagram to create a machine. So we used this as the album sleeve — that’s a Shaker design."
(MTV Hive)

"...And then, we found those Shakers drawings, which basically we stole… or took as inspiration for the album. And the Shakers were a weird religious sect because men and women in the group were equal; they had the same rights, for within the 19th century, it was quite radical. They were great craftsmen, but also liberal in a way, very un-dogmatic. And they even had this idea of a metaphysical world that they would deal with in drawings, in craftwork, in poems. So we used this kind of worldview for the record."
(Exclaim.ca)

Photos: Steve Loya

Program Your 808 by Rob Ricketts

Link: Rob Ricketts

Set of four posters from, graphic designer, Rob Ricketts detailing how some of the most notable drum sequences were programmed using the Roland TR-808 Drum Machine. Each sequence has been analyzed and represented as to allow users to re-programme each sequence, key for key. Essential infographics for electro/acid aficionados.

 

Δkkord - '001'

Link: Δkkord

Limited to 300 copies, the first Δkkord (or "Akkord") release has been flying out of wherever has been able to stock it. The work of an enigmatic collective of "like minded artists raised in and around the rural outskirts of Manchester", the vinyl makes use of a simple rubber stamp (a mainstay of underground 12" singles) with an aesthetic that touches on what has been revealed as the elusive post-dubstep team's "passion for minimalism, art, design, mathematics and sacred geometry". While not keen on revealing themselves through photography, Δkkord did meticulously document the process involved in the record's design.

For The Record #3: Optigram

Link: Optigram
Link: Bob Hickson


Asked to cite an example of music artwork that has made a huge personal impression, Optigram - a.k.a. Manuel Sepulveda - selected the sleeve for 1977's eponymous Mandré long-player. And seemingly without hesitation.

Alongside that amazing logo, the airbrushed illustration came courtesy of Bob Hickson [who additionally completed similarly iconic work for ELO] while the Motown release's tuxedo-wearing robot has been discussed in recent years for allegedly providing a blueprint for Daft Punk's cyborg reinvention. In any case, the cover offered an arresting representation for the masked alter ego of space-funk pioneer Andre Lewis: a visionary figure that passed away just four weeks ago.

Mandré's retro-futurism influence lives on today and may be evident when assessing some of the work designed by Optigram for labels like Hyperdub, Citinite, Planet Mu and Warp [check his science-fiction sleevescapes devised for Terror Danjah, for example].

"Great concept," says Optigram, "for me the coolest album cover of all time. One of those records you want to buy for the cover alone."

Archers of Loaf - Vee Vee re-issue by Jay Ryan

Link: Merge Records
Link: Jay Ryan
 
When Merge Records opted to re-issue a number of recordings by Archers of Loaf, the label discovered that most of the accompanying artwork had been lost. But this mishap presented an opportunity to re-master, or at least re-imagine, the covers with, poster artist, Jay Ryan stepping forward to present his own vision of 1995's Vee Vee [pictured bottom].

The update [pictured top] was out last week and sees the original model succumbing to Ryan's doodling. Two other albums by the band - White Trash Heroes and All the Nation's Airports - are to have new artwork commissioned for release later in the year.

While the project isn't typified by the kind of artwork that gets me really excited [although I've long admired Ryan's illustration style], it's good to see that there is the potential to re-contextualise back-catalogue releases for new audiences. Previously there was Alex Trochut providing a typography-based deluxe edition of The Rolling Stones' Rolled Gold but, in general, the practice is still something more closely associated with the books market.

Marble Music releases

Link: Marble Music

It has almost been a year since France's Institubes label came to an end and announced the launch of, a replacement, the Marble Music logo.

What's followed has been a succession of releases that in part utilise the kind of design template that has typified the Deutsche Grammophon-evoking artwork of the associated Sound Pellegrino alongside a decidedly 1980's-themed postmodern edge. The latter brings to mind memories of Memphis and Barney Bubbles with its art direction, design and illustration from such talents as Museum Studio, Ill Studio, Partel Oliva, Benbo George and Jonathan Zawada.

Meantime the music - let's not forget - has been courtesy of Institubes lynchpins like Surkin alongside the new wave of Gallic music makers that are known for representing the likes of the lauded Club Cheval.

Ssaliva - 'RZA EP' by DimRun

Link: Vlek Records

Originally limited to a run of just 300 10" gold vinyl singles, there are just two copies of Ssaliva's 'RZA EP' left at Vlek Records' shop. From the alter-ego of Cupp Cave [who also has an album poised for the UK's Ramp label] it has been made even more collectable due to its lovingly assembled, hand-screenprinted and embossed sleeve by designer/DJ DimRun.

So while the Belgian label takes its name from Brussels slang for "junk" - the kind of cheap rubbish that falls apart as soon as you touch it - this "Vlek" appear to be anything but that.