Mark Bradford - Pinocchio is on Fire

From: White Cube
Link: Pinocchio is on Fire

'Pinocchio Is On Fire' is a limited edition, vinyl LP that features a recording of the artist speaking in the guise of a quick-witted performer who is being interviewed for a fictional radio programme.

Interspersed with a funk/soul soundtrack, Bradford’s entertainer is a combination of Pinocchio and Teddy Pendergrass, the legendary soul singer of the 1970s, whose stage persona was one of exaggerated heterosexuality. His image was destabilised after he was involved in a car accident with his passenger, who was a transsexual model. Bradford conflates the narratives of Pinocchio and Teddy, and introduces aspects of his own autobiography to create a third character, at the heart of which is a social, ethnic and cultural absence, which Bradford compares to ‘that moment of finding the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain’.

2010
Edition of 150
Vinyl Record
Ø 12 in. (Ø 30.5 cm), 26.13 mins

£ 200.00 +VAT

Mat Maitland from Big Active selects covers from his record collection

The Modular label highlights the London-based creative director's discussion of those sleeves that dominated his youth.

Link: Crate Minds
Link: Big Active
Link: Leopardtreedream

The Vinyl Factory by Tom Darracott

Link: Tom Darracott
Link: The Vinyl Factory

Tom Darracott received a lot of attention for the design/illustration work put together for, London club, Fabric. He also devised the art direction for Mark Ronson's Version album and its successful campaign. Plus there's also the identity work for the Vinyl Factory that is featured below [a company, by the way, whose own lovingly crafted output has already appeared in this blog quite a few times).

Bug Kann & The Plastic Jam - 'Made in Two Minutes'

Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - We're New Here

Limited box set released earlier this year. Original album comes on pink heavyweight vinyl wrapped in fold-out green sheet housed in die-cut sleeve. Instrumental version comes in green heavyweight vinyl housed in pink sleeve. Original album also included on a pink compact disc housed in a pink card sleeve with the instrumental on green compact disc housed in green card sleeve. Also includes 2 black and white photographic prints.

Design by, XL Recordings creative director, Phil Lee [seemingly referencing his artwork for The xx's self-titled long-player] and manufactured by Think Tank Media.

The Alexandria Quartet - Light Drawings by Grandpeople

Link: September Industry
Link: Grandpeople

"Identity and album artwork for Norwegian pop/rock ensemble The Alexandria Quartet. After touring all over Europe with their debut material for two years, The Alexandria Quartet went back to Bergen, Norway, to work on new material. Coloured by the dark, rainy clouds and the harshness of Norwegian winter, the songs seemed to take on a darker, more psychedelic cloak. With their new sound, and the album title Light Drawings ready, the band contacted us for a visual make-over.

We wanted a look that reflected this new musical direction, which led us to shoot the band in a dark studio setting, and ultimately to combine photography with illustrations and handmade textures.

For the vinyl edition of the album we created a pattern that was engraved into the b-side of the second disc."

The Stepkids - 'Shadows On Behalf' vinyl by Jeff Jank

Link: Stones Throw

Another great package from art director Jeff Jank for the Stones Throw label. The Stepkids' 'Shadows On Behalf' 12" is limited to 1,000 copies and comes with a print-free embossed sleeve and marbled translucent vinyl. The music's great too.

The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck by Marc Bessant

Link: Marc Bessant
Link: Merge Records

Josef Albers for Command Records

Bauhaus-associated artist, educator, typographer, poet and writer Josef Albers also created a number of album sleeves for Command Records between 1959 and 1961. They include these beautiful examples:

Releases by Jamie Woon

Coming through Polydor, the artwork from Burial-produced Brit School alumni Jamie Woon has taken influence from the title of, his album, Mirrorwriting. The latest in this type-oriented set comes as part of Record Store Day when Woon's 'Lady Luck' is made available as a limited edition picture disc.

It's out April 16th - alongside a whole raft of exclusives that include a remastered blue vinyl issue of the Art of Noise's influential 'Into Battle With...EP', a Bibio and Clark split single that prompts the first use of the classic purple Warp sleeve in four years, a new Mark Farrow-designed Deconstruction offering and a delicious Toddla T feat. Roisin Murphy 'Cherry Picking' 12".

Work by Andy Gilmore

Having already created imaged for Gold Panda and Africa Hitech, Andy Gilmore is perhaps the go-to guy for lovingly-crafted tessellated artwork. He additionally produces complex Spirograph-like images, but it's these more angular works and their tasty colour palettes that have grabbed my attention most. More can be seen at his site: http://crowquills.com/

[By the way, a copy of the Africa Hitech album - which is due out in May - actually arrived the day after I posted this.]