Favourite Australian Album Covers 2012

As we are well established into the new year, it’s time for another of my annual rundowns of my favourite Australian album covers of the previous 12 months. 2012 didn’t feel as vibrant cover design wise as perhaps 2011 did, there were fortunately a select few gems covering some very interesting music and as to be expected, a lot of it was for  independent and under-the -radar releases rather than the more chart friendly fodder. I’ve tried where possible to credit the creators of the artwork, feel free to leave a comment if you can fill in any of the gaps.

Lake Air: Dappled Cities

That’s a very unusual photo – this cover is saved by a beautiful colour combination between the light blue and magenta red and some nice typography.

Provenance – Collected Works: The Lovetones

Artwork: WBYK

Love, love the very 70′s-ish illustration employed, complimented by some very beautifully complimenting typography – unfortunately, the rest of the package doesn’t quite live up to the promise  presented by that wonderful cover.

Having a Beard is the New Not Having a Beard: The Beards

Artwork: Chris Edser

I featured this cover earlier this year on my blog, extensively and lovingly rendered, the cover folds out to this fantastic poster. There is also a film clip that comes to life straight off of this poster.

Sights and Sounds: Made In Japan

Artwork: Patrick Meehan

Nice handrawn type which I am a sucker for – not much more to add.

Coveleski: Coveleski

Artwork: Simon Christou

Stick a fox on it, works everytime!

The Late Blue: Gypsy & The Cat

Artwork: Mark Alsweiler

This almost ‘Dylan-esque’ rendering (refer to his painting on the cover of his album ‘Self Portrait’ to see what I mean) seems perfectly appropriate for the music of Gypsy & The Cat. Quite spectacular on a 12 inch format I would imagine.

Pacifica: The Presets

Art Direction, Design: Jonathan Zawada

While I’m not a big fan of the 3D rendering employed to portray the artists on the cover, I can certainly appreciate the thought and direction that has been put behind this cohesive package for the Presets.
The two covers below are for singles from the album which I actually prefer.

A is for Alpine: A is for Alpine

Artwork: Tim Royall

I’m not sure what it all means, but it was certainly a cover that stood out on the racks, and a beautifully designed package as a whole.

Broken Brights: Angus Stone

There seems to be at least two separate cover designs for this album, this being my favourite of the two. The deluxe package that came in the (above) bag was spectacular and very thoughtfully put together. No idea who designed the package as a whole, maybe he did it himself?

The Touch Of You: Barry Morgan

Lovely Kitsch-ey cover, perfectly appropriate for Mr Morgan, who a little of goes a long way!

Black Rabbits: Grinspoon

Artwork: WBYK

Another beautiful cover by the wonderful WBYK – not looking quite as WBYK-ish as that piece for The Lovetones, but carried very effectively over the whole package and marketing material I have seen.

Anastasis: Dead Can Dance

Sleeve Design: Berendan Perry
Photography: Zsolt Sigmond

Lovely and approriate cover photo by the awesomely named photographer Zsolt Sigmond

Slay Me In My Sleep: Grand Salvo

Design: Mark Gowing

Night Sky: Sophie Hutchings

Design: Mark Gowing

Where would I be in these end of year reviews without the wonderful work that Mark Gowing produces for Preservation? If only more music labels took such a considered approach to the design of their releases. Two more beautiful examples this year, Night Sky being one of my favourite releases of the year. I do miss those big poster cover foldouts they did though!

The Moment: Mia Dyson

Great photo – overall, nicely handled.

Cable Mount Warning: The Maple Trail

This one was a real surprise to me, perhaps the most underrated release of the year, you’ve got to listen to this if you have the means an absolutely beautiful collection of understated tunes. That said, what a gorgeous and unusual cover! Absolutely like nothing else I’ve seen this year, no idea who was responsible, but well done to everyone involved.

Thinking In Textures: Chet Faker

Art Direction & Design: Christopher Doyle
Photography: Jefton Sungkar

Once again, designer Christopher Doyle doesn’t disappoint, he’s getting rather good at these things.

The Drifter’s Dawn: The Tiger & Me

Artwork: Tim Allan @ Made Visual

When I first saw this online I excitedly thought that maybe that little booklet thing on the front, was actually attached to the cover – unfortunately that’s not the case, still an effective piece of artwork though.

Toward The Low Sun: The Dirty Three

Artwork: Mick Turner

Mick Turner, may you never put down your paintbrush. Another beautiful selection of tunes from The Dirty Three once again complimented by the artists deft touch for their cover graphics.

Bless This Mess: Lisa Mitchell

Graphic Design & Cover Artwork: Grace West
Drawings + Scribblings: Lisa Mitchell

Oh Lisa! You never let me down with you cover designs! Another very beautiful cohesive package design from the lovely songstress together with another batch of wonderful music.

 

So there you have it, feel free to suggest any covers that you may have seen that you think deserve to be on the list. Also, any updates on missing design credits would also be greatly appreciated!

The Beards by Chris Edser

The Beards are an Adelaide band that have beards and sing songs about beards, their profile has been rising in recent times due to some airplay on national ‘alternative’ station Triple J and the fact that they are pretty good and have Beards. Some of that rise in recognition no doubt should be attributed to the fantastic graphic representation they have received over the years from uber illustrator and designer Chris Edser. It’s a great playful and consistent system that has played out over the years which has culminated in the latest Beards album release Having a beard is the new not having a beard beautifully detailed and majestic in it’s illustrative representation of all things ‘beard’. Check out Chris’ site for the full scope of work he has done for the band over the years, there’s also some nice stuff, non beard related there as well.

Favourite Australian Album Covers 2011

It’s the end of the year again and another opportunity for me to look at my favourite Australian album covers from the past 12 months. All in all it was a fairly good year cover design wise – maybe the art of the album cover isn’t dead after all. While the rest of the world produced some pretty lacklustre results, Australia seemed to up it’s game with some fantastic imagery for some very interesting music produced during the year. It took some searching and as usual. most of the really inspiring stuff came from independent and under-the -radar releases rather than the more chart friendly releases, with some notable exceptions. I’ve tried where possible to credit the creators of the artwork, feel free to leave a comment if you can fill in any of the gaps.

Deeper Into Dream: Ben Lee

Artwork Photography: Lizzy Waronker
Design, Layout: Rory Wilson

My thoughts on Ben Lee are pretty well documented on this blog, and this was a particularly awful release music wise, even by his recent standards. That said, I’ve got to admit he does commission some pretty cool covers for his albums, this being no exception. Maybe he should consider a change of career?

Singularity: Sounds of Sirus

Artwork: Glenn Thomas

Quite a beautiful, sedate cover for a band with such a guitar heavy sound, you can’t always tell an album by it’s cover.

Night Owls: Ryan Meeking And The Few

Design & Artwork: Motherbird

A beautiful illustration on an album cover is always going to catch my eye, but those birds aren’t really owls are they?

RRakala: Gurrumul

Artwork: Carlo Santone

Musically, just a beautiful album. Visually, it avoids all the usual clichés to produce a sublime and effortless cover image perfectly matched to the music.

The Cat: Ben Salter

I know it’s just an illustration of a cat, and maybe not a very good one, but it somehow seems to work in the context of this release.

Carried In Mind: Jeff Lang

Cover Illustration: Amanda Upton
Album Design: Myf Walker

This album cover really jumped out at me visually when I first happened upon it at the local JB hi-fi. Beautifully and playfully illustrated with sympathetic hand drawn type, this is a winner all around. Why can’t more album covers be this much fun?

The Great Impression: Sparkadia

Artwork: Kareena Zerefos

The cover feels like I’ve walked into some kind of art installation and does an amazing job of bring both imagery and typography to the forefront rather than leaving either as an after thought.

Matchsticks: City Riots

Loving the half-tone dots, colour and glam of this release from Adelaide’s City Riots, would love to know who did the artwork.

Odds Or Evens: The Bowers

Design: Mick Stylianou
Photography: Steve Harris
Hand Lettering: Rhys Lee

While I’m not particularly blown away by the photography on the cover, I’m a sucker for big chunky hand painted type and it works effectively with the image on this bright red cover. I imagine this looks amazing on the extra size afforded on their vinyl 12″ release, loving that Coke Bottle Green Transparent Vinyl for the disk as well. Thanks to Phil Gionfriddo from The Bowers for updating me on who produced the artwork, I’m assuming the hand-lettering was produced by the Rhys Lee who is a quite well known visual artist in his own right, impressive!

Zonoscope: Cut Copy

Design & Artwork: Alter

Winner of this years Aria Award for best album cover artwork, the tasteful yet powerful imagery of this release propels the album art into the realms of ‘iconic’. Well played Alter.

Great Barrier Grief: Oh Mercy

Artwork: Ken Done

If there is one thing you can be certain of from the band Oh Mercy, it’s that they have never met a pun they didn’t like, as album title ‘Great Barrier Grief’ attests to. It’s still quite a coup to get renowned Australian artist Ken Done to paint their cover image though, striking and colourful, it goes some way to forgive all those koala and Sydney Harbour Bridge tea towels he did during the 80s. Effective as the cover is, it’s a pity they were so timid with the type, maybe they should have left it off altogether.

Dunks: Ghoul

Design & Artwork: Mitchell Cumming

There’s something intrinsically beautiful about the mixture of pattern and texture on this cover, like a loud whisper it beautifully compliments this dark and alluring album.

Routine and War: Singing Skies

Design: Mark Gowing

It wouldn’t be one of my end of year best album covers lists without featuring a design by Mark Gowing and The Preservation label. Everything they released this year had a fantastic cover of course, this being a particular standout.

Making Mirrors: Gotye

Artwork: Frank De Becker

Design: Wally De Becker

Gotye certainly stepped up his game this year with the release of ‘Making Mirrors’, and while his album covers have always been good, he took it to another level with this fantastic piece of artwork taken from a painting by his father. Even better was the artwork used for the single ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’.

Hurtsville: Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders

Tip of the hat to fellow designer Heath Killen for suggesting this one, there’s something about the bw photo with the unusual combination of mint green type that really works for this.

In The Company Of Wolves: The Ivys

A striking cover image can sometimes say it all for an album without the need of type to accompany it.

Six Petits Hilboux: Inuette

Design & Artwork by Spencer Harrison

Beautifully imagined and photographed album cover by ex-Adelaidian Spencer Harrison, one of the best cover designs of the year in my humble opinion. I can’t say I have heard the music, but if the cover is any indication it must be fantastic.

Only Sparrows: Josh Pyke

Illustration: James Gulliver Hancock

Design: Ben Shackleton

The beautiful illustrative stylings of James Gulliver Hancock once again grace a Josh Pyke album cover, how can you go wrong?

Prisoner: The Jezabels

Design: Christopher Doyle

Designer Christopher Doyle has realised the identity of the Jezabels across all their visual media with beautifully conceptual photography and a restrained typographic approach, this album cover being no exception.

Single Twin: Marcus Teague

Dancing skeletons make this cool, who doesn’t like dancing skeletons?

Secret Rituals: The Grates

Design & Artwork: The Grates

Lovely illustration done by the band themselves, but it’s a cover that you really need to hold in your hand to appreciate it’s use of paper stock and transparency effect. I like the use of typography in the left hand circle as well.

Tambourine: Teeth & Tongue

If you’re going to stick your portraits on the cover of your album, this is the way to do it. Beautiful and arresting photography and technique with a refined use of typography.

A Trophy: Tobias Cummings

Sometimes the most obvious ideas can work a treat if done properly.

I Want That You Are Always Happy: The Middle East

Artwork: The Middle East

Hands down, my favourite Australian album cover of the year An already exquisite record complimented by this beautifully weird, funny and still somehow haunting cover picture with some nice handwritten type to sweeten it even further. I advise you purchase it in the larger 12″ vinyl format to truly appreciate it!

So there you have it, another year wrapped up – Agree? Disagree? Any glaring omissions? Leave a comment and let me know.