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The forthcoming Joanna Newsom album (out Nov 11) has some of the most bizarrely dreadful cover art I've seen in a while. The cover art for her debut album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, is also bad, but bad in a charming, naif-y way, all slapped over with unicorns and chickens (etc) in a way that's both girly and crude. A visual analog to Newsom's winsome croak? Sure, why not. The new art, on the other hand, is a piece of aggrandizing portraiture that looks like it was commissioned by royalty: which is also to say that it looks like it was designed to evoke money and influence. Ick.
But then there's the credits: recorded by Steve Albini; mixed by Jim O'Rourke, with orchestra arrangements by Van Dyke Parks? Holy shit. OK, packing your album with indie-heroes evokes royalty/money/influence in its own way, but I'll eat a frickin' blackbird pie if the end result turns out to sound anything less than incredible. So, sure: bad art notwithstanding, this one goes in the "eagerly anticipated" pile, although it doesn't dislodge Lady Sovereign's full-length Public Warning (out 10/31) from the top spot.
Anyone else who thinks too much about album covers should watch this video. Labels: music_commentary |
Thursday, October 19, 2006
2:59 PM
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