NPR: The Year's Best Album Covers

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The Year's Best Album Covers

by Justin Fernando

As the All Songs Considered intern, I've spent the past three months filtering through bins of CDs for use on the show, and on Second Stage. I've seen tons of great and intriguing artwork and also some horribly ugly artwork. Robin Hilton and I have discussed this a few times, and agree there's a direct connection between an artist's album cover and their sound, and usually can tell what a CD will sound like just by looking at the artwork.

One of the first albums I remember purchasing solely because of the cover was Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation. It featured a photo of a single, lit candle in a dark room. It seemed so mysterious to me I had no choice but to buy it and find out what this music was about. The album ended up introducing me to a whole new level of weirder, more challenging music.

First impressions are critical when going through CDs. Maybe it's all in my head, but I'm usually drawn more to albums that look cool as well as sound cool. If it doesn't look good, I'm less inclined to listen.

So, it makes sense that some of my favorite albums from 2007 also had some pretty awesome artwork. My top ten album covers of the year:

Deerhunter: Cryptograms

Yeasayer: All Hour Cymbals

Chromatics: Night Drive

Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

David Shrigley: Worried Noodles

Sunset Rubdown: Random Spirit Lover

Justice: Cross

Battles: Mirrored

Gui Boratto - Chromophobia

Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam

3:54 PM ET | 12- 7-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

While this list above is visually appealing, there's a glaring omission: Check the cover are for The New Whole Usuals' debut release Martin Moeh. http://www.meandthemachine.com/Images/Martin_Moeh_Cover.jpg

Sent by Josh Preston | 4:33 PM ET | 12-07-2007

Good choices, I was glad to see Gui Boratto.

Is there a worst album covers comming? If so I think Sally Shapiro's Disco Romance takes the cake. It has to be the european issue though

Sent by Devin(shire) | 7:44 PM ET | 12-07-2007

Great to see the Battles album.
That was my choice for best album art this year!

Sent by Bryant | 8:50 PM ET | 12-07-2007

Animal Collective - i like strawberry :))
http://www.mp3tape.com/

Sent by Davis | 1:22 AM ET | 12-08-2007

woah, what about menomena? that was some of the best packaging all year.

Sent by sonokrug | 6:28 PM ET | 12-13-2007

Forgot Menomena's Friend and Foe -- so much more than these straight aheads.

Sent by bwise | 3:41 PM ET | 01-11-2008

My fave two were the National's and Blonde Redhead's.

Sent by Carlos R. Pastrana | 4:26 PM ET | 01-21-2008

I agree that the Sonic Youth album cover for "Daydream Nation" is a captivating image. However, what is even more impressive is that the image is not a photograph as I initially thought as well, but a painting titled "Kerze" by Gerhard Richter.

Sent by Matthew Zontine | 8:51 PM ET | 02-28-2008

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