3 posts tagged “cds”

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Hyn

May 28, 2007
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Carreg Lafar

This is awesome: the first Welsh CD I've heard that doesn't suck. Ok, thats not exactly fair, but seriously, this is stunning. Think early-Clannad vocals mixed with the jiggery of Omnia.. in Welsh. If you've never heard Welsh song, or never knew where to start, then skip the rest and go straight for this. 10/10

Sample clip:

Mari Lwyd

Carreg Lafar

Mari Lwyd

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Mari Lwyd This is a song very much from the oral tradition, arranged to celebrate Wales' ancient tradition of choral singing. The Mari Lwyd is a horse's skull decorated with a sheet and ribbons. It was taken by a group on New year's Eve from door to door, where they would "battle" the residents in a singing contest. Think musical trick-or-treat.

buy this CD from iTunes
Carreg Lafar Website

iTunes to the rescue!

Sep 13, 2006
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iTunes 7 is out, and its lovely. You can now browse by flicking through your albums (basically, Apple has integrated Coverflow, and its preeettttyy), and iTunes will now automatically download cover art for any CD that doesn't have it! At Last!! I've been a fan of iTunes for a while, but now I'm in love... heheh....

Itunes7

...they're my daughters' cds, honest... *cough*... lol

QotD: Art over Music

Aug 3, 2006
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What are your three favorite album covers of all-time? Any honorable mentions?

Jeez thats hard. There are soooo many. I'm a big fan of album cover design, regardless of genre. Its quite a tricky thing to do... these days at least. You have to put your message across, using type, photography, illustration, whatever you can, and it has to fit in a 3x3 inch square, AND be recognisable from 10 feet away in a crowded record store. An art in itself.

So ok, three favourite covers. Hmm... I don't think I can do it! How about three cover-artists I like instead? Sounds easier (but not much)

Inky Bloaters

Danielle Dax

Danielle Dax - Inky Bloaters 1985
Design and photography by Holly Warburton

Holly did most of Danielles' covers around this period, and I'm a massive fan of her work. She was doing the whole "photoshop montage" thing years before anyone else, only she was doing it the hard way, using sculpture and projectors and then photographing it. Amazing artist, amazing series of covers. She also did covers for All About Eve and Paradise Lost, as well as much more. Check her website out.

God's Own Medicine

The Mission UK

The Mission - Gods Own Medicine, 1986
Cover by Sandy Ball.

Sandy was Mick Brown's girlfriend at the time, and she did the iconic artwork for the first singles and album. I thought (and still do) that they are fantastic lineart pieces, incredibly detailed (a cd cover doesn't do them justice - I had a 20x30 of this on my wall, and it was amazing). Not much is known about Sandy, she keeps herself to herself, and seems to have disappeared from the design scene. But her Mission covers are among my favourites.

Ritual de lo Habitual

Jane's Addiction

Janes Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual, 1990
Cover by Perry Farrell

Another iconic cover. Sculpture/mixed media, I still have this as a 20x30 print. The detail is amazing. Come to think of it, thats what I like about cd covers in general - details. I like a cover you can get into, that you can look at every day and see something new. I think most people do, which is why album covers like Sgt Peppers are so popular and familiar.

Honourable mentions go to Joolz for her New Model Army covers, Designers Republic for the PWEI covers etc, almost all of the 4AD covers, whoever did the covers for The Shamens EnTact and Boss Drum albums, on and on and on. Some people like photographs, others like paintings, others sculpture. But me? I love Cover Art. ART with a capital A.