Thursday, February 26, 2009

"Least likely to offend" by Bhada

In the eighties I used to listen to albums from the British 4AD label. This Mortal Coil, Dead can Dance, The Cocteau Twins, The Psychedelic Furs, you know...
When I made this fictitious sleeve the whole New Wave era didn't cross my mind, but when I saw the result I couldn't denie the influences.

This is: "Least likely to offend" by Bhada.
("Bhada", you say? Is that a band, or an solo-aritst?)

To be honest: I did find this painting on Flickr but I rotated the picture of St.-Sebastian.
Now, does this sleeve have a homo erotic appeal, or is that just something goin' on in my mind?

"Where the Line is drawn" by The Hunter Baronetcy

Mostly it's the picture that dictates the mood.
This one could've been something like The Mavericks, or Los Lobos...
It certainly is an Americana band. They play good old fashioned country rock. And they're quiet popular too, if you may believe the sticker on the sleeve.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: "Where the Line is drawn", the new album by The Hunter Baronetcy!

Just for the fun of it

...and then I read this:

Make up your own "debut CD" using the following steps:
1 : Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random” or
click here. The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of "your" band.
2 : Go to Quotations Page and select “random quotations”
or
click here. The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.
3: Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or
click here.
 Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 : Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.


The whole idea had been going around on several blogs like Art for Art's sake and Any Major Dude With Half A Heart.

This is what they came up with:



























It looked like a fun idea to me. So, why shouldn't I give it a try?
This is my first attempt:

"Vagaries of the Crowd" by 1960 Olympics.
One could see some simularities with The Editors, or even The Cure...
But I think it has a bit of a Gothic feel. Might be the typography, but it might be the dramatic illustration too.
Tell me what you think.
Is this worth goin' on?

Do you like it? Or not?

Not only drawings

Sometimes I use photo's instead of drawings.
This, for example is made with a photo my daughter took a month ago:













But on other occassions I bump into a strong picture on the internet, and they end up on a CD sleeve. Just some examples:






















I hope nobody will ever complain about copyrights. But then again, I do not commercialise any of those pictures.
That was just to let you know I enjoy making record sleeves. I put my heart and my passion into it.
And that explains the name of this blog.

Been doin' it for years...

I've been making CD covers for quiet a while now. Every now and then I make a music compilation for myself to enjoy and to share with people who happen to like my musical taste. The compilations can be found on Best of ...Both Worlds.

The illustrations for the covers are often from my own sketchbooks. You can read about my drawings and (mis)adventures on Every Picture tells a Story.

Let me show you...
This illustration dates from a couple of weeks ago:









And this is the cover I made: