Best Record Sleeves: May

Local Action, Warp, Second Circle, From The Depths, and Magazine are amongst the labels whose releases caught the eye in May. 

We commence with Deadboy’s White Magick, a record that should rightly have featured in last month’s rundown but for the all too familiar spectre of Record Store Day which resulted in pressing delays. Issued through Local Action, the record came blessed with a wonderfully realised gothic illustration straight out of an imaginary video game from the PS2 era on the front cover by Michael Dixon. Impressive enough when viewed on a computer screen, the precise detail Dixon has conjured using digital means really comes to the fore when you grip the actual record in your hand.

Nozinja commands such a colorful presence, both in terms of the Shangaan Electro music he has championed and his general appearance, it would have been a disservice to the Sowetan artist if Warp chose not to represent this fully on his debut album. Such is the florid tone adopted by American creative director and album designer Oval-X Eternal on Nozinja Lodge, it’s almost too much to take in at once. Nozinja’s poker faced expression amidst the barrage of neon floral designs and sharply digital renders on the cover is priceless, as is Nico Krijno’s portrait of the Sowetan artist low-riding in his whip which adorns the inner gatefold sleeve. The only possible drawback from this album art for me personally is the lack of inclusion for the rather excellent dog that has featured in Warp’s chosen press shots for the Nozinja Lodge campaign.

Such is the consistent and defined visual theme present throughout the discography of the Cologne label Magazine, it was only a matter of time before one of their releases featured within this column. The presentation of Fyei from Naum Gabo, the irregular production partnership of Optimo’s JG Wilkes and James Savage, will be immediately recognisable to advocates of the label but it’s only part of what makes this particular record so unique. Both tracks here have been previously released on Endless Flight and Fright and cut at 45, but the Magazine crew preferred to play them at 33rpm and were granted permission to reissue them at this slower tempo but pressed at 45rpm. Such micro-ingenuity is in-keeping with Magazine, and their efforts to make the physical product something special.

Whilst many record sleeves are memorable because the artwork is open to interpretation, sometimes a more literal approach can prove to be just as eye-catching. When presented with a record called Surfing On Ice Cream from Danny Wolfers under his Seaside Houz Boys, its probably best to run with the first idea that pops into your mind. And so Unknown To The Unknown offshoot Hot Haus Recs naturally went with an illustration depicting Wolfers and Crème boss DJ TLR surfing a wave of vanilla ice cream on some oversized Oreo cookies.

From such literal contributions we close with a pair of final selections from May whose cover art is not so easy to immediately interpret but the eyes feel compelled to search out the meaning. First up is the Falcão EP from Portuguese trio Niagara issued through the From The Depths label overseen by Charles Drakeford. Adopting the DIY spirit, Drakeford himself took care of the artwork for the record, applying the contrasting images of rocks adorned with a strange viscous liquid on the front cover with a reverse illustration depicting a more colourful formation of granite.

Even less clear in terms of visual meaning was the Bura EP from Nenad Marković’s 33.10.3402. project issued through Music From Memory sub-label Second Circle. The man responsible for the artwork was local designer, DJ, and Redlight Radio founder Orpheu De Jong, an individual with plenty of prior credits in this column, further developing an abstract visual theme for the label that began with their previous release from Crotocosm. Impressed by the results, but not quite clear what De Jong’s intentions were, I sought him out for some clarification over email.

“The idea for the Second Circle designs comes from these kind of sighting evidence images. Those clumsy blurry fake/real pics of oddities or strange things that are “proof” these things exist. I was hoping after a while people would discover this themselves, like “hey wait a minute, there’s a sasquatch on this sleeve”, but now you ask I spoiled the suprise. There actually is a sasquatch on this sleeve, haha.” Can you see the sasquatch?

All selections by Tony Poland

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