Given the decidedly grim weather in London for much of last month, there must be some subconscious meteorological reasoning for the monochrome nature of many sleeves picked from April’s releases.
Just twelve records feature in our March selection – though each stood out for their own reasons.
Despite Omar S’s well publicised 
January provided perhaps the most comprehensive and diverse selection of records presented with care and attention since this column began in earnest some twelve months ago.
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As befitting a month where record companies applied the brakes on their release schedules, December saw a marked downturn in records worthy of inclusion in our monthly feature.
Our final end of year feature has us looking back on some of the best sleeve art to have been commissioned over the past twelve months.
A slight delay in presenting the November edition of our monthly sleeve art revue doesn’t mean there was a lack of quality; in fact it was much the opposite.
Anyone with a firm grasp of the law of averages would understand that in a month where there was far too many good records, a fair proportion also came wrapped in excellent sleeve art.
Striking visual concepts were key to our favourite record sleeves from September with a few usual suspects present and correct.
It was hard to resist going for a splash of colour when deciding this month’s best record sleeves.
If July is the month when the vinyl releases traditionally quietly drop off as label bosses loll about under the Adriatic sun, it certainly wasn’t showing in the artwork department.
Our selection of the best artwork from June’s releases features more of those records you need two copies of: one for the turntable and one to hang on the wall.
There does seem to be a particularly rich strain of albums across the electronic spectrum, many of them with cover art to match the music, and this is fully reflected in our choices for the best sleeve design for May.
Sometimes it’s the smallest detail or subtlety to design that catches your eye with a record, and that much is evident in this month’s selection of vinyl cover art.
Mute Records, Downwards, Awkward Movements and Wild Oats all feature in our latest collection of the month’s most bewitching record sleeve artwork.
As the first fitful bursts of Spring arrive in London, it’s perhaps no surprise that we’ve plumped for some bright and colourful designs this month to help awake us from our winter slumber.
Each month us Juno Plus scribes are privileged enough to see a range of sumptuously designed records pass across our desks. For this reason we’re launching a new monthly feature in which we compile our favourite sleeves (and the odd picture disc) for your viewing pleasure.
Call us Luddites, but the editorial team here at Juno Plus still places great importance on the amount of love and care put into a physical record release, and we’re liable to swoon at the very mention screen printing, hand numbering or obtuse run-out groove inscribing. For that reason we’ve decided to commence our Best Of 2011 fiesta with a gallery devoted to our favourite record sleeves from the past 12 months. Each week we are privileged enough to see and listen to dozens of new records, and it has become increasingly apparent that vinyl is now a boutique medium. The pretenders have long since departed, leaving only those who care passionately about their music and art putting out 7″s, 10″s and 12″s. In our list you’ll find inclusions from imprints well known for their stylish design principles (Minimal Wave, Swamp 81, 4AD) as well as a few that may just have slipped under your radar, with Fine Art Recordings, Acidicted, Public Release, Baud and Pacific Wizard Foundation among those represented.