Awesome Album Covers: IRELAND!

I have sinned.  In a previous post I listed Cork as being in the UK.  I might as well have said Puerto Rico was in Mexico, or Bobcaygeon was in Texas.  Cork is in the republic of IRELAND!  To atone…Ireland is the subject of this week’s awesome album cover blog!!!  Now, not all of these bands are Irish, but there’s an Irish lilt to each one…and if there isn’t…please inform me again.  Maybe I’ll do Ireland Part 2!

Ahhhh...sweet Eoghan (pronounced Owen)...the Bieber of X-Factor!

BOOYAH!

And my favourite of them all…and the first indie-cassette Irish metal band cover to appear in the blog!

That’s it for this week!  Cya on the flipside…until then, I’m @Potoroo on Twitter! Gimme a hollah!

Awesome Album Cover Friday: Outside Music

I’m a huge fan of Outsider Music.  The best, boiled-down description is music by people who just HAVE to make music, or are driven to write songs, despite their skills or musical talent.  In some cases, they may not realize they sound…off.  In others, they may not care.  Some are so tied to their music that they can repeat the same (what we would call) mistakes over multiple performances, because in their minds they have it right, and who are we to argue!?

The term ‘Outsider Music’ was coined by music writer Irwin Chusid, and you can learn more about the history of Outsider Music in his amazing book ‘Songs in the Key of Z.’  Head to his website to check it out online!

Some Outsider Musicians are just offbeat, but really are geniuses.

Some perform a piece once that is a work of genius, it is caught on tape, and that’s about the end of it.

All of them have a passion that is unmatched among many…erm…non-Outsiders.

Here is a collection of album covers by some of the most well-known (and some of the not so well-known) outsider musicians.

You know, the more I listen to Outsider Music, I wonder if my early music with the Overgrown Spatulas, or more recently my first solo album, rates as Outsider…and whether or not that is a good thing.

It’s…strange to realize that your might be on the other side of the crazy scale…I’ll let you decide.  If you’re bored (or interested…I should stop assuming you have no interest in clicking a link!), click on either of those links above, and tell me what you think: am I an Outsider Musician cleverly disguised as an artist, or just a guy who has temporary musical insanity??

And there we have it for another week!

Awesome Album Cover Friday: Potpourri

Yes, Alex…I’ll take ‘Awesome Album Covers: Potpourri’ for $1000.

...before you get pissed off, yes I realize these ladies are blind. The album cover is still awesome.

...easily my favourite album cover of the batch...probably in the top 10 ever for me, actually! Norma Jean, in case you were wondering.

I believe this guy is for real...if not...still amazing!

I know, I know, it's not a real album cover. It's a mashup of Sigur Ros...and Adventure Time!

...every Placebo album is art, I've discovered...this is one of the most emotional and jarring album covers I've ever seen.

Love the hair, Rivers! Awesome from the start!

An example where the album cover and band name drew me to the music...downloading from Bandcamp right now...review to come fo' sho'!

And now, two of my other faves!

I love you Mr. Black/Mr. Francis!! (ps. listening to this album RIGHT NOW!)

That’s it for this week!  I’m going to try to get reviews up this weekend as happy bonuses!  Tell your friends I exist if you like me, SUBSCRIBE if you want to keep up to date (let me tell you when blogs are up!)

FINALLY, I’m doing the TECHNORATI thing now!  If you wish, please go the the Under the Pink page and do whatever it is you do to make me look nice and important! Love love for you!

Awesome Album Cover Friday: DISCO!

In honour of Easter weekend and Good Friday…here are some Disco Album covers!  You’re welcome!

Thank GOD this exists!

"There's no business like stayin' alive, stayin' alive...hah hah hah hah like no business I know!"

In case you can't read it...it says 'Let's boogie!'

Yes...Disco Evergreen...Disco Fiddler on the Roof. Let's hope they have Disco Danny Boy too!

Shine that mother fuggin' light...make his face fuschia, bitch!

As if those guys weren’t enough…here is the must have album of 2011.  If you can find it, on vinyl, grab it.  If you can listen to it…do it.  This is the most important album of the 20th century:

You’re welcome!

A nice quicky for the holidays!  Cya on the flipside, sweeties!

Awesome Album Cover Friday: Monsters!

By request, the theme this week is monsters!  I like monsters.  I think many of them are as cute and cuddly as the ones on kid’s shows: Predator, alien from ‘Alien,’ the guys in District 9.  Adorable!  Of course, those are all aliens…let’s see what the ‘Monster’ category can bring us.  Though…I keep feeling like I’ve forgotten a really really popular album that had, like…something to do with monsters or some kind of monster…something that came out and sold lots of copies…hmmm…

My absolute favourite of the bunch!!

Nothing yet.  I’d ask you to help me remember that super famous album…like, kids today love it I’m pretty sure…but we’re existing in two different timelines right now, me being in the past and stuff.  I swear it must’ve sold at least a million copies…anyways, more album covers!

I don’t know what it is…I still feel like there’s a major omission right now.  Album?  Huge?  Popular?  Has ‘Monster’ right on the cover?!? Anyways, on with more!

Thought I had it for a second, but that wasn’t it.  Oh well.  There you have it!  Monsters are neat and come in all shapes and sizes…some tear you apart, some are big and green, some wear gas masks and some are just silly…

…

SILLY!  Now I remember that super famous album that had to do with monsters that sold a bunch of copies!!

Now I can rest.

Do you have a ‘monster’ album cover to share?  Toss a link in the comments!

Awesome Album Cover Friday: Jandek

OK, I’m shaking it up a bit this week.  I’ve decided to choose the albums by an artist who managed to maintain an honest to goodness mysticism about himself for decades.  Jandek…yup, I’m goin there! Before going online to read up about this guy, I highly suggest you try to watch the movie Jandek on Corwood.  The events which have happened ‘since’ that documentary kind of kill the point. On to the strangeness…

The only thing ANYONE knew about Jandek for decades came from the music…and the album covers.  There was a mystical Spin Magazine interview in the 80s, and a woman who claimed to have met him at one point, but otherwise…nada.  And that is why I decided to focus on Jandek here.  This won’t be a shining pile of super-art like some previous album cover collections I’ve presented.  This one is more about genius in simplicity over dozens and dozens and dozens of albums.  I have hand-selected my favourite, and present them in chronological order, including the dates of release in the picture notes.

Jandek (originally The Units) – Ready for the House (1978)

Six and Six (1981)

Later On (1981) Note: he often released more than one a year

Chair Beside A Window (1982)

The Rocks Crumble (1983)

Nine-Thirty (1985)

I’ll interrupt here to remind you…there was no biographical information, there was not even anything more than a track listing, a photograph, and an address to request a discography and make orders…I continue!  At this point we’re 7 years in, he’s made ten albums.

Foreign Keys (1985) Note: My favourite!

Follow Your Footsteps (1986)

Blue Corpse (1987)

The Living End (1989)

Somebody In The Snow (1990) Note: His 19th album since 1978

One Foot In The North (1991)

Lost Cause (1992) Note: Some people consider this album the break from his 'Early' phase...yah, you probably never heard of him, but people have broken his music down into phases!

Graven Image (1994)

White Box Requiem (1996)

Put My Dream On This Planet (2000) Note: His 29th Album

This Narrow Road (2001)

I Threw You Away (2002) Note: This photo was taken in Cork, Ireland...a break from his previous covers...mystery confounds Jandek fans...was he in England now?!

Now, jump to 2009…his most recent release…

Not Hunting For Meaning (2009)

The crazy thing about all of this is I haven’t even talked about his music, and almost don’t have to.  It’s the kind of stuff only me and a handful of broken music-lovers can appreciate.  The reason I was drawn to Jandek in the first place wasn’t his music but these album covers, the mystery.  Again, I highly suggest you grab a hold of that documentary and give it a listen, and pay no attention to information about Jandek post 2003 until you have.  You’ll thank me later.

Anywhoo, I’m hoping to flip through an old Spin Magazine from 1993 this weekend and perhaps I’ll find some gems for you!  Also, I’m going to a Miami Horror show tonight so maybe I’ll have a show review!  Booyah?

Awesome Album Cover Friday: the 1950s!

Here we are, it’s Friday!  I’ve gone out and spent some time…let’s say, 17 hours…to find album covers that are kind of interesting.

…actually, let’s be honest…I took about thirty minutes…though in the past it’s been MUCH longer than that!  Today is just a lazy kind of day.

I chose a decade, the 1950s, simply because it’s when the whole music industry ‘truly’ boomed.  It’s when pharmacies and furniture stores started selling these odd black disks…naturally, they were selling the players that played them!  Eventually records would get their own stores, and teenagers would buy more of them after transistor radios started appearing in cars.

Are things better now? I can identify a song with my phone after hearing it in a crowded mall (ShaZAM!) buy it on my phone immediately and listen to it on the spot. But I miss the days where I’d go to a record shop, flip through albums, and buy something because it looked awesome.

Caveat: some of these ‘may not’ be from the 50s but have 50s style art (one, I believe, was released in 2000, but is based on a recording from the 1950s)  Once I get my intern to do fact-checking I’ll promise more accuracy!! BIG SMILE!

Also, WARNING: There are some ‘racy’ (I think they said that in the ’50s) covers ahead.  As Peter Griffin would say…you might catch some side-boob.  They were into that sixty years ago, apparently!

Beatniks are like hipsters, only productive...that's my definition, at least.

"I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face"??? Really? Isn't that kinda horrible? And look at THAT face!!

SIDEBOOB! What does the album title mean?!

Goofy barbershop quartets ALWAYS got the ladies!

They're having so much non-descript fun! I LOVE IT!

What, Lefty? What do they do?

 

That’s it for today!  If anything musical happens this weekend I’ll keep you posted…and let me know what you think or what you’d like to see for Album Cover Friday next week…or something to chat about!  I like your ideas!

And if you can’t get enough of me here, get a lot more of me on Twitter @Potoroo! CYA!

Awesome Album Cover Friday: GAY!

First off…don’t get all offended. Here is a picture of me:

The Man Behind the Blog...please don't stop reading!

So…yah…I’m allowed.

The requirements were simply: did I think it looked gay…or did ‘Gay’ as a search term bring it up. Obviously I know Hall and Oates aren’t gay…nor are many of the people here, but…clearly you’ll see why they were selected. Enjoy! As always, comments are adored!

Actually gay! And a rapper! Probably where the bloody lip came from.