Morriessey: Creepy Album Cover?

Some people think that Morrissey's new "Swords" CD cover is just, well....creepy.

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art

"American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art", will be the celebrated opening film for the Royal Flush Festival, NYC on October 15th, 2009, at Anthology Film Archives.

Director Merle Becker and artist Tara McPherson will be present for Q&A after the screening.

The long awaited NYC premiere of the movie will also be followed by an art show featuring work by some of the artists in the film, including: Tara McPherson, Art Chantry, Jay Ryan, Emek, Leia Bell, Scrojo, Justin Hampton, Jermaine Rogers, Stainboy, and Hatch Show Print.

The festival, which also features appearances by artist Ron English and Melissa Auf der Maur (Hole), is named after it's underground pop culture magazine, Royal Flush Magazine. Royal Flush has always had it's proverbial finger on the pulse of independent film and music, featuring past work by Morgan Spurlock, Andy Samberg, Ron English, and more.

"American Artifact" will be screening at Anthology Film Archives (32 2nd Ave., NYC) at 7pm, followed by the rock poster art show, which will be The Showroom NYC (117 Second Ave., NYC, 2nd Floor). The American Artifact Rock Poster Art show will be running until Sunday, Oct.18th.

For more information about the Royal Flush Festival, go to: www.RoyalFlushFestival.com

For more information about "American Artifact", or to request press materials or an interview, go to: www.AmericanArtifactMovie.com .

Dylan's Holiday Album Sneak Peak

The ever mysterious and unpredictable Bob Dylan does it again with his upcoming holiday CD, "Christmas In The Heart." The collection will feature holiday standards including “Must Be Santa,” “Little Drummer Boy,” “Winter Wonderland” and “Here Comes Santa Claus.” All U.S. royalties from the collection will benefit the charity Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Other proceeds from the disc will benefit hunger relief organizations around the world. I'm still trying to find out who the art director is. Anyone know?

Moldover

Controllerist Moldover has released a special edition CD - the album cover just doesn't just look like its made of circuitry...it is! The circuit is a working Theremin you can use to play along to the album.

Beck’s Music Inspired Art 2009

Beck’s asked 10 Illustrators including McBess, Hellovon, Kid Acne, Si Scott, and Laura Jackaman to re-think the best albums of the last 40 years (gleaned from Pitchfork lists).

"What really drew me to re-imagining Let It Be was the backstory and turmoil which surrounded it creators at the time of recording. It's an atmosphere that clings to the cover. Gone is the swirling freedom of Revolver, the colour of Sgt Pepper or playfulness of Abbey Road. Each Beatle has divided themselves from the group and occupied a solo corner. In my reinterpretation I wanted to extend the time period these snapshots were taken in, drawing influences from their solo careers, and suggesting that, with time, those self-created barriers would fade - even if they would never play together as a group again.

And purely from an artistic angle, it's always an interesting exercise to work from recognizable models. Unlike drawing fantastical creatures the audience have a yardstick to measure imagery to. So I enjoyed the challenge of depicting John, Paul, George & Ringo but in a new form, and striving for a balance between a believable likeness and personal expression.

Plus I like drawing big noses, and they all have a great collection."
-Rexbox

Apple and Labels Hope to Reinvent Digital Album as Something People Buy

Some hope...from Wired Magazine:

The view that technology is an unstoppable juggernaut moving at lightning pace isn’t always accurate. Sometimes the simplest ideas take years to realize — even when Apple is involved and the future of the recorded music business could be at stake.

Take today’s widely-echoed Financial Times report about “Project Cocktail” — an attempt by Apple and the four major labels to re-imagine the digital album with soft (as in onscreen) album art. They hope album art that embraces digital technology, rather than merely providing a miniaturized version of the original album cover, will entice music fans to start buying digital albums again. Apple and the labels envision fans gathering ’round the glow of their laptops — or tablet PCs — to listen to music together, the way they used to before they retreated into their own digital pods. [read the rest of the article here]

Official Cover Art for Madonna's New Greatest Hits Album

Cover art by Mr. Brainwash