Art of Noise
Album cover graphics have long been at the pinnacle of effective marketing techniques, and the better the art, the better the music. Well that’s one idea. Sometimes, the opposite holds true. But album covers have been more than just songs-and-sidemen listings, with multitudes of coffee-table books for sale and web sites devoted to them. CDs spoiled all that, although there are hints of a come-back, now that digital manipulations are making even the small-scale glossies in the jewel boxes more distinct and more distinctive. I’m trying to think of a new CD I’ve purchased where the cover art wouldn’t be improved by being a square foot of cardboard, and only Sigur Ros’s ( ) comes to mind. Exit Art, in Soho, NYC, had a show devoted to album covers, and covered not only history but an entire aesthetic range as well, and it was worth attending, so I’ll recommend the show at Punch, in San Francisco, sight unseen.