Суббота 5 Янв 2008, 11:35

I know this is a little bit off-topic/spammish, but hopefully no one will really mind… I know that just about all of us are music geeks here, so people might be interested… (no worries; this is the one and only time I'll post about this here!)

I'd like to put together a piece with input from a bunch of different people on a couple of questions.

1. What is an album with artwork so ugly or hideous that, despite having a good feeling that you'd like the music on there, you could never bring yourself to own?

2. What is an album with artwork so amazing that despite knowing you'd dislike the music, you've almost bought (or perhaps even actually bought)?

If you're so inclined, answer one or both questions – probably about roughly a paragraph or so long (take as much space or as little as you need) outlining what the record is, the artwork, and what compelled you to get it or not get it as the case may be, and email it to me at revme@kittysneezes.com.

In addition to your answers, send along the name you'd like to be credited as, and the site you'd like linked (and, perhaps a title, like "Editor, http://www.whatever.com"; or anything like that, if you'd like).

Also, pass this along to friends/family/enemies and encourage them to email me as well!
The Deadline will be January 31, 2008, by which time the Fingertips project will have wrapped up.

If you do this, you will win a Kittysneezes No-Prize which I have PERSONALLY ripped off from the Marvel offices.

To get you started, here are my entries:

Good Record, Hideous Artwork:

Royal Trux - Sweet Sixteen
I first came across this record while going through my college station's music library, weeding out the records that we would play that year and which we'd give away. We were also getting rid of records before a certain date, and with those ones, they'd either be given away, or we could keep them. This one was right on the edge of the cutoff, and I threw it in to screen it. I actually really liked what I heard of the record, but when I looked at the sleeve, I was so nauseated by the artwork – a broken toilet filled with god-knows-what with "RTX" written in birthday cake icing on top of the mess – that I decided then and there I didn't care how good the record was, I didn't want to have to be faced with that hideous sight whenever I did a show, so it went in the "chuck" bin.

There's also a Merzbow record, I think it's a greatest-hits type of one, where the front and back artwork are of men missing a good chunk of their faces. Eeeagh. Luckily for me, in this case, I've never been able to get into Merzbow beyond merely respect for what he does, rather than actual ENJOYMENT of what he does, so that doesn't quite count. But seriously, the dude released a 100 CD boxset. That's pretty amazing. ANYONE who can do that gets lots of credit in my book.

Good Artwork, Not Good Record

Thrice - Vheissu
It's no secret I'm a huge McSweeney's fan, and the Dave Eggers-designed cover art for this had always caught my eye. I'm a sucker for interesting typography and good graphic design, and Eggers is very talented at both. Unfortunately, for me, I've never been able to get into Thrice's music. It's OK, but just not my thing. However, I often thought that if I could find an LP copy of this album, I would pick it up just to hang on my wall. Then I did come across one, once, and I didn't buy it, proving myself a big ol' phony liar.

How's About You, huh?

Rev. Syung Myung Me
Kittysneezes.com