2009#01; Greatest sleeve of 2009 goes to…

So yeah. I’ve decided to give some “Greatest x of 2009″ awards, in order to shield myself from boredom (and of course to amuse and enlighten you, kind reader). You can expect some unique categories such as “Greatest release of 2009 which it would be lame for me to admit liking” and “Greatest album of 2009 that I didn’t listen to”, but I will also be going through some of the norms, such as “Greatest EP” and “Greatest Irish album of 2009″ (still uncertain on whether I’ll do a definitive “greatest album”). I’ll hopefully be able to point you in the direction of something you haven’t heard before, or at least write interestingly about ones you have heard before. I’ll get onto the first category after this small jump; I know you can make it!

Nice landing, anyway; I’m quite a lazy person, which is partially the reason I’m starting with this category (Greatest sleeve of 2009), but I’m also very interested in design and art (so it’s not just that I don’t want to write about the music behind the cover). I’ve always felt that an album cover can give a strong first impression of an album and its contents, and although it’s probably foolish to do so, I feel influenced by album covers occasionally in my traverses through music (I know it’s ridiculous, but I actually just had to delete The Birthday Party’s Junk Yard from my computer. The art was so bad that I actually couldn’t stand looking at it in my library… stop judging me… have a gawk for yourself).

Shown above is the astoundingly amazing cover for Candy Claws’ “In the Dream of the Sea Life”. I picked this album up recently, feeling guilt as I had initially shunned the download only release, saying on a forum that “I’d probably buy it on CD”. So I felt obliged to buy it on CD, and gave it a second spin on the right honourable PC here later that winter eve. I quite enjoyed what I heard. The album, which borrows heavily from Panda Bear production style and Soft Bulletin era Wayne Coyne melody, was quite good on second listen. At this stage with my familiarity with it, I’m not sure whether repeated listens would bring me to appreciate its intricacies more, or just make me tire of its repetition. I like consistency in albums, but it feels like this album could quite easily become background music without attention and affection due to the intense similarity in the sound of the songs, and I’m not sure if I have the time to nurse this album into my top albums of the year. But with that said, there are much worse overall sounds which you could have on an album; this album has a lovely running atmosphere of twinkly oceanic reverb soaked joy.  It’s a nice album; it’s a summer album, I’m writing this in winter, so I might be being harsher than I would be. I’d recommend trying it out here (click). One of my highlights is below;

The whole packaging of this lovely re-release (by the Irish label Indicater) was probably my favourite sleeve art of 2009, but, it unfortunately will have to take a disqualification/second place due to the fact that it is a re-release. Okay, well, I’m going to be honest with you; I was under the impression that this was a re-release of an album made a few years ago, but it seems it may very well have been released in 2009 initially (if you couldn’t tell, I’m quite the researcher! Look at me researching something mid-article. Gonzo blogging I tell you… Gonzo). Well, regardless, I’m going to have to leave it in second place, because the following sleeve art is what I have down as “Greatest sleeve of 2009″ in my “sooo great.txt” file.

That’s the cover of White Stag by Mount Eerie. Underwhelmed with my choice? Yeah, I have a thing for triangles. So yeah, that just about wraps it up for my first “greatest x of 2009″ post. Oh, wait a second. I think those little triangles fold out. Oh, they do. Here, I think I’ll need a hand. Why don’t you unfold them with me?

Okay, 1, 2, 3, PULL.

Dramatics aside, here is the winner of my sleeve of the year award. Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie/The Microphones) is a great man for his obscure limited releases, and White Stag is no exception. I for some reason failed to purchase one of these CD-Rs upon their release, not knowing what wondrous poster was awaiting me and presuming there were plenty available. I found out about the limited availability just as they were out of stock, and I of course began kicking myself constantly (not that I should fool myself that I’ll ever complete my Elverum collection. One of his seven inches was printed in a run of 20! Yeah… thanks Phil). [Below is not on White Stag, but is a favourite Phil Rarity of mine.]

The reason I didn’t jump at the opportunity to buy it initially was due to the average music which inhabited the disc. The EP, although containing some lovely moments of atmosphere brought on by field recording and an eerie chunky electric guitar, generally feels half assed in both production and song writing. It really feels like it was made in six days (not that that really matters; The Brian Jonestown Massacre have made plenty of amazing albums in a small number of days), and it seems like he is lacking some sort of personal connection to the recordings, and understandably so considering he was invited to record an album about the building (the White Stag building in Portland), rather than actually wanting to go to record there. But with that aside, the sleeve art is breathtaking; a huge fold out poster painted by Phil which greatly compliments the music found of the disc, while still being a great stand alone ink painting at the same time. I think it’s very neat. If you noticed a slow decrease in writing quality as this article went on, it is because I am desperately tired, (but at least I’m not bored), so alas I will go to sleep. On a side note, most disappointing/worst album art goes to Zach Condon. For shame Zach. For shame…

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