best album covers of 2011
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
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I’ll never stop loving the beauty of a physical album. Everything gives meaning from the scent of a new vinyl, to the magic of reading the lyrics and seeing the images inside the insert, to the touch of the glossy, matte or recycled paper, and the most important factor — the cover art of the actual overall masterpiece. Here are 25 of the best album covers of 2011. It’s easy to see in all of these artists, that there was an actual thought to the structure of not only their music but how it visually sounds. Enjoy! |
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Artist: The Antlers Album: Burst Apart Record Label: Transgression Designer: Zan Goodman Listen: I Don’t Want Love |
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Artist: Beastie Boys Album: Hot Sauce Committee Part Two Record Label: Capitol Designer: Mike Mills |
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Artist: Bill Callahan Album: Apocalypse Record Label: Drag City Designer: Paul Ryan Listen: Baby’s Breath |
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Artist: Bon Iver Album: Bon Iver Record Label: 4AD Designer: Gregory Euclide Listen: Perth |
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Artist: Braids Album: Native Speaker Record Label: Kanine Designer: Marc Rimmer Listen: Lemonade |
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Artist: Bright Eyes Album: The People’s Key Record Label: Saddle Creek Designer: Zack Nipper Listen: Shell Games |
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Artist: Coldplay Album: Mylo Xyloto Record Label: Capitol Designer: Tappin Gofton Listen: Every Tear Is A Waterfall |
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Artist: Cults Album: Cults Record Label: Columbia Designer: Dave Bett and Jeannette Kaczorowski Listen: Abducted |
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Artist: Cut Copy Album: Zonoscope Record Label: Modular Designer: Alter Listen: This Is All We’ve Got |
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Artist: DJ Shadow Album: The Less You Know, The Better Record Label: Island Designer: Tony Papesh Listen: Scale It Back |
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Artist: Explosions In The Sky Album: Take Care, Take Care, Take Care Record Label: Bella Union Designer: Esteben Rey Listen: Trembling Hands |
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Artist: Fleet Foxes Album: Helplessness Blues Record Label: Bella Union Designer: Toby Liebowitz, Sean Pecknold and Dusty Summers Listen: Grown Ocean |
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Artist: Friendly Fires Album: Pala Record Label: XL Designer: Phil Lee Listen: Blue Cassette |
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Artist: Gillian Welch Album: The Harrow & The Harvest Record Label: Acony Designer: John Dyer Baizley Listen: The Way It Goes |
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Artist: The Horrors Album: Skying Record Label: XL Designer: The Horrors and Alison Fielding Listen: Still Life |
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Artist: Iron and Wine Album: Kiss Each other Clean Record Label: 4AD Designer: Sam Beam Listen: Tree By The River |
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Artist: Jay-Z and Kanye West Album: Watch the Throne Record Label: Def Jam Designer: Riccardo Tisci Listen: Primetime |
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Artist: Kasabian Album: Velociraptor! Record Label: Columbia Designer: Aitor Throup at A.T. Studio Listen: Rewired |
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Artist: Liam Finn Album: Fomo Record Label: Transgressive Designer: Sarah Larnach Design by Anna Taylor Listen: Cold Feet |
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Artist: The Pains of Being Pure At Heart Album: Belong Record Label: PIAS/Slumberland Designer: Winston Chmielinski Listen: Heavens Gonna Happen Now |
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Artist: Radiohead Album: The King of Limbs Record Label: XL Designer: Stanley Donwood Listen: Codex |
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Artist: The Strokes Album: Angles Record Label: Rough Trade Designer: Guy Pouppez Listen: Machu Picchu |
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Artist: SBTRKT Album: Young Turks Record Label: Rough Trade Designer: Matt de Jong Listen: Hold On |
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Artist: Vetiver Album: The Errant Charm Record Label: Bella Union Designer: Nathaniel Russell Listen: Can’t You Tell |
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Artist: Washed Out Album: Within and Without Record Label: Domino Designer: Ernest Greene and Jeff Kleinsmith Listen: Amor Fati |
