Showing posts with label Andy Warhol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andy Warhol. Show all posts

Saturday 1 August 2020

#AnimalAugust and Album Covers


Today I will start the #AnimalAugust sequence , which is basically every post will feature animal related music in band name, song , record label or something else.

Apropos of nothing I was looking at album covers on the internet last night and there are various lists of album covers. Like many things because we are no probably into the seventieth year of album cover design , there are lot of examples good and bad, and was shocked to see glaring omissions and seemingly bland inclusions.

Some of my favourite album covers are a lot more that the front cover (I'm thinking Barney Bubbles and Storm Thorgerson / Hipgnosis ) and sometimes you do get a single striking image but a lot seem to be covers that are just there because the artist is very successful and famous.

Here are some list for you to peruse:


I do buy vinyl albums mainly for the covers, or some uniqueness about them, but my preferred vinyl listen is probably reggae , although I also like electro disco , and finally got a copy of "En-Tact" by The Shamen which can be picked up very reasonably on Discogs  .

Some of the iconic covers that stand out for me are the first Elvis Presley album which influenced "London Calling" by The Clash , Andy Warhol usually gets two mentions for "The Velvet Underground and Nico"  the front cover of which only features Warhol's name, and "Sticky Fingers" by The Rolling Stones , both quite complex designs although deserving of their place in any list.

At the bottom this post will be twelve of my favourite album covers which you can click through to Amazon to check out although it may go through to the digital copy, there should be links to the vinyl copy.

Sometimes Picture discs can look good , I'm thinking the mandala effect on "Air Conditioning" by Curved Air, and there are some with zoetropic designs which look impressive under the right conditions , plus the laser etched 3D holograms which are  often impressive, first seen on Jack White's "Lazaretto" I believe.

Then you have the Vertigo Swirl which is simple and hypnotic and worth buying any piece of vinyl so you can sit and watch it.

Vinyl , because it is bigger gives more options for creativity.

If you would prefer to support your local record shop check out these in Newcastle from this post here:



So we come to the first #AnimalAugust song which will be "Fireball" by Ducks Deluxe , they also do a cracking version of Sonny Curtis' "I Fought The Law".


Monday 27 July 2020

Dream Fragments


I often wake and want o find what happens in what I'm dreaming , good or bad. I'm surprised that bits of a dream I woke from a couple of days back have stayed with me. They make little sense although I think where they came from from . Robocop characters working with and attacking a group I was with (probably influenced by the second series of "Altered Carbon" that I finished last week on Netflix , a computer terminal flashing up that I needed to take annual leave (we are getting work reminders about this and I have taken nothing but Bank Holidays this Financial Year, so that is nearly four months without a chosen day's leave) , and I wanted to know if we got out of the "situation" , but I woke fully , so the dream was lost. This does happen to me, and probably everyone quite frequently.

Because I am ahead of the curve on my walking I only have to do 4K steps a day to hit may target for July , which therefore makes me a little lazy, though it means I have more than hit my target this month. I did think that lockdown was going to stop me from doing my million steps every three months but as yet it hasn't. I am lucky that I live in an area with plenty of places to walk.

This week I am continuing with working through my CD box sets and today it's The Velvet Undergound "Peel Slowly And See" , the first CD being demos put together by Lou Reed , John Cale and Sterling Morrison , "Waiting For The Man" being almost Country and Western Swing style and "Venus In Furs" a medieval acoustic work out, these are interesting but not easy listening. At the wekend I was listening to their debut album on vinyl and noticed for the first time that the band's name doesn't appear on the front cover, but Andy Warhol's does.

So we'll go with a take on "All Tomorrows Parties" , I think the drum sound is awesome on this, as I write I'll listening to the first album with the extra takes , but is a definitie experience.


Friday 24 November 2017

Trains and Peel


Yesterday was spent on Trans Pennine trains to an from Leeds and while they look nice, the seats are not the most comfortable, and though they run from Liverpool to Newcastle there are only three carraiges so they do get fairly packed , though I managed to get a seat there and back so that was a plus. Coming back from Leeds, which is an awful design of a station there was meant to be an Aberdeen train on platform 9D which never appeared, must have been a ghost train.

yesterday I didn't hit my rough daily walking target but I'm still on target to hit 340K for November, though looking out of the window cars are frozen up, so although it's not raining or snowing (yet) it may be a very cold walk in to work, though I may end up taking the bus, we shall see.

Peel It
The other morning I was listing to the first Velvet Undergound album (well actually the first disc of the "Peel Slowly And See" box set , named after the peelable banana skin cover designed by Andy Warhol) . The album didn't sell that well but reputedly caused more bands to be formed than any other album. Of course now it sells by the barrowload and in varies from the siophisticated influence and drone of John Cale "Venus In Furs" , to the garage band / drug mentality of Lou Reed "Run Run Run"/ "Heroin" with the Germanic influence of Nico "Chelsea Girls" / "All Tomorrows Parties"with descents into pure noise "European Son" / "Black Angel's Death Song".




One thing really hit me is the monster drum sound on "All Tomorrows Parties" which combined with Nico's vocals and the manic piano is an awesome sounding song today. So to kick of Friday, that's the song I will leave to enjoy.

Have a good one.


Sunday 7 September 2014

In The Future Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Seconds



I very seldom have a rant, more just have a feeling of exasperation at the apparent idiocy of the masses, however after having seen the Sunday Express'  headline today about another migrant invasion I thought I'd let you have my take on the "Ice Bucket Challenge" thing.

Over the years various people have done things to raise money and awareness for certain illnesses and causes. Today the Great North Run took place , which is now the world's greatest half marathon and raises millions for lots of worthy causes. People have trained for months to get into shape to give them a chance of finishing the race and hitting their target.

Now this IBC, it's supposed to be to raise awareness of ALS , I don't know what it is but think it's something to do with Motor Neurone Disease / Syndrome. ALS stands for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and I was right in my presumption. Here is a wiki definition. IBC seems to be a sort of "charity thing" for the iPod / You've Been Framed / Reality TV generation, the people who can't concentrate on anything for more than two minutes. It requires no training , no planning, and when it's done it's forgotten about. I believe some people have made money from it but eveybody can now put themselves on Youtube for two minutes and may or may not be seen but in most cases will be forgotten.

This is the same generation who buy into the broadband blurb that you can download an album in 40 seconds, but it should take 40 minutes to listen to, but then people skip tracks make playlists and maybe never listen to the album they've downloaded, because it's more convenient to download than it is to listen.

Andy Warhol
In the past Andy Warhol stated "In The Future Everyone Will Be Famous For 15 Minutes", he didn't take into account the idiocy accelerometers.

I think the the fact that the IBC is so ubiquitous has really annoyed me, and many of my friends have taken it to raise money for charities and all power to them, but I think it's good to take a challenge that you can put yourself into.

Anyway that's my rant over and obviously the only song I've going to choose is David Bowie's Andy Warhol so enjoy the rest of your Sunday , I've mowed the lawn and now others are following suit and if you must IBC say what your doing it and promote your charity upfront. Have a great day