Album Covers: durutti column factory records

made of sand paper, and guaranteed to grind away the other crap albums in your record collection.

 

durutti column was actually one the few bands that came out of factory that was less pop driven, and is still quite listenable to today. the album covers as expected, were different. the fact 14 durutti column cover was made of sand paper, and limited to 2,000 initial copies. funny enough, the covers were hand assembled by joy division’s ian curtis.  who, at the time, needed the extra cash making for an even more special object. the design credit is generally given to peter saville and tony wilson, but apparently steve horsfall had a good thing or two to do with it. again, as all ideas go, who knows in this case whether the use of an abrasive sand paper is really the great idea for a band that was different enough to aim to grind away all your other crappy albums of the time. i personally love it and it’s one of my favorite covers of that time. by uh

live – missing in the picture

i remember seeing this series a while ago at palais de tokyo in paris and thinking it was quite interesting. hatim el hihi and jean-marie delbes made these images by retouching out the dead people from famous record covers. here are the most famous but there is lots of others equally nice here by pp.

history of hip hop: tougher than leather, run dmc


add that to the greats. i was never a hip hop fan and i’m still not. hip hop to me, lacked everything i loved about reggae and embodied everything i hated about pop. hip hop started in bronx when jamaican transplants brought their block parties with them to bronx. they played their 45’s and toasted over them. the kids picked that up and rap, hip hop were born. it was a form of music that required nothing but a turntable and a mic. unfortunately the consumerism of the american culture lacked the socio-political debth and street savvy of kingston and the ethereal rasta culture. so it didn’t take long before its demise, instead of social issues and a humble side of love the music became about hoes, stupid pride and money. when it was about politics it was for no more than a moment. we will spare run dmc in this categorical dis and leave the rest to suburban kids and their baggie pants from gap. by xy

something to listen to: Gillian Fisher Stabat Mater Salve Regina In Coelestibus Regnis


in case you do get the turntable, here’s one of my favorite albums of all time.  simply divine… if there is such a thing to begin with, its in this recording. the irony of it all, is that  religion (and that of all sorts) was always the one purveyor that had the funding to support the arts.  ironically, religion today is the one discipline that suppresses the very thing that it had helped build. sad indeed. by dd

Wugazi: 13 chambers


wu-tang clan meets fugazi out of minneapolis. a labor of love by cecil otter & swiss andy. love the blurb promotion stating “a must listen for anyone who even looked at a skateboard in the 90’s”. not quite my cup of tea, i wasn’t even born in the 90’s but give a listen. you never know old boy. by dd