Amber Alerts ep...

i've been meaning to post this record for a while now, it wasn't until this afternoon when i was looking at C.M. Ruiz blog that i realized that i never got it up. so, here we are, another great record cover by C.M. Ruiz! more of his top notch cut and paste collage work, although this one seems to be missing his signature drawing elements that i love so much. the composition still works great without them though, i love the way he used the type to split the image into four quadrants...

the back panel has some great cut and paste type going on over this photo. that solid black bar along the bottom of the layout does a nice job of grounding the art, without it the white space would just wash everything out.

this is yet another one of those drop-notch sleeves that Imprint is manufacturing, i still love the effect even though i've picked up more records than i care to count this year that all have this design element. between the grain of the paper stock and the chunky halftones built into the art, this is one of the most textural records i've encountered since my copy of The Feederz Lp arrived from ebay 10 years ago...

there is also a tiny-ass piece of shit insert that i am guessing was not created by CMR since it's rather cumbersome and impossible to read. also, it looks like it was created in photoshop and not on a photocopier, so that kinda rules him out as well. seriously, i can barely make out any of the words on this thing, and it's ugly, so they probably should have just left it out....

A and B labels are standard issue, not bad...

you can get this from Sweet Rot Records...

School Jerks Ep...

i really like the simplicity of this new School Jerks Ep on Cowabunga Records. the covers were beautifully illustrated by Tara Bursey, who also hand stamped a small amount of the pressing with the red School Jerks type. these are black and white photocopied sleeves on a nice 80lb natural cover stock of paper....

half panel folded back has the song titles in a typewriter font, and these things were literally just typed up and scanned in... no adjustments of any kind, not even centered! i love it.

on the inside of the cover you'll find the lyrics to ONE of the four songs on this record, as well as some liner notes... what's funny is that i am pretty sure that this the "Control" ep, so you would think that if they were only going to print lyrics to one of the songs that Control would be the song, but it's not! regardless, i enjoy their off-the-cuff approach to a lyric sheet, and don't really care what it says so long as it looks cool.

A and B labels were scanned straight off your old composition notebooks you used while you were in elementary school.

pick this up from Cowabunga, you won't regret it.

New Works...

i finally got around to photographing some of the new pieces i have been working on... these are 9"x 14" collages made from the torn up test prints and drawings from my print shop. these will be on display at my next art show here in LA with Cella Gallery, more details on that soon....

to see more of my personal work, click here.

American Sun Demo...

i got a cool demo submission from a brooklyn based band called American Sun, their bassist Jess put together the art for this layout. for the main cover image, she used one of her oil paintings paired with some ornate blackletter typography. between the deconstructed flag motif, the worn red color story, and the vintage typography, this image reads with a very "classic americana" sorta vibe. it may be a little campy when you break it down, but it all seems to flow well as a whole...

song titles are on the back panel in a bold condensed font, it reads clear and looks strong....

the tapes themselves are a smokey clear plastic shell with a slight red tint to them. all the art on the tape was printed with a very similar red ink, so you really have to hold the cassette in the right light to be able to see it. i'm always a fan of the subtly slick touches..

i should mention that these cassettes were professionally produced and assembled, so all the folds of the insert are perforated... this will always remind me of my childhood collection of metal tapes, which i love. ahhhhhh those were the days.

inside panel is.... minimal. don't get me wrong, i love minimal design, but there could have been a little more info in here. where was it recorded? contact info? favorite pet? no? oh well...

also included in this package was a band business card! that's kinda weird, but also really funny! and, it's done well as well, so here it is....

there you have it, pretty cool demo! you can order yours from Burn Books...

Manipulation - 2nd ep

Manipulation from chicago just recently released their 2nd ep on Sorry State Records, and there are some consistent themes of dark and abstract imagery being carried over from their first ep to this record. this time they chose a single shot of a burning building as their cover image, and in lieu of typical branding on the cover, a simple piece of red cardstock was then folded around the side of the record for identity.

back cover follows the same idea from the cover.... keep the photo of the destruction nice and big and then utilize your folded tag for all the info. i suppose we could classify the letraset type as a carried over theme as well, since that was their approach to typography on their previous release as well.

a single sheet, double sided insert evokes a very different emotion with the photograph they chose on the art side. in a way, this photo actually makes the cover images even more powerful when you think about them in the context of this photo....

on the flipside, we have a nicely arranged lyric sheet ordered to the center. the negative black spacing on the sides is a little curious. on one hand it kinda feels like a mistake or something, but then again i kinda like it....

standard issue A and B labels, i think it's time to change these things out Sorry State....

pretty sure you can still grab this from Sorry State directly....

X= Demo Cassette

got a great submission last week from a Pennsylvania band called "X="... it's surely one of the most elaborately packaged demo tapes i've ever encountered... the printed cardstock insert has been fabricated to wrap itself around the tape and then be bolted shut thru the 2 center holes of the cassette with 2 screws.

this layout is all about nailing the fine details.. there are a lot of really nice little design elements worked into the small areas of this layout, so be sure to click into the photos. these next two shots show each panel unfolded... check out how the art has been meticulously set up so that each hole goes straight thru the eyes of the image.

on the inside of the unfolded panel there is a a 1.25" x 1.75" folded 18 page lyric booklet stapled into the cover. here are some detail shots of some of the panels, i like the subtle page warping effect the lyrics have running thru them. it's just enough to keep it interesting with becoming too distracting...

the tape itself has also been decorated with some laser printer stickers...

pretty awesome.... if you want to pick one of these up for yourself, be sure to stop by the bands site.

Jimmy Fontaine X Comune Photo Show...

photographer Jimmy Fontaine linked up with the southern california clothing company COMUNE to put together a rad little photo exhibit last night in Costa Mesa.... Jimmy grew up in san diego photographing his friends making music and skateboarding and has managed to successfully transition his experiences into a strong career as a fashion photographer in NYC. the group of work shown in the "Everything Went Black" exhibit was a split collection of fashion focused portraiture and live band photography, with the majority of the work showing off his strength in capturing black and white photographs with gorgeous saturation. here are some shots of the free little zine that Comune made for the show, it's a 5.5" x 8.5" folded and stapled book printed on newsprint...

i took some iphone shots of some of my favorite images on display, unfortunately there were too many people inside for me to get a full shot of all the work. these next 2 shots were on the longest wall of the gallery, and the majority of these images were from his fashion and professional work portfolios...

the two rear corner walls of the gallery were where there was a huge photo collage of some of his live band photography. here is a small selection of the work on display...

for more info on what jimmy has been up to, check out his blog HERE.

Night Birds - Midnight Movie Ep

New Jersey's Night Birds sent over another great release for review a few weeks ago... their newest EP is a concept record titled "Midnight Movies" and features cover art by the great Mike Diana (his website has a pretty amazing story about his life as well as examples of his other work, it's worth the click...) this illustration is so epic, be sure to click in there and study all the little details hiding out....

back cover is really clean and straight forward, which is a nice balance to the wild-style of the front illustration. i like to think that the Night Birds really do just hang around on a roof somewhere in New Jersey with BELIAL from the classic B horror movie Basket Case, but i know they don't. the photo was taken by Max Ryazanski, it could have come down in size a bit since the song titles are a little cramped down there at the bottom, but hey, what can you do...

the insert is a 3.5" x 5.5" 2 sided photocopy on red card stock. man, someone spent some serious hours of their life writing out all these lyrics, but it was totally worth it! check out how good this looks... and THANK YOU for leaving the scribble!

flip it over for the info... it's perfect.

A and B labels look cool, but i wish the "Night Birds" and "Midnight Movies" type had been left straight. having them fall around the big hole looks a little weird next to the rest of the straight type...

there are some serious killer jams on this vinyl, get a copy from No Way Records directly!