Arty Album Art: Damien Jurado and Gathered in Song - I Break Chairs

Design by Jesse LeDoux

Rockers break chairs.

Damien Jurado wanted to rock.

So Damien Jurado breaks chairs.

Go Lithuania.

Damien Jurado & Gathered in Song - Lose My Head (from I Break Chairs) [BUY]

Arty Album Art: The Observatory - A Far Cry From Here

Design concept, illustration and layout: Melvin Chee of :phunkstudio

I like getting parcels. Parcels say that someone is thinking heaps about me. Parcels say that I'm unique in my neighbourhood. Parcels are so indierati. So.

I especially like getting parcels of people's diaries. No seriously, I get tons of those. One time, this dude from Slovakia sent me his. Thought I should read through it and if I thought it was any good, send him back a picture of my grandma in a bikini. I thought it was so-so. So he got a pic of my puppy in a jumpsuit instead. He still writes.

Then there was another time when someone sent me a plate. Yeah, just a plate. No, not even food on a plate, or a plate of armour. I did get a plate of armour once though. It belonged to Aragon. Tiny thing could barely fit me; my pecs punched a hole through the rubber nipple. Cheap material.

Another time, I got a parcel with a tree in it. No, actually it wasn't like a huge parcel or anything. These days trees can be folded and stuffed into one of those padded A4 envelopes even. Visit foldthatdamntreeintoapaddeda4envelope.com for more info.

Most recently, someone sent me a package with earth in it. No, doink, not a model of earth. Earth, the planet? Hello? Of course you were in it too! Hey, you wanna listen to my story or not? You don't? Well, tough. I'm telling it. As I was saying... ummm... darn it. Slipped my mind. You're lucky.

But you know what I have never received as a parcel? A CD. Yep. Never evah. Oh, so you smarty pants are gonna start correcting me, are you? Trying to point out that The Observatory's third album is packaged like a parcel, and inside it contains a CD? Oh you know that, do you? Do YOU?

Ok, that kinda looks like a CD. I thought it was a pineapple. Hey, take a chill pill man. You look way too hot like that. And the world doesn't need no more hot men. Unless you're a pineapple. In which case, wanna come over for tea?

The Observatory - When I See A Fire (from A Far Cry From Here)

Arty Album Art: The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow

Design by Jesse LeDoux

On a normal day, pulling out a gatefolded CD sleeve is about as exciting as watching Italy and Spain play for 120 minutes, then decide to forgo the penalty shootout and play for another 120 minutes more while telling David Villa to go refill the Gatorade bucket so they can insert 10 more Andrés Iniestas who promise to dish out an endless stream of awry passes so the Austrian ballboys have something to do besides gawk at Spanish female fans.

So what does that make Chutes Too Narrow? A bit like...

...Torres finishing off a knife-edge through ball from Alonso following some one-touch interplay with Fabregas (because Xavi and Iniesta caught syphilis) in the 18th minute...

...and in response, De Rossi unloads a 40-metre thunderbolt in the 33rd minute that melts the goalposts on its way to goal-of-the-tourney utopia...

...and then Alfredo Di Stefano and Gianni Rivera reincarnate, and Roberto Baggio re-hips the ponytail and Raul rewinds to 21 years old...

...and then I wake up. Oh wait, I was already awake. Donadoni you ditz, you so totally owe me two hours.

The Shins - Turn A Square (from Chutes Too Narrow) [BUY]

Arty Album Art: Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors

Art design and layout: Zack Nipper, Robb Nansel
Wallpaper photographs: Jamie Williams, Kimberly Hager

According to the liner notes, Conor Oberst recorded Fevers and Mirrors "for the most part in the final month of the twentieth century in Lincoln, NE". That, in itself, should give us a clue as to the theme of the third album from Mr The Rest Of My Anatomy Ain't Very Bright.

So what's the theme, you ask? Ummm... well, let's investigate. The cover as got this mirror-like frame going, plus a wallpaper motif. Ummm...

Nope, I'm stumped. What does a mirror and wallpaper have to do with a singer-songwriter who writes lyrics such as "So don't leave me here with only mirrors watching me"? I don't see the correlation one bit. Sheesh.

Let's open it up and see if we can infer something more, shall we?

Alright, so the CD also has the reflection thingy plus more curly wurlies. Okay, okay, I got it. He's trying to tell us to floss!

No?

Fine. Digging deeper...

Aha! So that mirror thingy is just a piece of floppy plastic. Conor is promoting shiny origami!

Hey, stop slapping your head. You'll hurt yourself.

This is annoying. What else can it be? I've scoured all over the artwork, put it under UV light and even sent it to 19 universities for six months of rigorous testing. They've all sent back their results, with some thick, wire-bound dissertations that all seem to use the words "self", "reflection", "depression", "dimwit" and "if you don't get it, we'll chop your fingers" in their titles. But all that ain't helping me one bit. I feel like throwing in the towe...

Wait. I see something.

There you are! Cutie pie. I totally get it now! Your album is about your dabbles with interior decorating when you were 13!

Parsons, here I come.

Bright Eyes - The Center of the World (from Fevers and Mirrors) [BUY]

Arty Album Art: Mono - Walking Cloud And Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered And The Sun Shined

Visual Concept: Takaakira "Taka" Goto
Art Work: Esteban Rey
Design Work: Naoya Hayasaka (Seagull ^TM)

Some albums love to flaunt the fact that they have a 32-page full colour, 43,502-photo booklet included in the CD packaging which supposedly gives you more reason to buy the physical album. Which is like saying the next Spielberg movie will have 10 chimpanzees rampaging through Bombay, or the new McDonalds burger has 0.36% less saturated fats in its beef patties.

So when you get an album that shuns the clunky sleeve stuffing in favour of a few meagre squares, you gotta nod along. And so consider Mono's inlay offering:

A few squares? What's the biggie, Squiggie? Well, one of the aforementioned squares is a single piece of red origami paper, while the other contains instructions on how to fold a crane. The concept is based on the Japanese legend that anyone who folds a thousand cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, which is meant to be a symbol of peace.

So anyways, that legend got me thinking: if I fold a thousand cranes, and then a crane comes and grants me a wish... aha! Inspired by the legend, I got down to folding. And, behold my masterpiece:

Yes, young sumosan. I totally expect Mushu at my doorstep tomorrow, answering my wish to provide me with a lifetime's supply of Smint. By the way, folding stuff like that is way peasy to me. You should see my origami sabre tooth tigers. Golly, it's tough being a prodigy.

Mono - A Thousand Paper Cranes (from Walking Cloud And Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered And The Sun Shined) [BUY]