#amarxe

ACL 2021 ~ The Year’s Best Album Covers

Album covers were never more important than they are today.  In the old days, one might peruse the bins at the local record store, seeing if something caught the eye and hopefully the ear.  Now most people buy their music online after scrolling through hundreds of images and short descriptions.  Without name brand recognition, a generic cover has no chance. The best album covers make us want to…

Ultratumba (Afterlife) is a study in contradictions that begins with the Goya-esque paint of Emile Legarde. The cover portrait is ugly yet alluring, disturbing yet entrancing, with what most would call “pretty” colors (cerulean blue) used to portray a dysfunctional family.  The child seems stunted, perhaps dead (see the hole in the crown), and is in the process of being devoured by his father.…