Best Album Art from the Past Year [19 images]

Sleigh Bells / Reign of Terror

The big record companies are struggling.  Indie labels are struggling.  The photographers, illustrators, and graphic designers who create album covers are NOT struggling.  The music industry is an entirely different beast than it was a decade ago, but apparently musicians still believe in communicating what their album, as a whole, is all about with stunning visuals.

Music seems more disposable and forgettable than ever with apps like Spotify and Rdio. I mean, you have access to more than 15 MILLION songs if you fork over the $10 bucks a month for a Spotify membership — a far lesser cost than downloading individual songs and albums to iTunes. While this accessibility to music is amazing, it’s also overwhelming. We are being bombarded with more aural pleasure than we can possibly handle.

The beauty lies in the fact that we will stumble across tunes we love that may have not crossed our path without this technology. This, in turn, can lead us to finding our new favorite band (at least until we find our NEXT new favorite band). And then we will go to their concerts. And then we will buy their vinyl. Because vinyl is making a comeback.  And then we will go home, put that record on like our forefathers did before there were 8-tracks and cassettes and cds and mp3s.  We will once again experience what it’s like to be grounded in a room without earbuds and iPhones.  To have to get up and flip the album.  To listen from beginning to end, as the artist intended.  To stare at the cover and read through the liner notes.

The XX / Coexist

XV / Popular Culture

Scratch Massive / Nuit de Reve

Scissor Sisters / Magic Hour

Santigold / Master of My Make-Believe

Blur / Parklive

Nas / Life is Good

Laurel Halo / Quarantine

Ke$ha / Warrior

Gentleman Jesse / Leaving Atlanta

Fiona Apple / The Idler Wheel

Father John Misty / Fear Fun

Eprom / Metahuman

Brother Ali / Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color

Black Moth Super Rainbow / Cobra Juicy

Bat for Lashes / The Haunted Man