33 Of My Favorite Album Covers Of 2013

To be more precise, these are 33 of my favorite album covers of this year that did not contain music that I would also consider to be in my 33 favorite albums of previously mentioned year. To be clear, I would sooner hang these on my wall than play them in my ears. Not that they are bad albums.... on with it...

Akron/Family - Subverses

off to a good start

Big Scary - Not Art

I think they got the words mixed up, it should read, Big Art Not Scary

Analog Rebellion - Full Frontal

First off, any album cover that depicts a stormtrooper automatically starts off with a perfect score, but a stormtrooper who is obviously having such a battle of inner turmoil and showing such emotional strife, this is art people

Arca - &&&&&

artists have been trying to create new species to represent their musical endeavors for decades, but none so effectively as this stork meets tic meets wad of chewing gum 

Connan Mockasin - Caramel

oh Connan, don't look at me like that, I'll listen to your new album already

Me Like Bees - The Ides

me like homemade Halloween costumes

bEEdEEgEE - Sum/One

he thinks we can't see him, but we all see him

Ducktails - The Flower Lane

once I was on a train at rush hour and could not find a seat, but I had this album, and I could sit on it

Jonwayne - Rap Album One

Google this guy, and you'll have a little better idea why I love this cover, PLUS, why has no one done this before 2013?

Papaerhaus - Lo Hi Lo

makes me think that even I can be good at album art

Brazos - Saltwater

makes me think that even my kid can be good at album art

Young Knives - Sick Octave

this is exactly what comes to my mind when you want me to take studio photos of my family, and actually very cool music too

Julia Brown - To Be Close To You

the most famous 1st grade art project in Williamsburg

Teams - Oneworldé

do I really need to explain to you why this is amazing?

Campfire OK - When You Have Arrived

is like an aerial view of a really awesome tetherball tournament court on Easter in the middle of the woods

Autre Ne Veut - Anxiety

the story behind this one is why I love it so much. I was actually curious about the meaning behind this so when I Googled it I found out that the original intention was to have the famous Edvard Munch painting The Scream in there, but last minute copyright laws stepped in and they said "Fuck it, leave it blank!"

Charms - Hilary

my kind of Disney movie

Lee Noble - Ruiner

Lee Noble always makes his cover art just a little bit more enjoyable than his music, but I'm rooting for him

Criminal Hygiene - s/t

pep rallies evaded me in my youth, so all I have to go off of is the renderings of film makers and artists, and this is by far my favorite one yet

Jacuzzi Boys - s/t

the cut and paste era of album coverage is so rampant these days that when you find one that speaks to you, you grab onto it and squeeze tight

Daniel Romano - Come Cry With Me

don't laugh, this guy is completely serious here, and I am serious too

Ty Segall - Sleeper

with so many quilts to choose from I don't know how I'll ever be cold again

Evenings - Yore

I feel his pain, sometimes I can't decide between purple clouds and red mumus

Grouper - The Man Who Died In His Boat

and I have a feeling she knows who did it

Stuart Warwick - The Butcher's Voice

I was and still am speechless

Braids - Flourish//Perish

this hovering black ball is the most mesmerizing aspect of this album, unfortunately

Los Campesinos - No Blues

I am a sucker for this color pallette, and smoke, and bushes, and blues

Carmen Villain - Sleeper

Probably the best use of hair on an album cover since Black Crowes Amorica

Naked Lunch - All Is Fever

"we need an album cover"

"go take a photo of my candy wrapper"

"done"

On And On - Give In

some of my favorite album covers are ones where you initially say, that can't be the cover can it? And in the time it takes you to flip the album over 3 times, you realize that it is in fact the cover, and you love it

Iasos - Celestial Soul Portrait

something about the relationship between the album title and actual image they chose to portray such a lofty concept as the portrait of one's celestial soul..... well, I'm flabbergasted

No Joy - Wait To Pleasure

as did the great M.C. Escher confound us with his impossible staircases, that one who attempted to climb them would be forced to defy gravity and laws of physics themselves, the dripping paint on this album cover confirm to us that, no, you ain't climbing these stairs

Benoît Pioulard - Hymnal

I just wanna touch it