Digipaks for Bands Influencing The New York Fund

On their MySpace page, The New York Fund have outlined some of the bands/musical artists that have inspired them and although The New York Fund would not impersonate the styles of their idols it is interesting to look at the album covers of the artists who inspire them and more importantly their music.

Neil Young

This Neil Young Album was released as his debut solo album in 1968 and so reflects the 'Hippy' style fashion that was popular at this time. The artwork is very clever showing Neil Young's already famous face on his own instead of with a band (he was in many). It also reflects the turbulent time of 1968 which was the middle of the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King Jr is assassinated, Andy Warhole is shot, The Nigerian Civil War, Robert. F. Kennedy is also assassinated etc. The waving sky perhaps shows the uncertain days in which this is released and the psychedelic colour reflecting the popular culture in the 60's.

The image of Neil Young in shades of green with the upside down cityscape on his clothing also reflects the love of nature and peace in this era. By appearing in this green filter light Neil Young is portraying himself as not entirely human. On top this in his music he tends to tell a story and this front cover mirrors this technique.

Another of Neil Young's album covers which is of stark contrast to that of the one above which is bright and cheerful, this album, After the Gold Rush released in 1970 is very bleak with a solarised picture of Neil Young passing an old woman in the street. After listening to this album I have realised why this album merits this dark album cover as the songs enlist a sorrowful tone with a hint of despairing love this album cover really does reflect the saying "life is hard and then you die".

At least we cant say that Neil Young is predictable, from the album above to the one below!

The Band
The Band's album inventively named The Band (released is very plain with a picture taken of them at Woodstock. The browny green border colour doesn't really do much for the appeal of this album, but the photo gets their image out there and has the opportunity to become an iconic image like those of The Beatles, queen etc. which show the band in their glory!

Bob Dylan

Moving on to a more interesting album cover from another artist inspiring The New York Fund.
This fuzzy image reflecting the rush of modern day life (hence the title of the album). At this point in Dylan's career he is very well known and thus there is no need for him to put his own image on his album cover however his earlier albums have photos of himself on the front to get his image well known and recognisable.

Ryan Adams
Similarly, this image on Bryan Adams album reflects the title of the album; 'Heartbreaker' as this photo has a depressed, languid feeling which also reflects the type of music he produces. The cigarette that is in both of his albums (above and below) shows a state of solitary solemn contemplation and adds to the relaxed tone of the images. The cover above has a black band across the top to make the text stand out with his name in white conveying a sense of innocence juxtaposed against red text the says 'Heartbreaker' shows perhaps that there are two different sides to Ryan Adams' music. and due to the fact that his name is in a different font to that of the title adds more import to his name which would make the audience recognise the artist as well as his image.

The album cover below is in grey scale which is a commonly used technique that creates a monochromatic image that doesn't distract any attention yet again from the coloured forms on an image in this case his name which stands out in electric blue and would draw the audience's attention to it in a shop!

Teenage Fanclub

These two album covers are extremely different from those I have looked at above. The first is very interesting; it is from a compilation album consisting of alternative versions of their songs which was released in 1995. The front cover is easily recognisable and memorable with red writing which stands out against the perverse image and perhaps brings to mind the image of blood in context with the cruel image in which someone seems to be enjoying having a bag over their head with a shouting face on the front. This front cover is strange in the fact that it does not seem to relate to anything, and the album title of Deep Fried Fanclub also does not seem to relate. This shows how album covers don't have to bear relevance to the material or can have an agenda of their own.

Yet another strange album cover from The Teenage Fanclub, they do not seem to mind what the image is on the front of their albums as long as they are interesting and original. This image for instance seems to be referencing the way in which pollution affects the world and we just sit back and watch. with the image of the factory smoke heading up towards the darkened sky split by a deep cut producing light amongst the cloud. A conundrum.