Boo.

Part 6: The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest

Where to start with A Tribe Called Quest? One of the most influential hip hop collectives of all time, claiming a back catalogue chock full of certified classic albums. If you’ve never heard the name before you will probably be familiar with their early, Lou Reed sampling, “Can I Kick It?” or at the very least, heard of founding member, Q-Tip. After a little deliberation, for MTDTB I’ve chosen the 1991 sophmore album, The Low End Theory.

Featuring 14 tracks from Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (founding member Jarobi left to be a successful chef), The Low End Theory builds on the success of the Tribe’s debut LP, People’s Instinctive Travels and Paths of Rhythm, while adding a slightly more gritty edge to the familiar funk laced, boom-bap production. Personal favourites Butter and Jazz show what the Tribe are about; clever story telling about city life that goes hand in hand with soaring jazz samples and kicking beats. Final track, Scenario, breaks the mould and is a hard hitting New York posse cut, featuring some of the best back and forths recorded on wax, between the Tribe and Leaders of the New School. The last word is left to LONS member, a young Busta Rhymes, who wraps things up with a trademark energetic verse.

The cover art features a red and green figure who went on to appear on the following two albums, Midnight Marauders and Beats, Rhymes & Life, becoming synonymous with A Tribe Called Quest’s Native Tongue outlook. The figure also graced various single and compilation artwork and will probably be seen a lot more again due to the upcoming release of Michael Rapaports new documentary about ATCQ entitled Beats, Rhymes & Life.

Part 5: House Of Balloons by The Weeknd

Dark. Moody. Murky. Late night listening. The Weeknd is shrouded in mystery and I love it. House Of Balloons is the first offering from Toronto based Abel Tesfaye, otherwise known as The Weeknd. It surfaced in March 2011 containing nine tracks of dark, dirty “R’n’B” (I use the term loosely) and is something that I’ve been craving for a long time. Far removed from the oversaturated, sickly, bland pop R’n’B that drains radio airplay, House Of Balloons provides a murky, sometimes disturbing, soundtrack to lusty, late night tales of debauchery and over indulgence that some of us will be only too familiar with.

The artwork for this release also goes against what is expected, choosing a black and white photograph lifted from the very lust fuelled house party the content emobodies, set with simple, almost retro looking type. It whispers mystery and fits perfectly with the low key approach of the artist.

House Of Balloons is available to download from www.the-weeknd.com and if reports are to believed, the second and third parts of the trilogy, Thursday and Echoes Of Silence, will be with us in Summer and Fall 2011.

Part 4: Diary by Sunny Day Real Estate

For this edition of MTDTB we’re gonna go back to 1994. At this time Seattle, Washington was at the forefront of music, particularly the grunge scene and Sub Pop Records. Sunny Day Real Estate remain one the best bands to come from the scene, but to this day are still criminally underrated. Despite this, many bands and artists that know their stuff count Sunny Day Real Estate as an influence and this is evident in a lot of alternative and emo bands of recent years. Inbetween their rollercoaster history of break-ups and reunions, founding members William Goldsmith and Nate Mendel left to join Dave Grohl’s early Foo Fighters line-up where Mendel is a permanent fixture on bass.

‘Diary’ by Sunny Day Real Estate is a masterpiece. Don’t just take my word for it, go have a listen, especially fans of Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins etc. Lead single ‘Seven’ is impossibly catchy and once heard is never forgotten. Throughout the album, Jeremy Enigk’s tortured vocals rest perfectly over soaring guitar riffs and soul battering bass lines. I count myself very lucky to seen have this band live, in their first ever UK show no less. Even through their troubled past, they produce one of the best live shows I’ve ever witnessed - every bit as awesome as the debut album itself. The reunited original line-up have matured and now seem content.

The artwork of this classic album was created by Chris Thompson and is based on a popular childrens toy. As you work your way through the booklet and liner notes there are a number of different artworks of the little people in various day to day situations. I pretty much love the cover choice. Toaster burning, still smiling.

I wonder what the social etiqutte is for when someone deletes you from Facebook, but then you’re gonna see them in person anyway because you pretty much have the same friends…

Regular readers may have noticed a lack of new posts; fear not! I am still alive at the time of writing this, however I have been quite busy and as much as I love updating this little corner of the world wide web, more important things have had to come first. New content will arrive soon, including picking up where we left with a new “Music To Design Things By” post, so watch this space… In the meantime I’ve updated my personal website if you fancy a gander: www.seanbishop.co.uk

Hot on the success of Right Side Of Wrong, Dead World Leaders were ready to release their 4th, and what was to be final, single. Right from the off there was an undeniable energy about this single. Created in the midst of polictical scandal and increasingly evident government corruption, House Of Frauds eloquently captured the mood of a nation and the dark skies overhead. More than a single, it was a statement.

I was again approached to create the follow up artwork and I knew exactly where I wanted to take it. Early in the process I was invited to the world famous 2Fly Studios in Sheffield where the band was recording with legendary producer, Alan Smyth. House Of Frauds was clearly going to be an important track and the energy from those sessions was incredible, spawning two further tracks (The Question and A Life More Ordinary) to round out the release.

Capturing a similar style to previous release Right Side Of Wrong but with a more layered approach, House Of Frauds is an original piece of artwork that reflects the mood of the title track and hopefully provides a bold statement on the state of the scandal laced world we live in. The politician/banker/businessman (choose depending on who is currently screwing you over) is wearing a sinister looking balaclava, the message is simple; those we are meant to put our trust in are also the ones doing the taking.

House Of Frauds is available from iTunes.

Summer 2008 saw the third single release from Sheffield based band, Dead World Leaders. Already getting good airplay from previous singles and an ever growing buzz around their live gigs, the third release was almost ready to be unleashed. Right Side Of Wrong saw the band adopt a progressively mature sound and right from the first listen it was a clear dance floor filler.

As the musical side of things neared completion, I was approached to come up with artwork for the single itself as well as promotional material. So after getting my mitts on a demo copy I set to work on creating something that reflected the feeling of the music. The song itself has a empowering bounce to it and I defy you not to at least shuffle your sweaty bits to it. I was in no doubt it would be heard across many a club night, particulary in the Steel City, but within the lyrics there is a message of unity and political backlash, as well as the feeling that we as a people aren’t exactly being listened to.

So given all this, the creative process began and the artwork for Right Side Of Wrong was born. The premise is a simple but bold piece of artwork, you don’t see the face of the man in question as he has turned his back. But who or what has he turned his back on? A past love? The government? The state of the world? Or maybe himself? I wanted to keep an air of mystery and involve the viewer/listener by not giving too much away. You’ll find enough in the 3 tracks included on the release to draw your own conclusions. Mwahahaha intriguing?

Right Side Of Wrong is available from iTunes

Part 3: Brothers by The Black Keys

Design heads, how much time have you wasted skipping album tracks whilst trying to work? I know, right? The importance of being able to play an album aaaaallll the damn way through is rarely thought about or mentioned. I know I’ve spent a lot of time choosing the right music when I could have been designing (hence the birth of this blog series). Well, with The Black Keys there isn’t much skipping to be done.

2010’s Brothers is another slice of blues infused rock from the Ohio duo. For two people they make a hell of a racket. But a good racket of course. Brothers is probably my favourite Black Keys album, it has a maturity and a sense of dark truth about it. Over the years the pair have become accomplished musicians and although I like the raw, gritty, garage band sound of the early stuff, Brothers manages to throw back to that at times while also showing how they’ve grown musically.

The artwork is simple but dark and effective. There’s no denying its relationship to the music, so designers take note. The typography and design are a throw back to a dusty old bar where people spill their sorrows over heavy guitars, sitting for hours with sippin’ whiskey before heading out into the deserted night.