This post is admittedly a reaction to the 4AD record label’s de-emphasizing of their cover art that was once one of their trademarks. The brief is to basically utilize existing cover art and attempt to create new art and capture at least some of the essence of the older, beautifully designed covers. Note: the Bon Iver cover below features the work of Shinro Ohtake, whose artwork appeared on several Throwing Muses covers.

I have it on good authority that This Mortal Coil reissues are forthcoming, hopefully in 2010. In the meantime, here’s an imagining of how individual sleeves from a four-disc vinyl box set might look. The fourth disc would contain tracks from the three singles, plus “Acid, Bitter, And Sad” from Lonely Is An Eyesore. The sleeves would be printed on matte stock with spot varnishes on the photos, and the graphics printed with copper metallic ink. I’m positive original graphic designer Vaughan Oliver has something amazing in store for this reissue.

By the way, if you’re going to be in the San Francisco Bay Area on January 7, 2010, I’ve contributed 12 background films inspired by Vaughan Oliver to a performance called The Music Of This Mortal Coil–the first live tribute that I know of. Tickets are $12 and available here. And here’s the poster I’ve designed for the show, which will be given away for free at the gig:

I was wondering what a “conventional” 4AD remaster reissue might look like. What I came up with was a clear outer sleeve with the logo and word “REMASTERED” on the front, and then the barcode and fine print on the back. Each would be a lavish two-disc digipak set–with loads of rare bonus tracks, of course–with newly revized v23 artwork, too, metallic inks and all.

One can dream.

Clearly, Ms Rossi wants you to focus on the music and not the dreadful cover art she has apparently chosen for her debut album on 4AD. Is this possibly a statement on 4AD’s aesthetic reputation? Sure to be hotly debated by diehard fans of the 4AD label…

A take on the rather plainly designed Dead Can Dance box set, 1981-1998, and its subsequent compilation, Wake. I’ve always been intrigued by continuity, in terms of music design.