MetaFilter posts tagged with album

"He takes a $1.98 tape into Folsom Prison and comes out with an album."

kirkaracha — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:56:51 -0800

"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." On January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash played two concerts at Folsom State Prison with June Carter, Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers, and his band, the Tennessee Three. At Folsom Prison, drawn mainly from the first show, is often ranked as one of the best albums of all time and turned Cash's career around. Reporter Gene Beley covered the concert and recorded some songs from the audience. Cash closed both shows with "Greystone Chapel," written by Folsom inmate Glen Sherley. Cash heard the song for the first time the night before the concerts, and acknowledged Sherley during the shows. Cash had been playing in prisons since the late 1950s; Merle Haggard saw several of his concerts from the audience at San Quentin. The 1968 concerts were the second time Cash had played at Folsom. He'd done a show there in November 1966. Reverend Floyd Gressett arranged the 1966 concert and gave Cash the tape of "Greystone Chapel" in 1968. The 1951 movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison inspired Cash to write his 1955 single "Folsom Prison Blues" when he was serving in Germany in the US Air Force. The song's melody and lyrics are very similar to Gordon Jenkins' "Crescent City." Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison [trailer] is a 2008 documentary about the concerts. (It apparently doesn't include concert footage.) In 1969 Cash recorded At San Quentin, which included the hit single "A Boy Named Sue." In 1973 he recorded På Österåker at Sweden's Österåker Prison. Cash's prison albums started a trend that included B.B. King's Live in Cook County Jail and Live at San Quentin, John Lee Hooker's Live At Soledad Prison, Little Milton's Live at Westville Prison and the Sex Pistols' Live at Chelmsford Top Security Prison, Thom Chacon's Live at Folsom Prison, Tracy Nelson's Live from Cell Block D, and Charles Manson's Live from San Quentin [AKA White Rasta]. Freddy Fender's Recorded Inside Louisiana State Prison is a fake live-in-prison album. "If it is a prison recording, then where, praytell, are the prisoners?" AMG Men singing at women's prisons was a trend-within-a-trend, with The Moments' Live at the New York State Women's Prison, Sonny George's Live At The Tennessee Prison For Women, Mack Vickery's Live At The Alabama Women's Prison. Leona Williams reversed the gender roles with her San Quentin's First Lady (with Merle Haggard, who'd done time there). At the time of Cash's concert, Folsom was a model prison. "Administrators came from New York and Texas to find out how Folsom kept its violence so low and its inmates from coming back." It's much worse now.

In This Light And On This Evening

rocket88 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:45:40 -0800

To promote their soon-to-be-released album, In This Light and On This Evening (coming October 27), British indie rockers Editors have made an interesting hack of Google Maps Street View. If you go to the Editors website here, you can wander through the streets of London looking for landmarks set out by the band. At each of nine locations—one for each song on the record—you’ll hear music from the new album which, they say, was “inspired by the mood and magic of London at night.” And because they use Street View, we get 360-degree shots of each spot. via exploremusic.com

Rubik cubes and classic album covers by the Beatles and the Clash.

maudlin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:54:41 -0800

It's Seurat by me. Iconic album covers by the Beatles and the Clash. Mixed media (a metric buttload of Rubik's cubes shown in Dailymotion video). (via)

Hair Metalski

DecemberBoy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:24:15 -0800

70s/80s Soviet album covers. Until today, I had no idea Soviet hair metal existed. Prepare for keytars, mall hair and proof that 80s cheese was not solely a product of degenerate kepitalist decadence.

Wilco (the stream)

TheDonF — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:31:25 -0800

Wilco has just started streaming their new album, Wilco (The Album) The band has done this since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and is asking those who download the entire thing to donate some cash to The Inspiration Corporation charity in Chicago.

unknown pleasures

the_very_hungry_caterpillar — Mon, 11 May 2009 03:40:57 -0800

Classic record sleeves - re-designed as Pelican book covers (Flickr set).

He Who Hesitates is Disincentivised

idontlikewords — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:02:15 -0800

Omaha rockers Cursive are selling their new album for just $1... No wait, it's $2... $3... $4... WTF?? In yet another twist on the whole, name-your-price (Radiohead), fan-financed (Jill Sobule), take-shrooms-and-cruise-hollywood (Josh Freese) tiered pricing experiment being carried out by what's left of the music industry, Cursive are increasing the price of their new record by $1 each day until its "official" release. Given the popularity of sites like Did it Leak (and the corresponding file-sharing forums that I won't link to here) it seems to me like this is a pretty good way to reward well-intentioned but impatient fans who might otherwise resort to less honorable means of getting the latest stuff from their favorite bands. Or maybe it's just another hare-brained scheme that will only hasten the end of record labels as we know them. Either way, they got my $1... And that was after I already got my hands on the mp3s!

$75,000 Jackpot

chuckdarwin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:28:28 -0800

Josh Freese shows all how to promote an album in 2009. Previously

Gimme Me Some More Money

chuckdarwin — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:45:32 -0800

Spinal Tap reforms to record a new album. Entire planet quivers in anticipation.

Astral Decades

philip-random — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:04:22 -0800

“In the condition I was in, it assumed at the time the quality of a beacon, a light on the far shores of the murk; what's more, it was proof that there was something left to express artistically besides nihilism and destruction.” Lester Bangs on the topic of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks which began recording exactly 40 years ago today in Century Sound Studios NYC. Released less than two months later, it might not have changed popular music forever. But it definitely changed a few lives. A recent take on the title song by the man himself. Glen Hansard's 2008 Bonaroo version, which proves it's really just rebel Irish folk after all. A 1989 version of 1980's Summertime in England, just because. The metaphysics of something or other. That whole Lester Bangs essay. A recent biography just in case you were under the impression that Van was actually a nice guy.

Looking for Paul's Boutique?

davebush — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:20:19 -0800

Album atlas - mapping the locations of album cover photographs. Feel free to contribute.

His favorite pickup line? "Would you like to see my penis again?"

miss lynnster — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:49:47 -0800

Imagine if millions of people had seen you naked before you were old enough to say "embarrassing." That's the story of Spencer Elden. On August 16, 2007, in reference to the fact that his penis was visible on the album cover, Elden was quoted as saying, "It's kind of creepy that that many people have seen me naked. I feel like I'm the world's biggest porn star!" Last fall, he spent six months in military boarding school. All his parents will say is that he's done his fair share of "testing authority." Here's Spencer in 2002, 2003 (when he appeared on his second album cover) and 2007.

A 12-inch by 12-inch canvas.

amyms — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:18:58 -0800

Before Alex Steinweiss invented the album cover in 1938, at the age of 23, all albums came in plain brown wrappers. Steinweiss's idea to create a package that had something visual on the outside to lure the consumer was a huge success. A tribute show for the 90-year-old Steinweiss will be held at the Robert Berman Gallery in Santa Monica, California, until February 23, 2008. More about Steinweiss here and here. First link via.

Diskothi-Q: The Football Albums

escabeche — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:14:34 -0800

The Football Albums. Music and football. Surely there's something better than "Hail to the Redskins" and "The Superbowl Shuffle?" One man believed there could be. That man was Peter Hughes, Inland Empire indie rock mini-star, sometime member of Nothing Painted Blue and the Mountain Goats, baseball diarist, and leader of the now-defunct band Diskothi-Q. In 1999, Diskothi-Q released The Football Albums: a double CD of 32 songs, one for each team in the NFL. All are now freely downloadable as .mp3s: AFC and NFC. (.mp3 links follow) Get ready for the big game this weekend by pitting "Colts" against "Patriots." Revel in the untamed savagery of "Eagles" or sympathize with the touching lament, "(Nobody Cares about the St. Louis) Rams."

Radiohead

gfrobe — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 02:13:47 -0800

The new Radiohead album is now available for pre-order from the band's website. How much for the download version you ask? Name your own price.

LP Cover Lover

stavrosthewonderchicken — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 05:35:58 -0800

LP Cover Lover The world's greatest LP album covers. Groovy, man. [some nudity, some total insanity]

Album cover battle royale

Oriole Adams — Tue, 29 May 2007 11:32:54 -0800

If this album cover quiz frustrates you, you might enjoy watching some album art wars instead.

Every Cover Tells a Story

tellurian — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:58:31 -0800

Some album covers with comments. [related]

Listfilter

daHIFI — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 09:45:17 -0800

Your favorite album sucks. It's December, so you know what that means - best of 2006 album lists! While everyone eagerly awaits the latest Christmas card from Ignited Minds pass the time deriding/praising your favorite/hated indie/hipster/industry site for recognizing/snubbing (fill in the blank with band of choice here)! Lists, lists and more lists. While some think EOY lists are pointless or conceited, others find worst of lists are much better. This Mefite finds them an early Christmas list of torrent downloading goodness. And if you're having problems making your list please refer to this handy dandy cheat sheet.

Battle of the Bands

Armitage Shanks — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 06:02:39 -0800

Battle of the Bands. [QT, NSFW] Album cover animation. More at Motionographer.

Our album is done, and so is our crappy website.

banished — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 19:39:46 -0800

The 23rd Century is a sweet band that just released their new CD, "Take A Trip Though Time With...The 23rd Century", for free online in mp3 format. The album was created by metafilter user tcobretti and his cousin. You can purchase the album here to support them, or you can buy their tshirt, obviously inspired/ripped off from the John Titor insignia. There is also a cool schematic-based navigation to the site, presumably from the same great mind who brought us runoffgroove.com. [via mefi projects]

I'll take Anal Bum Cover, Alex.

XQUZYPHYR — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 08:58:24 -0800

Pitchfork's Worst Album Covers of All Time. (Previous discussions of worst and best album covers)

National Solo Album Month '05!

mcsweetie — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:43:15 -0800

November is National Solo Album Month! So, for the purposes of NaSoAlMo, what exactly is a solo album? An album of music you have written, played and recorded entirely by yourself. The shortest inarguably awesome album that a lot of people have heard is the first Ramones album, which is 29:09 long, so your solo album must be at least that long. Beyond that, its form and content are up to you. Sorry to wait until the last minute, but if you sign up today you'll still have 30 days to write and record your masterpiece!

Living Time Orchestra

cribcage — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 11:04:45 -0800

George Russell, jazz's first theoretician, has released a new album to commemorate his 80th birthday. When Miles Davis remarked that he "wanted to learn all the changes," Russell responded by conceiving his Lydian Chromatic Concept. First published in 1953, the Concept resulted in the most influential album in jazz history. Today Russell turns 82.

Albums to Listen to While Reading Overwrought Pitchfork Reviews

airguitar — Wed, 25 May 2005 18:07:41 -0800

Last year, Pitchforkmedia.com published a nauseatingly smug review in smarmy, supercilious prose by Amanda Petrusich of the David Cross album It's Not Funny. This year, regardless of their opinion of David and/or his act, they asked him for his Top Ten List®. Here then, are the "Top Ten CD's That [He] Just Made Up (and accompanying made-up review excerpts) to listen to while skimming through some of the overwrought reviews on Pitchforkmedia.com"
Pitchfork discussed here, here, here and here. David Cross here and here.