Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary for March, 2023

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for March, 2023

Posted March 1, 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

February might be a bit shorter than other months, but that doesn’t mean that we album art/artist fans were short-changed in the news department. Starting off with the Grammy Awards and continuing with new exhibitions, art and book releases and a lot of ancillary items, there’s plenty for us fans of album cover art/artistry to dig into, so let’s cut the chit-chat and take a look at what I’ve put together for you.

Preliminary judging has begun on the entries vying for another noted industry award – the Making Vinyl Packaging Awards – and, as one of the judges on the panel tasked to review the hundreds of submissions received, I’m curious and eager to see what always turns out to me a fascinating cross-section of examples of album covers/packages coming in from all over the world.

This month’s newsletter contains a human-curated (as opposed to an AI-generated – we’re old school here at the ACHOF) summary of the news in all of the main topic areas, with updates and info about several new museum and gallery exhibitions, new auctions and sales and a goodly number of art and artist-related articles. As always, I’d like to once again say “thanks” for your help and support, so  let’s get started with some updates on the award shows recently ended and currently in progress:

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for February, 2023

Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary for February, 2023

Posted February 1, 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

January was a busy month in the world of album cover art and artists and, to be honest with you, it was all a bit overwhelming as I’ve begun to do the work to re-organize ACHOF-related content into the various silos that will ultimately make up the two sites I’ll be maintaining going forward. I’ve spoken with several people whose experience and gut instincts I appreciate and have a pretty good idea as to how to best proceed so, with your support and patience, I think we’ll all be happy with the new/revised formats that will come out of these efforts.

February looks to be chock-full of exciting news to come, first with the announcement of the winners of this year’s Grammy Awards in the Packaging categories (to be posted here on February 5^th as soon as they’re announced), which closely follow the Best Art Vinyl Awards results that were posted in early January (click here to see the results, if you missed my original article) and which included some really great examples of human-generated art and design. Voting will also begin soon for another noted industry award – the Making Vinyl Packaging Awards and, as one of the judges on the panel tasked to review the hundreds of submissions received, I’m curious and eager to see what always turns out to me a fascinating cross-section of examples of album covers/packages coming in from all over the world.

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for January 2021

 

 

 

Posted January 1, 2021 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

We’ve reached the end of what has to have been one of the saddest and most-frustrating years most of us have ever lived through and yet, for those of us who have survived, I have to think that we’re all feeling somewhat grateful for having done so and are looking forward to seeing the end of this pandemic and, with any luck, a move towards a sense of “normalcy” in many aspects of our lives.

It’s the beginning of Winter here in the Chicago area and, just last night, we saw our first significant snowstorm. The weather, plus the threat of COVID, will keep me and my wife inside most of the time (except for our weekly trips to the grocery stores) and trying to support our local restaurants, who now can’t offer anything but take-out. I hope that we’re all doing what we can to keep these local vendors alive, and I’d like to add that we should all do more to support the local service organizations that are working miracles to keep those less fortunate than us sheltered, fed and in good health and spirits.

In the spirit of keeping things in perspective and understanding that you all have a lot on your plates these days, this month’s summary will be as brief and to the point as I can make it. Much work is still being done in the world of music industry-related visual design and production and so it’s my honor and pleasure to continue to report on – and promote – this work and the people who do it. So, let’s go…

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for November, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary – November, 2020

Posted October 30th, 2020 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

I realize that, for most of you, this summary is coming at a time of great emotional disturbance, having to deal with both an ongoing pandemic (and what it’s done to our “regular” lives) and an election here in the U.S. that will provide us all with a window into what America might look like going forward and so, keeping that in mind, I’m going to keep things really simple this month (quite honestly, I don’t currently have the mental bandwidth to do much more).

The nominating and voting process for this year’s class of inductees into the ACHOF has begun in earnest and, with any luck, I’ll be able to announce the list of top vote-getters just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday here, or around the 20^th of November (the 23^rd the absolute latest). Two other album cover-related award competitions – the Best Art Vinyl awards in the U.K. and the Making Vinyl Awards here in the U.S. – are also in-process and so it’ll be interesting to see who’s determined to be providing the most visual excitement in the recorded music business when all the votes are tallied…

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – Early November, 2019

 

 

 

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – Early November, 2019

By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Dear Readers – This month’s summary will follow in my newest tradition – short intros and lots of links to the most-interesting stories I could find on the topic of album cover imagery and the people that make it. Later this month, you’ll meet the newest inductees into the Album Cover Hall of Fame (voting is taking place this month) but, for now here’s what you’ve been waiting patiently for:

Album Cover News Recap for December, 2015

Album Cover Hall of Fame’S Album Cover News Recap for December, 2015

It’s early January 2016 here in the Pacific NW and, I don’t know about you all, but I could surely use some sunshine, having been treated to the first extended stretches of Winter weather, making for great skiing in the nearby mountains while creating a ghost-like pallor on our skin. On the plus side, we (i.e., the city of Portland, OR) were recently rated #1 best food city in a major East Coast publication, so life here’s not all that bad.

Our collective recuperations from the past Holiday season and the Winter blahs have done little to stem the tide of album art-related news, though, with the ACHOF news feed showcasing the many exhibitions, books and other such activities we reported on during the last 30 days. With stories on the interviews, features, book releases, gallery/museum shows and annual  “best and worst” lists adding to the endless sources of excitement and inspiration found in our news feed, I’ll spend a few paragraphs giving you a summary of these highlights and updates but, after that,  it’ll be up to you  to visit our site to complete your re-reading of these items of interest on this list by reading/viewing these items at your leisure…

Lots of interesting interviews this past month – both in print and on video – with album artists, rock photographers and others involved in the record packaging world, including designers Vaughan Oliver, Sir Peter Blake, Brian Cannon and others and photographers Gary Heery and Anton Corbijn who, most interestingly, is taking a leave from the music industry to focus on topics of his own interest.