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Discoking
* Dog in the Sand *
Belgium
1107 Posts |
 Posted - 01/29/2021 : 08:52:53
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i think doolittle's artwork overall is great. cover in itself not so much.
this is about the cover, right?
 it's educational |
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Brank_Flack
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
910 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2021 : 10:30:36
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^True, but I also love the cover! I do take the point for it being on the nose, but the fact that it still manages to evoke such a mysterious atmosphere means it deserves all the more credit.
So far I have (feel free to correct me anyone!)
Doolittle 3
Trompe 2
Surfer 1 |
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stuczuba
= Cult of Ray =
471 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2021 : 08:43:15
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| All 3 are classics but voting Trompe just cos the other 2 got there first, got that fresher edge. |
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coastline
> Teenager of the Year <
USA
3111 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2021 : 09:12:07
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Trompe Le Monde.
__________________________________________________
If all you see is violins, then I make a plea in their defense. |
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ricj
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
101 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2021 : 11:38:53
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| Trompe Le Monde (if you held a gun to my head) |
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jake3
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
244 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2021 : 11:49:31
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| Trompe |
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Brank_Flack
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
910 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2021 : 06:44:22
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Trompe is taking a Gamestop-esque fall
Trompe 6
Doolittle 3
Surfer 1
I'll start the final round tomorrow, though it looks like it will be difficult for Trompe to be saved. |
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Brank_Flack
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
910 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2021 : 05:58:19
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FINAL ROUND STARTS NOW
Trompe 6
Doolittle 3
Surfer 1
Gone:
Frank Black and the Catholics
Cult of Ray
Indie Cindy
Petit Fours
Let The People Speak
One More Road for the Hit
Honeycomb
Paley & Francis
Snake Oil
Abbabubba
Pistolero
Devil's Workshop
Head Carrier
Golem
B-Sides
Svn Fingers
NSE
Oddballs
FMRM
Christmass
DITS
SMYT
Bluefinger
Black Letter Days
BTE
Come On Pilgrim
Frank Black
TOTY
Bossanova
Trompe
Still surviving:
Surfer Rosa
Doolittle
Let's give this a week: until next Wednesday.
I'm still voting against Surfer Rosa. Doolittle is my favourite of the bunch - as solid as Surfer Rosa is, it just doesn't pop like Doolittle does. It doesn't evoke as much atmosphere, promise as much mystery, or scream "mission statement".
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Edited by - Brank_Flack on 02/03/2021 09:37:23 |
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ricj
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
101 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2021 : 08:17:30
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| Totally agree ^ Doolittle is one of the best albums of all time in my opinion. Surfer Rosa is one of the best covers of all time. So I vote Doolittle. |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11674 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2021 : 10:38:13
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It's still tough. I have thought about this more, and while I'd previously voted Doolittle...
I think Trompe, while artistically it may have taken more thought and effort to produce that cover, at the end of the day, it doesn't stick with me. It doesn't resonate. Doolittle, on the nose and simple or not, does. So I'm voting Trompe/
 "If we hit this bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." |
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Brank_Flack
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
910 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2021 : 10:43:31
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| ^ Just to be clear, Trompe is out - we're now down to Surfer Rosa vs. Doolittle. |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
2962 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2021 : 10:53:35
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I think that Doolittle's cover captures one song on that album. Surfer Rosa's captures the Pixies, definitely at that time in their existence, and in a big way.
When you look up Doolittle on the internet there are a variety of shades. Is any one the authoritative original?
Both covers are very religious. Both covers are excellent. Surfer's cover makes me feel nervous just like the songs do. Doolittle is beautiful but not striking or powerful.
As I said before, I'm voting off Doolittle in favor of keeping Surfer Rosa, though neither one is my absolute favorite.
And thanks again to Brank Flack for taking over hosting duties. More participation the better.
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Discoking
* Dog in the Sand *
Belgium
1107 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2021 : 12:08:22
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doolittle!
it's educational |
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johnnyribcage
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2021 : 04:57:45
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Damn I missed out on this one. That said, before I even opened the thread I thought “well that is going to come down to Doolittle and Surfer...”
I had a bad reaction to your public hobby writings. |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11674 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2021 : 06:29:41
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Oh, did I miss that Trompe was already gone? In that case, Doolittle.
"If we hit this bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." |
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Sprite
* Dog in the Sand *
1227 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2021 : 07:12:17
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| Doolittle because it's perfection. |
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Brank_Flack
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
910 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2021 : 07:23:26
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^ Do you mean to vote against Surfer Rosa Sprite?
Just so everyone is clear: vote to eliminate an album - I understand that it might be a bit more confusing with only two remaining! |
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coastline
> Teenager of the Year <
USA
3111 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2021 : 16:24:36
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I vote Doolittle off the island.
__________________________________________________
If all you see is violins, then I make a plea in their defense. |
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Discoking
* Dog in the Sand *
Belgium
1107 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2021 : 23:09:39
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can we have a final round after this one, to vote the winner off the island too?
NO SURVIVORS!
it's educational |
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Sprite
* Dog in the Sand *
1227 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2021 : 04:05:13
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quote:
Originally posted by Brank_Flack
^ Do you mean to vote against Surfer Rosa Sprite?
Just so everyone is clear: vote to eliminate an album - I understand that it might be a bit more confusing with only two remaining!
Good point! I vote to eliminate Surfer Rosa |
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jake3
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
244 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2021 : 06:35:07
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Both top tier covers and worthy finalists. 'Surfer Rosa' shades it for me today as the winner.
'Come On Pilgrim' would've been my choice for third so I was a little sorry to see it go a little sooner than I'd of liked. I know singles and EPs weren't included (as we'd have been here forever!) but I'd like to give a quick shout out to 'Here Comes Your Man' and 'EP1' - Both excellent work. Well done Vaughan Oliver (R.I.P.), Simon Larbalestier and Ian Pollock.
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Edited by - jake3 on 02/06/2021 09:14:23 |
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Brank_Flack
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
910 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2021 : 06:40:05
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Voting so far:
Doolittle 6
Surfer Rosa 2 |
Edited by - Brank_Flack on 02/05/2021 06:40:51 |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11674 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2021 : 11:25:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Discoking
can we have a final round after this one, to vote the winner off the island too?
NO SURVIVORS!
it's educational
This made me lol
"If we hit this bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." |
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stuczuba
= Cult of Ray =
471 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2021 : 23:01:29
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Surfer edges it, both classics but I thought the front image of Surfer was repurposed vintage art for ages - knowing they created it and so perfectly fit it into that white space just can't be topped by Doolittle.
(Though I do think Doolittle probably edges it in a CD Jewel case).
So Doolittle in Second, Surfer ftw |
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coastline
> Teenager of the Year <
USA
3111 Posts |
Posted - 02/06/2021 : 07:20:43
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The vintage-looking photo on the Surfer cover is great, but the cherry on the top is that they placed it off-center and placed a single word in the remaining white space. The font is perfect with the photo, and what I only just realized is that the album's title isn't even there. Sublime. Sorry, Doolittle, nobody was ever going top Surfer.
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If all you see is violins, then I make a plea in their defense. |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
2962 Posts |
Posted - 02/06/2021 : 07:39:16
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I also used to think Surfer’s photo was vintage. That they created it is beyond belief.
Doolittle is not even in my top five, sorry fellow forum friends. |
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stuczuba
= Cult of Ray =
471 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2021 : 10:01:19
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https://www.anothermanmag.com/life-culture/10532/secrets-behind-pixies-iconic-sleeve-art-vaughan-oliver-simon-larbalestier
Inspired by the Spanish-language songs on the album (Vamos, Oh My Golly!), Oliver had the idea to feature a topless flamenco dancer. With Larbalestier, he constructed a set above a pub opposite the 4AD offices in south London, the photographer adding small but symbolically charged details like the crucifix and Picasso-like guitar fragment (the instrument belonged to Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, according to Oliver).
The shoot for Surfer Rosa has a singular, haunting quality that’s lost none of its power today. The images derive some of their uncanny feel from a photographic technique – ‘solarisation’, where negatives are reversed in tone through exposure – pioneered by surrealist photographers Lee Miller and Man Ray. But Larbalestier says the effect was a “happy accident” caused by near-freezing temperatures in the darkroom. Says Oliver of the result: “It just had an atmosphere. There’s a mystery and ambiguity to it, but there’s also an emotive context. You don’t have to work at it.” |
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stuczuba
= Cult of Ray =
471 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2021 : 10:02:13
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https://www.snapgalleries.com/simon-larbalestiers-classic-pixies-images-and-their-backstories/
The Surfer Rosa series was a collaborative effort between myself and Pixies graphic designer Vaughan Oliver. This was the first time I was to photograph a stranger with a sense of intimacy and candour. Working in a similar way to “Nimrod’s Son” – my title for the photograph used on the cover of the Pixies EP Come on Pilgrim – Vaughan and I hand-built a set in the upstairs function room of a pub in South West London.
We needed a purpose-built, slightly raised, stage so that we could shoot with the set in an elevated position. Years on, Vaughan and my recollections as to the story behind the set differs somewhat (perhaps I misheard the original story) but my interpretation that I carried over the years was that Pixies frontman Charles Thompson (aka Black Francis/Frank Black) wrote some of his songs in bars with a Spanish themes in his hometown of Boston.
I wanted to develop the sense of decay and texture from my earlier images and we laced this with Catholic references (a theme inherent in the Pixies’ music but also deeply embodied in mine from several years before when documenting Greek Orthodox Churches in Greece and Turkey). For added irony we added the nailed fish motif ( carried over from Come on Pilgrim) as well as an original guitar from the band, which we embellished by breaking.
For Surfer Rosa I wanted to retain the distinctive Polaroid edges that we used on the Come on Pilgrim sleeve, so I shot again with Polaroid’s Type 55 – a unique film that yields a positive print as well as a very fine grained negative that can be printed from in the darkroom. There is a discrepancy between the film negative and Polaroid print in that their film speed (ASA/ISO) differs greatly – the print was given a speed of 50-75 but the negative was only 6-12. In layman’s terms this meant that to get a usable negative, one had to over expose the print – not good when requiring the approval of an art director who often had to show a client!
More often than not, several were made at varying exposures: something to suit both client and photographer. Ambient temperature was also a factor, and in the case of the Surfer Rosa session, we were shooting in the middle of Winter, where room temperature was near freezing. This resulted in the negatives being stored in very cold sodium sulphite solutions throughout the day as the shoot evolved. By the time I had got them back to my darkroom, many of the negatives had semi-solarized: in other words, the shadows had partly redeveloped in the freezing temperatures. This was a factor that we were to capitalize on when I made the prints and Vaughan designed the sleeves.
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11674 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2021 : 10:03:03
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Very cool, thanks for posting that background.
"If we hit this bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." |
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Brank_Flack
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
910 Posts |
Posted - 02/09/2021 : 07:07:27
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We are now at with less than 24 hours to go:
Doolittle 7
Surfer Rosa 2
(Do you want to do the honours of calling it tomorrow Bedbug?) |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
2962 Posts |
Posted - 02/09/2021 : 14:26:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Brank_Flack
We are now at with less than 24 hours to go:
Doolittle 7
Surfer Rosa 2
(Do you want to do the honours of calling it tomorrow Bedbug?)
I’m honored that you would consider me, but I would love to see the torch passed to you.
And to all, I hope we can think of another FB themed game to play to help us through Covid
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Brank_Flack
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
910 Posts |
Posted - 02/10/2021 : 05:45:43
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The people have spoken and Surfer Rosa is THE FRANK BLACK ALBUM COVER SURVIVOR. Elegant, mysterious and classic.
Thank you Bedbug for your work in hosting this, to everyone who participated, and to Vaughan Oliver for the wonderful artwork that has become a part of all of our lives.
Order:
Frank Black and the Catholics
Cult of Ray
Indie Cindy
Petit Fours
Let The People Speak
One More Road for the Hit
Honeycomb
Paley & Francis
Snake Oil
Abbabubba
Pistolero
Devil's Workshop
Head Carrier
Golem
B-Sides
Svn Fingers
NSE
Oddballs
FMRM
Christmass
DITS
SMYT
Bluefinger
Black Letter Days
BTE
Come On Pilgrim
Frank Black
TOTY
Bossanova
Trompe
Doolittle
Surfer Rosa |
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Brank_Flack
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
910 Posts |
Posted - 02/10/2021 : 05:46:49
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My top five would be
1) Doolittle
2) Trompe le Monde
3) Beneath the Eyrie
4) Surfer Rosa
5) B-Sides |
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jake3
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
244 Posts |
Posted - 02/10/2021 : 06:27:05
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Well done to those who organised it. Great work.
Top 5 for me would be the original 5 Pixies albums. Unbelievable really for saying Charles has released so many albums, but that classic 4AD Vaughan Oliver work really was a step above.
1. Surfer Rosa
2. Doolittle
3. Come On Pilgrim
4. Trompe Le Monde
5. Bossanova |
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Discoking
* Dog in the Sand *
Belgium
1107 Posts |
Posted - 02/10/2021 : 23:50:37
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for the very last round, i am going to vote for surfer rosa.
it was very hard to make a choice, but it had to be done.
it's educational |
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Topic |
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Album Cover Survivor
