The name of the artist on the cover sleeve of their album is Vampire Weekend, this suggests that the band is of an indie genre rather than mainstream.
The font on the sleeve is best described as standard; it is a ‘Times New Roman’ type font and would be typical of a Word document. The simplistic style is amplified by the choice of white for the lettering. The simplicity extends to the back of the sleeve as the font becomes navy against a white background.
The front cover does not feature Vampire Weekends image, it does however consist of a mid shot photo of the 1980’s model Ann Kristen Kennis. Just like other models photo’s, Kennis is standing front on to the camera so her full profile can be seen. Her face seems expressionless and she is wearing a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt. Just as Vampire Weekend themselves said, the cover can be interpreted to have many meanings and is open to interpretation just like the ‘Rorschach Test’. The choice to have an unknown model on the cover connotes the individual styling of the band, Vampire Weekend are not conforming by having seemingly unrelated cover art. The choice to have the 1983 shot of Kennis was because the band enjoyed that people got mad at a ‘white blonde girl in a Polo shirt’, however, the choice caused problems for the band as Kennis decided to sue them for $2 million.
The title of the album is ‘Contra’, again this open to various interpretations. On the surface, the choice appears to be because of the track ‘I think UR a Contra’ on the album, bands tend to get their album title from their songs. The meaning of ‘Contra’ is ‘against’ or ‘in opposition’, this suggest the band is trying to be abnormal in its approach in a bid for originality. It has also been said that the album name is homage to the 1988 Nintendo game ‘Contra’. People have gone as far to say that the title is a reference to the Nicaraguan Civil War as the Contras opposed the Sandinistas. This is due to the phrase ‘complete control’ in ‘I think UR a Contra’, with this being a song on The Clash’s Sandinista! album.
The album is produced by Rostam Batmanglij, he is also the backing vocalist, keyboard and guitar player in the band. This appeals to the audience as they would that they are experiencing true Vampire Weekend music as no producer has interfered with the band. Batmanglij has a vested interest in the band so the sound will be as true to the band as possible. The record label is XL Recordings who are an independent British Label who also have Adele, Jack Penate and Thom Yorke signed to them. Again this connotes individuality but also suggests Vampire Weekend are mainstream as the other artists made indie music yet have mainstream fame.
The artist fits into its genre of indie rock as they make no attempt to conform to the norm. This is signified by the choice of an olden image of a woman who looks like she would listen to Vampire Weekend. Typical attitudes of the genre is to attempt to break the social mould and be original, Vampire Weekend have done this with their artistically based cover art.
The target audience for this CD is young adults who listen to indie music, they probably even look like the cover girl Kennis. The cover would appeal to them due to its simplicity and its indie vibe, the choice to have a sleeve on a standard one disc CD extends the indie approach even further.
No comments:
Post a Comment