Hank Williams - The Lost Notebooks

The long-awaited album full of unrecorded Hank Williams songs that were found in “lost” notebooks and interpreted and recorded by living artists will be released tomorrow, October 4.

The list of artists covers a broad spectrum of country and folk and features both living legends and rising stars such as Bob Dylan, Norah Jones, Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson, and more.

You can hear one of the songs today, before the album comes out—Jack White’s take on Williams’ “You Know That I Know.”

Head over to Rolling Stone to hear it now.

Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire on NPR

NPR.com is currently streaming Ryan Adams’ new album, Ashes & Fire, which is set to come out October 11.

It’s an easygoing album that sees Adams turning up the soulfulness a little bit. There are also a few sonic surprises here and there—see “Chains of Love,” a track that pops in halfway through the album featuring a sweeping string arrangement and melody that wouldn’t sound out of place on a U2 record.

This is an album that’ll fit right in with the changing season. Turn it on and relax.

Mistaken iTunes Album Artwork

Artwork for “Artist Name – Album Name” could not be found.

The dreaded iTunes message. The moment when you know you’re doomed to stare at the black square with the grayish music note in the middle instead of the iconic Abbey Road cover art.

Of course, you could find it online and upload it yourself. But it’ll probably be impure—pixelated or watermark-branded.

But there is something even more frustrating than the absence of the correct album artwork—the presence of mistaken album artwork.

Usually, this happens with older titles, like the following examples from my iTunes library:

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

I can live with iTunes giving me the cover for Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black b-sides album instead of the actual Back to Black cover. But it’s really going to mess up Dark Side of the Moon and The Velvet Underground & Nico? Two of the most famous album covers ever created?

And it’s going to give me some goofy-ass blonde-haired white guy playing a guitar that says SEX on the head instead of the real Are You Experienced? cover? (Side note: I think Will Smith wore that same shirt on Fresh Prince.) And I get him again standing on top of a steak for his album Electric Meatland instead of the proper cover for Electric Ladyland?

Curse you, iTunes.

It almost makes me not even want to view my music in “Cover Flow,” the only thing that makes me kind of feel like I own a physical form of the few handfuls of albums I’ve downloaded. Which makes me wonder—just how important is album artwork anymore?

The days when I’d lie on the floor listening to a new album while staring at the CD jacket or the LP cover and thumbing through the lyrics are gone. And I’m guessing the next generation of music lovers won’t ever be engaging in that activity. Which is cheaper and easier for a teenager with no car and a crappy part-time job, buying a digital album or going to a record store or a Best Buy? Which has a better selection and is never out of stock?

I’m not saying digital is better. I’m just saying that’s the way things are, whether we like it or not.

If you’re sitting on your computer listening to an album, you’re probably not going to spend as much time looking at the cover art in iTunes or in the digital booklet that might have came with it. There’s too much other stuff going on. Facebook, Twitter, email.

Regardless, though, it still seems to be important to most artists. They’re putting effort into it. Some are even making some pretty great covers.

But how much does it mean to the fans? 

And does anyone out there have examples of mistaken album artwork that’s worse than the examples I listed? I’d love to see them.

Childish Gambino - “Bonfire”

The first single from Childish Gambino’s (aka Donald Glover) first album with Glassnote Records.

Bonfire by Childish Gambino