We are excited to introduce our Guest Blogger Series, an ongoing forum for some of our friends and collaborators to share some thoughts on their favorite music related products. Creating products that allow people to live with their music, be it apparel or music inspired art journals or frames to hang their favorite gigposters, is the mission statement for Soundscreen Design. As a company, we place tremendous value in the physical, music related objects that take up space in our homes and on our walls. Please send us a note and let us know what items you cherish, and perhaps you could be the next guest blogger.

Joel Speasmaker has been a wonderful partner in crime since we launched Soundscreen. If you know anything about Joel, you know he loves music and collecting objects, mainly records, comics and zines. In a past life, Joel was the mastermind, editor, curator, and designer of the all too short-lived art / design / comics magazine The Drama, and we could think of no better way to kick off the series than with his contribution.

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P.W. Elverum & Sun, ltd.
www.pwelverumandsun.com

As Soundscreen Design has so elegantly been an example of, music is undeniably linked to art in both its presentation and its particular meaning. For me, and no doubt many others, the emotional response a record forces out of me is completely enhanced by its packaging, whether it be through the design of the LP, the visuals accompanying a live show, or even a video streamed on the internet. Format aside, I am most drawn toward artists who obviously spend just as much time with how the public will interact with their creations as they do creating them. And I’m not talking about coming up with new ways to simply sell a product, as the music industry struggles to do. Sure, it will always be a part of it, as we all search for ways to sustain by doing what we love. But I’m looking for a tiny peek inside the brain of the artist; I want to see his or her hand at work, and witness their ideas in such a way that they can subtly influence my own. I’m looking for the honest and the passionate creators of the world.

I can’t think of a more inspiring example than Phil Elverum, formerly of The Microphones, currently of Mount Eerie, and the man behind P.W. Elverum & Sun. Long before mp3 downloads accompanied vinyl-only releases, Phil was crafting his own musical language and releasing it as beautiful and physical pieces of art, first through several LPs on K Records, and then eventually through his own label. Receiving a package in the mail from Phil is like getting something from a longtime pen pal, mailed just to you. The releases on P.W. Elverum all share this personal touch, no matter if its a simple gatefold LP or an extravagant 130+ page hard-cover book. Everything about his work is epic and magnificent, but you can tell that his intentions are pure. He loves to do what he is doing, he is searching for inspiration and meaning, he is haunted by similar demons, he cares enough to share them with you.

Maybe this description is a bit over-the-top, but its a sharp contrast to most of what I find out there. I’ve made it a point to collect most everything put out through P.W. Elverum (there’s special releases by other artists as well, including Woelv, Thanksgiving, and The Spectacle), and would suggest the same to any music OR art lover.

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ELV005
No Flashlight
by Mount Eerie

The first proper album as Mount Eerie, with LP packaging unfolding into a GIANT 3.5 x 5 foot two-sided poster, with lyrics and quotations and explanations and more.

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ELV012
Don’t Smoke / Get Off the Internet
by The Microphones

Two song 7″ with a beautiful letterpressed cover, and a beautiful message, including “Being ‘free’, you are born with a responsibility. Your parents will not take care of you forever. There is no God. You will not be punished. Deal with yourself. Recognizing problems in the world around you, hold yourself upright and do everything well.”

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ELV019
Lost Wisdom
by Mount Eerie, with Julie Doiron and Fred Squire

I saw this album played live straight through by the original creators (Phil, Julie, and Fred); not sure what else could be better. LP packaging unfolds into a haunting ink and watercolor by Phil. Haunting is a good word for his art.

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ELV020
Wind’s Poem
by Mount Eerie

The newest release, gatefold LP with gold foil on the front and back. OK, maybe there is nothing better than seeing this album performed live: two drummers, heavy distortion, Nick & Julia from No Kids on keys, Tara Jane O’Neil, and Phil - front and center. In my opinion there are few artists who can captivatingly perform in so many different settings and formations.

Just in time for turkey day here in the States, the newest installment in the ongoing Artist Music Journals series is now available in our shop.

Edition 05 features the work of the indefinable German team of Christian “Meeloo” Gfeller and Anna Hellsgård, known as Bongout. They describe their contribution to the series as “an experimental collage book. We actually scanned some covers from our record collection and cut and paste them into this new project.”

Featuring source material from albums as diverse as Black Dice’s “Broken Ear Record” to The Meteors’ “In Heaven”, the 24 pages of this AMJ are a kind of visual remix of selections from Bongout’s record collection.

We are thrilled to share a few new confirmations to the series, including: EE Storey, Post Typography, Dan Nadel (Picturebox), Bjorn Copeland (Black Dice), Brian Roettinger (Hand Held Heart) and Seripop. Each installment is limited to 1000 copies. Subscriptions and stand alone edition sales are available in our shop.

Ian Baguskas is a Brooklyn based photographer who we have been fortunate enough to work with on one of our book projects, Touchable Sound. Ian travels extensively to photograph for many of his projects.  Previous projects such as Search for the American Landscape brought him to Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Louisiana, and Mississippi over the course of 2004, while in 2005, Ian spent two months in South Korea working on his project, Below Line 38, where he photographed the landscape and the people. Ian is also an avid music fan, which helps explain his participation in Mixtape group show opening tonight at Jen Bekman Gallery in NYC.

Rincon Artificial Island and Pipeline, Ventura, California by Ian Baguskas, c-print

From Jen Bekman Gallery:

Please join us at the gallery on Friday, November 20th, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. for the opening of Mixtape, a group exhibition featuring forty-six original works and limited-edition prints from 20×200, by thirty-six artists. In the spirit of what Geoffrey O’Brien declared the “most widely practiced American art form,” Mixtape brings the studio soundtrack to the gallery walls.

Here at Soundscreen Design, we have a very strong fondness for Post Typography, the incredibly talented design studio based in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition to having the longest capabilities list known to man (see their site if you don’t believe us), Bruce and Nolen will be contributing to the Artist Music Journals series in the coming months.

If you live in New York City, we highly recommend you come to the NY release party for their newest book, Lettering & Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces, at the Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography, at The Cooper Union, on Tuesday November 17th at 7:00. In typical Post Typography style, the concept of the release event itself is nothing short of brilliant. From Post Typography:

Fan Letter: 26 Artists and Designers Present Their Favorite Letter or Typographic Character

Twenty-six local, national, and internationally-based designers and artists give a two-minute ode to an alphabet letter or typographic character. These may range from multimedia presentations, performances, videos, stories, poems, animations, songs, stand-up comedy, rants, short plays, demonstrations, Gregorian chants, etc—however they choose to depict their letter.

Fan Letter is organized and emceed by Bruce Willen and Nolen Strals of Post Typography, authors of a new book from Princeton Architectural Press, Lettering & Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces. This event is the launch party for the book, and also takes place in conjunction with Lubalin Now, the inaugural exhibition in the newly relocated Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography. The participants in Fan Letter include many designers whose work is featured in the exhibition as well as in Lettering & Type.

- Edition 03 designed by Rob Giampietro
- Eco-Heather Organic & Recycled Garments from Alternative Apparel
- Limited Edition - Never to be Reprinted

Available now exclusively in our shop and shipping immediately, we are proud to release the third installment of the ongoing Vinyl is Forever series.

New York based designer, writer, and teacher Rob Giampietro designed Edition 03, which we printed on Organic Alternative Apparel garments in crew neck t’s, 3/4 sleeve henleys, crew neck sweatshirts and tote bags.

Vinyl is Forever is a quarterly series of limited edition apparel featuring exclusive designs from prominent artists and studios, curated by Soundscreen Design.

A limited quantity of Vinyl is Forever Edition 02 - Andreas Samuelsson, and 3 pieces of Vinyl is Forever Edition 01 - Rob Giampietro are available in our shop.

The Insound 10 Classic is a visual narrative of 20 years (1977-1997) of punk, new wave & indie rock, designed by Mike Perry.  Similar in scope to our 2009 Collection, the original designs created for 10 iconic bands were printed up on crew neck t’s, tote bags,  and gorgeous 18×24 posters (limited to 125 per design, and hand numbered and signed by Mr. Perry  himself).

Insound will be raffling off one of each poster design to ten lucky winners, each to be delivered with a ReFRAME. Just our way of saying we love the Insound 10 Classic.

About The Insound 10 Classic -

The Insound 10 Classic project follows last year’s award winning Insound 20, which featured 20 contemporary indie bands and designed by Jason Munn. The Insound 10 Classic was conceived as a fun, visual narrative of 20 years of post-punk, new wave and indie rock (1977-1997). The project features designs by renowned designer/illustrator/editor Mike Perry. The list of bands is a veritable who’s who of indie rock history and includes Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Feelies, Galaxie 500, Beat Happening, The Magnetic Fields, Sunny Day Real Estate, Sleater Kinney, The Promise Ring, The Olivia Tremor Control, and The Apples in Stereo. The Insound 10 Classic designs will be printed on American Apparel t-shirts, limited edition silkscreen posters, and 100% cotton oversized tote bags.

Mike Perry works in Brooklyn, making books, magazines, newspapers, clothing, drawings, paintings, illustrations and teaching whenever possible. He has written several immensely popular design books, including Hand Job, about hand drawn typography, and Over and Over, about hand drawn patterns in design.

- Edition 03 designed by Rob Giampietro
- Eco-Heather Organic & Recycled Garments from Alternative Apparel
- Limited Edition - Never to be Reprinted

Available for pre-order exclusively in our shop, we are proud to release the third installment of the ongoing Vinyl is Forever series.

On the heels of the successful first and second editions (designed by Human Empire and Andreas Samuelsson respectively), the third installment of Vinyl is Forever features the design of New York based designer, writer, and teacher Rob Giampietro.  This edition features crew neck t’s, 3/4 sleeve henleys, crew neck sweatshirts and tote bags.

Rob Giampietro teaches at Parsons The New School for Design in New York and in the graduate graphic design program at RISD in Providence, RI. He also served on the Executive Board of AIGA/NY from 2007-2009. Rob has participated in lectures and panels at the School of Visual Arts, the New Museum, and Yale University. His commentary on design and visual culture has appeared in Dot Dot Dot, Design Observer, Emigre, Eye Magazine, and more.

Vinyl is Forever is a quarterly series of limited edition apparel featuring exclusive designs from prominent artists and studios, curated by Soundscreen Design.

A limited quantity of Vinyl is Forever Edition 02 - Andreas Samuelsson, and 3 pieces of Vinyl is Forever Edition 01 - Rob Giampietro are available in our shop.

We’ll be honest, not much Country or Western music is played here at SSD HQ, mainly due to a lack of understanding and exposure.  We simply don’t know the history, the iconic artists, the influential labels, or the coveted producers the way we do for genre’s like punk, indie, classic rock, or soul.

Thankfully, Paul McNeil and Barry Divola, the genius team behind music-obsessed kids alphabet books Nevermind Your P’s and Q’s: Here’s the Punk Alphabet, and M is for Metal!, have returned with ABC&W: The Country and Western Alphabet, available in our shop for pre-order now.

Knowing that the irreverent sense of humor, hysterical illustrations, and heartwarming rhymes would be worth the price of admission, ABC&W presents a unique opportunity for many of us unfamiliar with the history of Country & Western: Teach kids the alphabet while learning about one of America’s most original contributions to the popular music.

Appealing to kids’ sense of the absurd, while tickling the funny bones of adults with in-jokes about boot-scooting, hillbillies, cowboys, Nashville and truckers, this is the latest hilarious installment in the Rockin’ Alphabets series, where parents and children can look at the same page together and laugh, but not necessarily at the same thing.

From Hank and Loretta, to Willie and Johnny, The Country and Western Alphabet is the most country and the most western alphabet book in history.

Nevermind Your P’s and Q’s: Here’s the Punk Alphabet and M is for Metal! are available for immediate shipment in our shop.

Seripop, the wonderful Montreal studio responsible for the Handsome Furs, Deerhoof, and Fucked Up designs from our Collection, have re-launched their website and are hosting a wonderful contest to celebrate the occasion.

From Chloe and Yannick: “What we are are asking of you, our presumed fans, is to show us photos of our posters in your home, preferably with you in the photo. Post the links to your pic in the comment section, enter as many times as you like, but please, be creative. We don’t wanna see 20 uploads of the same pic.”

One of the six prizes is the Soundscreen Design Prize Pack, which includes one of each design completed for the Collection, of which we are judging the winner.

Enter here and good luck.

To celebrate the release of our new Curated Series, Musician As Designer, we made a video.  The video features the series co-curator and inaugural installment designer Hisham Bharoocha explaining his approach to the design, the scope of the series, and the desire to surround yourself with the things you collect.

Also featured are the shirts printers, Fleaheart, in their Greenpoint studio during the printing process for Hisham’s edition.

Limited quantities remain in our shop.