Or So It Seems (1983) by Duet Emmo. Design by The Brothers Quay.
• “Make things, no rules, but be quick.” Bruce Gilbert, musician in (among others) Wire, Dome and Duet Emmo is interviewed. Related: Daniel Miller, Mute label boss and another member of Duet Emmo is interviewed (and provides a mix) at The Quietus. For more electronica with nothing at all to do with Duet Emmo there’s this Matmos interview.
Design by Dick Smith.
“It’s psychedelic not because we were stoned before we wrote the songs, or stoned during composing them, but the experiences of searching for the transcendental world though altered states of consciousness were in the songs,” he says, which sounds suspiciously like another way of saying he was stoned before he wrote them, but perhaps it’s best not to quibble with the description of the method in the face of such impressive results…
Donovan revisits one of his finest works, Sunshine Superman.
• Yet more Guardian features: A Clockwork Orange: The droog rides again | Ira Cohen: psychedelic photography master | A life in writing: China Miéville | The stars of modern SF pick the best science fiction.
• There are many stars of the gaseous variety in Nick Risinger’s 5000-megapixel photograph of the Milky Way.
“It is quite true I have worshipped you with far more romance of feeling than a man should ever give to a friend. Somehow I have never loved a woman…. From the moment I met you, your personality had the most extraordinary influence over me…. I adored you madly, extravagantly, absurdly. I was jealous of everyone to whom you spoke. I wanted to have you all to myself. I was only happy when I was with you.”
Salon reviews the new unexpurgated edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
• Paul Gorman discovered the gay art origins of the notorious Cowboys T-shirt.
• The full complement of Saul Bass’s designs for Vertigo‘s print advertising.
• Photos of the recent Dodgem Logic event by Rosie Reed Gold.
• Peter Ashworth is still taking great photos.
• Jodorowsky’s Dune Finally Revealed?
• Sunshine Superman (1966) by Donovan | Or So It Seems (1983) by Duet Emmo.
Wow! I didn’t realise Sunshine Superman was THAT old, but then again I still remember when I first purchased the album way back in the 1960s. I still have it and even managed to get it signed by Donovan many years later.
Hadn’t seen that Duet Emmo cover before, despite having the album on a hard drive – one of the disadvantages of mp3s. Do you know if the Quays did any more album covers?
Anne: The thing which gives me pause is that I’d be the age of the small children he sings about on Legend Of A Girl Child Linda.
One thing I’ve never seen mentioned with that album is the use of a harpsichord. Those things are all over the music of the psychedelic era, and most bands would have picked up the sound from Sgt Pepper. But Donvan’s use pre-dates the Beatles; he taught the Beatles finger-picking for the guitar so they may have borrowed that as well.
James: That’s the only one I know of although it’s possible there are more. They were doing book covers around the same time but I still don’t know if there’s more of those than the Calvino ones. What you can’t see on the front of the Duet Emmo is that the collage figure is made from a map of Prague. It wraps onto the back of the sleeve.
They also did a cover for Stockhausen: Conversations with the Composer; I think it’s the first one here: http://www.librarything.com/work/698971/covers. Can’t find any better images, unfortunately. I can’t even remember how I knew that in the first place.
I wonder if that’s why the BBC asked them to make a film for a Stockhausen composition. They said when it was broadcast that he wasn’t someone they’d have been drawn to otherwise.
There’s a very famous Dick Smith here in Oz but I doubt he’s the one who designed the Donovan cover.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Smith_(entrepreneur)
PS
He’s also supposed to have given Paul the line “Sky of blue, Sea of Green” on Yellow Submarine.
The Dick Smith responsible for the Donovan sleeve was American. The UK sleeve had different artwork more like a children’s book illustration.
The most famous Dick Smith for me is the makeup artist responsible for the makeup effects in The Exorcist and many other films.
There’s also Dick King Smith who wrote Babe. You know the one the pig movie is based on. Another Oz connection there as the film was made here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_King-Smith
Saw Bruce Gilbert & Mika Vainio open for Nurse With Wound yesterday so your interview is very appreciated.