2005 CD of the year from nlbelardes.com - By N.L. Belardes
I am proud to announce Penalty Crusade by the Dalloways the 2005 winner on nlbelardes.com for best Bakersfield CD.
When it came to picking Bakersfield’s CD of the year I didn’t just look at the music on the CD, although the music is incredible with its many textures and engaging lyrics. I looked at packaging. I love the moody cover art with the actress from Napoleon Dynamite. She captures the fictitious mini-love stories of Penalty Crusade in a timeless photo that could be from any era and have been snapped on European streets.
I wanted to see a CD print layout that stood out, that didn’t make rookie Photoshop mistakes and other weird art mistakes, like glowing fonts. Did you know you should never have more than two different fonts on a single page? When I go buy a CD the packaging is part of what sells the CD to me. I can’t hear the music when I hold the CD up to my ear in the store, but I can get fired up from good artwork. If artwork wasn’t important, the music industry wouldn’t care. They would sell generic CDs with the band name and songs listed in Times New Roman font on the cover.
Wake up bands. Don’t just have your friends design your CD because they say they are artists. Make sure a professional artist looks at the artwork, critiques it before you spend $1000 printing CDs; and make sure that quality graphic designers are helping you put your best foot forward. Packaging is often what people see before they hear the music. All too often I meet people who say they are graphic designers but they really have no background, no art classes, and not much experience other than they can play with fonts in Photoshop. Did you know that Photoshop is not where you should do your type for your CD cover? Type should come from a vector-based program like Illustrator, InDesign, or Freehand. Photoshop artwork should be exported into a program such as those mentioned, then set your type.
I also wanted to see a CD with music that I thought could stand the test of time. I believe the Dalloways music has an inescapable long-lasting quality. I think folks who are fans of their genre of Lounge pop will have a special place in their CD collection for California Brit music ala the Dalloways. Forget that it isn’t metal, punk or screamo. The Dalloways have recorded their genre of music with precision, experience, and great mastering. They also have many great reviews on their site from around the world, from music zines everywhere! I wrote for CD Baby earlier in the year regarding Penalty Crusade:
Hints of Lloyd Cole and even Elvis Costello materialize in The Dalloways debut album Penalty Crusade. But there's more: Refreshing CD art, the people involved; this music is packaged and presented in a way that brings a fresh perspective to Brit Pop. More: Penalty Crusade is a multi-cultural California blend bringing rural and big city undertones to the Anglian influences of British pop icons. The Dalloways can't help but throw in a subtle flow of Latino riffs and American jazz; all with a hard-edged guitar sound that is as melodic as Morrissey and haunting as Lloyd Cole's lyrical lost love ballads.
Get your groove on Dalloways (Gary Enns, Aaron Wall, Matt Wall, Ricky Gonzales, and the lovely Nico Rhodes) with your cool n.l. trophy. Stand it on a shelf with your other n.l.. You deserve both of them for quality music, quality web work and a quality CD that is packaged to perfection.
When it came to picking Bakersfield’s CD of the year I didn’t just look at the music on the CD, although the music is incredible with its many textures and engaging lyrics. I looked at packaging. I love the moody cover art with the actress from Napoleon Dynamite. She captures the fictitious mini-love stories of Penalty Crusade in a timeless photo that could be from any era and have been snapped on European streets.
I wanted to see a CD print layout that stood out, that didn’t make rookie Photoshop mistakes and other weird art mistakes, like glowing fonts. Did you know you should never have more than two different fonts on a single page? When I go buy a CD the packaging is part of what sells the CD to me. I can’t hear the music when I hold the CD up to my ear in the store, but I can get fired up from good artwork. If artwork wasn’t important, the music industry wouldn’t care. They would sell generic CDs with the band name and songs listed in Times New Roman font on the cover.
Wake up bands. Don’t just have your friends design your CD because they say they are artists. Make sure a professional artist looks at the artwork, critiques it before you spend $1000 printing CDs; and make sure that quality graphic designers are helping you put your best foot forward. Packaging is often what people see before they hear the music. All too often I meet people who say they are graphic designers but they really have no background, no art classes, and not much experience other than they can play with fonts in Photoshop. Did you know that Photoshop is not where you should do your type for your CD cover? Type should come from a vector-based program like Illustrator, InDesign, or Freehand. Photoshop artwork should be exported into a program such as those mentioned, then set your type.
I also wanted to see a CD with music that I thought could stand the test of time. I believe the Dalloways music has an inescapable long-lasting quality. I think folks who are fans of their genre of Lounge pop will have a special place in their CD collection for California Brit music ala the Dalloways. Forget that it isn’t metal, punk or screamo. The Dalloways have recorded their genre of music with precision, experience, and great mastering. They also have many great reviews on their site from around the world, from music zines everywhere! I wrote for CD Baby earlier in the year regarding Penalty Crusade:
Hints of Lloyd Cole and even Elvis Costello materialize in The Dalloways debut album Penalty Crusade. But there's more: Refreshing CD art, the people involved; this music is packaged and presented in a way that brings a fresh perspective to Brit Pop. More: Penalty Crusade is a multi-cultural California blend bringing rural and big city undertones to the Anglian influences of British pop icons. The Dalloways can't help but throw in a subtle flow of Latino riffs and American jazz; all with a hard-edged guitar sound that is as melodic as Morrissey and haunting as Lloyd Cole's lyrical lost love ballads.
Get your groove on Dalloways (Gary Enns, Aaron Wall, Matt Wall, Ricky Gonzales, and the lovely Nico Rhodes) with your cool n.l. trophy. Stand it on a shelf with your other n.l.. You deserve both of them for quality music, quality web work and a quality CD that is packaged to perfection.
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Monday, January 02, 2006.
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