Most Striking Film Posters of January 2016

Only three posters made the mark for The Poster World's January choice list. We had big releases (including biggies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Joy, The Hateful Eight, Point Break and many more) on December 2015 and January also wasn't quite remarkable like past years. There were many releases but the posters from those were not quite mentionable. Let's get into business and get to know about the list of posters that made the mark.

1. Band of Robbers (2016)

Copyright- Gravitas Ventures

This comedy thriller doesn't even have Wikipedia page, but still managed to make our top list. From January releases, we chose this bright red backgrounded poster. This poster's placing of characters is really cool. But there are uncertainties about the fonts. Title name looks average but the tag line's font looks really poor.

TPW Rating- 3.5/5

2. Aferim! (2016)

Copyright- Parada Film, Micro Film

Aferim! is a Romanian film releasing mid-January on USA. With the dusky look of the poster we can guess that there could be some Western element on the film. The simplicity of the poster is really striking and fonts are also blending with the poster design work. Cool and innovative thinking! Suggestion also exists to understand the storyline.

TPW Rating- 4/5
  
3. Jane Got A Gun (2016)

Copyright- The Weinstein Company

Another Western on our list! This Natalie Portman starrer film poster is really a very good composition of ideas. Gaze of the character, cloudy background behind, her holding of the gun, 19th Century dress-up and amazing use of fat fonts really mingle with each other and gives us a fascinating yet not spectacular poster. Grey and gloomy at it's best!

TPW Rating- 4.5/5

04 Dreamlike Album Art from Baroness

Baroness is an American heavy metal band originated from Virginia and established on 2003. Many members of the band actually united under Baroness when almost all of them came from two other bands named Johnny Welfare and Paychecks. In last 12 years they have produced 04 fine music albums with critical and popular success. Along with the music, album artworks of Baroness also have generated massive praise. Last 18 December 2015, Baroness released their album no.4 Purple.

The Poster World brings to you all 04 dreamlike artworks from Baroness.   Artworks of all o4 albums were created by the Vocal and rhythm guitarist of the band John Dyer Baizley.  

1. Red Album (2007)

Copyright- Relapse Records

Artwork from Baizley is really remarkable. Use of red, background, birds, human body shapes along with blank expressions make this cover an amazing one. This theme was followed on later album covers too.

TPW Rating- 5/5
  
2. Blue Record (2009)

Copyright- Relapse Records

Another similar composition by Baizley. Again use of two figures blended with the color mentioned on album name. Use of nature with two beautiful ladies making this cover a celebration of art.

TPW Rating- 5/5

3. Yellow & Green (2012)

Copyright- Relapse Records

This time Baizley gets bit violent. There are human figures with few flamingos surrounding them. One lady is carrying flamed candle on her head, a sword on her hand and another's head is pinned. Mysteriously haunting!

TPW Rating- 4.5/5

4. Purple (2015)

Copyright- Abraxan Hymns

Another artwork inspired by the influence of nature. There are animals, flowers, sky lines and flowers all around 04 naked human figures. Baizley illustrated a perfect blend of his thought and with this cover really established his own language on art. Beautifully moving!

TPW Rating- 5/5

For more artworks from John Dyer Baizley you can visit- A Perfect Monster

Noah and the Whale Discography on 04 Amazing Posters

Few years back, some of the friends from Twickenham, London were actually enjoying an Indie movie named 'The Squid and The Whale', directed by upcoming new director Noah Baumbach. After the movie finished it immediately became their most favorite movie. They wanted to do something with this exquisite experience. As they were friends and have massive ambition with music, they tried to name their band with the film's name. Instead they chose the first part of director's name and the last part of his movie's name, and named it 'Noah and the Whale'. That's how their little story of 'Indie' success began. Little because they split up recently. Noah and the Whale had created a lot of buzz among young music fans among the world, mostly because of their fresh style of music and youth oriented lyrics. They not only enchanted with music and lyrics, as their album cover also been really catchy. The Poster World (TPW) brings you here 04 really cool album covers of Noah and the Whale.

01. Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down  (2008) 

Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down

This debut album by Noah and the Whale was well received and earned a spot on UK singles top chart. One word to describe this album cover is it's 'peaceful'. Looks like it's kind of a park and there are couple of trees. We can't quite understand those human like figures as those are painted with some 'hard to understand' ideas. It looks good, fonts are catchy but bit complex overall.

TPW Rating: 2.5/5 

2. The First Days of Spring (2009)

The First Days of Spring

This critically acclaimed album raised the popularity of Noah and the Whale by miles. The album cover for this album was really great as it had a fresh Indie look with some questions also raised. Mr. Fink, one of the member of the band, upfront, with a telescope or something and he also is the only focused man on the cover as other members are out of focus behind. Is it indicating that Fink and his personal life inspired this album a lot? May be. May be not.

TPW Rating: 5/5            

3. Last Night on Earth (2011) 

Last Night on Earth

This third album by the band topped the UK chart again and found number 8 position. Music wise it's bit different album than previous ones, because those one's didn't have a song like L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. If you haven't listened it yet, please do. The song is really inspiring. Album cover is the most stylish among others. Use of space and different shape of fonts also give a smart modern look to it. Look below, it also has something to do with the road.

TPW Rating: 4/5

4. Heart of Nowhere (2013)

Heart of Nowhere

The fourth and last album by the band before splitting up. This album also gave a half hour of short film with the album. Look at the cover. It's like people are on the suits of astronauts. Background color is quite similar of the previous album. This cover has a calm, subtle thing about it, also it gives an weired impression.

TPW Rating: 4/5      

14 Rocking Duran Duran Album Covers - Part 01

Duran Duran is one of the most influential and popular rock/pop band of not only UK, but also has fame among genuine pop lovers around the world. They were one of the most important bands of the MTV generated 'Second British Invasion' in Eighties. There are hints from different marketing point of view that they have sold more than 120 million records worldwide. Duran Duran was fashionable, free minded and liberal with nudity on their music videos. But they were also very ambitious as at that time they started shooting videos with 35 mm. They also established big screen projection on their concerts. Though the band's future was fading on late Nineties, they emerged gloriously and the old 5 members reunited big time. Still Duran Duran winning hearts of millions.

The Poster World would dig into all 14 studio albums by Duran Duran and their coming of age cover art works. On this first part we would discuss about their first 5 album covers from the self-titled debut album.

1. Duran Duran, 1981

Self-titled: Duran Duran

The first thing came to my mind after seeing this album cover was the famous poster of 'A Clockwork Orange'. May be it's bit inspired from that (or may be not). Fashion of Eighties is all over the band members look and dress up. They are standing, facing the camera with different style and trend of that time. Look at the red car and also the red background used. White and black dresses are really engaging a good chemistry. A regular classic cover.

2. Rio, 1982

Remember the lip of 'RIO'

Who is this girl anyway in the cover? This is my first impression after seeing the art work. An ever smiling face. A face you would fall in love easily. Obviously people felt in love with the music of the album. It became one the best British albums ever on different polls. It became so famous that even after thirty plus years the album was seen in a recent release of Tom Cruise named Oblivion. The cover is haunting yet keeping some mysteries on that smile.

3. Seven and the Ragged Tiger, 1983

Tiger based 'Seven and the Ragged Tiger' 

Not only it's a tiger themed album, the cover of it is also quite inspired by tigers. We can see tiger's parts on different corners of the album. The album name originally came from the idea that there are 5 members and 2 managers, so it would be seven and the ragged tiger is the other name of success. The album design also get inspired by these ideas, though the managers are not present on the cover. Or may be they are present by some symbols.  

4. Notorious, 1986

Bit gay cover of 'Notorious'

Inspired by the great film director Alfred Hitchcock and his movie names (like Notorious), this is Duran Duran's fourth album saw the light of a release after many difficulties surrounding the membership of the band. The cover art emphasized on only three members of that time excluding couple of former members. Though their look looks bit gay but in Eighties this cover was probably a super cool stuff.

5. Big Thing, 1988

Look at the Color and font size of 'Big Thing'

One of the big reasons behind the name 'Big Thing' is probably the big change in Duran Duran's musical pattern. In late Eighties the total musical scenario was changing, as more of a groove based ones, dance based music was becoming popular. Duran Duran chose that path and this decision in future would cause a fatal outcome. The font is not attractive at all on this cover. Colors are good but doesn't give a single information about the album. A below average cover in my opinion.

(To be continued)  

06 Strange Album Covers by Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine is not a band as we understand bands. It's a one man band like many others on Western music arena. Samuel 'Sam' Beam is an American singer-song writer who came to fame with his debut album 'The Creek Drank The Cradle'. His composition and voice are different compared to many contemporary artists and greatly influenced by the legendary artists like 'Simon & Garfunkel' and 'Nick Drake'. Till now Iron & Wine has 6 studio albums, 2 compilations, 3 live albums and many singles.

Iron & Wine album covers are weired and has a sheer expressionist touch. They don't want to say much and give a deep inside image of artist's mind and manner. The Poster World presents to you 'really really strange' album covers of 06 studio albums by Iron & Wine.       

01. The Creek Drank The Cradle - 2002

'The Creek Drank The Cradle'

This acclaimed debut album of Iron & Wine was released on a cardboard sleeve, where a reddish tree was painted at the left corner and beside the tree the artist and album name was printed. The whole composition is bit nihilist and also gives an impression of low-tone country-like folk music album.   

02. Our Endless Numbered Days - 2004

'Our Endless Numbered Days'

There is a song in the Album named 'Passing Afternoon', where the lyrics is something like- "There are things that drift away like our endless, numbered days." OK! A certain duality on the album named inspired by a beautiful soothing song from the album. On the album cover, we can see a Mr. Beam look-alike person is sleeping (or maybe only his eyes are closed) on a bed of grass. There are indications of a calm and serene philosophy behind the album design. To me it's a very good match with the music Iron & Wine generates.   

03. The Shepherd's Dog - 2007

'The Shepherd's Dog'

The third album cover by Iron & Wine is more simplistic compared to two of the previous albums. A dog is painted with a purple reddish tone in front of yellow background and it seems like the dog is looking at something or someone with eagerness. One of the track of this album was used on the Hollywood film 'Twilight'. No, I still can't get a reason behind using a dog on the cover.  

04. Kiss Each Other Clean - 2011

'Kiss Each Other Clean'

Yes, Mr. Beam is sinking (or up to his knee only) on the water, standing in front of large unearthly peacocks and hills. It is enough to make this cover a good one. But what makes the cover of the album unique is it's ghost like look and dream like subtleness. Album songs have similar characteristics. 

05. Ghost on Ghost - 2013

'Ghost on Ghost'

The fifth album of Iron & Wine by the name of 'Ghost on Ghost' probably has the most realistic cover of all other albums by them. Obviously we can see a close enough couple hanging out to some corner. But the whole incident (or only the significant portion) is locked on a larger than life frame. On a tiny space the names were printed. The whole composition seems like an Epitaph. OK... now we can relate it with ghost. Yes!     

06. Sing into My Mouth - 2015

'Sing into My Mouth'

The album is a cooperation of Iron & Wine with rock singer Ben Bridwell, who is famous for his band 'Band of Horses'. Again, this cover is a painting. I guess the guy on right is Bridwell, as he looks the same these days and he is comment clouding something. Let me think, it's 'Cheers!'. The album is releasing on 17th July, 2015.