Apr 15: Maps on Vinyl

This is a chunky book and a great endeavour from the cartographer Damien Saunder. 

It is clothed in black cloth and with an embossed LP with cartographic meridians.

It features a wealth of album covers, quite a few of which are familiar but many of which are new to me. 

I have been discovering some new bands from this book, which is always a good sign.

Publishers' description:

Presenting 415 album covers – beautifully reproduced, expertly laid out and accompanied by deeply researched text – Maps on Vinyl will especially appeal to map enthusiasts, vinyl junkies, music fans, graphic designers and artists.

The book is the brainchild of renowned Australian cartographer Damien Saunder, whose expertise has been utilised by Apple, National Geographic, Earth (the world’s largest atlas) and even Roger Federer. A keen crate-digger, he has amassed possibly the world’s most extensive private collection of records featuring maps on their covers, resulting in this one-of-a-kind book. 


Records by artists including Madonna, Oasis, Coldplay, Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, XTC, MC5, Queen, New Order, James Brown, Brian Eno and Weezer are featured, with cover art created by many giants of the design world, including Peter Saville, Curtis McNair, Richard Gray, Alton Kelly, Stanley Mouse, Neville Garrick, Roger Dean and Pedro Bell.

The records headlined span music from 1939 to today, and the book is divided into eight chapters highlighting different aspects of the collection – ‘C(art)ography’, ‘We Built This City’, ‘On the Road’, ‘African Beats’, ‘Astroworlds’, ‘Ocean Whispers’, ‘Maps with Attitude’ and ‘Music from Here’.

Maps on Vinyl is a beautiful artefact, but it’s also an important historical and cultural document, revealing how maps have been used in album cover design to reinforce a lyrical story, share a political view, express concern for the state of the world or creatively identify the origins of the music and the people who make it.

My copy was was purchased from Stanford's in London and is a signed first edition, and was also purchased with my RGS discount.

It's definitely a coffee table kind of book. One to browse and point out - "oh yes, I had that on vinyl" or "one of my favourites"...

Jan 15: Maps on album covers

I'm interested in the imagery on album covers. 

This was far more significant and impactful when LPs were the norm - CDs are a little too small to get the full effect. 

One album which has maps on the cover is this one by Keane.

What other albums can you think of that have maps on their front covers?

Later in the month, I will be sharing a longer blog post on a book which focuses on this aspect of music: 'Maps on Vinyl' by Damien Saunder.

Can you suggest another LP that has a map on the front cover?

Add some thoughts in the comments.

Jan 11: Geographical features on Album covers

I remember when albums came on vinyl and inside a large 12" square cardboard sleeve, perhaps with additional liners, booklets and other designs which opened out in different ways. The cover design was important as were all the notes, lyrics and other elements of the packaging. 

CDs don't have the same magic, and of course many people now stream music rather than owning physical products.

Some album covers have geographical features on them, and there used to be a collection of these which I blogged about some time ago on my old Geography and all that Jazz blog. It's an idea that comes back from time to time.

Do you have ideas for examples of album covers which were quite geographical in their imagery. 

This would make a good challenge for students - to find a suitable image and then label it with the feature, although you may need to provide them with some.

Here's an example.

Houses of the Holy (1973) - Led Zeppelin

This was designed by Aubrey Powell, an Old Elean (which means he was a pupil at the school where I currently teach in Ely) and features the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.

More on his work with Hipgnosis later on the blog.

Here's one closer to home for me.

The Stranglers had an album in 2004 called 'Norfolk Coast' and the cover photo by Harrison Funk was taken on the Norfolk coast... at Hunstanton. It was mostly written by their bass player who retreated to Holme-next-the-Sea on the coast in 1999 when feeling disillusioned and wrote a lot of music which became the album.

The cover is shot on the carstone boulders revealed when the tide goes out at Hunstanton near to its famous stripy cliffs.

Sadly, the seaweed which used to cloak the boulders has largely disappeared over the years...

Maps also feature on lots of albums of course, and I shall certainly be sharing examples from the wonderful book 'Maps on Vinyl' by cartographer Damien Saunder which I have on the shelves of my GeoLibrary. More on this to come.

Can you share your favourite examples of geographical features on album covers?

Visit the Google Form here to make your suggestions and I'll add some of them in a later update post.