There's still a lot of talk about music in terms of albums among younger generations from what I've seen. It might not be the defining artistic statement in popular music anymore, but the album is very much alive as a format in the way that, say, books are.
Just released, the New Pornographers' latest album Continue as a Guest has half the cover art on the front and half on the back - but not continuous across the fold. Instead, the bottom of the front cover is a continuation from the top of the back cover, so to see the art as one piece you'd need two copies or a pair of scissors. EDIT: I found the complete, intact picture online by searching the artist's name (Amy Casey).
Old cd version of this only had part of the image so it was really difficult to work out what she was doing. I'm still not fully sure. Is that a victorian pharmacy or a tea seller or what?
From Wikipedia: The album was issued in a gatefold sleeve with a distinctive cover photograph of Denny weighing seeds in an old fashioned apothecary shop. The image covered both the front and rear sleeve, and was taken by Keef (Macmillan) who went on to do a lot of work with another British female singer-songwriter: Kate Bush.[11] A two-disc Deluxe Edition was released by Island Records in 2011. It features the original album plus outtakes and demos, including a previously unreleased instrumental version of Lord Bateman.[12] I guess that the cover mirrors Sandy Denny's music, the meaning, if any, is left to our imagination.
I was trying to think of the word apothecary and got as far as alchemy and then went no. So I guess apothecary is probably a pre Victorian role that was replaced by pharmacist later. Possibly as science became more specific/precise etc.
You are spot on. Apothecary - Wikipedia When I began my career in 1984 one of the senior consultants remembered that when he began his career, perhaps in the late 1940s/early 50s, Foxglove Tea was prescribed for some heart conditions. Later this was replaced with digoxin, isolated from the Foxglove plant. The history of medicinal plants is fascinating, indeed the Royal College of Physicians, London has a garden containing 1100 such plants preserved for history. Garden of medicinal plants
Nice thread, really nice in fact, cool to see it resurrected Got a few of these gatefolds myself, make great displays. Got one on a table at the moment, but no picture handy: Loose Ends - Zagora, old British soul/funk album That Sandy Denny cover, I always just assumed it was marijuana she was weighing out?