Having been a strictly music guy my whole life, the part of my brain that recognizes good visual aesthetics is at the level of a five-year-old. That’s the perspective from which I view album covers; to me, the cover has never been nearly as important as the music. As folders of mp3s gradually replace my physical collections, I hardly ever associate the albums with their covers beyond first glance.

But with my rudimentary art sense, I spotted a pattern in some of the music I’ve collected lately; black and white images keep popping up.

Throughout history, black and white album covers have served as stark nameplates for revolutionary bands like Pink Floyd and AC/DC. They’ve conveyed a particular mood for Led Zeppelin and Joy Division, and they’ve made T.I. and Jay Z look like thoughtful, serious men. Lady Gaga, or at least her team of marketers, seems to love achromatic covers, meaning they must have some element of mass appeal. However, for the black and white releases below, I don’t think anyone gave it that much thought. No one’s trying to be deep or epic or dark. The humor in some of these is apparent, and others look distinctly like something the musician, sharing my lack of visual sense, threw together just so they could post the damn album they just worked so hard on. That’s my kind of shit.

FROM CHAOS TO COSMOS
Aleph

This is the new album from a 19 year old kid who lives and produces in an isolated village in Siberia.

DRUGS
Lorn & Dolor

DRUGS is an apt title for this record. Note “DRUGS” and not just “DRUG.”

BACK ON TIME
Plug

Luke Vibert is back in the 160BPM range using the moniker under which he produced the best damn jungle album of all time.

BLACK ALBUM
Torky Tork

Making distinctly German instrumental hip hop, Torky Tork is the dang shiz naz nizzle, as evidenced here.

SXLND
Machinedrum

Like it or not, cheesy club music is cool again thanks to guys like Machindrum.

GNAC
Suff Daddy

I dare you not to turn your hat backwards and go “Haaaaaaaaaaa!”

DOMINO TONES
Ink

Finally there’s a guy from New York making this kind of stuff. Ink is brand new, and he’s pushing his breakout with a bunch of free music.

Follow Abdullah at @imyourkid.

Previously – Bloggers Are DJs