Next week, Hen’s Teeth Prints, This Greedy Pig & ChoiceCuts present ‘Fantasy 12’, an artwork-focused series of events and an exhibition.
The question asked of designers and record labels behind some of their favourite album covers was:
“If you could release a record from any iconic artist (past or present), what would the cover look like?”
Those asked include Vlad Sepetov, B Plus, Stephen Serato, Cecilia Martinez, Eric Coleman, Paul Diddy, Errol Richardson, Lemi Ghariokwu, Nick Gazin, Shit Robot, Donal Thornton, Delphine Ettinger, James Marsh, Ian Anderson, Dewey Saunders, Jonny Costello and Lewis Heriz.
Collectively, they are responsible for artwork from Kendrick Lamar, Prince, DJ Shadow, Flying Lotus, Lobster Theremin, Mochilla, Luaka Bop Records, William Onyeabor, Fela Kuti, Run The Jewels, DFA Records, All City Records, Hyperdub, Talk Talk, Aphex Twin, Warp Records, Anderson Paak, Jamiroquai and Soundway Records.
They were then asked to come up with the fantasy artwork. The results will be displayed at The Copper House Gallery, Synge Lane, Dublin 8 from October 13th.
Accompanying the exhibition, is a weekend of live music, DJs and talks and 3 gigs at the Sugar Club including:
Friday 14th October
Edan The Disk Jokk, DJ Scope and Handsome Paddy 10.30pm @ The Sugar Club: €10 plus booking fee
Saturday 15th October
Alex Nut (NTS, Eglo Records) and Colm K
10pm @ The Sugar Club: €10 plus booking fee
Saturday 15th October
A ‘Fantasy 12’ Banter discussion with Jim Carroll Doors 6pm €15 plus booking fee – inc. free entry to the late event plus a free ltd poster
featuring a panel of artists including Vlad Sepetov, the designer of Kendrick Lamar’s Too Pimp A Butterfly and Vice Magazine Art Director Nick Gazin, discussing their iconic album artwork and influences with Jim Carroll.
Prize
So if you’d like to win 2:
2 x tickets to both of the late events
1 x limited edition print from the Fantasy 12” collection
1 x box of Miller or bottle of house wine on the night
Just tell me your favourite artwork with a link or image in the comments before next Tuesday 11th October to be in with the chance to win.

Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
I’ve always loved the cover of ‘McCartney’ (1970) by Paul McCartney. Such a striking photo and it fits the tone of the album perfectly. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/687556a13ac0975f50c4c2c8d8dd5d90a3da4d8772251199ed245a66d4be83df.jpg
Any of the stuff Leif Podhajsky has done for Tame Impala, particularly the Innerspeaker cover.
He’d been doing a lot of Foals’ artwork as well & it’s all brilliant.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e08a8278182b6fe22790fa0c06db1dd3d35b00d5e191d70617d98f015230b86a.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8f4bac0dce7f9d40d87a61c14c13eea01b1e1a615b271c00dece203d03619621.jpg
I love the artwork for 808s & Heartbreak by Kanye West (specifically the Deluxe Edition artwork, even though both are very similar). While it might not be as lively as Graduation before it, it really sums up how big of a departure the album was from anything Kanye had made in the past, and it does so and a simplistic but still beautiful way.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8036765347195b49c5a5106467df8c385330821716f85cc3c9fdeec46e549dce.jpg
Plastic Beach by Gorillaz
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/42387c2ce2d4a33c5e3c76008b465a4dee235eac4c24a0c62ff662ca8214627f.jpg
I’ve always loved the Lemon Jelly art, especially Lost Horizons. I just love the colours. More recently though, my eye keeps being caught by FKA Twigs’ first album cover by Jesse Kanda. It’s creepy and beautiful all at the same time, like a melting wax work.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2f576d5bef34bde424940f22b7db9dffb33ad20a36d95e095bb22504810da3a9.jpg