1000 RECORD COVERS

While us oldies bemoan the shift from vinyl to CD and the fact that it deprived us of one of the greatest pleasures of music ownership - that great 12 inch artwork that was the album sleeve, replaced by a tiddly five inch booklet that you need a magnifying glass to read - spare a thought for this generation with their i-Pods and downloaded mp3s - they get nothing at all to go with the music! Here is both an unashamed wallow in nostalgia for us, and a taste of what they are missing for them, 1000 album sleeves, split into three sections; the '60s, '70s and '80s & '90s, 90s from music archivist, disc jockey, journalist, and former record-publicity executive Michael Ochs's enormous private collection. Both a trip down memory lane and a study in the evolution of cover art, this is a sweeping look at an underappreciated art form. Many are works of art, for example Andy Warhol's covers including the banana he designed for The Velvet Underground. Printed in eye-popping colour throughout, each has a caption of artist, title, year of release, record label, sleeve designer and extra notes. Beautifully presented by Taschen, 14 x 19.5cm, 576 pages.