Still Corners: Strange Pleasures (Sub Pop, 5/7/13)
The London-based duo’s latest effort summons a cross between a water damaged photograph and a half-remembered dream.
Peals: Walking Field (Thrill Jockey, 5/14/13)
Pure sensory bliss: plush crushed velvet and softly twinkling lights.
Man or Astro-Man?: Defcon 5…4…3…2…1… (Communicating Vessels / Chunklet, 5/21/13)
It may be the band’s first album in 12 years, but Man or Astro-Man?’s album art hasn’t changed, preserving the pulpy sci-fi look that we know and love.
NK: Nothing to Be Gained Here (Triple Crown, 5/21/13)
It’s cute even when you realize he’s plugged into his own rectum.
Shining: One One One (Prosthetic, 5/28/13)
Black font on day-glo orange — clean, simple, and effective.
Bibio: Silver Wilkinson (Warp, 5/14/13)
Bibio’s latest record, the diverse and soft-spoken Silver Wilkinson, features a psychedelic springtime scene as an album cover. Bonus points for the great typography, which manages to pull off a lack of kerning without driving art directors around the world to madness.
Honorable mention
Sadgiqacea: False Prism (Candlelight, 5/7/13)
Honorable mention
Apparat: Krieg und Frieden (Music for Theatre) (Mute, 5/7/13)
Honorable mention
Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City (XL, 5/14/13)
Honorable mention
Zoon van Snook: The Bridge Between Life and Death (!K7, 5/20/13)