Our favourite artwork and packaging of 2019

By in Features

Box sets, limited editions and a game console.

Our final rundown of 2019 explores the releases that have made a virtue of physicality, exploring new and novel ways to communicate musical ideas.

Whether in Hyperdub’s Sega Mega Drive collaboration, or Björk’s hand-carved flute set, artists and labels have challenged the idea of listening as a passive pursuit, encouraging fans to become active participants in the music.

While several labels pushed the boat out on specific releases, as seen in Special Request’s mirror-board Offworld LP, or Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto’s minimalist, book-bound live album Two, others celebrated anniversaries this year, capturing decades of music in expanded box sets.

For Warp, that took the form of their WXAXRXP live sessions collection, while for reggae label VP Records, a set of four 12″s was accompanied by seven 7″s, alongside books and character cards to tell the story of the influential imprint in more detail.

Collecting artists and musicians with an eye for the visual, here are some of our favourites of 2019.

Check out the rest of VF’s 2019 round-ups here:

Our 50 favourite albums of 2019
Our 20 favourite 12″s and EPs of 2019
Our 10 favourite 7″s and 10″s of 2019
Our 30 favourite reissues of 2019
Our 12 favourite reissue singles of 2019
Our favourite soundtracks of 2019
Our favourite music books of 2019
The best turntables of 2019
The best speakers of 2019
The best amplifiers of 2019
The best headphones of 2019


Analogue x Hyperdub

Konsolation

(Hyperdub)

Buy / More info


Björk

Utopia

(One Little Indian)

Buy / More info


Art Ensemble of Chicago

We Are On The Edge

(Erased Tapes)

Buy / More info


Various Artists

WXAXRXP Box Set

(Warp)

Buy / More info


Taryn Simon

An Occupation of Loss

(The Vinyl Factory)

Buy / More info


Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto

Two

(noton)

Buy / More info


Special Request

Offworld

(Houndstooth)

Buy / More info


Fragile Self

Fragile Self

(Deperson Society)

Buy / More info


Various Artists

Down In Jamaica: 40 Years Of VP Records

(VP Records)

Buy / More info


White Stripes

White Stripes 3″ Singles Collection

(Third Man Records)

Buy / More info


Artwork by Patrick Savile.