Indie
28 cover stories
Independent labels gave designers freedom that major labels rarely allowed. The result: some of the most distinctive and personal album art ever created, from 4AD's ethereal designs to Merge Records' handcrafted sleeves.
Surfer Rosa
Pixies · 1988
Neon Bible
Arcade Fire · 2007
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Neko Case · 2006
Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Fiona Apple · 2020
Person Pitch
Panda Bear · 2007
The Reminder
Feist · 2007
Transatlanticism
Death Cab for Cutie · 2003
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Arctic Monkeys · 2006
Lonerism
Tame Impala · 2012
Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
Bright Eyes · 2002
Hatful of Hollow
The Smiths · 1984
Louder Than Bombs
The Smiths · 1987
Spiderland
Slint · 1991
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Pavement · 1994
Silent Alarm
Bloc Party · 2005
The Moon & Antarctica
Modest Mouse · 2000
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips · 2002
Turn on the Bright Lights
Interpol · 2002
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend · 2008
Parklife
Blur · 1994
Illinois
Sufjan Stevens · 2005
Un Verano Sin Ti
Bad Bunny · 2022
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Neutral Milk Hotel · 1998
The Queen Is Dead
The Smiths · 1986
Funeral
Arcade Fire · 2004
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses · 0
Is This It
The Strokes · 0
Hot Fuss
The Killers · 0