Standard apologies for the long grass and the crumbling brickwork and blah blah. Long piece on poptimism later today - for now, take a look at the cover for College Dropout by Kanye West, and tell me if it's not setting the bar for sleeve artwork for 2004:



Was talking to my flatmate last night about the death of the "middle-underground" (for want of a better term) - ie, the gap in hip hop that currently exists between the bling and the beardy - and now I wonder, could Kanye West be the guy to remake that broken line? He's produced for Jay-Z and Ludacris, but his album cover is a man in a bear suit - it looks like it could be the artwork for an Eels record, for fuck's sake (only good). It's food for thought. And damn, another one gets added to my shopping list.