Hall of Awesome, Part 2

Alright, ladies and gentlemen! Here's part 2 (of an estimated 102 parts) of the 2005 DiMattiaFilms Hall of Awesome: the best of movies and music for the halfway mark of the first decade of the new millennium.*

Best CD Packaging:

• Michael Holt/Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Someone Still Loves You Michael Holt
  One of the coolest album packages I've ever had the pleasure of owning (at least until Catbird Records releases their next album), this split LP between Holt and recent indie-darlings SSLYBY featured 250 individually-painted album covers and a hand-bound notebook. Pretty damn awesome, if you ask me. Sadly, they've sold all their copies, so if you're looking for an album that's probably much easier to find...
  
  
• Gorillaz, Demon Days: Special Edition
  While I don't know if it's worth paying $10 more for than the regular album, the package is beautiful, complete with a fold out cover featuring drawings of all four Gorillaz members, as well as a booklet smothered with kickass Jamie Hewlett artwork, lyrics, and a bonus DVD featuring the video for "Feel Good Inc." It looks like Amazon's got it used for thirteen bucks. I say go for it.

Best Album Artwork:
(click on the pictures for a larger view)

• Andrew Bird, The Mysterious Production of Eggs (Jay Ryan)
  The illustrations of Jay Ryan are equal parts whimsical and slightly unnerving, like a children's book written by Crispin Glover.
  
  
  
  
  
• Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Zack Nipper)
  Beautiful patchwork adorns this album cover. My only question is who ended up with the blanket afterwards?
  
  
  
  
  
• The Chemical Brothers, Push the Button (Kam Tang)
  Kam Tang's artwork for the Brothers' latest strays from the psychedelic nature of their last two albums and instead is inspired by the work of Saul Bass. Very cool, indeed.
  
  
  
  
• The Mars Volta, Frances the Mute (Storm Thorgerson, Peter Curzon, Dan Abbott, Bill Thorgerson)
  Storm Thorgerson is always interesting, even after years and years of crafting bizarre and disturbing album covers for Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and hundreds of others. Now, he takes Mars Volta's musical ideas and translates them visually, making the artwork for Frances the Mute almost as important as the music itself.
  
  
• Various Artists, Verve Remixed 3 (Hollis King, audio sculpture by David Ellis)
  The cool audio sculptures of David Ellis make for an easy translation to album covers.

Coming soon! We'll all get a little depressed as I talk about the Worst Movies of the Year and the Most Disappointing Albums of the Year!!

As always, feel free to discuss your favorite album cover and/or package in the comments!

*This phrase has probably already been copyrighted by VH1.