Some images are iconic. Marilyn Monroe trying her darnedest to cover her crotch. Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue. Donald Trump fist-pumping the air after being shot in the ear. And it may be that the cover of FlyIvee’s Came Back Around — the smoky blue crystal, likely a Vietnamese aquamarine, a kind of beryl, tapered slightly to one end, imperfect, one can see two scars on its otherwise flawless cuts — has become equally iconic.
Set against a black background, the contrast makes it pop. It’s simple, yet evocative in its simplicity; it certainly pulled me in to listen to the song. One is almost reminded of the pure black pillar, the monolith, in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey; however, here, with the crystal, these colours are reversed. It hovers, as if floating, perhaps caught in the dark vastness of space, perhaps caught inside the monolith. And, having achieved an iconic status, such images are widely shared.
This explains why FlyIvee is not the only one to have used the iconic blue crystal set against a black background as the cover art for their music. Many others in history have.
Take, for example, S’Therra’s The Fallen:
Or i luv lyfe’s crystal:
Or Jay Jai’s LIFE:
Or Crystal Clear’s $33K:
Or Lil Dub’s CHECKS:
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To read the rest of this review — and more by Steve Schmolaris — visit his website Bad Gardening Advice.
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Steve Schmolaris is the founder of the Schmolaris Prize, “the most prestigious prize in all of Manitoba,” which he first awarded in 1977. Each year, he awards the prize to the best album of the year. He does not have a profession but, having come from money (his father, “the Millionaire of East Schmelkirk,” left him his fortune when he died in 1977), Steve is a patron of the arts. Inspired by the exquisite detail of a holotype, the collective intelligence of slime mold, the natural world and the suffering inherent within it — and also music (fuck, he loves music!) — Steve has long been writing reviews of Winnipeg artists’ songs and albums at his website Bad Gardening Advice, leading to the publication of a book of the same name.
