Douglas Witmer

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

chinapainting package design

As it's obvious by now, I'm in a phase of musical involvement. My close friend (and high school band collaborator) Daryl's project Chinapainting has a new record. I did the package design. It was released yesterday. I think it's a terrific album, it rewards an open, slow listen. You can sample and order it here.

They're an interesting duo and you should read the story of their collaboration on their site. But essentially, Daryl met and exclusively performed with his bandmate Jim for more than a year over the internet. Their first album was recorded with a piece of internet software that allows musicians to play live together from remote sites. The new record was their first recorded live with them both in the same room, in this case a studio in Woodstock, NY, where during the course of the sessions, the night blooming cereus in the studio opened for it's one appearance each year. The cover art features the image of the cereus, layered with long-exposure photos of Juan illuminated by the light of those glowsticks you often see at street festivals.