After a 12 year hiatus, the Alex Awards returned this week to honor the best in vinyl record packaging at a ceremony at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit. The Alex Awards was last presented in 2006 when it had been primarily a competition honoring the best in DVD, CD and video game packaging.
A panel of award-winning art directors judged 124 submissions in the 8 categories.
The Alex Awards are named after Alex Steinweiss, who created the first illustrated album package for Columbia Records in 1939. He died I 2011 at 94. Mr. Steinweiss’s son and grandson participated in the ceremony. The awards were were produced by Larry Jaffee for Colonial Purchasing Co-op LLC, the presenter of Making Vinyl, a B2B conference dedicated to the global rebirth of the record manufacturing business.
BEST ILLUSTRATED LP COVER
• Aimee Mann, Mental Illness
• Father John Mistry, Pure Comedy
• Gillian Welch, The Harrows and the Harvest
• Queens of the Stone Age, Villains
• Record Store Day Celebrates Leonard Cohen
—Winner: Aimee Mann
—Runner-up: Father John Mistry
BEST PHOTO LP COVER
• Alejandro Escovdeo, Burn Something Beautiful
• Common, The Light
• The Protomen, A Night of Queen
• Waxahatachee, Out in the Storm
• Willie Nile, Positively Bob
—Winner: Waxahatachee
—Runner-up: Common
BEST 45 SINGLE PACKAGE
• Alice Cooper, Live From the Astroturf
• Chris Un Tina, Incognito
• Jack White, Love Is The Truth
• Margo Price, Weakness
• Sun Ra, El Is A Sound of Joy
—Winner: Alice Cooper
—Runner-up: Margo Price
BEST GATEFOLD
• Dead Weather, Live at the Mayan
• Polyvinyl Plays Polyvinyl
• The National, Sleep Well Beast
• UNKLE, The Road, Part 1
• Yaz Ahmed, La Sabouteus
—Winner: UNKLE
—Runner-up: The National
BEST RECORD ART
• Blowfly, Forever Fly
• The Monks, Hamburg Recordings 1967
• My Chemical Romance, Welcome to the Black Parade
• Weather Warlock
• Yautja, Dead Soil
—Winner: The Monks
—Runner-up: My Chemical Romance
BEST REISSUE PACKAGE
• Andromeda Strain Soundtrack
• John Cale, The Academy in Peril
• Rolling Stones, Their Satanic Majesties Request
• T.Rex, Electric Warrior
• The White Stripes
— Winner Tie: John Cale and Andromeda Strain
— Runner-up: The White Stripes
BEST BOXED SET
• Blondie, Pollinator
• Kate Bush, Before the Dawn
• Rolling Stones, Their Satanic Majesties Request
• Voyager, 40th Anniversary Edition
• White Stripes, Vault 33, X, Icky Thump
—Winner: Voyager
—Runner-ups Tie: Blondie & White Stripes
BEST OVERALL PACKAGE
• AKATRE, BLCK RCK
• Alejando Escovedo, Burn Something Beautiful
• Margo Price, Live at the Hamilton
• Pet Symmetry, Vision
• White Stripes, Vault 33, X, Icky Thump
—Runner-up: Margo Price
—Winners: AKATRE & Pet Symmetry