Alberto Vieceli's massive new volume Pet Sounds collects vinyl record sleeves from all different music genres that depict the artist(s) with animals. Examples include the obscure and the super exotic, but among better known artists you'll find The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Alice Cooper, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, John Lennon, Paul Mc-Cartney, Patti Smith Group, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Chér, Giorgo Moroder, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens, Johnny Guitar Watson, Brigitte Bardot, Tina Turner, Nico, Joan Baez, Art Blakey And The Jazzmessengers, Herbie Mann, Johnny Hallyday, Otis Redding, Sparks, Turbonegro, The Kinks, Billie Holiday, Vladimir Horowitz, Barbra Streisand, Carole King, Alvin Stardust, Suzi Quatro, Sylvie Vartan, Dionne Warwick, Olivia Newton-John, Wilco, Jack Bruce, Wilbur De Paris, Sheila E., Eartha Kitt, Whitney Houston, Tears For Fears, Françoise Hardy, Claude François, Adrian Belew, Julio Iglesias, Juliette Greco and so many more. Vieceli, author of Holding the Camera, Animal Greetings from the UK, Saluti dal Mare, 212 Postcards and co-author of The End of Books, 336 books and 336 pages and Money,' says of this latest project, "This collection includes around 320 record covers that do not follow any musical ordering principle; the only thing the illustrations have in common is their subject, namely people and animals. But what does an animal actually do on a record cover? And what does that do to us? What does this dual appearance say about the relationship between humans and animals? Or rather, what does it say about our view of these beings? Many of them show musicians and their pets, so the record sleeves have a biographical and personal touch. The special relationship between the protagonists of these photographs can also be seen in their body language. Humans and animals are often shown in a loving 'embrace' or at least physically close to each other. After creating the world and the animals, God created human beings male and female and commanded them to rule the earth and its living beings. Which they promptly did. Given the challenges of the Anthropocene, it is becoming increasingly clear that humans are not autonomous beings, but can only be defined by their relationship to other non-humachines that can be exploited at will. Especially today the question arises with particular urgency as to how we want to meet our companions and fellow beings. Is that why these pictures touch us so strongly? Or maybe we have a guilty conscience? Perhaps these pictures simply speak of the magic of the encounter between humans and animals. In the hope that we can learn to inhabit this planet together as equal conspecifics, we may well enjoy this whimsical collection of images." Everyedition, 320pp, 21.5cm x 29cm, illustrated paperback, 2023
