The Stylishly Alternative Covers

Beirut: Gulag Orkestar (2006) For Zach Condon, the face behind Beirut, photographs obviously have the power to inspire music. He found this image -- a yellowed frame of two women leaning against a car by the obscure Russian photographer Sergey Chilikov -- in a book, tore it out, and kept it taped to his wall while recording his debut album. "I always kind of felt like, 'It's got to sound like that. It's got to sound the way that looks,'" he explained in a 2007 Pitchfork interview. Beirut's second album, The Flying Club Cup, also took shape from a surreal and historic image. -- MJ