diff --git a/maloja/data_files/cache/images/dummy b/maloja/data_files/cache/images/dummy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/maloja/images.py b/maloja/images.py
index e6ffec7..151c0cd 100644
--- a/maloja/images.py
+++ b/maloja/images.py
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ import base64
 import requests
 import datauri
 import io
-from threading import Thread, Timer, BoundedSemaphore
+from threading import Lock
+from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
 import re
 import datetime
 
@@ -20,209 +21,258 @@ import sqlalchemy as sql
 
 
 
+MAX_RESOLVE_THREADS = 10
+
+
+# remove old db file (columns missing)
+try:
+	os.remove(data_dir['cache']('images.sqlite'))
+except:
+	pass
 
 DB = {}
-engine = sql.create_engine(f"sqlite:///{data_dir['cache']('images.sqlite')}", echo = False)
+engine = sql.create_engine(f"sqlite:///{data_dir['cache']('imagecache.sqlite')}", echo = False)
 meta = sql.MetaData()
 
+dblock = Lock()
+
 DB['artists'] = sql.Table(
 	'artists', meta,
 	sql.Column('id',sql.Integer,primary_key=True),
 	sql.Column('url',sql.String),
 	sql.Column('expire',sql.Integer),
-	sql.Column('raw',sql.String)
+#	sql.Column('raw',sql.String)
+	sql.Column('local',sql.Boolean),
+	sql.Column('localproxyurl',sql.String)
 )
 DB['tracks'] = sql.Table(
 	'tracks', meta,
 	sql.Column('id',sql.Integer,primary_key=True),
 	sql.Column('url',sql.String),
 	sql.Column('expire',sql.Integer),
-	sql.Column('raw',sql.String)
+#	sql.Column('raw',sql.String)
+	sql.Column('local',sql.Boolean),
+	sql.Column('localproxyurl',sql.String)
 )
 DB['albums'] = sql.Table(
 	'albums', meta,
 	sql.Column('id',sql.Integer,primary_key=True),
 	sql.Column('url',sql.String),
 	sql.Column('expire',sql.Integer),
-	sql.Column('raw',sql.String)
+#	sql.Column('raw',sql.String)
+	sql.Column('local',sql.Boolean),
+	sql.Column('localproxyurl',sql.String)
 )
 
 meta.create_all(engine)
 
-def get_image_from_cache(id,table):
+def get_id_and_table(track_id=None,artist_id=None,album_id=None):
+	if track_id:
+		return track_id,'tracks'
+	elif album_id:
+		return album_id,'albums'
+	elif artist_id:
+		return artist_id,'artists'
+
+def get_image_from_cache(track_id=None,artist_id=None,album_id=None):
 	now = int(datetime.datetime.now().timestamp())
+	entity_id, table = get_id_and_table(track_id=track_id,artist_id=artist_id,album_id=album_id)
+
 	with engine.begin() as conn:
 		op = DB[table].select().where(
-			DB[table].c.id==id,
+			DB[table].c.id==entity_id,
 			DB[table].c.expire>now
 		)
 		result = conn.execute(op).all()
 	for row in result:
-		if row.raw is not None:
-			return {'type':'raw','value':row.raw}
+		if row.local:
+			return {'type':'localurl','value':row.url}
+		elif row.localproxyurl:
+			return {'type':'localurl','value':row.localproxyurl}
 		else:
 			return {'type':'url','value':row.url} # returns None as value if nonexistence cached
 	return None # no cache entry
 
-def set_image_in_cache(id,table,url):
-	remove_image_from_cache(id,table)
-	now = int(datetime.datetime.now().timestamp())
-	if url is None:
-		expire = now + (malojaconfig["CACHE_EXPIRE_NEGATIVE"] * 24 * 3600)
-	else:
-		expire = now + (malojaconfig["CACHE_EXPIRE_POSITIVE"] * 24 * 3600)
+def set_image_in_cache(url,track_id=None,artist_id=None,album_id=None,local=False):
+	remove_image_from_cache(track_id=track_id,artist_id=artist_id,album_id=album_id)
+	entity_id, table = get_id_and_table(track_id=track_id,artist_id=artist_id,album_id=album_id)
 
-	raw = dl_image(url)
+	with dblock:
+		now = int(datetime.datetime.now().timestamp())
+		if url is None:
+			expire = now + (malojaconfig["CACHE_EXPIRE_NEGATIVE"] * 24 * 3600)
+		else:
+			expire = now + (malojaconfig["CACHE_EXPIRE_POSITIVE"] * 24 * 3600)
 
-	with engine.begin() as conn:
-		op = DB[table].insert().values(
-			id=id,
-			url=url,
-			expire=expire,
-			raw=raw
-		)
-		result = conn.execute(op)
+		if not local and malojaconfig["PROXY_IMAGES"] and url is not None:
+			localproxyurl = dl_image(url)
+		else:
+			localproxyurl = None
 
-def remove_image_from_cache(id,table):
-	with engine.begin() as conn:
-		op = DB[table].delete().where(
-			DB[table].c.id==id,
-		)
-		result = conn.execute(op)
+		with engine.begin() as conn:
+			op = DB[table].insert().values(
+				id=entity_id,
+				url=url,
+				expire=expire,
+				local=local,
+				localproxyurl=localproxyurl
+			)
+			result = conn.execute(op)
+
+def remove_image_from_cache(track_id=None,artist_id=None,album_id=None):
+	entity_id, table = get_id_and_table(track_id=track_id,artist_id=artist_id,album_id=album_id)
+
+	with dblock:
+		with engine.begin() as conn:
+			op = DB[table].delete().where(
+				DB[table].c.id==entity_id,
+			)
+			result = conn.execute(op)
+
+	# TODO delete proxy
 
 def dl_image(url):
-	if not malojaconfig["PROXY_IMAGES"]: return None
-	if url is None: return None
-	if url.startswith("/"): return None #local image
 	try:
 		r = requests.get(url)
 		mime = r.headers.get('content-type') or 'image/jpg'
 		data = io.BytesIO(r.content).read()
-		uri = datauri.DataURI.make(mime,charset='ascii',base64=True,data=data)
-		log(f"Downloaded {url} for local caching")
-		return uri
+		#uri = datauri.DataURI.make(mime,charset='ascii',base64=True,data=data)
+		targetname = '%030x' % random.getrandbits(128)
+		targetpath = data_dir['cache']('images',targetname)
+		with open(targetpath,'wb') as fd:
+			fd.write(data)
+		return os.path.join("/cacheimages",targetname)
 	except Exception:
 		log(f"Image {url} could not be downloaded for local caching")
 		return None
 
 
 
+
+resolver = ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=MAX_RESOLVE_THREADS)
+
 ### getting images for any website embedding now ALWAYS returns just the generic link
 ### even if we have already cached it, we will handle that on request
 def get_track_image(track=None,track_id=None):
 	if track_id is None:
 		track_id = database.sqldb.get_track_id(track,create_new=False)
 
-	return f"/image?type=track&id={track_id}"
+	if malojaconfig["USE_ALBUM_ARTWORK_FOR_TRACKS"]:
+		if track is None:
+			track = database.sqldb.get_track(track_id)
+		if track.get("album"):
+			album_id = database.sqldb.get_album_id(track["album"])
+			return get_album_image(album_id=album_id)
 
+	resolver.submit(resolve_image,track_id=track_id)
+
+	return f"/image?track_id={track_id}"
 
 def get_artist_image(artist=None,artist_id=None):
 	if artist_id is None:
 		artist_id = database.sqldb.get_artist_id(artist,create_new=False)
 
-	return f"/image?type=artist&id={artist_id}"
+	resolver.submit(resolve_image,artist_id=artist_id)
+
+	return f"/image?artist_id={artist_id}"
 
 def get_album_image(album=None,album_id=None):
 	if album_id is None:
 		album_id = database.sqldb.get_album_id(album,create_new=False)
 
-	return f"/image?type=album&id={album_id}"
+	resolver.submit(resolve_image,album_id=album_id)
+
+	return f"/image?album_id={album_id}"
 
 
-resolve_semaphore = BoundedSemaphore(8)
+# this is to keep track of what is currently being resolved
+# so new requests know that they don't need to queue another resolve
+image_resolve_controller_lock = Lock()
+image_resolve_controller = {
+	'artists':set(),
+	'albums':set(),
+	'tracks':set()
+}
 
+# this function doesn't need to return any info
+# it runs async to do all the work that takes time and only needs to write the result
+# to the cache so the synchronous functions (http requests) can access it
+def resolve_image(artist_id=None,track_id=None,album_id=None):
+	result = get_image_from_cache(artist_id=artist_id,track_id=track_id,album_id=album_id)
+	if result is not None:
+		# No need to do anything
+		return
 
-def resolve_track_image(track_id):
+	if artist_id:
+		entitytype = 'artist'
+		table = 'artists'
+		getfunc, entity_id = database.sqldb.get_artist, artist_id
+	elif track_id:
+		entitytype = 'track'
+		table = 'tracks'
+		getfunc, entity_id = database.sqldb.get_track, track_id
+	elif album_id:
+		entitytype = 'album'
+		table = 'albums'
+		getfunc, entity_id = database.sqldb.get_album, album_id
 
-	if malojaconfig["USE_ALBUM_ARTWORK_FOR_TRACKS"]:
-		track = database.sqldb.get_track(track_id)
-		if "album" in track:
-			album_id = database.sqldb.get_album_id(track["album"])
-			albumart = resolve_album_image(album_id)
-			if albumart:
-				return albumart
+	# is another thread already working on this?
+	with image_resolve_controller_lock:
+		if entity_id in image_resolve_controller[table]:
+			return
+		else:
+			image_resolve_controller[table].add(entity_id)
 
-	with resolve_semaphore:
-		# check cache
-		result = get_image_from_cache(track_id,'tracks')
-		if result is not None:
-			return result
-
-		track = database.sqldb.get_track(track_id)
+	try:
+		entity = getfunc(entity_id)
 
 		# local image
 		if malojaconfig["USE_LOCAL_IMAGES"]:
-			images = local_files(track=track)
+			images = local_files(**{entitytype: entity})
 			if len(images) != 0:
 				result = random.choice(images)
 				result = urllib.parse.quote(result)
-				result = {'type':'url','value':result}
-				set_image_in_cache(track_id,'tracks',result['value'])
+				result = {'type':'localurl','value':result}
+				set_image_in_cache(artist_id=artist_id,track_id=track_id,album_id=album_id,url=result['value'],local=True)
 				return result
 
 		# third party
-		result = thirdparty.get_image_track_all((track['artists'],track['title']))
+		if artist_id:
+			result = thirdparty.get_image_artist_all(entity)
+		elif track_id:
+			result = thirdparty.get_image_track_all((entity['artists'],entity['title']))
+		elif album_id:
+			result = thirdparty.get_image_album_all((entity['artists'],entity['albumtitle']))
+
 		result = {'type':'url','value':result}
-		set_image_in_cache(track_id,'tracks',result['value'])
+		set_image_in_cache(artist_id=artist_id,track_id=track_id,album_id=album_id,url=result['value'])
+	finally:
+		with image_resolve_controller_lock:
+			image_resolve_controller[table].remove(entity_id)
 
+
+
+# the actual http request for the full image
+def image_request(artist_id=None,track_id=None,album_id=None):
+	# check cache
+	result = get_image_from_cache(artist_id=artist_id,track_id=track_id,album_id=album_id)
+	if result is not None:
+		# we got an entry, even if it's that there is no image (value None)
+		if result['value'] is None:
+			# use placeholder
+			placeholder_url = "https://generative-placeholders.glitch.me/image?width=300&height=300&style="
+			if artist_id:
+				result['value'] = placeholder_url + f"tiles&colors={artist_id % 100}"
+			if track_id:
+				result['value'] = placeholder_url + f"triangles&colors={track_id % 100}"
+			if album_id:
+				result['value'] = placeholder_url + f"joy-division&colors={album_id % 100}"
 		return result
+	else:
+		# no entry, which means we're still working on it
+		return {'type':'noimage','value':'wait'}
 
 
-def resolve_artist_image(artist_id):
-
-	with resolve_semaphore:
-		# check cache
-		result = get_image_from_cache(artist_id,'artists')
-		if result is not None:
-			return result
-
-		artist = database.sqldb.get_artist(artist_id)
-
-		# local image
-		if malojaconfig["USE_LOCAL_IMAGES"]:
-			images = local_files(artist=artist)
-			if len(images) != 0:
-				result = random.choice(images)
-				result = urllib.parse.quote(result)
-				result = {'type':'url','value':result}
-				set_image_in_cache(artist_id,'artists',result['value'])
-				return result
-
-		# third party
-		result = thirdparty.get_image_artist_all(artist)
-		result = {'type':'url','value':result}
-		set_image_in_cache(artist_id,'artists',result['value'])
-
-		return result
-
-
-def resolve_album_image(album_id):
-
-	with resolve_semaphore:
-		# check cache
-		result = get_image_from_cache(album_id,'albums')
-		if result is not None:
-			return result
-
-		album = database.sqldb.get_album(album_id)
-
-		# local image
-		if malojaconfig["USE_LOCAL_IMAGES"]:
-			images = local_files(album=album)
-			if len(images) != 0:
-				result = random.choice(images)
-				result = urllib.parse.quote(result)
-				result = {'type':'url','value':result}
-				set_image_in_cache(album_id,'tracks',result['value'])
-				return result
-
-		# third party
-		result = thirdparty.get_image_album_all((album['artists'],album['albumtitle']))
-		result = {'type':'url','value':result}
-		set_image_in_cache(album_id,'albums',result['value'])
-
-		return result
-
 
 # removes emojis and weird shit from names
 def clean(name):
@@ -319,14 +369,17 @@ def set_image(b64,**keys):
 	if "title" in keys:
 		entity = {"track":keys}
 		id = database.sqldb.get_track_id(entity['track'])
+		idkeys = {'track_id':id}
 		dbtable = "tracks"
 	elif "albumtitle" in keys:
 		entity = {"album":keys}
 		id = database.sqldb.get_album_id(entity['album'])
+		idkeys = {'album_id':id}
 		dbtable = "albums"
 	elif "artist" in keys:
 		entity = keys
 		id = database.sqldb.get_artist_id(entity['artist'])
+		idkeys = {'artist_id':id}
 		dbtable = "artists"
 
 	log("Trying to set image, b64 string: " + str(b64[:30] + "..."),module="debug")
@@ -353,6 +406,6 @@ def set_image(b64,**keys):
 	log("Saved image as " + data_dir['images'](folder,filename),module="debug")
 
 	# set as current picture in rotation
-	set_image_in_cache(id,dbtable,os.path.join("/images",folder,filename))
+	set_image_in_cache(**idkeys,url=os.path.join("/images",folder,filename),local=True)
 
 	return os.path.join("/images",folder,filename)
diff --git a/maloja/server.py b/maloja/server.py
index a071c98..540f65c 100644
--- a/maloja/server.py
+++ b/maloja/server.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ from doreah import auth
 # rest of the project
 from . import database
 from .database.jinjaview import JinjaDBConnection
-from .images import resolve_track_image, resolve_artist_image, resolve_album_image
+from .images import image_request
 from .malojauri import uri_to_internal, remove_identical
 from .pkg_global.conf import malojaconfig, data_dir
 from .pkg_global import conf
@@ -121,22 +121,14 @@ def deprecated_api(pth):
 @webserver.route("/image")
 def dynamic_image():
 	keys = FormsDict.decode(request.query)
-	if keys['type'] == 'track':
-		result = resolve_track_image(keys['id'])
-	elif keys['type'] == 'artist':
-		result = resolve_artist_image(keys['id'])
-	elif keys['type'] == 'album':
-		result = resolve_album_image(keys['id'])
+	result = image_request(**{k:int(keys[k]) for k in keys})
 
-	if result is None or result['value'] in [None,'']:
-		return ""
-	if result['type'] == 'raw':
-		# data uris are directly served as image because a redirect to a data uri
-		# doesnt work
-		duri = datauri.DataURI(result['value'])
-		response.content_type = duri.mimetype
-		return duri.data
-	if result['type'] == 'url':
+	if result['type'] == 'noimage' and result['value'] == 'wait':
+		# still being worked on
+		response.status = 503
+		response.set_header('Retry-After',5)
+		return
+	if result['type'] in ('url','localurl'):
 		redirect(result['value'],307)
 
 @webserver.route("/images/<pth:re:.*\\.jpeg>")
@@ -163,6 +155,9 @@ def static_image(pth):
 	resp.set_header("Content-Type", "image/" + ext)
 	return resp
 
+@webserver.route("/cacheimages/<uuid>")
+def static_proxied_image(uuid):
+	return static_file(uuid,root=data_dir['cache']('images'))
 
 @webserver.route("/login")
 def login():
diff --git a/maloja/web/jinja/album.jinja b/maloja/web/jinja/album.jinja
index 6a16da3..8dafdaf 100644
--- a/maloja/web/jinja/album.jinja
+++ b/maloja/web/jinja/album.jinja
@@ -45,11 +45,11 @@
 			{% if adminmode %}
 			<div
 				class="changeable-image" data-uploader="b64=>upload('{{ encodedalbum }}',b64)"
-				style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_album_image(album) }}');"
+				style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_album_image(info.album) }}');"
 				title="Drag & Drop to upload new image"
 			></div>
 			{% else %}
-			<div style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_album_image(album) }}');">
+			<div style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_album_image(info.album) }}');">
 			</div>
 			{% endif %}
 		</td>
diff --git a/maloja/web/jinja/artist.jinja b/maloja/web/jinja/artist.jinja
index 29d8879..8249b99 100644
--- a/maloja/web/jinja/artist.jinja
+++ b/maloja/web/jinja/artist.jinja
@@ -53,11 +53,11 @@
 			{% if adminmode %}
 			<div
 				class="changeable-image" data-uploader="b64=>upload('{{ encodedartist }}',b64)"
-				style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_artist_image(artist) }}');"
+				style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_artist_image(info.artist) }}');"
 				title="Drag & Drop to upload new image"
 			></div>
 			{% else %}
-			<div style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_artist_image(artist) }}');">
+			<div style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_artist_image(info.artist) }}');">
 			</div>
 			{% endif %}
 		</td>
diff --git a/maloja/web/jinja/track.jinja b/maloja/web/jinja/track.jinja
index 3fbc909..982097e 100644
--- a/maloja/web/jinja/track.jinja
+++ b/maloja/web/jinja/track.jinja
@@ -50,11 +50,11 @@
 			{% if adminmode %}
 			<div
 				class="changeable-image" data-uploader="b64=>upload('{{ encodedtrack }}',b64)"
-				style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_track_image(track) }}');"
+				style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_track_image(info.track) }}');"
 				title="Drag & Drop to upload new image"
 			></div>
 			{% else %}
-			<div style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_track_image(track) }}');">
+			<div style="background-image:url('{{ images.get_track_image(info.track) }}');">
 			</div>
 			{% endif %}
 		</td>