Instagram has sort of become a way of life on tour, almost anything beautiful or funny we see outside the tour van we yell out “take the shot!”. Since i’ve jumped on Instagram i’ve looked for musicians that post on there since soo many get to travel, here’s just a few that I follow that I post about that make it in our ISO50 playlists.
@peakinglights ( Peaking Lights )
@mattmondanile ( Real Estate / Ducktails )
@benjamincurtis ( School Of Seven Bells / Secret Machines )
@dam_funk ( DaM FunK )
@nosajthing (Nosaj Thing)
@muxmool ( Mux Mool )
@sunglitters ( Sun Glitters )
@geejairmo ( Prefuse 73 )
@starslingeruk ( Star Slinger )
@poolside ( Poolside )
@foxesinfiction ( Foxes In Fiction )
@bisradio ( Tim Sweeney of DFA )
@willits ( Christopher Willits )
@ryanpitchfork ( Ryan @ Pitchfork )
@laurenflax ( Creep )
@__shigeto ( Shigeto )
@studioirisarri ( Rafael Anton Irisarri / The Sight Below )
@j_gossett ( 1/2 of Beacon )
@tm_iii ( 1/2 of Beacon )
@iso50 ( Tycho )
@nitemoves ( Rory O’Connor – Tycho’s Drummer / Com Truise )
@zryder ( Zac Brown – Tycho’s Bassist / Dusty Brown )
@heathered_pearls ( Jakub )
Todd “are you kidding me!??” Terje literally just sits down and makes hits for this blog I swear, I know I post a lot of his tracks but its worth it, I mean listen to that! If it was 2001 i’d add a music player to this blog and this song would just automatically play right when you loaded the site. #synthmansion < holds a crystal in the air after song is over, head down, takes a knee >
Jonny from The Drums collabing with Matthew Dear makes soo much sense after you hear this song slowly merging with its own end. I haven’t heard a male duo this good in “electronic” in years.
Teen Daze goes French Disco on us, straight forward and high energy with a swirling synth line which will give you vertigo, he pretty much made something that could have come out on Roule in 1998.
Machinedrum rekindling and refreshing classic sounds that I invite with open arms, its like he dropped Detroit into the UK and stomped it into a pulp and gargled it and spit it at all the half ass house thats been made after minimal house died.
Trust me on this one, this Tanlines track is worth your time. They started where they left off with a hooky melodic caribbean pop touch, once the track fills out you can’t deny its better than all that Vampire Weekend bullshit.
I’m on a Keep Shelly In Athens roll and that means hunting down even guest appearances. The new Solar Bears single has KSIA front and center on a 70s drenched swirling am-gold jam that could be one of the best songs either groups have done.
I’ve only heard one other Dirty Three song intentionally, it was with Cat Power and I don’t even listen to Cat Power but all I remember was being speechless after and I don’t like songs with singing. This new cut is amazing, reminds me of Broken Social Scene and The Books just playing together freely.
I’m sure some of you will be surprised with the sound of the new Bullion, its definitely a lot less hip hop and more like if Osborne or Luke Vibert did a song with Washed Out.
Symmetry just put out a 35+ track album that will completely fulfill your post Drive(the Ryan Gosling movie) music needs, I grabbed Over The Edge because it had that confident bad guy feel, that walking tempo that will catch up to you no matter how fast you run, I love the stripped down break in the center too.
18 Carat Affair makes my brain and ears sigh, this interlude takes me back, I can’t believe the world will never graced with this kind of music for the public again, makes me dislike the worlds aesthetics right now soo much.
My friend Miguel turned me onto Maya Jane Coles, I guess I missed the boat, this dub is amazing, reminds me of what I thought Border Community might have matured into.
Poliça bothers me a bit, you named yourself the Polish word for The Police and you took the dub route like The Police… *sigh* sooooo whats going on creatively here? this project needs some formal tweaks because the music is soo promising and doesn’t need gimmicks.
The common misconception about 4/4 material mainly house and techno is that its waaaaay too repetitive, my reply to that is usually “oh really? i’m sorry, sooo you just listen to John Cage and experimental chamber music that doesn’t repeat one same note?”. If I share a 7 minute to 12 minute song to someone that doesn’t DJ there will be blank stares, that won’t change probably if you only listen to the radio.
Most of the long songs are made that long are that way because you’ll have time to mix them together, mostly a DJ tool for good DJs. Usually these producers are also DJs and have been for a long time so during song writing they prepare tracks that way. The actual meat and potatoes of these kind of songs usually last shorter than a pop song on the radio, its that opportunity to play it with another song together is why these tracks are that way….or there is just a great journey/sequence within the building up to something hypnotic to dance too.
Recently i’ve been working on a new Heathered Pearls mix for the ISO50 blog and tears came to my eye when I came across this gem from The Juan MacLean, the perfect marriage between Dub and Slow Disco and this perfectly adjusted daytime jam by Toby Tobias of one of the blogs favs Toro Y Moi < looks off into the distance proudly, single tear runs down my face >.
If this is your first taste of DMX Krew I suggest you get on iTunes, Insound or Boomkat UK and start grabbing up his work in the past, the man has an ear for one of a kind production, he always mashing together styles and synths sound you might never hear again.
The Seahawks take their turn on merging the sounds of our oceans and making them collide with what some of us have convinced ourselves space might sound like, the real magic sets in at 1:17 and on for the full effect, oh and happy new year everyone.
The more I listen to Clams Casino the more I hear what makes him special, Tom from Beacon turn me onto this track after playing me some ASAP Rocky and Lil B, this track stuck with me, couldn’t wait to go home and hunt it down. I love that the high hats aren’t just set at 64 notes but instead you get these waves of variation and the vox is almost like something from Deep Forest but feels refreshing.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
This Floating Points track is a long one but a very rewarding listen. I’m amazed that the Detroit Techno influences feel so pure here, there’s no question this guy can produce and it comes from the right place and for the right reasons.
Kuedo made a lot of Best Of lists, I foolishly missed it somehow, i’m only human though, nice soft emotions attached to the synth parts.
Since this is the last music post of 2011 I wanted to end it with a classic, a must own from Dopplereffekt, see you in 2012.
Many of you I know that read this blog have a great knowledge of music, most of what I share isn’t new to you so I have to dig deep and one route I like to go is solo projects off bands I love. One thing I completely overlooked this year was this Steve Hauschildt record, it was under my nose all this time, he’s a big part of the group Emeralds and runs Gneiss Things and it came out on Kranky which means i’d gotten there eventually. Either way i’ve staring off into the distance and letting this beautiful album take its course and I haven’t had such a quality full album experience in months. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Xaver Von Treyer new album is a bit all over the place genre wise, almost like a collection of songs from over the years he’s made, one song that grabbed my ear was She Is My Virgo Supercluster which i’m guessing is an ode to Cluster?
Whenever I put on Raime I know what i’ll be getting mood wise, its a very precise passion project committed to darkness and the care for it all sound wise is impeccable. It makes me question a lot of the dark pop and goth music thats out there when this music begins.
Laurel Halo has had a great year and her sound has matured into trustworthy to go for the expansion of what New Age can fuse with and mold into, really excited to hear more from her.
Here’s the last bit of the end of the year playlists, I’m sure I missed some key players but getting all 60 tracks together felt great. I’d love to see your lists, feel free to post them in the comment section.
60. ADR – Jupiter Rising
59. Samiyam – Pressure
58. The Miracles Club – A New Love
57. Pure X – Twisted Mirror
56. Solar Bears – Cub (Keep Shelly in Athens remix)
55. Silk Flowers – Columns
54. Le Révélateur – Bleu Nuit
53. Light Asylum – Dark Allies
52. Gold Zebra – Love, French, Better
51. Geotic – Beaming Husband
Here it is, I hope you all like it, as always any feedback is great, I know I might be missing your favorite song but maybe you’ll enjoy this listen, thanks again. Tomorrow i’ll do Honorable Mentions.
IN ORDER:
25. The Drums – Money
24. ASAP Rocky – Wassup (Prod. By Clams Casino)
23. Walls – Sunporch Reprise
22. Austra – Lose It
21. Deepchord – Balm
20. Cut Copy – Blink and You’ll Miss A Revolution (Tornado Wallace Remix)
19. Sepalcure – Pencil Pimp
18. Peaking Lights – Amazing and Wonderful
17. High Wolf – Free Your Energy Field
16. The Field – Is This Power
15. Beirut – Port Of Call
14. Holy Other – Yr Love
13. Keep Shelly in Athens – DIY
12. Hype Williams – RIse Up
11. Warm Ghost – Myths on Rotting Ships
10. James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream
9. Benoit & Sergio – Boy Trouble
8. Toro Y Moi – I Can Get Love
7. Neon Indian – Polish Girl
6. M83 – Midnight City
5. Real Estate – Green Aisle
4. Gang Gang Dance – Glass Jar
3. Belong – Perfect Life
2. Gotye – Somebody that I used to know
1. John Maus – Streetlight
I had a lot of fun making this years Top 50 songs of 2011, before you say anything lets all agree to disagree, these songs are all songs that are my go to for when I work, DJ, or share on mixtapes, they might not match up with ever other blogs lists which is a damn shame, oh well :) enjoy!
IN ORDER:
50. Sun Glitters – The Wind Caresses Her Hair
49. Poolside – Harvest Moon
48. Loscil – Fromme
47. Kolombo – Waiting For
46. Trouble Books & Mark McGuire – The Golden Waste
45. Dolphins Into The Future – On The HIgh Seas
44. Ford & Lopatin – Channel Pressure (Instrumental Version)
43. Dirty Beaches – Speedway King
42. Radiohead – Feral
41. Gatto Fritto – Hex
40. Implodes – Oxblood
39. Craft Spells – You Should Close The Door
38. Midnight Televison – All Night
37. Braille – Riverbed
36. Active Child – Playing House (Feat. How To Dress Well)
35. Tiger & Woods – Love In Cambodgia
34. Oneohtrix Point Never – Up
33. Tim Hecker – Hatred of Music I
32. Selebrities – Time
31. Nacho Patrol – Stratus Chant (Live @ Paradiso 2010)
30. Bibio – Mind Bokeh
29. Daphni – Mapfumo
28. Soft Metals – Psychic Driving
27. Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed
26. Machinedrum – Listen 2 Me
Fellow San Francisco band Seventeen Evergreen have just been announced as the opener for the Tycho show this Saturday at The Independent. They recently released this Terri Timely directed video for Polarity Song. Incredible color and definition in this. Not sure how it was shot but I’m assuming some high end HD DSLR and a healthy amount of post. Beautiful stuff.
Its a difficult task to keep up with any genre especially if you’re always in need of something fresh, the post classical realm is by far one of my favorites that I don’t dig deep enough in and sit with an album. I usually have a stash of artists that I rely on to get me what I want, Jacaszek is one of them, if you can’t tell by his name he’s Polish which makes me favor him since i’m from there. Always on the darker side yet doesn’t sit in one place, his new LP Glimmer is out now.
Swod goes the Philip Glass route full on with this refreshing piano piece, fits right in with these winter nights but adds a hint of excitement so you don’t comfortably doze off.
THere probably isn’t much to add when you write about Fennesz & Sakamoto, i’d rather you go and read what the Wire has to say because they’ll probably have the inside scoop, very inviting static texture and resonance.
Probably one of my favorite songs of all time, enjoy this one from Vince Guaraldi Trio, you know what it is.
Ben and Alley of School Of Seven Bells debut their first single from their upcoming album Ghostory in March 2012 with a goosebump giving track full of passion, made me wonder what should really be at the top of the pop charts. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. DOWNLOAD HERE.
Shigeto just released an EP exclusive on drip.fm (Ghostly Music Subscription service), it includes this gem that has drum work that puts him out of reach of the rest of the musician friends in his genre, …have you got to the second half of it yet? am I right? holy… damn it! piano man too right? 2012 Shigeto is gonna rip off the beat worlds head and boot it over the moon, real drums sir real drums.
Okay Zomby you made it onto our favorite label 4AD and lets see what you can do…i’m into it, mostly because I love Sega Genesis and recognize the sounds that I adored.
Jacques Renault definitely gets a dancefloor going in Brooklyn, I see it happen month after month non-stop, so this edit was the perfect match, him and Mark E are true daytime disco masters.
I’m into ASAP Rocky, I questioned posting it on ISO50 but after I heard Peso then this Clams Casino I almost made ASAP Rocky feature post. I can hear the Art Of Noise sample which gets comfortable right away and I just can’t deny how good the beat is soo it gets the top song. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. NSFW.
I found Kyson via a podcast by Nueva Forma, it instantly grabbed my attention because of the dub aspects but fused together with wonderful usage of guitars, one of the easiest songs to get thru, just glades along.
I’m late to the Youth Lagoon parade i’m sorry, it was actually difficult to find a song to post though because I wasn’t falling in love with anything right away like people seem to be doing until I heard July.
M83 live on an insane level when it comes to emotion, really tweaked and thought through tracklisting, made you leave on a high, I personally loved his synth work on stage, I keep playing Klaus I Love You on repeat.
