Dusty Brown - This City is Killing Me - Artwork by S.Hansen/ISO50
I’m very pleased to announce that the new Dusty Brown EP, This City is Killing Me, is now available. I’m even more pleased to announce that Dusty was generous enough to give it to us for free. If you like it (which I am sure you will, just have one listen to “Back to Back” and you’ll be hooked), please consider supporting his music by making a donation.
For the uninitiated, Dusty Brown is an insanely talented Sacramento-based producer and musician who, along with his eponymous band, creates a sort of beat-centric clash between raw ambient-electronic and synth-driven indie rock. Dusty got me into the live music scene when I was starting out in Sacramento and over the years we’ve collaborated on all sorts of projects. I’ve learned more about music from Dusty than anyone else; his production style and methods are truly awe inspiring. People who have been following along for a while might also remember that Dusty did all the flash work for both the original versions of the ISO50 portfolio.
I’ve really been anticipating this EP so it was great to also be able to create the album artwork for the release. The artwork is based on the photography of another incredible talent from Sacramento, photographer Raoul Ortega. The front and back covers feature various images from this set which Raoul shot with the Canon 5D at Dusty’s Harlow’s show last week. It’s so inspiring as a designer to work with talented photographers; images like this are just begging to be treated and make the whole process such a pleasure. The EP download includes print sized versions of the front and back covers.
I’ll be playing a Tycho set in San Francisco at Mezzanine on Friday, July 9th, 2010 as part of this year’s Ghostly Showcase. It’s a great lineup and last year’s show at Mezzanine was incredible so this one is not to be missed. I’ll be debuting some new material from the upcoming album and should have a couple other surprises and guests in store. Should be a great night, I hope to see you out there.
Details:
Ghostly Live A/V Showcase
Featuring live audio and visual performances.
I’ve been on a car kick lately. Not only are they excellent examples of functional design, there’s something about the quality of 60s-70s concept car photography that always gets me. This latest entry is the 1978 Mercedes-Benz Study CW311. Designed solely as a concept by Eberhard SchulzIsdera for Mercedes Benz, it was later put into production as the Isdera Imperator 108i. You may recall the post on the Mercedes Benz C111, a concept which Shulz also developed.
I feel like this was the era right before everything started looking like alien technology or some sort of bird. It seems like in high end conceptual situations like with supercars, the designers are always trying to envision some object from the near future. I guess I prefer the near future imagined in the 1970’s over that of today.
I love the lines, really aggressive but the overall vibe is softened by the sort of roundness of the thing. I’m definitely getting an Italdesign/DeLorean vibe off the windows. Also, picture kicking it with a Lufthansa airliner? Classy. And I’m loving the roof mounted rear-view; something very utilitarian about that. On a side-note, I feel like if a car could be a typeface, the CW311 would be Trade-Gothic Bold Extended.
And to top it off, a very VHS-ish video featuring the CW311 (with poor choice of substitute wheels):
Special thanks to AJJB for turning me on to Shulz’s work back in the C111 post. AJJB also pointed out that Shulz is now “selling cheesy oil paintings out of a small town in Germany”. Interesting and sort of sad too…
Past is Prologue — my first album as Tycho to be released on a label — has been reissued by Ghostly International and is now available on iTunes (and, as always, at the ISO50 Shop). the reissue includes an exclusive remix by Mux Mool of From Home.
I often get asked about the lineage of this album, which has taken on many forms, so I thought I’d lay it out here. The original release was entitled Sunrise Projector and was self-released. Later, Merck records picked it up and released it as Past is Prologue. The Merck version featured new artwork, two new original songs, and two new remixes — but was missing one of the tracks from the Sunrise Projector release. Merck also released a 12″ vinyl sampler featuring 5 tracks from the album. Now, ghostly has released this digital reissue which features the new Mux Mool remix. Hope that clears it up!
Designed by Centro Stile Fiat, the 1972 Fiat X1/23 City Car concept was an all electric concept far ahead of it’s time. I can’t even explain how hard I would roll this thing all over San Francisco if I could get my hands on one and the battery lasted longer than 5 minutes (assuming they weren’t very efficient given that we still haven’t gotten the whole thing right 40 years later). I see a lot of those Smart Cars all around the city and get jealous when I see them park perpendicular. Does anyone have an ultra-compact like this? Did it live up to the hype?
Just a quick reminder that tonight is opening night for the Academy of Art 2010 Spring Show. I’m going to be judging this year so I’ll be headed down a bit early to get things started. All the info is here and if you’re not near San Francisco you can check out a live blog of the event here.
Above are some beautiful examples of Jake Sargeant’s photography. I’ve been following Jake’s work for a while now; you may recall that I used some of his textures in the Analog Visions print. At the time he said he had just purchased a Canon 5DMKII so I was really interested to check back in after a while to see what he’d come up with. He didn’t disappoint. His Flickr is full of breathtaking imagery that shows what a skilled artist can do with proper hardware. One caveat: I’m not entirely certain that all of these photos were taken with the 5D, but most seem to have that feeling. Jake, if you’re reading this perhaps you can fill us in on how things are going with the 5D in the comments.
Update from Jake in the comments:
Hey Scott & all….I’ve been shooting with the Canon 5DMII for just under a year now and really love it for still shooting and need to keep shooting more video with it. Everything over a year old on my Flickr was shot with a Canon 40D.
My main go-to lens is the Canon EF 24-105 f4 L IS. I also love shooting macro with my Canon 100mm Macro 2.8L IS.
ISO50 Studio Edition #008, Madrone, is now available through the ISO50 Shop. This print features updated artwork from the original poster for the Madrone show in San Francisco. Four limited edition formats are available: 14×24″, 18×30″, 24×40″, and 36×60″. All are printed on Hahnemühle German Etching 310 gsm (120# cover, 100% alpha-Cellulose white mould-made) using the Epson 9900 10 color UltraChrome HDR™ pigment-based ink system.
You can view the Madrone print here and view other Studio Editions here.
