HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Matthew Dear got me my job at Ghostly International 10 years ago, I’ve walked his dog while he’s on tour and we’ve had many fun nights djing together, so you might think i’m favoring him heavily, BUT this song is revolutionary. He’s formed into this Byrne/Bowie icon live, that no one has dared to humbly fill those shoes since the 80’s, but if you meet him, It’s an honest pairing and he’s committed to his unique sound, do yourself a favor if you like this song make sure to catch it live with the band, he puts on a stunning show and i’m not just saying that…you see no link to buy the song :)
The few times I’ve posted Fur its been sun drenched lo-fi slow melodies so this single wasn’t what I was expecting but i’m definitely into it, nice to see more attempts of minimal house from fusion acts like Furs.
Mark E just released a slew of tracks on his Soundcloud, definitely worth a follow if you’re on there.
More synth journey’s from FORMA, always great to hear what they have posted, makes me go back into their catalog and let all the tracks play out.
Mark Kozelek could write a song about oatmeal and i’d first in line to check it out. His new album Among The Leaves is full of gold plus plenty of live versions, if you want more I made a Sun Kil Moon / Red House Painters / Mark Kozelek playlist years ago on the blog.
Sasquatch Festival was one of the most tolerable festivals i’ve been to, you don’t feel like cattle and the security guards are super kind and keep the crowd happy by letting the energy happen. Gardens & Villa we’re the best band live, great stage presence and kept you ever wanting them to end.
Onra is slowly unveiling tracks from his upcoming sophomore album, the first taste is L.O.V.E. a track thats more upbeat than a lot of his recent tunes.
I don’t much about Chateaubriand but this edit of an oler Bibio cut is getting some love recently. I guess it just gave me a chance to post about an older great record which never hurts.
If you’ve ever seen Eliot Lipp live at some point in the last 10+ years you’ve probably recognized his synth styles, I always appreciated Eliot for that and that he’s giving his album away at donation only this week, head over if you get a chance and support that talented bastard.
I’m at the front of the line when if comes to Peter Kersten fans, if its Lawrence or Sten it has my full attention, the perfect marriage of classic Detroit Techno and gentle tweaking making his sound one of the best to lay your head back to.
Dive had to change their DIIV, good it was early on, this is slowly becoming a favorite summer rock cut.
So if you’ve seen a Tycho or Com Truise live show you might have noticed they have the same drummer, that drummer Rory O’Connor just released his album tonight under the alias Nitemoves, feel free to stream the album above and download the free single Challenger.
Nitemoves is the electronic guise and internet handle of musician/sound designer Rory O’Connor. While supporting other electronic artists as a drummer (Tycho, Com Truise), O’Connor quietly composed his debut release, ‘Longlines’, in 3-6 hour chunks occupying the back seat of a moving car.
Championing influence from Satie, Jenkinson, & Corgan, the work was composed with the whole in mind, rather than a collection of isolated microcosms. It is a conscious endeavor in variety and continuity, attempting to bridge the gap between influences that have a tendency to contradict each other.
Written amid a period of introspection and wanderlust, it reinstalls the idea of the folk musician: traveling the country while funneling inspiration from all directions in an attempt to tell a story, to paint a picture of time passing. The title itself reflects an exercise in patience, constructing populations of simple melodies and rhythms, permitting them time to grow alongside each other and form complex relationships.
We truly have a treat to start the weekend with a stunning playlist from Jeff Bratton the owner of Cascine the label that brings us Chad Valley, Selebrities, Jensen Sportag, etc. Enjoy.
Writing this from the car, driving from MD to NY with the good men of Double Duchess.
– Jeff Bratton
Tomas Barfod – ‘Broken Glass’
New track by Danish artist, Tomas Barfod. who’s better known for one of his other projects,
Whomadewho. This whole release is fantastic. It’s out soon on Friends of Friends, but reminds
me of golden-era Morr material – melodic, downtempo, indie/electronic stuff. Morr helped shape
my love of labels early on and this song takes me back to that.
Picture – ‘Heaven 7’
Picture is David from Sail a Whale. ‘Heaven 7’ embodies that sense of swelling epicness and
drama that he does so well. It was released on Look, The Embassy’s imprint, last year. We’re
currently working with David on a project for Cascine.
Bam Spacey – ‘Vintern jagar’
Love this track. Subtle, bubbling and optimistic. Bam Spacey is from Malmo and his debut EP is
newly out on Ceremony. As a listener, this song puts me exactly where I want to be this time of
year.
Shine 2009 – ‘New Rules’ (Panther Hands Remix)
This remix has been on my machine since last summer, as we just never found the right place for
it. Panther Hands is Max from Selebrities, and he did this track without ever having the stems for
it. Great energy. Horn parts are a blast. Really fun stuff.
Cubenx – ‘Adrift at Sea’
A close friend in LA shared this album with me a couple weeks ago and I’ve been glued to it ever
since. Super diverse, yet super familiar. All types of influences at work on this release.
Bonus track Mint – ‘I Don’t Kvetch’
I just spent a week at my mother’s apt in Annapolis, MD, and am feeling kinda sentimental from
the time at home. Classic, major key IDM like this has an important place in my musical history
– Mint’s music represents that for me, especially this track. It was made in 2009, but feels like
something from 2000.
Infiniti is Juan Atkins, this track is classic, its soo damn good that in 5 years of doing music posts on ISO50 this is the first post of a song that how important I think this song is. Its also a song that makes you understand new music, it also makes you want to pay respect to the originators.
This Chromatics record is pretty damn popular but I find this slow jam the most appealing off of it, it just has a high repeat ratio in my iTunes, to be honest i’d love an instrumental.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED – RAJA was suggested to me by Shigeto, this is the first track he shared with me, without going all J Dilla this beat as simple as it is really had me gravitate to it over and over. The tone at the opening gets more and more addicting, its like a synth whale, I love it.
I really had high hopes for Grovesnor so i’m always looking for new material from him, he’s great if he’s used well, this tempo is perfect for him, he needs to be on more tracks.
As for the photo above, i’m not sure who the photographer is but I did tweak it just to warm it up a bit, love the original shot, its definitely inviting.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Onuinu new single “Happy Home” had me looking for his album just one minute into it. Too bad the LP doesn’t drop until August, he’s on tour with Yacht on these dates. Its like a upbeat Black Moth Super Rainbow is backing Toro Y Moi for an encore at a outdoor roller disco, everyone is dancing.
New Gold Panda dropped today out of nowhere, Derwin comes with a full sound that ramps up and builds like a classic Telefon Tel Aviv track but has hints of Caribou but pitched down an octave, an amazing follow up for recent releases that will be hard to beat. One thing I have to say is something that I learned from Mux Mool is that Derwin puts a lot of punch into his rhythm section thats what separates him from most of his following producers plus there’s a perfect level of brightness added during mastering.
If there’s any label to be excited about it should be Tim Sweeney’sBeats In Space, they’re already on release #3, sounds like original indie-disco(I don’t know if thats even a thing) Erlend Oye material, 12″ ships May 22nd I recommended picking this one up.
Time to drop it out and go a little deep, heavy beauties from Conforce, if you missed their latest album later year then I guess I just feel bad for you.
I don’t usually go too deep trying to interpret films and videos simply for the fact that I’m not good at it. Can you really ever truly determine the intentions of an artist? True, some are pretty forthright and wear it on their sleeves as a sort of art-form in and of itself, but for the most part art and expression are purely personal exercises, the products of which can’t be expected to be faithfully interpreted by others. And that’s the beauty; that others are free to take the form and mold it to their own experience, to derive a more personal meaning from it. I for one hope that the majority of people who consume my work perceive it in a completely different way than I do. I know that by and large that’s not the case, but I’d like to think it could be if properly framed.
But this video struck a chord with me as an artist and as a human being in general. How can we reconcile our passions and goals with the biological imperative and our desire to find true meaning in life? Is our work the true meaning? On your death bed will you praise yourself for the things you’ve achieved as an artist, be fulfilled because you followed your “dream”. Or will you be thankful for the the relationships you’ve forged and the lives you’ve touched? Hopefully both. But as I grown older and learn more of myself and my work, I begin to fear these goals are mutually exclusive in some respects.
Curious to hear other’s thoughts. And I’m not missing the lighter side of this, it’s downright hilarious in it’s own way. But on a more serious note I think this is outlines some conflicts we all must face as artists striving towards our self-oriented goals.
