I’ll be giving a talk at the Academy of Art in San Francisco this Thursday evening, March 18th. I’m going to be covering a lot of ground — the talk is 2 hours — mostly talking about background, inspiration and process along with a question and answer period. The talk is limited to students (AAU students get in with ID) but the Academy has given us 20 additional seats to give away on the blog. If you’re interested in going just comment on this post and be sure to leave a valid email in the “email” field (email will not be published). We will then contact you with full details for the talk and get you put on the list.
Please only enter if you intend to go, spots are limited. Also, if you’re reading this and there are already 20 comments below, don’t give up! You’ll be put down as an alternate for people who end up not being able to make it (in our experience a lot of people either drop out or are unreachable via the email they provided.)
If you visit the site a ton you might see me post a good amount on Mux Mool because he donates his sweet production to us here at ISO50 and has done some amazing covers, remixes, given away a FREE EP, and even an edit of Carl Sagan. Today his first LP drops called Skulltaste:
“Skulltaste is an old-fashioned epic, and its diversity—both track-to-track and within the songs themselves—is hard to measure. Lindgren’s taste roams all over the map, but it’s this attention-deficient approach that makes Skulltaste such a smorgasbord of an album, tempting the listener with one tidbit after another. Opener “The Ballad of Gloria Featherbottom” hits a quintessential balance between giddily spiraling samples cooled by monstrous slabs of ice-water synth; later, “Get Better John” has a teary-eyed uplift, conjuring a mood somewhere between ‘90s R&B and the Chrono Trigger soundtrack; and the entertainingly titled “SFW Porn” pairs a boom-clap beat to clear-blue keys and a lazily scribbled guitar line. On Skulltaste, Mux Mool tirelessly doles out 20 tracks in 80 minutes, with not a moment of filler. ”
THE GIVEAWAY PART: Since the CD version isn’t going to hit the stores until next week and I have a few copies here we’d like to giveaway the Skulltaste CD(I know CD’s right? so old fashioned) to 3 people on the blog. All you have to do is post 3 songs in the comment section that you like from the Skulltaste LP and we’ll randomly pick the winners, here’s a link to the LP, i’ll announce the winners in Wednesday’s music post, good luck.
Mux Mool – “Skulltaste” CD Winners: Chad, Erika, Spencer (I have emailed you guys)
Thanks to everyone that played! i’ll line up another free giveaway very soon, hopefully its something we will do frequently on ISO50.
A new Casino Versus Japan was recently released on Freescha’sAttacknine label, I looped this interlude about 15 times the other night, it made falling asleep easier than ever, such a rich sound.
One of the most underrated Warp artists has to be Gravenhurst, She Dances veers off into more of a darker tone that’s less folk which I know them for and its more like early Broadcast with a hint of Pavement like guitars.
Time for crowd friendly indie, a youthful pick me up and Sister Crayon is the band behind it.
I’ve only heard 2 songs by Keepaway, both have been impressive and so was their live show, again there is the Animal Collective comparisons in the sound but they wear them proudly i’m sure. I do really enjoy the way these guys sing “and I got 5 rings” i’ve been saying it over and over all weekend long.
Support Structures by Céline Condorelli “exposes an almost complete absence of literature or theory on what constitutes ‘support’,”. Sounds like an interesting concept, but honestly I would buy based on looks alone.
The little penguin made his iPhone debut last week with the release of the Plancast iPhone app. Everyone is at SXSW right now spreading the word and drumming up support. I designed some emergency t-shirts and business cards for the excursion and I’m excited to hear how it all went. Should have some pictures of that material this week — I’ve yet to see them in person due to the time/production constraints. Plancast also had a big article in the New York Times a few days ago which was exciting to see. If you look closely, you can see a wee version of the logo in the screenshot. Too bad the penguin didn’t hit the front page!
When I wrote about this project last week, I forgot to mention how different the post-production time has been compared to my normal project routine. For just about every one of my process posts I’ve written here, the work has always been completed in school for an assignment. Once the project is complete, it’s over as far as just about everyone is concerned. It’s been exciting to see this one continue to evolve in the real world — like winding one of those wind-up toys and setting it on the table.
2 of the most talented unsigned bands right now I know are ARMS and Perfume Genius, both cover their respective sounds in very graceful ways. ARMS has plenty of excitement coming from each track that will hopefully kick off a few outdoor parties with friends this summer, preferably at a summer cabin by the lake. Todd puts the right amount of drive behind Emily Sue Pt. 2, it excites me the same way as when I first heard Broken Social Scene. If you like it then you should definitely download it here for FREE, the band is giving away their EP today as a nice prep for SXSW.
Perfume Genius touches on a Red House Painters sadness, really tells a story nicely though. You see songs like this don’t make it to the radio and I don’t get why, so much more there to enjoy that has character over someone else writing a song like this thats in a professional studio with the best equipment ever surrounding them.
The Sight Below makes beauty and misery work on a pristine level, he makes a grey day rich and a loner feel powerful I bet. If you’re a high end dark art boutique and don’t have this playing in the store then you might as well be selling rainbows and playing Lady Gaga club mixes.
When I saw Noveller play last month I was very impressed not only by her sound but how she creates it on stage, she has more pedals than some girls have shoes and gently loops her sound while playing her 2 guitars with bows, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SEEING LIVE.
This is Chicago-based ham radio operator George Ulm’s radio collection. This is just mind blowing; so many beautiful old machines in there. I would have preferred a room full of synthesizers, but this has it’s own thing going on. This is all housed inside a pretty nondescript house in Ulm’s backyard.
