Stereogum premiered info on the 21 artists compilation: Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy to help the former Miracle Legion front man continue making music while he raises his three-year old twin daughters. These kind of projects I love to see always and its nice to see someone like Thom Yorke down for the cause.
Sigur Rós frontman Jón (Jónsi) Þór Birgisson and partner Alex Somers, from Reykjavík band Parachutes collaborate on a LP which features this song Boy 1904, this might be the gentlest song ever posted on the blog which includes a boys choir i’m guessing and some beautiful drone. The art above isn’t the actual cover, I think its the photo that the cover was made from.
Tom Croose and Slow Hands turned me onto this Al Usher track, they literally did flips in the air while talking about it. I think it came out this week on INTERNASJONAL which is Prins Thomas’ label out of Norway. I think I hear harps, slow disco / balaeric being pushed to its edges when it comes to mellow cuts, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Remember Mazzy Star? well sometimes when I hear this song I wonder how it would be to be a musician that writes lyrics because I personally hardly listen to anything but instrumentals but if I wrote down “…fade into you, I think its strange you never knew…” i’d give myself goosebumps.
I saw this on This Isn’t Happiness today and it reminded me of my friend’s brother who used to be way into restoring VWs. He was always talking about “23 Window” buses like they were the holy grail of VW collecting (well, that and a split window Bug). I’ve seen one of these on the street in my lifetime — here in San Francisco — and one restored and sitting in a garage back home in Sacramento. I always wanted one, but at this point I think I’d settle for a new school one with the pop-top and sink and all that.
On another note: I love VW’s old adverts; they were always simple and to the point. They are all over my old Newsweeks from the 60’s, I’ll have to post some up soon.
I’m flying into Portland tomorrow for the Emrg+N+See Festival in Macleay, OR (outside of Salem). The event goes from Friday-Sunday and I’ll be playing a Tycho/ISO50 set with visuals Sunday night. From the looks of the lineup it’s going to be a great show (see below). The full schedule with set times can be found here.
Performances by:
# Flying Lotus
# Daedelus
# Plastician
# Blockhead
# Sean Hayes
# Gift of Gab (of Blackalicious)
# Lazer Sword
# Random Rab
# Tycho
# Sub Swara
# Mochipet
+ More
Warp and Bibio made a pretty interesting flash interactive site for the new Bibio album which allows you to listen to songs while creating a tree in Bibio’s digital forest, I made one really quick for ISO50, definitely nice promo and worth checking out. Bibio’s Forest
Seriously impressed by the diverse portfolio of Danish designer Sebastian Gram (currently art director of Hello Monday). The first image (interactive design for fashion brand Revolution) made the FFFFound rounds a while back, but it wasn’t until recently that I explored his portfolio further and found the rest of his exceptional work. Each project, whether it’s a logo or full blown identity system, is considered down to the smallest detail. It’s also cool to see process shots along side the finished product; gives you a sense how much time and refinement went into it.
I was especially intrigued by the typeface for Vertica, developed by Gram and Creative United. My guess, based on progress images like the one above, is that it was designed as a custom face for Vertica and is not commercially available. Too bad, those are some sexy letterforms. Like much of Gram’s work, it manages to rock out with a rigid, corporate aesthetic, without being boring or common. I would love to see my name written in that font.
An good intro can really make the song. It can set the mood, erasing whatever else is around you and make you feel safe from the world. These songs work because they are incredibly funky and use the impossible elasticity of the synth to great measure.
Another reason these songs still feel fresh is because they represent an era where music and technology had reached a new apex. Stevie Wonder’s synth work in the 70’s is considered by many to be the most influential of it’s era, thanks in part to his work with Tonto’s Expanding Headband and their TONTO synth (watch this little documentary), which allowed the funk to show through the machines.
These songs honor that legacy in different ways.
Carly Simon-Why
[audio:why.mp3]
Produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the all-time best disco band Chic, this was a UK chart hit but never on a US album save for a low-key soundtrack. Not as synthy as the rest, but about as good a pop-disco track as you’re likely to hear, skanking along at an easy clip.
The Brothers Johnson – Strawberry Letter 23
[audio:strawberryletter23.mp3]
A funky version of Shuggie Otis’ deathless original, this cut is synth and bass heaven and helped them reach platinum status. Produced by Quincy Jones no less.
Dexter Wansel – Life On Mars
[audio:lifeonmars.mp3]
Dexter Wansel was on Gamble And Huff’s famous Philly International label. Ann Arbor/Detroit legend DJ Carlos Souffront sold me this re-issue at Osborne’s record store in Ann Arbor years ago and it never sees the shelf. The cut breaks into some super funky disco heat, but that cosmic intro makes this one truly staggering.
Yarbrough and Peoples – Don’t Stop The Music
[audio:dontstopthemusic.mp3]
Greatest bassline awards #1 and sits between genres pretty niftily. 1980 was a MONSTER YEAR for synthy funk, the R+B charts were producing some great tracks, fast and slow. Boogie music is getting some love thanks to revivalists like Dam Funk, and with good reason. Feel this video.
I came across Dutch photographer GoWithTheFlowEnzo’s work (not sure of his real name, only says “Robin” on the page) the other day and I’m really enjoying the color and style. According to the EXIF data he used a Canon EOS 450D for most of the shots. The crazy part is that he took a couple of them with a little Canon IXUS. See if you can spot which ones without looking at the EXIF.
Not sure what Blog Wars is/are, but enjoying this poster by Mig Reyes all the same. Three more colorways at the bottom of the page here. for By the way, don’t look up “Blog Wars” on google if you’re at work.
