Archive for October, 2009

New Bibio music coming from all angles, man just when I getting into Vignetting the Compost then Ambivalence Avenue came along and blew my mind and now a new EP? life is good.

A new Washed Out EP is out as well, this Phone Call track is on repeat every day in my room, I think this might be his best song yet, it doesn’t count on a slow tempo and gets me excited about what else this guy can do.

I hope HudMo starts producing Top 40 because he’ll add a fun aspect to the whole stale genre, his snare hits have a funny sound though, like some cartoony feel to them I can’t put my finger on it, either way it unique, I also like how he gets his synths to sound like a cassette player is eating his tape.

I got to hang out with Leo 123 while Eliot Lipp and Mux Mool we’re in town, a really funny guy and knows his synths really well too. He has that Disco/Hip Hop fusion sound going, loopy yet a ton of good synth playing over it all which I can always respect.

Bibio – Carosello Ellitico

[audio:bibioill.mp3]

Washed Out – Phone Call

[audio:phonecall.mp3]

Hudson Mohawke – No One Could Ever

[audio:hudmono.mp3]

Leo 123 – Silvo

[audio:silvo.mp3]

Mrs. Eaves is one of my favorite typefaces. Especially when it comes to serifs — which admittedly, I use infrequently — Mrs. Eaves has long been a go-to. I agree with designer Zuzana Licko’s description that “Mrs Eaves was a mix of just enough tradition with an updated twist. It’s familiar enough to be friendly, yet different enough to be interesting.”

After much anticipation, the sans-serif companion Mr. Eaves is complete. It comes in two varieties; Mr. Eaves Modern and Mr. Eaves Sans (character map pictured above). Like Mrs. Eaves, both variations were designed by Zuzana Licko for Emigre. I’m excited to use this — especially the lowercase ‘a’ variant pictured at the bottom.

Mr Eaves was based on the proportions of Mrs Eaves, but Licko took some liberty with its design. One of the main concerns was to avoid creating a typeface that looked like it simply had its serifs cut off. And while it matches Mrs Eaves in weight, color, and armature, Mr Eaves stands as its own typeface with many unique characteristics. [ Purchase ]

Today is a big day for the Suite series (The Rorschach Suite, The Synchronicity Suite, The Nocturnal Suite), the third edition has come out on Ghostly International. The series is a various compilation collection that explores the variety in electronic music. Also, celebrating the 5 year anniversary of Moodgadget we made the last 2 Suites only 4.99 on iTunes which both have 20 songs each, I hope you all can enjoy something on here, there is some major melody going on in these songs, below is a great description by the talented editors at Ghostly:

“Ghostly affiliate Moodgadget Records exclusively releases music by up-and-coming artists; with the Nocturnal Suite, Moodgadget not only “exposes the diversity in electronic music” (the label’s mission statement), it unites dazzlingly talented, like-minded artists working in wildly divergent stylistic fields into a grand, unified whole. Like its predecessors, the Moodgadget-curated Rorschach Suite and Synchronicity Suite, the Nocturnal Suite plays like a lovingly assembled mixtape, compiling brief, catchy, electronic-minded pop songs built for obsessive repeat listening.

The Nocturnal Suite is eclectic, but even among its stylistic diversity (the liquid space-disco of Faux Pas’ “Rose’s Lament (Gadget Edit),” for instance, sits right next to Wild Yaks’ caveman-like “Crazy but Not Afraid,” which flanks 800Beloved’s Psychedelic Furs-esque anthem “Galaxies”), there’s a distinctly nighttime-y mood, folding acoustic guitars and sleepy vocals in with its distressed beats and synths. Daedelus’ remix of Praveen & Benoit’s “Chiaroscuro” clothes a distant clattering beat in ambient reverb swells and wisps of orchestral flutes; Bluejay’s “Blurry” wraps its bedroom electro-pop around a deliciously melancholy hook; City Center’s “Summer School” is an exercise in pastoral dream-beat, a psychedelic fog of a track that drifts like a late-afternoon beachside nap.

The Nocturnal Suite encompasses dance music, indie rock, synth-pop, experimental instrumentals—and, yes, electronic music—but its emotional core is its biggest asset. Even in the closing track, Daniel Johnson’s deadly serious cover of Sophie B. Hawkins’ 1991 classic “Damn (Wish I Was Your Lover),” the pea soup-thick production turns the jaunty original into a much more resonant affair; it’s a fitting end to a compilation that turns every genre it touches into perfect late-night listening.”

Mux Mool – Ballad of Gloria Featherbottom

[audio:nocmux.mp3]

Bluejay – Blurry

[audio:nocblue.mp3]

Wisp – Arpeggiating Edgar

[audio:nocwisp.mp3]

Landau Orchestra – Wheel of Fortune

[audio:nocland.mp3]

Faux Pas – Rose Lament (Gadget edit)

[audio:nocfaux.mp3]

I’m posting these stills from Buffalo ‘66 partly because they’re awesome and partly because it’s a good chance to tell the story where me and Dusty saw Vincent Gallo at my neighborhood market on a Tuesday. It was surreal, I think we must have been staring uncontrollably because he was in line and had this look on his face like “are these idiots going to ask me something or stab me?” (all love knife style). We also saw him with Sean Lennon at a bar once and got some horrible blurry iPhone shot of him and Dusty. So I guess that makes us officially stalkers now.

By the way, Whatthefont says “Buffalo” is Prelo Compressed Medium. Not quite sure though.

Stills via the always incredible I Love Hotdogs.

The new echochord release by Quantec is the perfect day starter, it doesn’t ask for much of your attention and evolves nicely, a great pick up for the fans that love deep and dubby.

Lush might have a headache of an album cover for their 4AD release of Spooky but the music is anything but, last night I heard De-luxe at the bar at 4am and it made my night. I love how less harsh this is compared to MBV and also, how did this band tour with Ride? must of been a pretty large contrast night after night during those tour dates.

Theo Parrish is a edit genius, plain and simple.

I went to see Bonobo and Eliot Lipp last night in New York, Eliot killed it, he played a ton on the SH-101 which reminds me of 2Pac for some reason. My favorite track still by him is Beamrider but he also played a couple other favs by others like Sorcerer, Michna and Mux Mool. I like the uniqueness of not only is it being a Live/DJ set but he also plays on top of other people’s music, its kind of a different way of thinking about an edit of a song and seeing it live nonetheless makes it kind of special to see him play every time.

Quantec – Absolute Level

[audio:abs.mp3]

Lush – Laura

[audio:laura.mp3]

The Dells – Get On Down (Theo Parrish Re-Edit)

[audio:theodown.mp3]

Eliot Lipp – Rap Tight

[audio:rtight.mp3]

I first noticed of Mark Brooks’s work when he designed a series of very distinct black and white posters for Barcelona based Santamonica Apparel. Tonight I noticed that he’s back with a stylistically similar, but conceptually unique new series for the same company. While the originals were great in their own right, this new series — based on a grid of stars made from the Santamonica logo — takes things to another level. Very clever stuff.

Be sure to check out the rest of his work at Behance or his personal portfolio.

Assorted posters by Dutch designer Hans Gremmen. I love posters — like the first one — that are just PACKED with all sorts of information and data. Really gives the designer a chance to show off their typographic skills and hierarchic sensibilities. I especially enjoy the tendency for the asymmetrically balanced composition; really makes for that much more of an interesting poster.

Also worth noting is Gremmen’s portfolio site which randomly generates a selection of eight of his works. An interesting approach to be sure; I like the concept of an ever-changing front page, though it was a little tough to find the specific work I was looking for.

Update: The 12″ is now available for Pre-Order at the ISO50 Shop.

The new Tycho single, Coastal Brake, is finally all set for release. Above you can see the 12″ vinyl cover art including the reverse and stickers. There is also a limited edition poster with alternate artwork folded into each vinyl sleeve — I’ll post more on that and the process of creating the artwork as we get closer to the release date.

I got the finished vinyl in the other day and they look great — I’ll post up some pics next week. The official release date for the vinyl and digital is December 8th but we will be taking pre-orders starting November 2nd at The ISO50 Shop. I’ll be posting more details as the become available. | Comment on this post

Update: apparently you can hear one of the remixes from the 12″ via the Ghostly Discovery App. If you dial in these mood settings, the resulting playlist should include the Lusine remix of Coastal Brake (you may have to click next a few times). Enjoy.

One of the best live shows i’ve seen this year will be out in Europe this November. Benoit Pioulard who is a pretty popular musician that I post about on this blog will be hitting the road and playing one of the more beautiful experimental live sets you’ll ever here. If you live in France then it looks like you have like 5 chances to catch him, nice.

EU Dates
Oct 31 Museum d’Histoire Naturelle . Nantes, FR
Nov 3 Planet Claire (Radio Session) . Paris, FR
Nov 4 The Lexington . London, UK
Nov 6 Compilotheque . Brussels, BE
Nov 8 Cave 12 . Geneva, CH
Nov 9 Hans Wurst . Berlin, DE
Nov 12 Comptoir Général . Paris, FR
Nov 13 Les Musicophages . Toulouse, FR
Nov 14 Musée Fenaille . Rodez, FR

US Date
Dec 10 The Artistery . Portland, Oregon, US

Benoit Pioulard – Palimend

[audio:palimend.mp3]

Benoit Pioulard – Ardoise

[audio:ardoise.mp3]

Benoit Pioulard – Loupe

[audio:loupe.mp3]

WARNING: While hilarious, the language used in the above videos is NSFW.

“I have made a mock up myself to help you in Microsoft Word. Just one other thing — seeing as I’m only going to use one of the ten designs you are going to do for me, I would like to pay 1/10th of the £3.50”

I was rolling on the ground watching this. I laugh at these videos in that “oh yeah, SO true” sort of way, but am not really comparing it to any of my past jobs. It’s almost as if this sort of client relationship is understood on some sort of primal level for designers. You hear enough stories and it may as well have happened to you. Anyway, this is hilarious; the automated-voice delivery is perfectly weird. The way they say “Microsoft Word” is fantastic.

via Core77