Posts by Jakub

Skalpel are a jazz duo from Poland on Ninja Tunes, they sample 50s-70s Polish Jazz and piece together tracks. I always liked the video for this song and the raw lo-fi recording did it for me everytime. It reminds me of The Avalanches alil but not as uptempo, i’ll post something from them soon.

Skalpel – Sculpture

Since August 2006, i’ve been widdling away at one proper electronic compilation follow up to The Rorschach Suite. I wanted a release that was jam-packed full of diverse electronically made music so that people that we’re new to electronic music wouldn’t be scared off by experimentation or the dance end but mostly getting pulled in by a deal(20 tracks/80 mins of new music for cheap) and most importantly short melodic songs that make you wanna play the song again.

Today The Synchronicity Suite came out on iTunes (and got alil love under the What’s Hot section) and Ghostly International and Moodgadget wanted to exclusively share 5 songs from the compilation with the ISO50/Tycho crowd. I also wanted to point out that the artwork was done by PhilistineDSGN and mastering by Adam Hunt, gotta always give credit where credit is due.

Small Sails – Somnambulist

The Reflecting Skin – Cavedweller (instrumental version)

Praveen – Slip Slop

Elm From Arm – Pretty Take

Mux Mool – 10

As i sit in front of my computer today i was separating business cards that i’ve recently received from the Detroit Electronic Music Festival and new people i’ve met in New York. Maybe it’s just me and my fascination with plexiglass being used for almost anything but i thought these business cards by Head Inc. might be abit too much on the carrying them around side. I’d probably feel abit odd giving someone one of these too but they’re pretty beautiful in my opinion especially if you stack them on top of each other but i don’t see myself ever getting 2 of them anytime soon from anyone.

One of the most influential electronic labels since i started working in the industry has been Kompakt out of Cologne, Germany. Its owned by a favorite musician of mine Wolfgang Voigt aka Gas, who has some of the most unbelievable ambient records on Mille Plateaux in the mid 90’s. 1,2,3, No Gravity was always a great vinyl to throw on during the beginning of a dj set just because it had this feel to it that everybody might actually know it or wanna know it once the distant vocal came in. Also, The cover art is part of a compilation series that comes out every year, i think Kompakt is on Total 8 now, definitely worth looking into especially their other compilation series “Pop Ambient” which is also yearly. For the non techno fans, i promise to keep the techno to a minimum, if i post techno its mostly because of the melodies usually.

Closer Musik – 1,2,3, No Gravity

I found Milosh thru the pretty reliable iTunes electronic front page banners. First i thought it was the singer of Sigur Ros Jón Þór Birgisson because he does kinda look the same. Finally I clicked and found out it was a Plug Research release which is home to some of my favorite artists like Daedelus, Dntel, Thomas Fehlmann, and John Tejada. I think Milosh would be a great addition to a Tycho track, don’t you agree?

Milosh – Couldn’t Sleep

If you like “Couldn’t Sleep” then this live version of “You Make Me Feel” might be perfect for you, i remember when i saw this video and heard the voice layering i pretty much just decided to throw away my Reason 3.0 and Ableton Live.

For those that are looking for something that’s melodic but with texture this Fennesz album Endless Summer is by far my favorite to put on when its just too humid in your home and all you wanna do just relax and not move. I would of posted my favorite track “Happy Audio” from this album but i think the repetition might of overwhelmed some people. The track Endless Summer feels like its split up in 3 parts where the guitar takes turns with this in and out melodic noise as the lead piece and at the end everything wraps together nicely. I think it would have to take 3 talented people like Christopher Willits, Biosphere and William Basinski to be able recreate a track like this again. The artwork by Tina Frank and photography by Hertha Hurnaus is just stunning and was ahead of its time i think for a 2001 release. I’d love to know if this wasn’t enjoyable for someone all the way thru especially towards the end where it sounds like Christian Fennesz brings in this muted string addition that brings everything together very tight in a good way in my opinion. For those who have this record its definitely worth dusting off and putting it on again.

Fennesz: Endless Summer

Buro Destruct was one of the design bureau’s i found after finding Scott’s ISO50’s work that i really enjoyed. I was mostly drawn to the bearded guy icon and their poster’s they did for artists on Warp Records 5-10 years ago. I love their well thought out press photo though and books they’ve put out over the years.

Bibio’s Flickr is full of some great subtle saturated personal photos that would make amazing album covers for music of his nature. In a good way Bibio has this wonderful european back country feel to everything to puts his hands on. Seems to me that he spends his day taking photos of friends and surroundings with his Holga and records music onto a 4 track recorder in the forest and only goes home because the sun is going down. It’s like some odd Boards of Canada dream that features the early set of Fred Penner’s Place. Let me know if i’m losing you on the Fred Penner part.

Bibio – Aberriw

Bibio – Looking Through The Facets Of A Plastic Jewel

Bibio – Bewley In Grey

You can find all these tracks either off Bibio’s Fi or Hand Cranked LPs on Mush Records.

Some of you that might read McSweeney’s lovely Believer Magazine(which my dad turned me onto) might already have this from last year’s music issue. Zach Condon aka Beirut put together a great track for the magazine which also does the Wolphin DVD series which features greats like Zach Galifianakis and i think David Cross. Venice is alil more lush and slower going than his Beirut music since he strips the track down to only him singing, a hypnotic synth melody, and muted horns. I first heard this track off a mix my DJ partner’s Worst Friend’s did last year and i had to have it by itself, they did an amazing podcast today for Ghostly International which includes Tycho’s The Disconnect. We sometimes see Zach at Macri Park Bar where we DJ at every Wednesday in Brooklyn, i’m always tempted to put the track on.

Zach Condon aka Beirut – Venice

Last weekend i finally got to hang out with Scott again so with a few hours to spare i drove him to Ann Arbor, MI and on the way got to feel out his music taste beyond what we post on the blog. I remember this track coming up on shuffle among many others and we talked about it for awhile and i think i read somewhere that its one of Boards of Canada’s favorite tracks at one point in time or something of that nature. I would of posted the artwork but i think the true ISO50 fans here would maybe not ever want to see a post from me again just because its a bit on the silly side which isn’t a bad thing. Also, i think the last 2 covers i’ve posted have been beauties so instead i found a great photo of them live on Fujirockers.

Super Furry Animals – Some Things Come from Nothing