Posts by Jakub

Chicago’s Kranky Records is home to the music that soundtracks my day like Loscil, Stars of the Lid, Tim Hecker, and The Dead Texan which i will share in future music posts. In recent years they have gained probably most their popularity from young guys like Deerhunter and Atlas Sound but the one musician songwriting wise that sticks out is Portand’s Benoît Pioulard. The artwork and photography is done by Will Calcutt who is a great photographer out of Los Angeles and probably couldn’t of pushed this artwork in my opinion closer to perfection for this album. Hopefully this hits the spot to carry you into the weekend.

Benoît Pioulard – Ash In The Sky

I remember this 12″ cover art looking right at me when i walked into Etherea Record Shop in East Village, it was pretty much everything i wanted in a font and texture a few years back. This track reminds me of Erlend Oye right away, it feels like something he would sing over but his voice never drops in. If you get a chance check out this record label Eskimo Recordings, they have great art direction and some of the best slow motion disco out there.

Lindstrom & Prins Thomas – Suppegjok

These are just some of the major league(NHL, NBA, MLB) sport logos that i’ve enjoyed over the years. Most of them i like for different reasons some simply just the color scheme, clever layout, or unique shape. Some of these I thought could’ve be done a tad bit better like the Minnesota Wild logo one where the trees really struggle but the forest elements are all there in pretty creative way like the path for a mouth is pretty genius i thought. I also was missing good versions of the Philadelphia Phillies logo that was bold light blue and maroon or the old Houston Astros uniforms that a lot of people rip on but they’re abit of a guilty pleasure for me.

Logo identity from left to right and top to bottom: Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Rockies(the hockey one), Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Hartford Whalers, Milwaukee Brewers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Wild, Quebec Nordiques, Seattle Supersonics

Right around the time the Ghostly Swim tracklist was coming together i had to check out some more releases by some of the new faces and picked up this limited 7″ vinyl from School of Seven Bells called Silent Grips. You might remember them from the last Prefuse 73 record or saw them on a tour date with Blonde Redhead. They have this wonderful full sound that is worn down, its like if you molded together some of the best parts of Slowdive and replaced the guitars with warm synths and but brought the vocals up front and add some slower dusty Black Moth Super Rainbow percussion. I hope you enjoy.

School of Seven Bells – Silent Grips

Last Saturday i was lucky enough to get into the first ever live band show of Hercules And Love Affair at Studio B in Brooklyn before they venture off to Europe to explode. They brought an amazing live disco band setup with an 8 piece band that included a brass section and 2 singers but they were missing Antony who is the singer in this track “Blind” and previously collaborated with Bjork on Volta. I hope you enjoy this change up, i’ll get into a few different genres while posting on Scott’s blog.

Hercules And Love Affair is due out in the US June 14th 2008 on Mute/DFA

Hercules And Love Affair – Blind

I want to introduce you all to Jakub Alexander, he helps me out with the day to day workings of ISO50/Tycho related stuff, is an A&R for Ghostly International Records, and runs his own imprint called Moodgadget Records. You may have guessed from his credentials that he’s well versed in all things music related so I’ve asked him to contribute some posts to the blog. He’ll be posting all sorts of stuff from now on, hopefully adding a little more variety to my own selections. So let’s give Jakub a warm welcome, this is his first post.

Hey everyone, i just wanted to start out with something i feel is really pretty on the melody end that is maybe the perfect balance of indie rock and electronic. Also, i wanted some warm saturated key work to share with all the people that come and visit here. I remember first hearing Mercury Program in 2005 from Benoit Pioulard and this song and Tequesta completely grabbed me because i have a thing for vibraphones which dominate Tequesta and keys on this track always relaxes me.

Mercury Program – You Yourself Are Too Serious

A collaboration with car makers Citroen and Pirelli Mario Bellini built what amounts to a minimalist mobile home. This would make a great car for an impromptu camp out.

The third one down, proper work Forma

A lot of wonderful things going on in here. The logotype is incredible, the layout perfect, and the imagery spot on. Love the weight of the font and the subtly distinctive modifications. I am really averse to the modern trend of forcing a logo mark. This image recalls the time when they knew how to create a proper logotype.

Anyone have a copy? I would think these guys must.

UPDATE: Via Keith Guerin in the comments: Some info on the architects responsible for this structure.