Posts in Guest Post

If you saw Tycho on tour last time in the US you saw our ambient R&B support Jacob & Tom of Beacon, I asked them to put together today’s playlist, would love some feedback, their No Body EP is out, they DJ tomorrow with Yeasayers at Cameo Gallery

Keyboard Kid – $$$$$$
Producers without their counterparts have been dominating my speaker time lately. $$$$$$ off Keyboard Kids 2011 Video Games and Blunts mixtape is a stellar track full of his signature futuristic synths and dirt filled percussion. The chopped and pitched repetitive hook always seems to swell around in my head long after it finishes.

Filterwolf – Nocturne (Bodycode aka Portable remix)
I’ve been listening to so much Alan Abrahams AKA Portable AKA Bodycode lately. I love the way his baritone vocal harmonies in this remix become the warmest incantations, summoning love from some wandering spirit.

Ayatoholla – NAG Champa
This throwback keeps making it into my steady rotation. NAG Champa , the opening track off of Ayatoholla’s 2006 Now Playing, drops all the right sounds in all the right places. Its one of those loops I want to listen to for hours. With a perfect blend of soulful vocal samples, smooth drum work and swells of melodic strings its an example of a producer who gives only what is needed.

Blood Orange – Champagne Coast
The really special thing about this Blood Orange song is the way the slow funk groove in the beginning eventually opens into very triumphant love song of Koto patterns, warm synths and Devonte’s insistent vocal finish.

Scott and the rest of the ISO50 blog family are really excited to announce 2 new contributors this week: Seth Hardie and Luca Venter, we’re really looking forward to reading and seeing what they post since both guys are insane Instagramers and we feel like they fit in perfectly.

Seth Hardie designs websites at Lift Interactive. He is an avid photographer and spends as much time as possible in the forests of Alberta.

Instagram: @hallwood
Twitter: @therealhallwood
Website: sethhardie.com

Luca Venter is a 16 year old photographer based in Denver, CO. I met him at the Denver Tycho show after we featured his Instagram photo on the blog. I definitely noticed right after researching everything he does that he has a solid vision and he probably has the best eyeglasses and shoes in all of Colorado. If you get a chance check out his website, he has great band photos which seem to be his cup of tea.

Instagram: @lucaventer
Twitter: @lucaventer
Website: lucaventer.com

I’m happy to announce our latest Guest Music Post is by the very talented and respected Detroit musician Tadd Mullinix (Dabrye, James T. Cotton, SK-1). I remember having a CD player alarm clock years ago and i’d wake up to Tadd Mullinix – Minajor every morning for more than a year no joke, I wanted to remember every note. Recently I went into Encore Records in Ann Arbor, MI where Tadd works and asked him where the Dark Cello music was hoping he’d unveil magical classical music in which I know nothing about. Here are Tadd’s choices, the Michael William Gilbert song blew my face off, still gathering it off the floor:

1. Booker Ervin – Blues for You
When this one came into the record shop, it found its way to the turntable
immediately. As it played overhead I was struck by the group’s blazing,
unremitting pace.

2. Woo – A Complex Art
It appears to me that the music on this cassette came from a salubrious
spiritual function that took place somewhere in the new-age 90’s.

3. Michael William Gilbert – Phase
Private press. This comes from a gallant mind cradled by an electronic music
studio somewhere in Boston, MA. He wished to make his electronic compositions a “more human music, a fusion of synthesized, concrete, and instrumental sound.”

4. Severed Heads – Cowboy Muzak
My favorite works from them have balanced elements of repetition, fuzzy noise, and melodic basslines that usually support a crusty amalgam of dancing synth-lines and whip-crack percussion.

Roger O’Donnell is an English keyboardist best known for his work with The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, The Thompson Twins and Berlin. I’ve had the pleasure to see Roger play live in recent years, he’s definitely one of the main reasons why we fall in love with certain songs he wrote. Here are a few selections Roger was kind enough to share with us:

Efterklang – Mirador with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra. A go to band for me when nothing else is worth listening to.

Herbie Hancock – Vein Melter, Herbie “the keeper of the keys” pure Fender Rhodes magic from my mentor.

Tortoise – High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In, musical over achievers yes but they are prepared to push it to the edge, inspirational.

Tonto’s Expanding Headband – Cybernaut, all Moog.. What more do you need?

The image is called “The Perfect Garden” by Philistine DSGN

Rafael Anton Irisarri puts together a playlist for us of Broadcast’s Trish Keenan, very devastating news for all music lovers.

“Last week I was extremely saddened by Trish Keenan’s tragic, untimely death. She was a brilliant, talented artist and her music became a huge inspiration to me. I love the sound of her voice, it was absolutely fantastic. The first time I heard Broadcast, I thought everytime her parts would come in, it was the work of an angel.

When Jakub asked me do a guest spot on ISO50 this week, I couldn’t think of anything else but Broadcast. So, with that in mind, I went over my collection and selected my favorite songs from their catalog. It was supposed to be only 4 tracks, but what can I say, I really liked their music so I ended up using 14 tracks instead. I never got to meet Trish, but I feel very lucky to have discovered her music and at least gotten to know that aspect of her life.”

R.I.P. Trish

We’ve been rolling thru these Guest Music Posts this week, we will wrap the week up with a female focused post by Will Wiesenfeld aka Baths / Geotic, beautiful choice to start it off Will!

CocoRosie – R.I.P. Burn Face
In CocoRosie’s bizarre pop aesthetic, they’re able to maintain this perfect level of darkness and experimentation
without it getting in the way of melody and songwriting. I’ve always been jealous of how effortless they make it seem.

Björk – Sun In My Mouth (recomposed by Ensemble)
Ensemble (Oliver Alary) also produced the Björk song “Desired Constellation,” my favorite song of all time. This is another great collaboration by the two.

Robyn – Hang With Me
Pop music perfected. Everyone alive should take notes.

Husky Rescue – Beautiful My Monster
My favorite song of last year. Coming from such a wonderfully gloomy album, this song serves as the light at the end of the tunnel.
It ties the record together beautifully.

Image by: Dieter Sayler

Many of you know Michael Cina’s work as a Graphic Designer but he also has a great taste in music, he set some time aside and shared some music for the ISO50 readers, enjoy:

Supersilent
I am waiting for my copy to come, I preordered this half-way into
listening to an advanced copy last year. I think Supersilent is pretty
good (I love Deathprod), but this is Supersilent at their best. Parts
of the lp hint at a sparse Miles Davis when he was in his fusion
years, other songs sound like Vangelis. They really precisely capture
tones and moods on this album.

Talk Talk
I have been on a steady stream of the last two Talk Talk lps for the
last six months or so. There is something hauntingly beautiful about
these sincere records. From what I understand, they locked themselves
in a dark room and didn’t talk with anyone while making these albums.
You can hear it, you can hear the room swallowing you.

Nicolas Jaar
I won’t pretend that I know anything about Jaar, as I don’t, besides
he is somewhat connected to the Wolf + Lamb crew. You can tell from
his production, that he loves sound. He seems to be expanding off of
the road that Matthew Dear has paved and is making his own way. I am
looking forward to see where he goes with his music.

The Blue Nile
One of my friends Rob turned me onto this a little while ago. I have
heard of the band but really never knew what they did. This is the
second song is off their “Hats” full-length. It’s magic from start to
finish. They really create a vivid picture in this song.

Hey IS050 gang! Mr. Alexander was kind enough to ask for a guest post on some music I enjoy. I decided to mostly feature some music which has inspired and surrounds my Sepalcure project (alongside the talented Machinedrum). These are the repeats – the jams I can listen to over and over without ever wearing em out.

1) Mount Kimbie – Sketch on Glass

A near unbearably long intro, IDM inspired percussion and a final vocoded 1.5 minutes to die for. I remember heading over to Fort Greene Park last year when this EP dropped just to sit under the trees and listen to this jam on repeat. Took the day off just to do so. I know I looked at the clouds a bunch.

Seriously though. Check these guys – they are some seriously talented kids with an equally engrossing live show. Whenever Jakub writes about how IDM is back, just under a new guise, it makes me think of our Hotflush label mates, Mount Kimbie.

2) TRG – Broken Heart (Martyn’s DCM Remix)

Without this track, Sepalcure may never have happened. #realtalk

I remember a friend sending me this in late 2007 and my subsequent loss of the ability to listen to anything else. The chords, the vocal, the wooden snares – I can honestly say this track got me back into dance music in a big way. There was literally nothing else like it at the time. Wooden snares are a dime a dozen these days (I’m guilty of abusing the shit outta them myself), and with this broken beat take on dubstep and techno at an all time peak, maybe its a good time to look back at where it all started.

3) Falty DL – MY FRIENDS WILL ALWAYS SAY…

Prolific is an understatement. Drew Lustman has had over two dozen releases in the past two genre-spanning years. Weaving everything from IDM to Disco to 2 Step to Acid, homeboy Lustman is one to watch in 2011. There’s a great story somewhere in there about him being at a Percussion Lab rooftop party years back and deciding to move to NYC because of it but we’ll save that for another time. The thing I love about Falty’s production is you can almost immediately tell its him. In a genre saturated with cookie cutter preset tracks, thats something special.

This track is one of my favorites of his – takes a great idea and keeps it simple. The chords, vocal sample, garage beat – its prime goose bump material.

4) Johann Johannsson – melodia (iii)

One of the saddest pieces of music I’ve ever heard. This one oozes melancholy and defeat. I actually think I cried a bit when I saw Johannsson perform this at Le Poisson Rouge a couple years back. The whole Fordlandia album holds a special place in my heart – one of those places you don’t necessarily want to revisit, but was vital to have during a particular time of your life. I feel like this is a good counter piece to the aforementioned dance music gems. Music with an entirely different purpose. You may think Burial sounds pretty good in the rain, but it doesn’t match the absolute gut wrenching, soul destroying event which is “melodia” in a downpour. I made myself promise to listen to less sad music last year though, so thats all on you.

Benoit Pioulard is no stranger to this blog, I might post about him quarterly at the very least. This Portland lo-fi vanguard has always turned me onto good music so I had to pick his brain for his latest picks. Don’t read into the Bobby Vinton choice too much since he recently was married, congrats Thomas.

Memoryhouse: Caregiver – We’ve all felt like ghosts at one time or another.

Nat King Cole: Calypso Blues – We’ve all felt homesick at one time or another.

Infinite Body: Out to Where I Am – We’ve all felt the extraordinary depth of the universe in our chests at one time or another.

Bobby Vinton: Mr. Lonely – We’ve all felt lonely at one time or another.

2011 is already off to a great start, i’m going to try out a few different series with the playlists all thru the year. The one i’m most excited about are these Guest Music Posts, here’s the first one by New Jersey’s synthwave prodigy Com Truise:

Mesak, one of my favorite producers right now, it’s like next level computer funk.

Oneohtrix Point Never is slowly rising to the same pedestal I put Boards of Canada on, and that’s saying a lot. I think anything Daniel Lopatin touches is sure to be golden.

The System, pure oberheim funk. Being that David Frank is one of my all time favorite producers, I’m always blasting his jams.

The Samps just dropped a new EP on Big Love, I got the vinyl in the mail about 3 weeks ago, it hasn’t left the deck!

Also, remember the ISO50 Dry Waves compilation? here’s the official video for Com Truise’s Fairlight