Posts in Music

It’s been a while since I’ve heard anyone describe their music as "IDM", but at one point it seemed like anything that wasn’t House, Jungle, Downtempo, or one of the other random electronic genres, was thrown in that catch-all and labeled IDM along with everything else people hadn’t come up with an ultra-specific sub-genre for yet.  In IDM’s heyday the Florida-based label Merck were definitely putting out some of my favorite stuff. Brothomstates sort of rose to the top of that group or artists for me, always enjoyed his more melodic take on the style. This song is the Brothomstates remix from MD’s "Appelsap" album. Sad to say, but this came out in 2000, so I guess I’d have to label it "classic" electronic. Sad because I remember buying this album and listening to it constantly like it was yesterday, but apparently it’s been 8 years.

MD – Brothomstates Remix

Just a little Sunday theme music in the form of Jeff Buckley’s hauntingly beautiful cover of Leonard Cohen’s classic "Hallelujah". Always sad to think such a talent is no longer with us.

The image above is a woodcut by Stephen and Sabina Alcorn entitled "Jeff Buckley, Gregorian Punk".

Jeff Buckley – "Hallelujah"

[audio:hallelujah.mp3]

In keeping with the holiday (does this count as a holiday?) I thought I’d post a song from Belle & Sebastian (everyone’s favorite Scottish indie-folk outfit and perhaps my favorite band). I’ve always loved their album covers, usually very simple duotone photos depicting something to do with the album title.  Always classic and fitting for the style of the music. I’ll be posting more from them in the coming weeks.

Belle & Sebastian – "Piazza, New York Catcher"

[audio:piazza.mp3]

Jakub sent me this image tonight which is, of course, amazing. It reminded me of my favorite Bossa Nova song "Aguas de Marco" so I thought I would post both. Note this is not the cover of the album this song is from. Impeccable style going on here, typography is top notch and the photographic composition is near perfection. That salmon color in the background is usually a dead giveaway for cross processing, wonder if that’s what’s going on here? If you look closely at his collar you’ll see a bit more evidence of the xp.

As Jakub pointed out, the original version has a black border as well as an alternatively effected version of the photo. Sort of torn on which I like best, the border sort of encapsulates the negative space which is nice, but there’s something about this version I think is a bit cleaner. There’s also a rather nice full vertical version here.

Antonio Carlos Jobim y Elis Regina-"Águas De Marco (Waters Of March)"

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Was talking to the guys from Stereogum today about a design project and they sent me a link to Drive XV, the 15 year Tribute to REM’s Automatic For The People.  I remember when Automatic For The People originally came out, it was really something unique at the time, one of my favorites. So apparently Stereogum has designers sort of re-imagine the cover art for the tribute albums and I thought this one came out quite well.  Really like the type treatment and minimal approach. You’ll notice that it vaguely follows the form of the original. Bonus: name those fonts

Design aside, the Shout Out Louds’ tribute to Man On The Moon is superb, have a listen below. I hear some Paul Simon Graceland in that chorus, anyone else?

Shout Out Louds – Man On The Moon

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Was at the beach today listening to Schneider TM’s "Zoomer". It was a beautifully sunny day here in San Francisco, made it a little easier to cope with the reality of being home. The cover of this album is pretty interesting, well designed overall, the collage works to good effect, but I think a bit more time could have been spent on the type treatment.

Schneider TM – "Reality Check"

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Ever since my friend Erin introduced me to Arcade Fire back when their first album came out I’ve been a huge fan.  Unfortunately I have yet to see them live, but I’ll make that a priority this year. Here’s a mellow selection for a mellow London morning. Love the lyrics.

"The Arcade Fire – Une Annee Sans Lumiere"

Been listening to Apparat’s latest a lot during this trip, really nice stuff.  It’s always amazing to me when a producer breaks out with quality vocals.

Apparat – "Arcadia"

Ulrich Schnauss’s "A Strangely Isolated Place" is one of my favorite albums but my favorite track of his is actually a remix of Sia’s "Breathe Me".  Sit back and enjoy, the fireworks begin at around 3:26.

Sia – Breathe Me (Ulrich Schnauss Remix)

[audio:breathe.mp3]

Xiu Xiu’s "Fabulous Muscles" was certainly one of my favorite albums from 2004.  This particular song is just simply amazing, I once started a remix of it but never finished; chalk that up on the to-do list for when I get home.  Jamie Stewart’s style is so intense and this song is no exception; he’s been accused of being over the top or too melodramatic in his songwriting but it’s just right if you ask me.  I think he’s now based out of San Francisco which makes it all that much better (There are very few Bay Area bands that I really enjoy). Hope this finds you well, greetings from Amsterdam.

Xiu Xiu – I Love The Valley

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