Posts in Music

I know I know i’m on a Swedish post rock / dream pop kick recently thanks to 800Beloved and some recent suggestions from the very informative ISO50 blog commenting community. The Mary Onettes recently released their Islands LP, below our a few of my favorite tracks by them, a really odd creepy Swedish video and some US dates. Also, if anyone at Labrador or from The Mary Onettes reads this then you should consider 800Beloved as an opening act for your NY or OH shows, just sayin’ since they let me know about you.

The Mary Onettes ‘Puzzles’ from Labrador Records on Vimeo.

US TOUR DATES – The Mary Onettes
Apr 19 Marathon Bar Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Apr 20 DC 9 Washington, Washington DC
Apr 21 Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Apr 22 Great Scott Boston, Massachusetts
Apr 23 Summit Columbus, Ohio
Apr 24 Schubas Chicago, Illinois
Apr 25 Sunset Tavern Seattle, Washington
Apr 26 Holocene Portland, Oregon
Apr 27 Rickshaw San Francisco, California
Apr 28 Soda Bar San Diego, California
Apr 29 Viper Room Los Angeles, California

Post punk/dream pop darlings 800Beloved have just released their first single/4 track EP from their upcoming album Everything Purple which includes a shorter/popper album’s single. This upbeat track oozes dancing and falling in love at the same time, I love it so much I asked the band if I could give it away for FREE and they said yes so download it here for FREE.

If you don’t follow indie labels like I do then just understand that if your LP comes out on Domino or French Kiss then your golden, press will pick you up and you’ll definitely get a proper chance to be loved since their A+R know what their doing. Recent signings Local Natives are catchy and talented, I like how the drums are mixed, they seem to sound a bit more upfront which works really well for this track.

I found Sambassadeur a few weeks ago only after searching for some post rock Swedish bands that aren’t just The Mary Onettes and The Radio Dept. They have a Cranberries/The Sundays feel, this was the only track I picked up but after a few listens I definitely want more.

I have been really hooked to listening to music behind every commercial on TV during the Olympics and this Xx usage was one of the best i’ve heard to date, such a perfect match with AT&T I think it was.

One more nice thing about living in Brooklyn is that good indie bands put up posters EVERYWHERE and once an album cover grabs your attention 6 or 7 times then its time to give it a chance and i’m glad I did here. This White Hinterland song reminds me of that great High Places record from about a year ago but a bit more on a organic and soft tip, definitely a nice listen, now to give the rest of the album a listen and go to see the show.

One blog I like to check out once in a while is Surfing On Steam, usually I can grab a single or two from there constantly because there’s plenty of good music on Scott’s radar. Last night I grabbed this Mathemagic single that was on the Toro Y Moi/Small Black tip, just trying to keep the Dreambeat alive, kicking, and visible.

I can never have enough Apparat, once I get a dose I end up also going thru about an hour of Telefon Tel Aviv as well which is always a nice passionate music listening session.

Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car by U2 is a big influence on me, I remember having the cassette of Zooropa and riding my bike around with my headphones on being completely blown away by the sounds of the drums and reverse guitar effects.

I remember when Broken Social Scene came thru Detroit for the first time, I helped run their merch booth for them before they even got big[yeah yeah yeah music nerd phrase right there], I was geeked to do it, Kevin Drew even bought me a Heineken and I kept the bottle until someone told me that was taken it too far haha [there you all go, my most pathetic fan boy moment].

BSS is probably the only band I could watch live for more than 2.5 hours (yes even Radiohead, I could probably not handle Yorke for that long, it would ruin it for me), so i’m happy to hear their back on tour (below are the tour dates) and a new album is suppose to drop May 4th. Here is a link to the FREE single called World Sick. Enjoy!

Broken Social Scene tour:

03-14 Elkton, FL – Harvest of Hope
03-18 Austin, TX – Stubb’s BBQ
03-19 Austin, TX – The Parish
05-01 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
05-03 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre
05-07 New York, NY – Webster Hall
05-13 London, England – Brixton Academy
05-14 Minehead, England – All Tomorrow’s Parties
05-17 London, England – Heaven
05-18 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Melkweg
05-19 Cologne, Germany – Burgerhaus Stollwerck
05-21 Paris, France – La Maroquinerie
05-23 Linz, Austria – LinzFest
05-24 Berlin, Germany – Kesselhaus
05-27 Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Festival
05-29 George, WA – Sasquatch
06-19 Toronto, Ontario – Toronto Island

I usually try not to lump together similar genres of music together in one post because that usually singles certain listeners out which I don’t want to do but on the other hand I dislike posting low level style music among uptempo songs because listeners might not spend the extra time to search for the detail or take in the soft yet intricate sounds that are being offered. I do my best to find the least moody and harsh sounding ones in hopes of finding new fans to the low level genre. Here are a few recent favorites, note the Andrew Thomas on isn’t out yet , its from his upcoming LP on Kompakt, a super beautiful listen all the way thru.

I found The Morning Benders by sifting thru Pitchfork.tv’s video series where he got local musicians and friends to perform his song Excuses, it came out great and it really had a memorable feel to it.

One band I want to see live this year is Yeasayer, it shouldn’t be hard since we both live in Brooklyn. If their shows are anything like their video for Ambling Alp then even Daft Punk might have a contender for best band characters.

Lindstrom moves closer and closer to what Moroder did in his career by setting aside the 15+ minute songs and starts working with a vocalist, Lovesick is definitely a good pop direction for the synth genius.

I felt like the blog needed some upbeat funk and soul, so here’s some Donald Byrd, this 8 minute jam makes you do one of those “yeah I know the lyrics now!” half way thru the song and you just end up lip syncing the song all wrong but you really don’t care.

Yeasayer “Ambling Alp” from Team G on Vimeo.

About a month ago I got to see Chaz Bundick play as his solo act Toro Y Moi, I sent it to Scott and we’ve been both hooked to his new album Causers Of This ever since. Below is a few question I asked him about everything from his blog which seems to have shrunk a bit since I was last there to what he’d be doing if he wasn’t doing music.

ISO50: First, your new album “Causers Of This” that just came out will be in our best of 2010 without a doubt but I read that you’ll be releasing 2 records this year, is this true? If so, can we expect more of this loveliness style wise?

TYM: Yeah, the plan is to do two records. This one is going to sound more songwriter based and non-electronic. The goal we’re shooting for is to have it out by August…

ISO50: I went to your blog, you have some great photos, can you tell us a little bit about them and what people are seeing on your blog? Is it a bit of the initimate and fun side of you?

TYM: Thanks. A lot of the photos are of my friends. It’s fun, I love taking pictures of people but I’m getting more into more inanimate photos and odd still lifes.

ISO50: Your from South Carolina[i’ve never been there] and I see that your pretty fashionable for a guy (I admire a good pair of eyewear), is there something that the rest of the world doesn’t know about South Carolina in music and the young people? Does the clothing world at all interest you? Any good thrifting there?

TYM: Well, i had to say one thing, it’s be that, us, south carolinians don’t all live in the backwoods. The thrifting is great down here. But, really a lot of trends, whether it be fashion, music, or art, spreads majorly because of internet theses days.

ISO50: I saw you play live in Brooklyn, you really look like you have a ton of fun on stage like a natural, does that come from anything like an old band or performing before?

TYM: I’ve played in bands since i was 15. I’m just getting use to being on stage by myself, but i’m willing to be embarassed and learn from my mistakes…

ISO50: Would you share any advice on production techniques and what synths you use or dream of owning?

TYM: hmmmm, proly stay away from direct lines when recording, sounds gross and flat. a dream synth? anything from Realistic.

ISO50: To put it bluntly, I hear “heavy melodic avant pop” early Max Tundra meets “I wanna make people move” 50’s and 80’s pop in the best way possible when I hear your music, can you share what records shaped your sound?

TYM: Most likely Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, Loveless by My Bloody Valentine and Donuts by J Dilla.

5 quick questions:
ISO50: Something your fans might not know about you: I dont shower often.
ISO50: Dream gig (location, mood, show opener or closer): SNL and zach galifianakis as the host.
ISO50: Favorite new band you’ve heard: Cloud Nothings
ISO50: If you weren’t doing music, where would you like to work: DDEESSIIGGNN
ISO50: Share a childhood memory that might relate to your music: Seeing my dad dressed in heavy winter clothing.

Toro Y Moi Blog
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If you’ve been following this whole lo-fi lazy summer meets surf rock movement with bands like Real Estate, Washed Out, The Young Friends,Small Black, etc. there is a whole range of tones and tempos. One band that needs more releases out is this Beach Fossils group which I think has some great guitar parts, i’ll keep you updated on new material by them since they sound pretty promising.

Sbtrkt is one of the guys that has hit me over email with tracks, I really love his production work, he has a line list of releases this year and one that really impressed my ears was his remix for Modeselektor, looking forward to the vinyl.

If you’ve read the blog for awhile now you know I love Lusine, I suggested him and Hatchback to remix Tycho awhile back for Coastal Brake. This single which came out this week shows off more of his new direction of using a lot more female vocals which is the perfect follow up the his Two Dots single.

Below is the new Jonsi(singer of Sigur Ros) music video, I like his direction, he definitely stays with his sound and is pretty fearless visually.

Jónsi – Go Do from Jónsi on Vimeo.

You may have seen this Carl Sagan video floating around which is a remix done by Colorpulse that Mux Mool shared with me awhile ago that I loved. Recently, Mux got parts and remixed the song with great results, below is his remix of the remix for the ISO50 blog, feel free to share it.

DOWNLOAD for FREE: Mux Mool remix / Colorpulse remix

There’s a single shared already from the new Loscil LP, sounds really promising, i’ll definitely post more once the album is out but here’s a teaser.

You can count on the label Kranky to never disappoint, while digging for Loscil I stumbled upon this band named Ethernet, not the best band name but they make up for it with this aquatic drone track called Seaside.

Any Wisp fans here? i’m a huge Wisp fan, in December his LP dropped on Rephlex with an array of epic melodic fantasy music that puts most new video game/fantasy movie music to shame.

A label called Twoism does a great job of taking the Boards of Canada sound the extra mile and finds musicians that love making the PBS sound, a definite net label that i’ll keep look visiting.