Posts in Music

It was my birthday this weekend and I went out on a limb earlier in the week for a last minute HUGE favor from some close musician friends to do covers of some of my favorite songs or songs I thought the musician would do a cover of really well and surprisingly they agreed….20 of them! So here are the first 5:

Benoit Pioulard covers Hum: This is absolutely stunning, Benoit has a voice that i’d want to have if I could sing. I heard once that Benoit liked Hum so I asked him to cover a song by them and everyone should be more glad with this outcome.

Corbu covers Colder: This one was a touchy song since its probably one of my favorite songs of all time but I didn’t want an all electronic or post rock group to cover it so I asked Brooklyn’s experimental guitar duo to do it right and they did by taking it to a very unique and detailed level that i’m sure you’ll enjoy.

Alex Cornell covers Empire Of The Sun: You know him from his phenomenal work and posts on the blog and if you haven’t already seen him on youtube then here’s a very fine example of what he’s capable of creating musically.

A Setting Sun covers Tracy Chapman: A Setting Sun probably had the most challenging and off the radar cover to do but I thought a brighter doom metal approach might the only thing that would make this matchless pair up work and he killed it, especially check out how he gets to the end which is surprising after you hear the first few seconds.

Shigeto covers Boards Of Canada: This one is out there, as some of you may know Shigeto is a drummer that makes beats similar to Dabrye meets Caribou or something of that nature but loves to experiment so I thought why not see what he could do with a Boards Of Canada song since I know he’ll try to get crazy with it and not steer towards the guitar angle which I had to hear.

DOWNLOAD THE COVERS EP FOR FREE HERE

I hope you enjoy and collect them all. 5 more coming up next week.

The pleasing Danish popstars Efterklang have stepped it up with a new LP entitled Magic Chairs, the song I grabbed has a Coldplay feel maybe to some people but Efterklang puts more personality into the sound by not taking it to uncomfortably perfect epic studio music. The band still holds their glimmer in my eyes by keeping their lively instrumentals which include trumpets, tubas and shakers.

I recently went to see The Drums play in New York and surprisingly Surfer Blood was on the bill as well. Their singles Take It Easy and Swim really stand out, those songs were something that sounded so easy to like. I hope this makes it in the mainstream but I know most people won’t “get it” but what is there to get? its serenading updated 50’s feeling pop completely transformed into an easy to swallow pill called indie rock.

The new Hot Chip LP is out and they made a great song for all the girls with cats which is pretty much every girl if i’m not mistaken.

If Surfer Blood had a bad boy cousin that did speed and listened too much older Animal Collective and he made music in the basement this Surf City band would be that cousin and I kind of want to hang out with him on weekend nights.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGQjyGT1-mc
The Jack Kubizne directed video for Animal Collective’s “Brother Sport” came out earlier this month. The song is a favorite of mine but not since Blonde Redhead’s 23 has a video for a song I love met my expectations so I didn’t go into this one hoping for much. During the first minute or so I wasn’t sure how I felt; I’m not a huge fan of the MGMT / kids running amok / Where The Wild Things Are vibe that sort of got bludgeoned to death last year. But the song is so solid it works and the final freakout pulls it all together. All in all a nice trip. Although I think the animation would have meshed better if the live action was shot on film.

I wonder how much input the band had on this? I think I’d find it very difficult to hand over the reigns and let someone else interpret my music visually.

Video link

ISO50 Playlist #7 is now available for your listening pleasure. This time around Aarnio (Jakub’s alter-ego) does the honors and it’s a little out of hand.

So sit back and enjoy… And if you like what you hear, let us know in the comments.

ISO50 Playlist 7 – Compiled By Aarnio

Track Listing:
Black To Comm – Trapez
Paul White – Highlife
Beach House – Norway
Juana Molina – Un Dia
Lone – Karen Loves Kate
Pogo – Alice
Grizzly Bear – Cheerleader (Neon Indian ‘Studio 6669’ Remix)
Little Dragon – Feather
Beach Fossils – Daydream
Caribou – Schedules and Fares
The Mercury Program – Stand & Sing
Arovane – Seaside
Boards Of Canada – Kaini Industries (Bibio cover)
Kurt Vile – My Best Friends (Don’t Even Pass This)
Cocteau Twins – Lorelei
Peter Broderick & Machinefabriek – Homecoming
A Setting Sun – Raspberry
Brock Van Wey/BVDUB – Lest You Forget
High Wolf – Don’t Fuck With The Tropics
Lusine – Cirrus
Studio – Radio Edit

If you haven’t already been on Hype Machine then today might be a good day to jump on and check it out. It’s a stream of select blogs and the music that is being posted on them. The ISO50 blog stream is located here and today we have one of the popular song (Matthew Dear’s remix of The xx) on the charts. The standings only last 14 more hours so click here on the heart and help us vote it up if you’re a member. Also be sure to check out all the other blogs on there, always a lot of great music coming up on there.

I have a couple of staple electronic acts to share with you today. Apparat’s collaboration with Ellen Allien which during its release was the pinnacle of that epic synth techno trying to be pop which others like Josh Holden, Superpitcher, and Nathan Fake also made a name for themselves.

Morgan Geist who you might know from working with Junior Boys and Metro Area puts together dreamy synth melody that I want to hear Erlend Oye sing over.

You probably remember this Luke Vibert project called Wagon Christ, it was the most catchy thing you’ll hear from Luke Vibert that was accepted by the mainstream, I remember going to lounges and hearing it everywhere I went.

NEW BONOBO! just came out in December, I thought this track was a real stand out on his new EP Blur, it has this Four Tet meets Zero 7 feel, he is really sticking to his guns on his sound, I admire that.

I’ve been listening to Matthew Dear since 2001 he has come along way with remixes for Hot Chip, David Bowie, Postal Service etc. but this remix of The xx is one that kind of really resonates as something that sounds like Matthew to me personality, i’m expecting more punctual avant pop from him this year from his LP which i’m geeking over to hear.

A pretty sweet go to song for a dance floor, can’t go wrong with Thom Yorke even though I haven’t put on his CD since the day I bought it, not because i didn’t like it but I have to be in the mood and this version is more of what I want to hear.

One of my favorite labels has to be Smallville out of Hamburg which is run by some great guys one of them being Peter Kersten aka Lawrence, if I ever release/make music it would have to come out on Smallville or i’ll just give it away for free. The patient and passionate ones will probably get the most out of this song by Julius Steinhoff , dreamy 4/4 deep dub.

An older classic from P73.

I first heard Shlohmo from that remix he did that I posted earlier this week and I needed more. I really love his breaks in between the massive low end, shows that he has potential. I read somewhere that someone said it sounded too much like Flying Lotus, well if I was 19 years old and dude said that I sounded too much like Flying Lotus I would probably shake that man’s hand. I see a bright future for this guy if he steers clear of Dubstep only work and keeps pushing forward with tracks like Hot Boxing The Cockpit and Spoons and the wonderful details he includes all the way thru those tracks.

Pitchfork Media and XLR8R have teamed up and curated a free compilation together which features a ton fresh talent. I picked a few songs from it, the real stand out is the energetic work by Nice Nice, has this feeling of Battles meets Konono N°1, its strong on the tribal tip and the combination of dynamics and uptempo really work well for this sound. Others artists include Willits and Sakamoto, Hudson Mohawke, Lusine, Atlas Sound, and a many more.

Jay Bodley aka A Setting Sun has been on the blog before with his cover of Air’s Le Soleil Est Pres de Moi but that sound is far different from what he’s brewing which is more of a textured doom metal that you’d find from an artist like Ulver with hints of what a non-metal fan would call beautiful. Raspberry is a song that could be split up into multiple sections where you start off with the unforgiving coldness of the intro and lets you enjoy a bit of familiar acoustic guitar and then fades into an almost ceremonial muted brother of the intro, its grey yet ends on a restful feeling that everything has calmed down.

The mysterious grace that Johann Johannsson shares with us reminds me of what a mad man would hide from anyone that feared him to not show that he has such a passionate side. Think if Tangerine Dream had to make a dark classical piece with Jan Jelinek without beats or glitches.

The label Kranky can never do me wrong, you dig in their back catalog and just find treasures and one song that I found from this Christopher Bissonnette LP made me happy that there were such things as good A+R.

Tim Hecker is a hero in my mind to lo-fi ambient, if I ever drowned this better be playing so its as bittersweet as I could ever imagine it being.

Take your time with these songs if you really want to enjoy them, if this sound isn’t something you usually listen to then I suggest listening to it alone, yet close to you but not overwhelming yourself. Try listening to it as background sound quietly then try listening to it noticing every detail, you might realize how much goes into making this sound appealing.