Web Design Ireland

Graphic designers are often some of the most interesting people you will ever meet, they push the boundaries on alot of things, and from what I’ve found, Music tastes are no different. Some of what we listen to can be categorised firmly under “experimental” So if you are looking for some great music to get the old design juices going here’s what we have playing on our Itunes at the minute. Edit. This post got a bit big, so we have split it into two. Part 1 is the Experimental New Music section, Part 2 is the Cool, potentially mainstream bit.

Atmospheric Trippy Weird Yummyness.

Boards of Canada - On Warp

Warm and Fuzzy beats and melodys to transport you to somewhere you’ve never been before. Boards of Canada’s synthetic layered sounds will have your wee brain buzzing with ideas.

Aphex Twin - Also On Warp

Richard d James hails from South of the border (Limerick), and has produced music which has been used commercially on Advertisements for Audi, amongst others.

The man himself claims to be heavily influenced by “the art of lucid dreaming, which explains some of the peaceful tracks released on his Ambient Selected Works album, which could lull you to sleep after a hard day at the office. However dont be fooled, other albums have some much more eccentric tracks. For me “Fingerbib” is a bit of a stand out track.

Four Tet - aka Kieran Hebden - on Domino

One man Band (Kieran) has been around for a while, originally releasing music with a band called Fridge. Four tet can only be described as drops of rain, bouncing off your every synapse. Rolling with drums and shaded by clouds of horn reverb and swish. Personally I prefer some of the earlier “Folktronic” type stuff over the more recent Everything Ecstatic album. “She moves She” on the Rounds Album is a must listen.

Sigur Ros - MCA Records

Hailing from Iceland Sigur Ros have the ability to wrap you up in their music like a warm duvet on a cold Winter morn…Atmospheric rise and falls this truly breath-taking artist will defo have you thinking outside the box. Even their lyrics are completely made up, (the majority of people thinking that its Icelandic they are hearing), contrasting with Violin bows across electric guitars creating eery drones. Stand out tracks include Svefn-g-englar (used in Vanilla Sky) and Hoppipolla (some of you will recognise from David Attenborough’s planet earth). Icelandic for “Jumping in Puddles” this tracks crescendo’s to a peak, then falls slowly putting you back on earth.

StyroFoam - Independant Label Morr music

Styrofoam is the solo project of Belgium based musician Arne Van Petegem. He has worked with Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), Jimmy Eat World, and The Notwist amongst others. The music has obvious new order influences, with warm and trippy beats overlayed with smooth vocals from contributing artists. Stand out tracks include “Front to Back” which is a collaboration with Andrew Kenny of Broken Social Scene Fame.

The Album Leaf - Sub Pop Records

The Album Leaf is another solo artist, who under the guise of a “band” manages to layer drum beats with xylophones, piano, keyboards, cello, and violins to create immersive sounds. There are lyrics on some of the tracks, normally by guest artists, but this doesn’t really matter. Many of the collective works have been used commercially - the Album Leaf has featured in the cult teen drama the O.C. (Which is where I first heard of the bloke). Most if not all of the tracks provide good background working music (as they have a nice steady beat to them).