# Jon Brion

Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer.
Brion has produced music for artists and bands including Of Montreal, Aimee Mann, Love Jones, Eels, Fiona Apple, Elliott Smith, Robyn Hitchcock, Rhett Miller, The Crystal Method, Kanye West, Sky Ferreira and Mac Miller. According to Stereogum, Brion's work on Mann's first solo albums "lay the groundwork for a sound that became synonymous with a strain of notable alternative acts at the turn of the century".
Brion's film scores include Hard Eight (1996), Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I Heart Huckabees (both 2004), Synecdoche, New York (2008), ParaNorman (2012), Lady Bird (2017), and Christopher Robin (2018). He released his debut solo album, Meaningless, in 2001.

## Early life

Brion was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, on December 11, 1963. He comes from a musical family; his mother, LaRue, was a singer and administrative assistant, and his father, Keith Brion, was a band director at Yale. His brother and sister became a composer/arranger and a violinist, respectively. Brion grew up in Connecticut, where he dropped out of Hamden High School at the age of 17, opting instead to play music professionally. From 1980 to 1985 Jon was part of the band The Excerpts, along with Stephen Harris, Dean Falcone, Jim Balga, Bobby Butcher & Spike Priggen.

## Career
### The Bats

In the early 1980s, Brion and musician/producer Bill Murphy began a writing collaboration in New Haven, Connecticut. They eventually enlisted bassist Don "Riff" Fertman and together formed the Bats (not to be confused with the New Zealand group or South African group of the same name). The Bats released a single, "Popgun", and one album, How Pop Can You Get?, on Gustav Records in 1982. The recordings had much critical acclaim, but little commercial success, and the trio eventually disbanded.

### Session work

In 1987, Brion moved to Boston, where he played solo gigs, formed the short-lived band World's Fair and became a member of the last touring version of Aimee Mann's new wave band 'Til Tuesday. He contributed guitar work to Jellyfish's 1993 album Spilt Milk, and in 1994, joined Dan McCarroll, Buddy Judge and ex-Jellyfish guitarist Jason Falkner in the short-lived pop band the Grays. He also played guitar on the Wallflowers' hit song "One Headlight", using a screwdriver that was sitting atop a nearby amp as a slide. Brion played numerous instruments on Sam Phillips' 1996 release Omnipop. Brion is featured as keyboardist and drummer on Marianne Faithfull's 2003 album, Kissin Time, and co-wrote a song, "City of Quartz", for her next work, 2005's Before the Poison.

### Production

After being recognized as an accomplished session player, Brion branched out into production on then-girlfriend Mann's 1993 solo debut, Whatever, and its follow-up, I'm With Stupid. He has also produced albums by Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright, Eleni Mandell, Rhett Miller, Robyn Hitchcock, Brad Mehldau and Evan Dando, and co-produced Kanye West's Late Registration in 2005.
In the fall of 2002, Brion began producing the album Extraordinary Machine with Fiona Apple, but she later brought in producers Mike Elizondo and Brian Kehew (a friend of Brion's) to complete the album. Brion's versions leaked onto the Internet, where the album gained a cult following long before its official release.
Brion worked and performed on some of the tracks for Sean Lennon's 2006 album Friendly Fire. Lennon said that working with him was "how I would imagine it's like to work with Prince. It's like having a weird alien prodigy in your room."
Brion has produced recordings by British pop performer Dido, Spoon, and Keane, as well as 2010's False Priest by Of Montreal. Brion also produced Best Coast's second album which was released in early 2012. Brion worked on rapper Mac Miller's album Swimming (2018), and completed production on Miller's posthumous album Circles (2020).
According to Stereogum, Brion's work on Aimee Mann's first solo albums "lay the groundwork for a sound that became synonymous with a strain of notable alternative acts at the turn of the century".

### Meaningless

Brion was signed to the Lava/Atlantic label in 1997, but was released from his contract after turning in his solo debut album Meaningless; the album was released independently in 2001. In 2022, the album was remastered and re-released through Jealous Butcher Records, with Brion's approval.
Although, rumors persist about Brion working on a second solo full-length album, as of 2023, an album has not been forthcoming. In 2004, Aimee Mann stated "Jon has at least 10 albums' worth of material," and "I think he has a hard time saying anything is finished whether he's producing or doing his own songs. Jon's a perfectionist."

### Film scores

Brion is an accomplished film composer, having started scoring by frequently working with director Paul Thomas Anderson, with whom he has a preferential working relationship. In addition to scoring many of his films, Brion contributed music to Boogie Nights and had a cameo in the film as a moustached guitar player.
Particularly in his film soundtracks, Brion is noted for his use of early analog sampling instruments, particularly the Chamberlin and Optigan, to create near-realistic emulations of certain instruments.
He has earned Best Score Soundtrack Album Grammy nominations for his work on 1999's Magnolia and 2004's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Brion was hired at the last minute to write the incidental music for The Break-Up. He has also scored and provided original music for I Heart Huckabees, Punch-Drunk Love, Step Brothers (with Chris Thile), ParaNorman, The Future, Synecdoche, New York, Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird and Disney's Christopher Robin (with Geoff Zanelli). He also did live composition for a musical commentary on the Step Brothers DVD.
He also composed the score to the Disney/Pixar short film, The Blue Umbrella, working alongside Sarah Jaffe.

## Touring and live performances

Brion is renowned for his regular Friday-night gigs at the Los Angeles club Largo, which feature covers and original songs, a variety of instruments and occasional guest musicians and comedians. He works without a set list, instead using audience suggestions as a jumping-off point. He uses a "jigsaw puzzle" approach to performing songs, and uses looping systems to record himself starting often with drums, then adding piano, bass, guitar, and vocals. Over the years, shows have featured spontaneous appearances with Jackson Browne, Gillian Welch, Fiona Apple, Rickie Lee Jones with upright bassist Stephen Patt (ex-The Chambers Brothers), Aimee Mann, Elliott Smith, Ben Folds, Nels Cline, percussionist Matt Chamberlain, Tori Amos, bassist Sebastian Steinberg (ex-Soul Coughing), and fiddler Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek).
In April 2006, recurring tendonitis in Brion's right hand forced him to cancel all of his upcoming Largo shows. As a temporary 'farewell', he played one show only using his left hand, even looping his songs as he normally does and playing the drums with one stick. He resumed playing at Largo on a regular weekly basis later that year, transitioning to a monthly show in 2016, until the COVID-19 Pandemic. In summer 2023, Brion stated to Largo at the Coronet that he intended to resume shows in the near future. Brion resumed shows at Largo in September 2023.
Recalling his approach to the Largo shows with Chicago Tribune music editor Lou Carlozo, Brion said: "I taught my hands to follow whatever was coming into my head—and wherever my consciousness would go, I had to push my hands to follow. And at some level, you just had to abandon any concern about how you'd look. Performing without a set list: That was special."
In March 2016, Brion performed his score for Punch-Drunk Love with Wordless Music Orchestra in both Los Angeles and New York City, at the Ace Hotel and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, respectively. Norah Jones provided guest vocals in New York and Joanna Newsom in Los Angeles.
In February 2018, Brion opened for John Mulaney as part of Mulaney's special, Kid Gorgeous. Brion performed during Mulaney's New York City leg of his tour, playing classic rock songs on Radio City's Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ.

## Personal life

Brion lives and works in Los Angeles.
Brion had relationships with Aimee Mann during the late 1980s-early 1990s and with Mary Lynn Rajskub from 1997 to 2002.

## Discography
### Solo

* Meaningless (2001)

### The Bats

* The Bats – How Pop Can You Get? (1982)

### The Grays

* The Grays – Ro Sham Bo (1994)

### Film scores

* Hard Eight (with Michael Penn) (1996)
* Magnolia (1999)
* Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
* I Heart Huckabees (2004)
* The Break-Up (2006)
* Synecdoche, New York (2008)
* Step Brothers (2008)
* Glago's Guest (2008)
* The Other Guys (2010)
* Stone (2010) (Main Theme Composer)
* The Future (2011)
* ParaNorman (2012)
* This Is 40 (2012)
* The Blue Umbrella (2013)
* Delivery Man (2013)
* The Gambler (2014)
* Trainwreck (2015)
* John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid (2015)
* Curmudgeons (2016)
* Wilson (2017)
* Lady Bird (2017)
* Sink or Swim (2018)
* Christopher Robin (2018) (with Geoff Zanelli)
* Fool's Paradise (2023)
* Beating Hearts (2024)

### Production and guest appearances

| Year | Album | Artist | Details |
| 1989 | Rei Momo | David Byrne | Harmonium on "I Know Sometimes a Man Is Wrong" |
| 1993 | Broken Toy Shop | E | Background vocals on "Shine It All On" |
| 1993 | Whatever | Aimee Mann | Co-producer, co-writer (three tracks), bass, guitar, drums, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, background vocals, and others |
| 1993 | Tuesdays Are Forever | D.D. Wood | Harmonium |
| 1993 | Spilt Milk | Jellyfish | Guitar on eight tracks |
| 1993 | In Thrall | Murray Attaway | Bass, guitar, mellotron, piano, vibraphone |
| 1993 | Here's to the Losers | Love Jones | Keyboards, synthesizers, electric organ, vibraphone |
| 1994 | Love Spit Love | Love Spit Love | Keyboards, piano, string arrangements |
| 1995 | Powerful Pain Relief | Love Jones | Keyboards, synthesizers, piano, organ |
| 1995 | I Don't Know Why I Act This Way | Jude Cole | Guitar, keyboards, harmonium, calliope |
| 1995 | For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson | Various artists | Producing, instrumentation for "One" by Aimee Mann |
| 1995 | I'm with Stupid | Aimee Mann | Producer, co-writer (five tracks), bass, guitars, drums and percussion, keyboards, cello, harmonica, background vocals |
| 1995 | Sing Hollies in Reverse | Various | Performed cover of "Sorry Suzanne". |
| 1996 | Come and Get It: A Tribute to Badfinger | Cherry Twister | Producer, instrumentation, background vocals |
| 1996 | Tidal | Fiona Apple | Guitar, keyboards, vibraphone, tack piano, marimba |
| 1996 | Bringing Down the Horse | Wallflowers | Guitar solo "One Headlight" |
| 1996 | Braver Newer World | Jimmie Dale Gilmore | Guitar, bass, optigan |
| 1996 | This Can't Be Life | Wild Colonials | Guitar, Chamberlin, organ |
| 1996 | Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation | Various artists | Optigan, vibraphone on "Guilty by Association" by Joe Henry & Madonna |
| 1996 | Susanna Hoffs | Susanna Hoffs | Guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, drums |
| 1996 | Prettier Than You | Brian Stevens | Guitar, clavinet |
| 1996 | Phantom Blues | Taj Mahal | Guitar, Chamberlin |
| 1996 | Omnipop (It's Only a Flesh Wound Lambchop) | Sam Phillips | Guitar, bass, Chamberlin, drums, piano |
| 1996 | Beautiful Freak | Eels | Co-producer, guitar, keyboards, trombone, engineering, co-writer of "Not Ready Yet" |
| 1996 | Just Say Noël | Various artists | Co-producer on "Christmastime" by Aimee Man with Michael Penn |
| 1997 | Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project | David Arnold and various artists | Guitar, sitar, harmonium on "Nobody Does It Better" by Aimee Mann |
| 1997 | The Mommyheads | Mommyheads | Keyboards |
| 1997 | Megiddo | Lauren Hoffman | Keyboards, organs, vibraphone |
| 1997 | Little Head | John Hiatt | Keyboards, vibraphone |
| 1997 | Lincoln | Lincoln | Guitar, keyboards |
| 1997 | Farewell | Uma | Guitar, keyboards |
| 1997 | Eighteen Over Me | Garrison Starr | Organ, vibraphone |
| 1997 | 10 Cent Wing | Jonatha Brooke | Guitar |
| 1997 | Daisy (Dog's Eye View album) | Dog's Eye View | Listed under "With a Little Help from my Friends" in liner notes. |
| 1998 | XO | Elliott Smith | Vibraphone and keyboards on two tracks |
| 1998 | Two Kinds of Laughter | Sara Hickman | Co-composer of "Coolness by Mistake" |
| 1998 | Songs From The Pipe | The Surfers | Guitar, keyboards, background vocals |
| 1998 | Sliding Doors soundtrack | Various artists | Producer, co-writer of "Amateur" by Aimee Man |
| 1998 | Pleasantville: Music from the Motion Picture | Various artists | Producing, instrumentation, mixing on "Across the Universe" and "Please Send Me Someone to Love by Fiona Apple |
| 1998 | Kool Trash | The Plimsouls | Piano, organ |
| 1998 | Jubilee | Grant Lee Buffalo | Piano, Chamberlin, vibraphone, harmonium, optigan, tack piano |
| 1998 | Got No Shadow | Mary Lou Lord | Harmonium, Chamberlin |
| 1998 | Electro-Shock Blues | Eels | Chamberlin and organ on "Climbing to the Moon" |
| 1998 | Burning the Daze | Marc Cohn | Harmonium, harmonica |
| 1998 | Wishbone | Eleni Mandell | Co-producer, guitar, keyboards, Mellotron, bass, backing vocals, organ, banjo, drums, slide guitar, vibraphone, celesta, talk box |
| 1998 | Welcome to Woop Woop | Various Artists | Producer for eels track "Dog's Life". |
| 1998 | Lilith Fair (A Celebration Of Women In Music) | Various Artists | Listed as writer on Wild Colonials song "Charm". |
| 1998 | North American Long Weekend | Tom Freund | Electric guitar on "Cry Baby Cry" |
| 1999 | Rufus Wainwright | Rufus Wainwright | Producer, additional engineering, vibraphone, marimba, keyboards, accordion, bass, guitar, organ, backing vocals, percussion, celesta, mandolin |
| 1999 | Word of Mouth Parade | Gus | Guitar, mandolin, keyboards |
| 1999 | When the Pawn... | Fiona Apple | Producer, guitars, bass, keyboards, vibraphone, drums, percussion, mixing |
| 1999 | On How Life Is | Macy Gray | Guitar, electric keyboards and synthesizers, piano, vibraphone |
| 1999 | Jewels for Sophia | Robyn Hitchcock | Co-producer, bass, drums and percussion, keyboards, organ, background vocals, engineer |
| 1999 | Imaginate | Taxiride | Chamberlin |
| 1999 | Fight Songs | Old 97's | Organ on "Murder (Or a Heart Attack)" |
| 1999 | Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture | Aimee Mann | Co-producer, co-writer of "Build That Wall", composer of "Magnolia", guitar, keyboards, organ, percussion, glockenspiel, background vocals |
| 1999 | Breakdown | Melissa Etheridge | Guitar |
| 1999 | After the Party | The Push Stars | Guitar |
| 1999 | Figure 8 | Julia Darling | Electric guitar on "Bulletproof Belief" |
| 1999 | Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo | Aimee Mann | Co-producer, guitar, drums and percussion, keyboards, background vocals |
| 1999 | Put Another Date on Life | Solin | Drums on "When the Mood Swings" |
| 2000 | Two Lips: The Lost Album | Dan Castellaneta | Guitars, saxophone |
| 2000 | Magnolia score | Himself | Composer |
| 2000 | Tonight and the Rest of My Life | Nina Gordon | Bass, guitars, keyboards, organ |
| 2000 | Teddy Thompson | Teddy Thompson | Guitar on two tracks |
| 2000 | From There to Here | John Oszajca | Guitar |
| 2000 | Figure 8 | Elliott Smith | Background vocals on "Happiness"/"The Gondola Man" |
| 2000 | Breach | The Wallflowers | Additional musician |
| 2000 | A Star for Bram | Robyn Hitchcock | Producer, bass, guitars, drums, keyboards, piano, background vocals |
| 2000 | Oh What a Beautiful Morning | Eels | Writer of "Not Ready Yet" |
| 2001 | Trust No One | Dave Navarro | Intro voice and slide bass, "Mourning Son", guitars on "Very Little Daylight" |
| 2001 | Tweekend | The Crystal Method | Bass, guitars, drums, keyboards, engineering, mixing on "Over the Line" |
| 2001 | The Herethereafter | Miranda Lee Richards | Producer, bass, guitar, Chamberlin, bells, optigan, Marxophone, engineering |
| 2001 | Meaningless | Himself | Producer, lead vocals, bass, guitars, drums, keyboards |
| 2002 | Up | Peter Gabriel | Mandolin and Chamberlin on "More Than This" |
| 2002 | The Last DJ | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | Orchestral arrangements, conductor |
| 2002 | The Instigator | Rhett Miller | Producer, bass, guitars, drums, piano, organ, vibraphone, background vocals, co-composer of "Things That Disappear" |
| 2002 | Robyn Sings | Robyn Hitchcock | Guitar |
| 2002 | Restless Night | Julianna Raye | Piano |
| 2002 | No Fear | Abra Moore | Bass, guitar, drums, keyboards |
| 2002 | Largo | Brad Mehldau | Producer, guitar, guitar synthesizer, prepared piano, Chamberlin, percussion, co-composer of "Dropjes" |
| 2002 | Kissin Time | Marianne Faithfull | Drums, keyboards, Chamberlin, celeste, harmonium |
| 2002 | Have You Fed the Fish? | Badly Drawn Boy | Bass, guitars, keyboards Chamberlin, orchestral arrangements, conductor |
| 2002 | Alice Peacock | Alice Peacock | Guitar, organ |
| 2002 | Punch-Drunk Love soundtrack | Himself | Producer, vocals, composer, instrumentation, mixing |
| 2002 | About a Boy soundtrack | Badly Drawn Boy | Bass, guitar, vibraphone, background vocals |
| 2003 | To Whom It May Concern | Lisa Marie Presley | Guitar on "Lights Out" |
| 2003 | Thirteenth Step | A Perfect Circle | Instrumentation on "The Nurse Who Loved Me" |
| 2003 | Return to Planet Earth | Kim Fox | Guitars, ukulele, celeste |
| 2003 | Luxor | Robyn Hitchcock | Guest musician on "You Remind Me of You" |
| 2003 | Blondes Prefer the Gentlemen | The Gentlemen | Chamberlin, mellotron |
| 2003 | Baby I'm Bored | Evan Dando | Co-producer, co-writer (five tracks), instrumentation |
| 2003 | Amorama | Érica García | Guitar, keyboards, sampling |
| 2004 | Virginia Creeper | Grant-Lee Phillips | Ukulele |
| 2004 | The Giant Pin | The Nels Cline Singers | Chamberlin, harmonium, celeste, sampling |
| 2004 | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack | Himself | Producer, vocals, composer, instrumentation, mixing |
| 2004 | Mutual Admiration Society | Mutual Admiration Society | Co-writer (two tracks) |
| 2004 | I Heart Huckabees soundtrack | Himself | Producer, vocals, composer, instrumentation, mixing |
| 2004 | Legion of Boom | The Crystal Method | Guitar on "Realizer" |
| 2004 | From a Basement on the Hill | Elliott Smith | Additional recording |
| 2004 | Everyone Is Here | Finn Brothers | Co-producer, guitars, drums, Harmonium, organ, percussion, programming |
| 2004 | A Strange Mess of Flowers | Davíd Garza | Keyboards |
| 2005 | Winter Pays for Summer | Glen Phillips | Guitar, toy piano |
| 2005 | Self Help Serenade | Marjorie Fair | Bass, drums, piano |
| 2005 | Late Registration | Kanye West | Co-executive producer, instrumentation, string and brass arrangement, "the keys right now" |
| 2005 | Fires | Nerina Pallot | Guitar, keyboards |
| 2005 | Fate Is the Hunter | Kate Earl | Organ |
| 2005 | Extraordinary Machine | Fiona Apple | Co-producer (two tracks), bass, marimba, orchestral arrangement |
| 2005 | Can'tneverdidnothin' | Nikka Costa | Organ on "I Gotta Know", synthesizer on "Happy in the Morning" |
| 2005 | Before the Poison | Marianne Faithfull | Co-writer of "City of Quartz" |
| 2006 | Wait | The Polyphonic Spree | Producer |
| 2006 | The Believer | Rhett Miller | Co-writer of "I Believe She's Lying", bass, guitar, Chamberlain, piano, |
| 2006 | Late Orchestration | Kanye West | Producer |
| 2006 | Friendly Fire | Sean Lennon | Bass, guitars, drums, organ |
| 2006 | Blinders On | Sean Watkins | Piano |
| 2006 | Blue Collar (album) | Rhymefest | Producer and additional instruments "Bullet" |
| 2007 | Graduation | Kanye West | Co-producer on "Drunk and Hot Girls", keyboards on "I Wonder", percussion on "Homecoming" |
| 2007 | Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga | Spoon | Production, bass, Chamberlin on "The Underdog" |
| 2007 | Fuzzbox | The Section Quartet | Producer of "Phenomena" |
| 2008 | Tooth of Crime | T Bone Burnett | Chamberlin, baritone guitar |
| 2008 | Synecdoche, New York soundtrack | Himself | Producer, vocals, composer, instrumentation, mixing |
| 2008 | Safe Trip Home | Dido | Co-producer, co-writer (five tracks), bass, guitars, drums, keyboards, piano, celeste, cello, additional percussion, orchestral arrangements, conductor, mixing |
| 2008 | Perfect Symmetry | Keane | Co-producer on "You Haven't Told Me Anything" |
| 2008 | Let It Come to You | Taylor Eigsti | Co-writer of "Not Ready Yet" |
| 2008 | Big Bad World | Plain White T's | Chamberlin on "1, 2, 3, 4" |
| 2009 | Sara Watkins | Sara Watkins | Writer of "Same Mistakes", guitars |
| 2009 | Rhett Miller | Rhett Miller | Bass, guitar |
| 2009 | Divided by Night | The Crystal Method | Synthesizer on "Divided by Night", marxophone on "Sine Language" |
| 2009 | Christina Courtin | Christina Courtin | Bass, guitars, Chamberlin, marxophone |
| 2009 | Balm in Gilead | Rickie Lee Jones | Bass, guitars |
| 2009 | An Eluardian Instance (Jon Brion Remix EP) | of Montreal & Himself | Producer, composer, instrumentation, mixing |
| 2010 | Mean Old Man | Jerry Lee Lewis | Bass, guitars |
| 2010 | Intriguer | Crowded House | Guitar and vocal samples on "Twice if You're Lucky" |
| 2010 | Highway Rider | Brad Mehldau | Producer, mixing |
| 2010 | False Priest | of Montreal | Co-producer, drums, keyboards, synthesizers, mixing, engineering |
| 2010 | Dirty Baby | Nels Cline | Electric piano, background vocals |
| 2010 | Cho Dependent | Margaret Cho | Co-producer, co-writer, guitar, drums, piano, background vocals on "Enemies" |
| 2010 | Chickens in Love | Various artists | Performer on "So Sleepy" (The Gummy Bears)" by Fiona Apple featuring Brion and the Punch Brothers |
| 2010 | Antifogmatic | Punch Brothers | Producer, mixing, engineering |
| 2011 | The Interpreter: Live at Largo | Rhett Miller | Guitar, drums, piano, background vocals |
| 2011 | Rave On Buddy Holly | Various artists | Production, vocals, guitars, percussion on "Everyday" with Fiona Apple |
| 2011 | Belle | Bic Runga | Guitar, synthesizer, floor tom |
| 2011 | Arthur: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Various artists | Producer of "Where Our Destination Lies" & "When the Sun Goes Down" by Benjamin Gibbard |
| 2011 | Christmas | Michael Bublé | Orchestral arrangements on "All I Want for Christmas Is You" |
| 2012 | This Is 40 Soundtrack | Various artists | Producer, composer, instrumentation on "Theme 1 (Debbie and Oliver)" |
| 2012 | Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection | Katy Perry | Producer, instrumentation, "The One That Got Away" (Acoustic) |
| 2012 | The Only Place | Best Coast | Producer, bass, guitars, keyboards, percussion |
| 2012 | Rize of the Fenix | Tenacious D | Bass, synthesizers, and mellotron on "The Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Kage" |
| 2012 | Pines | A Fine Frenzy | Bass, guitar, keyboards, pump organ |
| 2012 | ParaNorman soundtrack | Himself | Producer, composer, instrumentation, conductor |
| 2012 | Ghost | Sky Ferreira | Co-producer and co-writer of "Ghost" |
| 2012 | Floratone II | Floratone | Keyboards |
| 2013 | Tim McGraw & Friends | Tim McGraw | Featured musician on "Middle Age Crazy" |
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby: Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film | Various artists | Producer of "Crazy in Love" performed by Emeli Sandé and The Bryan Ferry Orchestra |
| 2013 | Girl Who Got Away | Dido | Co-producer, co-writer of "Lost", keyboards, orchestral arrangements, conductor, mixing |
| 2013 | Dreamchaser | Sarah Brightman | Guitar, piano, celeste, vibraphone |
| 2013 | Division Street | Harper Simon | Guitar, synthesizer |
| 2013 | Night Time, My Time B-Sides: Part I | Sky Ferreira | Producer and co-writer of "I'm on Top" and "Werewolf (I Like You)" |
| 2014 | Rock & Roll Time | Jerry Lee Lewis | Guitar |
| 2014 | Heigh Ho | Blake Mills | Piano, tiple |
| 2016 | Young in All the Wrong Ways | Sara Watkins | Bass, guitar, piano, celeste, mellotron |
| 2016 | Lemonade | Beyonce | Orchestral arrangements |
| 2016 | Rainbow Ends | Emitt Rhodes | Guitar on "Dog on a Chain" |
| 2016 | Blonde | Frank Ocean | Co-producer, keyboards, orchestral arrangements, drum programming |
| 2017 | The Dream | Tashaki Miyaki | Musician |
| 2017 | Lady Bird soundtrack | Himself | Producer, composer, instrumentation |
| 2018 | Dirty Computer | Janelle Monáe | Co-producer, writer of "Jane's Dream", synthesizer, mallets |
| 2018 | Swimming | Mac Miller | Co-producer, co-writer of "Come Back to Earth", "Hurt Feelings", "Perfecto", "Ladders", "Small Worlds", "2009", and "So It Goes". |
| 2018 | Christopher Robin: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Himself & Geoff Zanelli | Co-composer |
| | World on Sticks | Sam Phillips | Electric Guitar - "Teilhard", Bass, Loops [Guitar Loop] - "Continuous Loop". |
| 2019 | Western Stars | Bruce Springsteen | guitars, timpani, sitar, celesta, drums, synthesizer |
| 2020 | Circles | Mac Miller | Completed production after Miller's death |
| 2023 | Joy'All | Jenny Lewis | Chamberlin |