Song of the day : 25/8

Krewcial is a Belgian, local hiphop star, who has released two albums so far and who had a radio show on Studio Brussel some years ago...

Here's his track, 25/8 (mp3), from the album "25/8".

At his website, you can listen to some songs he made with Tom Kestens (from Lalalover) and Sandrine, which his record company doesn't seem to know what to do (here)

Buy his records here

Due to some problems I have had with the server hosting my files, I haven't been able to post much in the last week.

Rewind the video : Beirut - Postcards from Italy

This clip has been compiled of Super 8-images from family archives, which the owners have sold on eBay, by director Alma Ha'rel. Beautiful !!!

The Saltshakers

Sometimes you can tell a lot about a band just by its name (and, I have to admit, sometimes you can be really, really mistaken by a band's name...) The Saltshakers make exactly the kind of music I'd expect them to : powerpop with lots of rock 'n roll, reminescent views of swamp rock, with a voice which seems to have been created to shout one-two-three before kicking off another great song...

Enjoy these tracks (mp3's) :

• Believe
• NOLA
• Whiskeytown
• Amplified
• Don't make a sound

Buy their album and EP here

Kosovo

This is not about the disputed region in the former Yougoslavia, but about a band from Austin, Texas. Three musicians formed this band in the early days of 2006. Their debut, Pascal EP, will be released this year, while they continue working on their first full-length album. They claim their music makes you wonder where man ends and machine begins, but I just think they are very good at what they do : making music for those with ears...

Enjoy these two songs :

Milk of magnesia (mp3) : reminds me of Herbert, with a grain of David Byrne

A terraformed existence (mp3) : sounds like The Orb meets Daft Punk

Their EP will be self-released, so keep checking their MySpace if you'd like to buy it...

Pukkelpop starts Thursday

Pukkelpop festival starts the day after tomorrow, and these are the bands I definitely want to see :

Thursday :

Iggy and the Stooges (video : I wanna be your dog)

Kaiser Chiefs
Low

Friday :

Arcade Fire
Dinosaur Jr (mp3 : Almost ready)
Sophia (mp3 : Every day)
Skream (mp3 : Lose control )
Various

Saturday :

Sonic Youth (they'll play the entire album Daydream nation live ; video : Silver rocket)

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Kings Of Leon
The Shins (mp3 : Phantom limb)
Spoon (mp3 : I turn my camera on (John McEntire remix) )
Voxtrot (mp3 : Kid gloves)
Woven Hand

Of course, there will be more bands to see for me, but these are the ones I do not want to miss. Unfortunately, there is one overlap : Sonic Youth and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead are on stage (different stages, of course) at exactly the same time. Hard choice to make there !
Expect a review of the festival here soon...

Here are some more artists performing at the festival :

Jesus - Brand New (mp3)
Pretend we're dead - Cansei de Ser Sexy (mp3)
Rainbowarriors - CocoRosie (mp3)
Smokers outside the hospital doors - Editors (mp3)
Kvraagetaan - Fixkes (mp3)
Collarbone - Fujiya and Miyagi (mp3)
Heavyweight champion of the world - Reverend and The Makers (mp3)

You can buy the music of these artists here

Eugene Francis Jr

Welsh is a language that seems to consist mainly of consonants. Luckily for us, Eugene Francis Jnr and The Juniors sing in English. "Poor Me" is their first single, released at the end of July. It has a nice, Gulliver-like video :


This band reminds me of those sunny Sunday mornings, when the curtains haven't yet been drawn away, but the sun shines right through them anyway. You can smell the coffee being made, the croissants in the oven and you feel like getting up not to lose one second of what is going to become a great day, full of possibilities. If you turn on the radio on such days, this is just the kind of music you'd expect them to be airing...
You can listen to the song on their MySpace. In addition, I have for you the B-side to the single :

Kites - Eugene Francis Jnr and the Juniors (mp3)

You can buy the single on iTunes US or UK

Preparing for Pukkelpop festival (4)

The Cribs can't get out off my head. Their Men's needs is just that kind of song.

They'll be performing at Pukkelpop too...

Enjoy these songs :

• Baby don't sweat (mp3)
• Another number (mp3)
• Men's needs (CSS remix) (mp3)

You can buy their music here

RMX : Fire in Cairo - The Cure

Some of the best remixes I know start off with a song that is quite familier, tear it off and use the bricks that lay scattered around to build a new song...

You should definitely listen to this remix, by Digitalism, of The Cure's Fire in Cairo, as played by Dr. Lektroluv at his live set at Extrema Outdoor, in Eindhoven (The Netherlands) on July 15th, 2006.

Fire in Cairo (Digitalism remix) - The Cure (mp3)

You can buy the Dr. Lektroluv album here

You can buy the album featuring the original version (Three imaginary boys by The Cure) here

Shiny happy people

This is quite a bizarre cover of the R.E.M. song, by Irish band The Fatima Mansions :

Shiny happy people - The Fatima Mansions (mp3)

Buy the album (Valhalla Avenue) here

Upcoming concerts

Here's a list of concerts to look forward to :

At Warandepark, Brussels (free concerts):

• 29th Aug : Ignatz
• 30th Aug : The Go Find and PSAPP

At Ancienne Belgique, Brussels (buy tickets here) :

• 14th Sept : Gorki plays "Gorky"
• 20th Sept : David Sylvian (sold out)
• 28th Sept : The Tragically Hip
• 3rd Oct : Caetano Veloso
• 5th Oct : Tied + Tickled Trio
• 9th Oct : The Cinematic Orchestra
• 17th Oct : Chuck Prophet
• 20th Oct : Nick Lowe
• 28th Oct : Tinariwen
• 12th Nov : The National
• 3rd Dec : Rodrigo Y Gabriela

At Vorst Nationaal, Brussels (buy tickets here) :

• 18th Aug : Norah Jones with special guest : M. Ward
• 19th Oct : Crowded House
• 26th Oct : Arno
• 23th Nov : Interpol
• 22th Dec : Gabriel Rios

At Vooruit, Gent (buy tickets here) :

• 7th Oct : I'm From Barcelona
• 30th Oct : Think Of One : Marrakesh Emballage Ensemble IV
• 18th Dec : Ozark Henry

At Petrol, Antwerpen (buy tickets here):

• 11th Aug : Magnapop and The Van Jets

At Cactus, Brugge (buy tickets here) :

• 28th Oct : Maceo Parker

Album of the week : Because of the times - Kings Of Leon

Kings Of Leon have blown me away with their single On Call, which made me curious to hear more from them. Their album Because of the times proves them to be a band that can really, really rock... Somehow, in a strange way, they reminded me of The Black Crowes : the melodious rock, the way even more down-tempo songs carry that energy,...

Opener Knocked up already enters with a hook that goes straight for your mind, to never leave it again, as does On call. But I also like the wide open view of songs like Trunk and Arizona. You can actually feel and see the roads ahead, amidst of the lonely desert (at least, that's how I picture Arizona...).

Enjoy these tracks :

• Knocked up (mp3)
• On call (mp3)
• Trunk (mp3)

You can buy the album here.

Next week's album of the week : Signs by Badmarsh&Shri