New form for the new year

I've decided on how to deal with this blog, and I'm sorry to say that it will no longer exist in its current form. As a matter of fact, I've decided that I will integrate the content of what I used to do here, in my other blog, which is in Dutch (my native tongue).

It had become too much trouble for what I intended to do here, so I think I will be much better able to promote the music I love in my own language and in a form and on a blog on which I have enough time to do things properly...

I hope that even in spite of the language, you'll follow me there. If you do, nice to keep seeing you... If you don't, thanks for having taken the time to come every now and then... I hope you enjoyed it as much as I intended to...

Back in 2009

We'll be back in business in 2009. Enjoy yourselves in the meantime !

Rewind the video : Pepper - The Butthole Surfers

A weird song by a band I didn't know at all, in 1996 I was struck with astonishment. It has something spell-bounding about, if you know what I mean... I have since grown to like The Butthole Surfers...
And I own an orange-red picture vinyl disc of this single, which just goes so well with the extravaganza of the band and the song...

You can buy the album Electriclarryland which contains the song, here

Slowing down a bit...

Due to troubles in my personal life which I'm not sure yet how much I wanna tell about here, I won't be able to post as much as I did the last weeks and months (I do realise I've always been quite irregular in my posting here...) Hope to bring you fine tunes now and again though...
This is the song I've been singing along all week :



Kids (mp3) - MGMT

Buy their album Oracular spectacular here

Low

Last year, I saw them at Pukkelpop festival : Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker (his wife) and Matt Livingston. Together they are the wonderful, magnificent and very underestimated Low.
Some months ago, I saw the documentary You may need a murderer, about this band. Filmed by David Kleijwegt, it shows how this Mormon band, around husband and wife Sparhawk and Parker, struggles to find a balance between their beliefs and their need to make exactly the songs they are making, how Alan Sparhawk has struggled (and still does) with his demons and how the couple struggles to maintain a balance between making music and touring on one hand, and their family life (with children) on the other hand.
The song after which the documentary was named, Murderer, is one of the most intruiging songs of last year, and in the documentary Alan explains how their closest friends and relatives were shocked by the lyrics, considering it even blasphemous.
They way they play the song and the way the words are sung, intensifies the feeling that crawls through every line of it.

This is a video for the song, with images from the documentary No end in sight :


These are the lyrics :

One more thing before I go
One more thing I'll ask you Lord
You may need a murderer
Someone to do your dirty work

Don't act so innocent
I've seen you pound your fist into the earth
And I've read your book
It seems that you could use another fool
Well I'm cruel
And I look right through

You must have more important things to do
So if you need a murderer
Someone to do your dirty work

Enjoy these three songs from the album Drums and guns :

• Murderer (mp3)
• Hatchet (mp3)
• Take your time (mp3)

You can buy the album here

You can watch the documentary here

Free music : Scala

The all girl choir Scala, with the Kolacny Brothers, has a new album. It will be out soon in a de luxe edition, because the regular (digital) format is available for free download on their website. Just fill in your name and e-mail, and you receive a link to download all the songs on the new album.
Contrary to their previous albums, it's not a cover album. This time, the Kolacny Brothers wrote all of the songs.
If you want to know what they sound like, here's a teaser :

• their cover of Smells like teen spirit (Nirvana)
• their cover of With or without you (U2)
• their cover of Friday, I'm in love (The Cure)
• their cover of The bitter end (Placebo)

To download the album, go here

Rewind the video : Off the record

It must have been Sunday that I woke up with an irresistable tune locked in my head on endless repeat. But you know how it goes : you just don't seem to find the right words to the song. You keep wondering to yourself : "but which song is this ?" You almost go mad trying to find it. And then all of a sudden, it hit me (after about half a day). It was this great song :

More Videos

Off the record (mp3) - My Morning Jacket (from the album Z)

Although I have to admit I don't really get the lyrics (well, English is my second language after all...), I really like the atmosphere of both song and clip.

For your enjoyment, I have added the live version from their live double album Okonokos :

Off the record (live) - My Morning Jacket (mp3)

You can buy the albums Z and Okonokos here

Tracks that never get to be chosen...

Some tracks are wonderful, but still somehow they don't appear in my posts, for some reason or another. Sometimes they're the only song by that artist that I know, sometimes they don't fit in the theme I want to bring up, or...
Well, whatever reason kept them out, this post is a good reason for them to be heard. So enjoy :

• Heart it races (mp3) - Architecture In Helsinki
• Ankle injuries (mp3) - Fujiya & Miyagi : I know their name sounds Japanese but they are very British...
• Nada (mp3) - Feu Thérèse
• See you on the moon ! (mp3) - Great Lake Swimmers : listen how they blend in the meowing of cats...
• Upside down (mp3) - Jack Johnson
• To the country (mp3) - Laura Veirs : wouldn't you just want to go there after hearing this ?
• Now she sleeps in a box in the good soil of Denmark (mp3) - David & The Citizens : what a great title : it evokes a whole tale and then you haven't heard the song yet...

Buy their albums :

• Places like this - Architecture in Helsinki
• Transparent things - Fujiya & Miyagi
• ça va cogner - Feu Thérèse
• See you on the moon ! Songs for kids of all ages - Great Lake Swimmers
• Sing-a-longs and lullabies from the film Curious George - Jack Johnson
• Saltbreakers - Laura Veirs
• David & The Citizens (EP) - David & The Citizens

Big in Belgium : Monza

Monza, named after the famous racing track in Italy, is a Belgian band around Stijn Meuris (whom many remember from Noordkaap). They have released their third album earlier this year, called Attica!
For me, this album is their best so far. More diverse, more to the point and with a much better finishing touch, it beats everything they have released before. And I firmly believe that you don't need to understand the lyrics in Dutch to enjoy these songs :

• Wie danst er nog ? (mp3)
• De dag is helder (mp3)
• Lobby (mp3)
• Wenen in Wenen (mp3)

You can buy the album here

Another animated clip

I admit : this one is a bit older than yesterday's clip (Chad VanGaalen's Molten light), but I have chosen to post it as there are some similarities which I wanted to share with you...
M Ward's Chinese translation is, of course, also accompanied by a delightful animated clip, and as is VanGaalen's clip, it tells the story of the song with simple yet appealing drawings.
The stories of both songs are as blinking, shining diamonds, with a clarity that makes the beauty so easy to see. They both strongly depend on the literary style characteristic of repetition.
And both songs and clips have an outstanding concurrence of atmosphere : each (light) change in atmosphere in the song is captured amazingly in the clip.

Enjoy : Chinese translation - M Ward (mp3)



You can buy the album Post-war here

Here are the lyrics to both songs :

Chinese translation - M Ward :

I sailed a wild, wild sea
climbed up a tall, tall mountain
I met a old, old man
beneath a weeping willow tree
He said now if you got some questions
go and lay them at my feet
but my time here is brief
so you'll have to pick just three

And I said
What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart
and how can a man like me remain in the light
and if life is really as short as they say
then why is the night so long
and then the sun went down
and he sang for me this song

See I once was a young fool like you
afraid to do the things
that I knew I had to do
So I played an escapade just like you
I played an escapade just like you
I sailed a wild, wild sea
climbed up a tall, tall mountain
I met an old, old man
he sat beneath a sapling tree
He said now if you got some questions
go and lay them at my feet
but my time here is brief
so you'll have to pick just three

And I said
What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart
and how can a man like me remain in the light
and if life is really as short as they say
then why is the night so long
and then the sun went down
and he played for me this song


Molten light - Chad VanGaalen :

They dumped her body into the molten light
Floated to the surface and it did not ignite
She rose up slowly and walked to the shore
She stood up on the bank and whispered

I'll find you and I'll kill you
I'll find you and I'll kill you
I'll find you and I'll kill you

They ran back into town and hid in the church
They explained their situation and they feared for the worst
The priest told the brothers that she could not be killed
She flew out of the stone cold ground and

She'll find you and she'll kill you
She'll find you and she'll kill you
She'll find you and she'll kill you

Oh oh oh oh...

There was a knock at that door that shook through their hearts
She blew it right open and put it apart
She shot a string of flame from the center of her chest
As she watched their bodies burn she whispered

I found you and I killed you
I found you and I killed you
I found you and I killed you

Molten light

An extraordinary magnificent animated videoclip accompanies the delightful song Molten light by Chad VanGaalen.

Enjoy Molten light - Chad VanGaalen (mp3)

You can buy the album Soft airplane here

Lazy Monday : Bon Iver

One of the hypes of the past months, Bon Iver has made quite an impression on many a music lover. The debut album For Emma, forever ago deserves every good word that has been written about it, and it's an excellent Lazy Monday album...

Every note is dipped in ancient tradition, in the best of folk and blues, and yet it sounds very 2008 in a way.

Check it out, and enjoy these songs :

• Flume (mp3)
• The wolves (act I and II) (mp3)
• Skinny love (mp3)

You can buy the album here

Sepultura

In 1994, I saw Sepultura at the Rock Torhout festival and I was pretty impressed. The band was still firmly led by Max and Igor Cavalera, and I had been listening to their album Chaos A.D. for several weeks. I wasn't into metal or anything (most certainly not back then), but I really felt this band had found a way to have the chemistry work between Brasilian rhythms and heavy metal guitars. Their next album, Roots, explored that strange mixture even further, and the band cooperated with some native Brasilian tribe. Until today, I still think those two albums are among the best metal albums ever !

Enjoy these songs :

From Chaos A.D. :

• Refuse resist (mp3)
• Territory (mp3)

From Roots :

• Ratamahatta (mp3)

You can buy the albums here

Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat

Belgian band Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat is really something special. With their mix of folk harmonies and post-rock, they are definitely a band on the right label, being K-R-A-A-K. On the 23rd of September they will release their new album, The Nebulous dream, on Conspiracy Records. They will launch the album with a show in Gent, at the Vooruit, with support act Guapo, on the 3rd of October.
Here are some songs from their previous album, An interlude to the outermost :

• The firesky (mp3)
• Salt (mp3)
• You will reap a whirlwind (mp3)

You can buy the album here, and the new album is for sale (after release, of course) here

Big in Belgium : Arno

Arno (Hintjens), once the frontman of Belgian rock stars T.C. Matic, has been enjoying a lot of respect from musicians all over Europe (and perhaps beyond?). He has worked with many great artists, covered many great songs (including some unusual suspects like Salvatore Adamo's Les filles du bord de mer). Actually, he's probably the biggest living legend in Belgian music, always performing for crowds of crazy fans...

Enjoy these songs :

• It's all over now (mp3) : a Womack & Womack cover, originally played with all star band Charles et Les Lulus
• I'm not myself (mp3) : featuring Tom Barman from dEUS and Stef Kamil Carlens from Zita Swoon
• Les yeux de ma mère (mp3)
• Putain putain (mp3) : orginally a T.C. Matic song

You can buy the album Give me the gift, which features all above songs, here

Goldie

I had the chance of listening to the new Goldie album, Sine tempus, which is supposed to be a soundtrack to a Goldie movie that is about to be released, and I must say I was a little disappointed. Like the guy at the London Rough Trade music shop said about someone else : "he's gone all soft on us..."
One track however does stand out and is vintage Goldie stuff, for all of you drum 'n bass fans :
I know who I am (mp3). It's got it all !!!

And just to let you experience the true Goldie experience, I've added an old time favorite :
Temper temper (mp3). It features Noel Gallagher of Oasis on guitar.


Enjoy !


You can buy the new Goldie album here

Just a selection...

Today I bring you a random selection of songs to end the summer vacation...


- Goons & Goblins (A Milli) - Shakeyface vs. Weezy (mp3) : summer vibes remixed by Shakeyface


- a remix of 80s songs for almost an hour by Buffetlibre DJ's



Tracklist:
1. Buffetlibre Theme
2. Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters
3. CFCF - Big Love (Fleetwood Mac cover) (Rewind new song)
4. Animotion - Obsession
5. Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is a Place On Earth (Hidden Cat remix) (Rewind)
6. Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind
7. Mr. Mister - Broken Wings (Hostage remix) (Rewind new song)
8. Communards - Don't Leave Me This Way
9. Anoraak - Talking In Your Sleep (The Romantics cover) (Rewind)
10. Camouflage - Love Is A Shield
11. Madonna - Into The Groove (Sidechains remix) (Rewind)
12. No Name - Fashion
13. A-Ha - Hunting High And Low (Louis La Roche remix) (Rewind)
14. New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
15. Moulinex - Come On Closer (Pineapples cover) (Rewind)
16. Mr. Flagio - Take A Chance
17. Marietta - Destination Unknown (CSK OK remix) (Rewind)
18. Klapto - Queen Of The Night
19. Roger Troutman - Do It Roger (Xinobi remix) (Rewind)
20. Secret Services - Flash In The Night


Enjoy !

Music for one apartment and six drummers

Better check your appartment after returning from a walk...

Isaac Hayes aka Chef

Some days ago, Isaac Hayes died. I'm sure you can find a lot of dedicational posts in the blogosphere, and it's not an artist I have much to say about, or to add to all that.
But to me, Isaac Hayes will always be the man behind one of the best South Park characters : Chef.
This is the song that says it all : Chocolate salty balls (mp3)

You can buy the album Chef Aid : The South park album here

China Olympics

Due to the Bejing Olympics (which I watch an awful lot!), I haven't posted much lately. Here's a song that's a bit of sort of appropriate : Mao Tse Tung said (mp3) by Alabama 3.

Check out the funny song Hello... I'm Johnny Cash on their website...

You can buy Alabama 3 music here

The House Of Love

Sometimes the simplest things are the most beautiful and the most treasured. A simple melody, in harmony with a relaxing voice and musicians who don't seek the headlights but just all play their part in making a song work : what more could one hope for in a pure pop song ?
True masters at this are The House Of Love, an English band active initially between 1986 and 1993. In 2005 they re-united.
From the moment I first heard them, I liked them. They have a charm that captures you right away. They know how to play a good tune, and they don't make a big fuzz about it all : it's all just simple and very, very good !
I have added some of their most famous tracks, together with an acoustic performance they gave for a Dutch radio show (2 meter sessie for 2 meter de lucht in with host Jan Douwe Kroeske) :

• The girl with the loneliest eyes (mp3)
• Shine on (mp3)
• Feel (mp3)
• Beatles and The Stones (2 meter sessie) (mp3)

You can buy their greatest hits album here

The 2 meter sessies album seems to be unavailable currently

Manu Dibango

One of Africa's biggest musical stars, is -without any doubt- Manu Dibango. A musical career that started off in Brussels and Paris, led him to Congo and Cameroon and then back to Europe, and that started in the 1960's : not many musicians from Africa can present such credentials...

This saxophone player manages a wide range of musical styles.

For those who hadn't heard of him, here's a little introduction :

• Soul Makossa
• Wouri
• Goro city

Here you can buy his newest album

You can buy African soul : the very best of Manu Dibango here

Boxer The Horse

The majority of Boxer The Horse are still under 20 years old. The band recorded a short five song demo in 2007, only to sell out of the limited pressing of only 50 copies at one show to an enthusiastic group of French exchange students. The band soon went to work on their formal debut EP, The Late Show. I like how they named their band after a character in Animal farm, the novel by George Orwell.

Their songs remind me of The Kinks, the young Bob Dylan (but with an English accent) and a Weezer-meets-Ben Folds type of indie band... But hey, you'd better judge for yourself :

• Boneyard (mp3)
• Jackson Leftfield (mp3)
• Rock 'n roll band (mp3)

You can buy the EP here

Green Velvet

There is something very exciting about a lot of songs by Green Velvet, the alter ego of Curtis A. Jones.
This song is no exception to that, with its pulsating rhythm, its alienating lyrics and its trippy bleeps. Check it out, together with a Cajmere remix. Cajmere is just another alter ego of the same man, by which he made a lot of remixes for Green Velvet songs. Sounds schizofrenic, don't it ?

• Genedefekt (radio mix) (mp3)
• Genedefekt (Cajmere mix) (mp3)

You can buy the songs here

Poésie Noire

In 1992, Belgian band Poésie Noire, originally a 7 piece band, but later reduced to 3, ceased to exist, after their record company failed to release their newest album Delirious. Eventually, EMI would release it, their band name having changed to TBX, but since it wasn't successfull at all, EMI dropped it from its catalog soon afterwards.
They had had some success however, having opened for Dead Can Dance and The Sisters Of Mercy, and having released 14 albums and mini-albums. The album that has been my personal favourite, is Love is colder than death, which offers us a good view of their new wave sound and their dark lyrics. It was released in 1989.
Enjoy these songs :

• Love is colder than death (mp3)
• The lake (mp3)
• Oblivion (mp3)

You can buy the album here or here, as it's very hard to find...

Biosphere

We had a dream last night... we had the same dream... Two little boys claim this in what sounds like the soundtrack to a horror science fiction movie, but actually it's the opening song for the album Patashnik by Biosphere.
It's an intruiging song that I felt always fitted perfectly well with the blue cover of the record. Enjoy it !


Phantasm - Biosphere (mp3)


You can buy the album Patashnik here
You can also download a lot of Biosphere songs offered for free here

Big in Belgium : Bobbejaan

Bobbejaan Schoepen is one of those old time stars from the fifties and sixties, who got very famous in Belgium. I wrote about him once in my post about Dead Man Ray and its lead singer Daan.

Earlier this year, after a long, long silence (35 years!), he released a new record, which got a sort of American recordings treatment, albeit on a smaller scale. With some help from Daan and Elko Blijweert (from Dead Man Ray), Nathalie Delcroix (from Laïs), Geike Arnaert (from Hooverphonic) and Axelle Red, as well as from his song Tom and his wife Josée, he recorded 12 new songs (well, actually one of them is a sort of remake of one of his most famous songs in Dutch, De lichtjes van de Schelde). The record sounds a bit like the Rick Rubin produced Johnny Cash songs, but it also sounds very Flemish and the songs certainly do a lot of justice to the singing voice and whistling by Bobbejaan.

Also, the records is a musical hommage to aged men. It's about getting older and viewing your life in retrospect, and about the experience one gathers throughout one's life, about losing your youth, strength and fysical ability.

Enjoy these songs :

• Je me suis souvent demandé (mp3) : singing in French, together with Axelle Red, Bobbejaan wonders about the bigger and smaller questions of life...
• Flower of Shanghai (mp3) : Daan sings most of this song, about the long-distance love of a sailor in a far away port...
• On a carousel (mp3) : mostly instrumental, with a lot of whistling (something Bobbejaan was famous for in his oldest songs), and with a spoken (Dutch) introduction...
• Verankerd (mp3) : this song is probably the best of the whole record : it's about being old and sick (cancer), but still wanting to live, it's the song which offers the rich palet of Bobbejaan's singing (the voice of an old and experienced singer, a lot of country influences, but at the same time it sounds about as provincial as it can get) and it hits the mood of the lyrics so right on that's impossible to resist to the beauty of it, even if it is sung in Dutch... Of course, as Dutch is my mother language, I cannot judge it, but I wonder if you hear the richess of this even if you're unfamiliar with the language (I would guess so). So please give it a try (and feel free to leave a comment about it...)

You can buy the record Bobbejaan here

Bonde Do Role

It sounds like a house anthem ! But the Portugese just gives that extra touch to make it stand out !
Bonde De Role have created one of the most perfect party hits for me : Divine Gosa. And their album With lasers has even more to offer ! I saw this group live last year at Pukkelpop festival, and they were just amazing... I didn't understand a word, but hell, they knew how to throw a party. And what a singer !
Enjoy these tracks :

• Divine gosa (mp3)
• Solta o frango (mp3)
• James Bonde (mp3)

You can buy the album here

Fleet foxes

They sound like they were making music in the same era as The Band, early Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, but actually, they just released their first album.
Fleet Foxes are truely the next big thing !
Enjoy their fantastic song : White winter hymnal (mp3)
Buy their debut album here

Big in Belgium : Headphone

They are one of the rising stars of the Belgian alternative scene : Headphone !
I really, really dig their newest single, She is electric, which has just about all the right ingredients to make it here and anywhere (if promoted properly, as beautiful music in itself is not enough to conquer the ears of foreign music lovers, in today's giant mass of musical production). This is the video for it :


Enjoy these tracks from their debut album :

• She is electric (mp3)
• Ghostwriter (mp3)
• Film (mp3)

You can buy the album here

Album of the month : Passion - Peter Gabriel

Music for The Last Temptation Of Christ, a film by Martin Scorsese is what it says underneath the title on the CD back cover.
This was my first introduction to Peter Gabriel's own Realworld label. It was the first release on that label, and it contains some of the most beautiful instrumental music I have ever heard made by a pop artist. Influenced by a lot of "world music" he had heard, Peter Gabriel composed a variety of songs which are all, to some extent, a stunning mix of the influences he absorbed and his own musical idiom.
This album is best listened to as a whole, of course, as the musical journey tells, in its own language, the story of the movie, and it contains such a rich palet of music that is like a multi-course dinner, of which each plate is delicious in itself, but the whole dinner has a surplus by the ideal combination of the dishes...
However, I have chosen some dishes for your enjoyment, to have a little taste to hunger for more :

• The feeling begins (mp3)
• Of these, hope (mp3)
• Troubled (mp3)
• It is accomplished (mp3)

You can buy the album here

Lazy Monday : Sofa Surfers

It's been more than 10 years ago when I saw this CD in the record shop that intrigued me, just by the look of it. It wasn't as if I had ever heard of Sofa Surfers, but still, there was something about their name, about the artwork on the cover and probably (although that's something I cannot remember) something about its place in the shop's CD rack between other artists which drew my attention.

After a listen, I decided to buy the album, Transit, and although it's not a record that I have played many times, every I-don't-know-how-many months it ends up in my CD player or PC.

The phrenetic drum 'n bass sounds woven in the smoother and laidback melodies, sometimes with a distinct reggae touch (like in Sofa rockers) render it a sophisticated and yet attractive atmosphere.

A lazy Monday is just the day to enjoy that :

• Bon voyage (mp3)
• Sofa rockers (mp3)
• Life in Malmö (mp3)

You can buy the album here

Arsenal

Two Belgian bands I know have a name that is all too familiar to all of us soccer fans. Galatasaray, named after a successfull Istanbul side, and Arsenal (just like the London based top team) have experienced different paths of success.

Arsenal have released their third album, which took shape during an unexpected trip to the Finnish frozen lakes. They originally set out for Norway to record their songs, but ended up in Finland. The experience resulted in an instrumental album, which was used as a soundtrack for the TV show De Poolreizigers and in their third album, Lotuk. For this album they were able to work with some of their heroes, including Grant Hart (from Hüsker Dü), John Garcia (from Kyuss), Shawn Smith (from Brad, Pigeonhed and Satchel).

Enjoy these songs :

• Lotuk (mp3)
• Diggin a hole (mp3)
• Who we are (mp3)

You can buy the album here

Zombie Zombie

Was it shear coincidence that led me to this song and (later on) to its magnificent, animated video ? That I don't know, but what I do know is that got drown into the dense, blood-drawing atmosphere of this instrumental song immediately.
The video seems to have captured that spirit very well, as it is a stunning exhibition of how you can create a thrilling story with as little as a couple of play figures, home-made models and a lot of creativity. It's a remake of John Carpenter's film The thing in stopmotion with G.I. Joe dolls...

Enjoy this song : Driving this road until death sets you free - Zombie Zombie (mp3)

Zombie Zombie is a French duo consisting of Etienne Jaumet and CosmicNeman who have their own record label (Boomboomtchak! Records), based in Paris, France.

You can buy their album here

Def Real

Dutch hiphop pioneers Def Real have released various singles that made you feel good : silly lyrics and capturing melodies that did well on the radio, especially in summer !

On their website, they offer their older songs for free. Here's a selection :

• Me & the pizza (mp3)
• Daar gaan we... (mp3) (in spite of the Dutch title, most of the song is in English)

Find them all on their site and donwload the remix of their new single here

Jay-Z

Although a lot of hiphop music just gets wasted on me, it's absolutely not that I hate the genre. To the contrary, you can always make me very happy with some real good stuff !

Jay-Z seems to be able to do the trick for me most of the time. From Chapter One I like to listen to these 3 songs especially, although I have to admit it's really nostalgia that makes me smile whenever I hear the Annie sample in the first :

• Hard knock life (mp3)
• Wishing on a star (mp3)
• Can I get a... (mp3)

You can buy the album here

PS Because of the European soccer championship, which I watch almost every game, I haven't posted a lot lately. Well, it's only a week till we know the winner...

Thomas Bryan Eaton

New York-based musician Thomas Bryan Eaton is set to release his debut solo album entitled Dreams, Demons & Butterflies on July 15th, 2008.

Throughout the 'nighttime concept record,' the listener follows Thomas through a restless night, dozing in and out of consciousness, while contemplating life, death & all the relationships between the two. While based on simple acoustic folk and blues songs, the recordings burst open with careful colorations and subtle textures. The final product is something that is hard to classify. From pedal steel to accordion, whispered vocals to quadrupled drum sets, string sections to the sound of stray cats fighting, no sound was left unconsidered. Not to mention Thomas' tasteful electric guitar playing sprinkled throughout. Although much of this record's charm is due to Thomas' restless vision (or demons perhaps), he relied on a cast of 14 friends and musicians to help create the group sound he was looking for. The result is a complete album that tells a story of one person's take on beauty, sorrow and hope.

To celebrate the release, Thomas has assembled many of the musicians who appeared on the album for a record release party on July 12th, 2008, 8pm at Arlene's Grocery, 95 Stanton St. in New York City

While Dreams, Demons & Butterflies will be his first outing as a leader, Thomas has been an active part of numerous bands in the NYC area since moving there from Ithaca, NY three years ago. Other bands and artists he has played and/or recorded with : Vancans, Hobson's Choice, Willie Breeding, Butane Variations, Jim Miller, Kristin Diable, Tim Emmerick, Richie Stearns, Steve Waitt, Jefferson Hamer, Well Enough Folk Band, Steve Gollnick, Adam Groves, Juge Greenspun, Rachel Platten, Teedo, Your 33 Black Angels, Mohawk Hitchhiker, Hubcap, and many others.

Other musicians featured on the album: Pearson Constantino, James Craft, Nyles Fitzgerald, Helen Gassenheimer, Leslie Kubica, Chris Locksley, Earl Maneein, Len Monachello, Johnny O'Callaghan, Michael Penque, Mike Refici, Aaron Smulktis, Jeremiah Vancans & Michelle Yu.

Enjoy these tracks :

• Naked ear (mp3)
• Meant to last (mp3)

For information on how to buy the album, keep checking here

Big in Belgium : Hoover(phonic)

In 1996, when Hooverphonic released their debut album, they were actually called Hoover (but for legal reasons they had to change their name if they wanted to release music outside of Belgium, if I remember well...) Their music was sort of triphoppy and didn't go unnoticed, as one of their songs was used by Bertolucci for Stealing beauty.
Apart from the radio edit for 2Wicky (mp3), I have also added the DJ Pulse Dub (mp3) of that song as well as the song the original sample was taken from : Walk on by (mp3) by Isaac Hayes.


You can buy the Hoover(phonic) debut album A new stereophonic sound spectacular here

Caesar

The Dutch band Caesar has ceased to exist. On the 3rd of April they played their last concert, and were joined by other Dutch bands. These bands each covered Caesar songs, which can be downloaded from the 3voor12-website.
I offer them to you, in no particular order :

• Ocean sounds (covered by Moss) (mp3)
• Can't make it happen (covered by Paulusma) (mp3)
• No reply (covered by Scram C Baby) (mp3)
• Acid years (covered by Alamo Race Track) (mp3)
• Before my head explodes (covered by Sonja van Hamel from Bauer) (mp3)
• This ain't a lovesong (covered by Bettie Serveert) (mp3)

Here are some rare tracks by the band Caesar themselves :

• Gee oh my (mp3)
• Don't you feel like wow (mp3)

You can buy Caesar songs here

Free music : Intended Play Sampler Spring 2008

Matador Records give away for free a sampler of their new releases, including the artwork. It's the first time this sampler is available digitally, so enjoy it here

No government

For the last couple of months, Nicolette has been receiving a lot of airplay on the radio with a Tocadisco remix of her 1995 success No government. I must however say that I do not very much like the "new" version. It's not that I dislike it, it's not that it's bad, it's just... well you know, it just doesn't live up to the standard set by the original version.
Ever since I bought the CD-single in 1995, I have thought the cover matched very well with the song. The shattered glass look of it and the voice, the way Nicolette sings the words, both vulnerable and sharp, have always been strongly connected in my mind.

For you to enjoy, I have not only added the original version but also 2 remixes from that same 1995 release :

• No government (mp3)
• No government in the jungle (remix by the Bud Brothers) (mp3)
• No goverment as a way of life (remix by Plaid) (mp3)

You can buy a remaster of the 1995 original here, and I have at last found where you can buy the version I possess (I also found the original with other remixes here)