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

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

Lazy Monday : David Shea

Unfortunately, the album which introduced me to David Shea (his collaboration with Belgian artist DJ Grazzhoppa) is on vinyl, so I can't let you hear any songs from that.
Shea is an extraordinary musician, always in search for something new and experimenting and collaborating with various artists. He has lived in Brussels, Belgium for a while, and now he lives in Australia.
All the information on his life and his work can be found here, so I won't bother you with it right now, but I'll just let you hear it for yourself (all tracks are taken from the album Satyricon) :

• The wheel (mp3)
• Cave canem (mp3)
• The dream (mp3)

You can buy the album Satyricon here

You can buy the David Shea/DJ Grazzhoppa album Down river, up stream ! here

Lazy Monday : Luka Bloom

Quite impressive : one guy playing guitar and singing, on the giant stage of a rock festival, and still getting more than half of the public's attention !
That's exactly what I saw Luka Bloom do once (in 1992, when the festival also featured -among others- Smashing Pumkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lou Reed and Bryan Adams).
Today is just the day to listen again to his beautiful album The acoustic motorbike (probably the most poetic description of a bicycle ever...). On this album he plays covers of Elvis Presley (Can't help falling in love) and LL Cool J (I need love), and 10 of his own songs. I would still suggest anyone to buy this album, cause it will never bore you.

Enjoy these tracks :

• You (mp3)
• Can't help falling in love (mp3)
• The acoustic motorbike (mp3)

Here's the video for the LL Cool J cover I need love :

You can buy the album here

Lazy Monday : Alpha

The Melankolic label has brought us many Bristol-based bands and triphop acts. It was the label on which I discovered Craig Armstrong (The space between us) as well as this band : Alpha.

Although they miss the punch of Tricky and Massive Attack and lack the complete smoothness of Portishead, their songs are exquisite appetisers for anybody with ears. And they are the perfect band to play on a lazy Monday...

In September of last year they have released their new album, The sky is mine, which I haven't heard yet. But I did and still do enjoy their debut, Come from heaven.

Enjoy these songs :

• My things (mp3)
• Hazeldub (mp3)
• Appleorange (mp3)

You can buy the album Come from heaven here

You can buy their new album here

Lazy Monday : Green On Red

One of my favorite americana bands from when I was really young, is Green On Red. I have ever since enjoyed Chuck Prophet as a solo artist, almost as much as I have and am still enjoying those G.O.R. songs.
For a guy from Belgium, these songs were the ultimate escape to the rocky deserts of Texas and Arizona (well, at least they were in my imagination at that time), without having to embark on the over-produced, way too slick songs of the likes of Garth Brooks. I got acquainted with the band in 1989, with their very fine album This time around, which for me sounded a bit like The Rolling Stones gone country. But my favorite song will always be Little things in life.
And now, almost twenty years later, they still bring peace to my heart and quiet to my mind. What better way to spend a Monday evening then ?


Enjoy these songs :

• Little things in life (mp3)
• Shed a tear (for the lonesome) (mp3)
• Broken radio (mp3)

You can buy the albums of Green On Red here

Lazy Monday : covers

Today I feel like relaxing with these great and extraordinary covers :

• The robots - Señor Coconut Y Su Conjunto (mp3) : Kraftwerk goes latin...
• Daydreaming - Lupe Fiasco featuring Jill Scott (mp3) : a Wallace Collection classic that got an uplift last year...
• Crazy in love - The Magic Numbers (mp3) : Beyoncé made smoother than ever...

Buy these albums, containing the original hits :

• Laughing Cavalier - Wallace Collection
• Dangerously in love - Beyoncé
• Die Mensch-Machine (The man-machine) - Kraftwerk

Lazy Monday : Holiday song

Well, it's THAT time of the year again, so here we go...

I found this nice song in my mailbox. The Specimen seem to enjoy the sleigh bells and the prospect of possible snow : Wish it would snow (mp3)

You can buy their EP Do U Damage here

Lazy Monday : Banco de Gaia

I don't remember why I ever bought the Banco de Gaia album Maya. It must have been in those days when I had just discovered techno and related genres harboured some great songs too...
It's not an album I play a lot, and I hardly ever listen to it as a whole, but at times, it really appeals to me...
Just the kind of thing for a Lazy Monday !

Enjoy these tracks :

• Mafich arabi (mp3) from Maya
• Down from the mountain (mp3) from You are here
• How much reality can you take ? (mp3) from Igizeh
• Glove puppet (Dreadzone remix) (mp3) from 10 years remixed

Enjoy this video for Last train to Lhasa :

You can buy the albums of Banco de Gaia here

Lazy Monday : Amsterdam Assholes

Amsterdam Assholes is the live project of DJ Sandrien, a co-operation with Wouter Hisschemoller.

Enjoy these tracks :

• Boormachine
• Da ga mooi nie door da feest

Buy the record here

Lazy Monday : Pompelmoessap

Pompelmoessap is Dutch for "grapefruit juice", so when I stumbled upon this song I was a little intrigued by the band name. I found out that Pompelmoessap is a Swiss minimal techno act that seem to have released only one EP so far, Winters are getting shorter.


Enjoy this track : Untapped terrain (mp3)


Buy the EP here

Lazy Monday : Daniël Lohues

It must be over a year now since I got acquainted with Daniel Lohues, a Dutch singer-songwriter who sings in his own language, which is a Dutch dialect ( Drenthes ), over the fantastic internet radio of Kink FM, a radio station that got no spot on the FM band in The Netherlands and which can only be heard on the internet and through cable.

I really love this simple song, which comes as a love story at first, but which really tells the tale of nostalgia and of how you change from being a young lad starting to discover the world to a grown-up who's been around...

Enjoy it yourself : Annelie (mp3)

You can listen to fragments of each song on the album Allennig here

You can buy the album Allennig here

Lazy Monday : CocoRosie

My kids have a playhouse with animals that can be put on or off a button which produces the sound of the animal. I can't find the exact name of the toy nor a picture of it. I'll try to post a picture one of these days, and if someone recognizes it, post a comment please...
It's square with a house (barn) on it, and it has nine animals : (top to bottom, left to right) chicken, cat, bird, horse, dog, male goat (sorry, don't know the english word for it...), pig, cow and duck. It has been produced by Chicco.
I was surprised to hear exactly that sound of a cat on a CocoRosie song, from their album Noah's Ark.
Chicco have produced a toy with animal sounds called Noah's Ark, but as I don't see a cat on it, I don't think CocoRosie used THAT toy...

Bear hides and buffalo (mp3)

Buy the album here

Lazy Monday (on Wednesday...) : Yndi Halda

Due to being very busy on Monday (the end of a semester means a lot of work for a teacher...), we present this week's edition of Lazy Monday on Wednesday... Hope you'll still enjoy it though...

Today, we bring you a fine (and long) tune by the Canterbury (UK) based Yndi Halda, which remind me of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions In The Sky, Sigur Ros, Do Make Say Think and A Silver Mount Zion. Their name is Eddic (an ancient language) for "enjoy eternal bliss", which is exactly what they have called their debut.

We flood empty lakes - Yndi Halda (mp3)

Buy their records here

And for your pleasure (and for helping you forgive me I am a bit late with this post), we add a Sigur Ros track :

Starálfur - Sigur Ros (mp3)

Buy their records here

Lazy Monday : Koop

The German record label Compost has been famous for its "The future sound of jazz" series, and its releases of artists like Ben Mono, Fauna Flash, Trüby Trio,...

Today we bring you a song by the Swedish duo Koop :

Whenever there is you (mp3)

You can listen to different songs from their latest album (Koop Islands) here, when you click on tracklist.

Buy the album here

Lazy Monday : Ansatz Der Machine

Today we'll be listening to a band that was unknown to me untill only recently : Ansatz Der Machine.

This Belgian band was listed on an alternative radio and magazine music list for several weeks with the song you can enjoy below, but I never heard the song on the radio. Luckily, their MySpace offers you the comfort of listening to exactly the sweet song that got them some local fame...

And just today, I found their debut album in our local library, and I found out they have two of their songs on offer on the website of their record company.

Listen to this relaxing song :

Over-expozed frozen stars - Ansatz Der Machine (mp3)

Also enjoy this song :

Indian beauty - Ansatz Der Machine (mp3)

Buy their debut album (The postman is a girl) here...

Lazy Monday : Echo dek

Primal Scream released a dub re-interpretation of their own Vanishing Point, which I grew to prefer above the original album.

If you ever need things to get quiet and chilly, put on this album (Echo dek), which you can purchase here...

Enjoy these songs :

Vanishing dub (mp3)

Last train (mp3)

links expired !

Songs of Lazy Monday...

Since I had trouble posting the links to the songs I intended on my Lazy Monday - Jazzanova post, here's a new attempt :

Ian Pooley's What's your number (Jazzanova renumber)

4Hero's We who are not as others (Jazzanova mix)

Calexico's Black Heart (Jazzanovas White Sould Dub)

As said, buy their records here

Lazy Monday : Jazzanova

Silence is a rhythm too has a Friday special (Funky Friday), which has inspired me to the Monday theme that I'll be starting today. Since Monday, following a busy weekend, is my day to get some extra rest (I don't have to work untill the evening ...usually, that is), I gather that day to be a day to sit back and relax a bit before getting really started.

On Lazy Monday, I'll be posting some relaxing music, and today it's all about Jazzanova, whose two remix best-of albums, ALWAYS get me in that mood...
Jazzanova have some pretty good albums of their own, but I'd prefer these remixes any time... They succeed in turning good songs into really great tunes, adding their own footmark.

Buy their records here