2 of my favourite Belgian musicians on one track.

Baloji tapped dEUS’ Tom Barman to lay down some vocals on the remix of his latest single “Le Jour d’Après (Indépendance cha cha)”. Who knew Tommie was harbouring  a tad of Gainsbourg?!

Faisons un pas de deux!

(DOWNLOAD + interview+ lyrics after the jump)

DOWNLOAD BALOJI + TOM BARMAN “Le jour d’après (indépendance cha-cha)“

How well do you know Tom’s music?

Baloji : My older brothers were playing “In A Bar, Under The Sea”, but for me it really started with “The Ideal Crash” and that amazing video they shot at Café d’Anvers (ed. Instant Street)

Have you and Tom met before?

Baloji : Yes, we met at a party for the brand “Marcel de Bruxelles” last year and we’ve seen each other at the Gent Blue Note Festival a couple of times.

What image did you have of him before you actually met?

I thought he looked a bit snobby and jaded, but I was wrong : he’s smart, friendly and madly talented.

Do dEUS have fans in Africa, that you know of?

I don’t think so, but I do think “The Architect “ deserves a Buraka Som Systema remix!

What’s your favourite dEUS song?

They made history with “Instant Street” , but for me personally it’s hard to choose between “Wake Me Up Before I Sleep” and “Little Arithmetics”.

Where you confident that Tom would agree to do the collaboration?

Well, it never hurts to ask. He answered my phone call and we booked the session in less than three days.

Did he know about your music?

Yeah, a little. But I know that Tim Vanhamel and Stef Kamil Carlens are more into my stuff than Tom.

Did you talk about music before/during the recording? Records that you both like, stuff like that?

We talked a bit about the great crooners, tropical music and French chanson but we mostly discussed “Couleur Café” the “percussion” album of Serge Gainsbourg that we used as an influence for Tom’s part of the song.

Was there a specific track you asked Tom to listen to?

I played him “Ces Petits Riens”, one of my favourite songs on that album.

You recorded the remix version in dEUS’ Vantage Point studio. Was there anybody else around?

Klaas Janszoons and CJ Bolland. I got to pre-listen some heavy Magnus tracks!

What was it like, working with Tom?

It took us three hours to lay down the track: choosing the lyrics and finding the right melody took us a while. But all in all it was a really chill session.

Tom sings in Lingala, too. How did that come about?

I wanted it to sound more traditional and CJ Bolland liked the idea a lot and he pushed tom to give it a go! Lingala is such a melodic language so it worked out great.I

Any plans on performing the song together?

Yes, we might do a TV performance real soon.

Tom is working on the new Magnus album. Did you talk about doing a remix with you as an MC?

Yes, we did!  But  they are finishing the new dEUS LP first. I did get to hear some new Magnus tracks and they sounded great.

If you could remix/rework any dEUS or Magnus song, which one would that be? (Why?)

They have this song with a Charles Mingus sample on “In A Bar, Under The Sea”  (”Theme From Turnpike”) that’s screaming for MPC drums. I think I could cook up something for “Roses” or “Nothing Really Ends “ as well…

More Baloji here

Lyrics :

Indepance chacha tozui e
Indépendance cha cha le jour d’apres
O Kimpwanza chacha tubakidi
Indepance chacha tozui e
Indepance chacha tozui e
Indépendance cha cha le jour d’apres
O Kimpwanza chacha tubakidi
Indepance chacha tozui e

Faisons un pas de deux
ou un pas de côté
trouvons un juste milieu
l’envie prend le pas sur les idées

Des hommes d’apparat
ou des hommes d’appareil
ils se couvrent d’embarras
ça ne sera plus jamais pareil

mais qu’est ce qu’il va rester
après les cortèges et les sermons
les accolades et les postures ?

perspective de renaissance
après l’air de la repantence
entre la nuit et le clair obscur

La multitude d’origines
Autant d’éthnies que de coutumes
N’empêche le partage d’aspiration commune

Indepance chacha tozui e
Independance cha cha le jour d’apres
O Kimpwanza chacha tubakidi
Indepance chacha tozui e
Indepance chacha tozui e
Independance cha cha le jour d’apres
O Kimpwanza chacha tubakidi
Indepance chacha tozui e

Les promesses de lendemain, les promesses de l’aube
d’un état souverain où le sol se dérobe
entre milices et rebelles, pillages et recels
peuples que l’on déplace comme des cheptels
de parcelle en parcelle
de gouvernance en tutelle
l’état de droit est essentiel
à nos ethnies unies au pluriel
effet papillon, effet tampon
car ici on change l’or en plomb
la révolution au bout du vote
la force du nombre est l’antidote
pour changer la dette en dotte
autant de droits que de devoirs
plus de points de convergence
que de divergence
oublier l’idée d’état providence

j’ai repris cette chanson fédératrice
symbole de la crédulité de nos prémices
entre indépendance et armistice
mais pour que nos démocraties progressent
faut qu’elle apprennent de leurs erreurs de jeunesse
mon pays est un continent émergent
bâti en moins de 50 ans

tango ya indépendance,sima ya indépendance
yebisa nga nini yango é  changer
toza ko rond point,toza kozinda
suka suka toza kozonga sima

The title of the song means : ‘Welcome To Life In Limbo’

The video was shot on the streets of Kinshasa, site of Muhammad Ali’s legendary ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and is a must-see.

Watch it after the jump!

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

This is the first single off of the 2010 album ‘Kinshasa Succursale’, a re-recording of ‘Hotel Impala’ in the style of Soulwax ‘Nite Versions’ with local Congolese Musicians.

Release date: 27-01-2010, when it will drop as a FREE ADD-ON WITH KNACK AND LEVIF MAGAZINE (Belgium only.)

“Karibu Ya Bintou” features electric finger piano (limpelé) by Konono N°1 (Vampire Weekend are huge fans, so are David Byrne and Beck. Björk asked them to play on the Volta record and they accompany her on tour.)

Check out the ‘Kinshasa Succursale’ Making Of mini-documentary.

BALOJI site
BALOJI blog
BALOJI MySpace

Images by Nicolas Karakatsanis

Tonight, at 23.30 my bud, the incredible Baloji will take the stage at Glastonbury. He was invited by Glasto headliner Damon Albarn to join his project Africa Express. He will be performing with Dizzee Rascal, Baaba Maal & Manu Dibango.

The above picture is of a KNOTORYUS styled shoot…

Which I am extremely proud of.

That’s right. Here at KNOTORYUS we mix the bizz with the pleash.

Or let me rephrase that. When you love the people you’re working with, it’s called a collab.

I asked the wonderful Kris Van Assche if we could pull some of his looks.

He said yes.

The fab -and now london based hair master- Marino Scissorhand Lambrix is responsible for this perfectly executed coiff. My over-the-phone instructions : “a mullet without the neckdrizzle. Think mini ski-slope. Allez-y!”

(btw : One of the five things I would love to be remembered by : “She who got to mess with Baloji’s signature do”)

Before all you chicks start yelling at me. I know he looked good in his corn rows too. But come on.

If you’re at Glasto do two things :

1. Go check out Africa Express : I’m currently pumping Baloji‘s unreleased remixes. Believe me, you’ll have a blast.

(those who can’t make it : let’s meet up in Paris August 5th.)

2. Try & spot @Dizzy Blazeberg. I’m guessing he’s the most fun to hang with this year. Take him to see Baloji. Show us what you learned in your African contemporary dance class.

Hey B, bring me a signed Damon Albarn shirt.

And a pic of you and the two Dizzee’s.

Baloji in Louis Vuitton here

Baloji in KNOTORYUS here

photographer : Jérome Bonnet here

styling : KNOTORYUS

Buy ‘Hotel Impala’ on iTunes

Including Beautiful artwork by Sozyone Gonzalez: buy here

More info on Baloji here

This is how the Omar Little fan page on facebook thanked us for letting them know about our long sold out shirt.

(click the image to make it bigger)

Thanks to the Omar fans we got a lot of new KNOTORYUS readers and in return we decided to do a re-up…

So here it is: LIMITED SECOND RUN OF 250.
First come, first serve.

SHOP HERE 

Thank you Baloji for modelling the shit out of this shirt and for always supporting KNOTORYUS.

More pics here

Shop here

Yeah, that’s KNOTORYUS. With a silent K…

But, before I proceed : please let the record show that Sir Stijn Verlinden is a good dude…

I spotted him a couple of months ago.

Next time we met, me and him had a really challenging and sometimes fucking annoying (I’m sure he felt the same way) sniff-each-other-out conversation.

Yesterday at Oona, we did the whaddup thing for the 3rd time.

That lasted well 2 hours.

Now I want to call him after hours and play the “Have you seen…?” “Did you know…?” and “You should check…”-game all night long.

That boy knows his stuff.

(above pic : the hard knock life of a KNOTORYUS intern)

Moving on :

Yesterday we went to his office’s ‘welcome days’.

All PR companies are hosting their A/W 09 previews right about now.

LGF in new season Café Costume (costumiers of Soulwax, Baloji & Stijn Verlinden)

(Thierry Mugler @ Maasmechelen Village in the back)

More Café Costume A/W 09:

Scoop scoop scoop!

Café Costume will be adding overcoats to their menu!

Can’t wait to check that out. Burberry à la Française with a fooking Belgian attitude? I wonder…

Sartorial Catering (->term by KNOTORYUS – we delivered the very first texts for their website).

By the way: don’t let looks fool you. These suits are more buyable than you might think.

So if you visit Brussels or Antwerp : drop by.

(Sas, Angelique & Bruno : sorry we couldn’t make it to the opening of the new shop. Congrats though!)

Cropped shirt :  Girls From Omsk A/W 09 collection

Adding knitwear to the collection.

Stijn donning a piece of the  Atelier 11 A/W 09 collection. Wear it to the side like a boss.

And of course we’re loving the following design :

Small sc-c-c-c-c- (w)-oop for lovers: Atelier 11 is launching a more affordable line called ‘Black Label’.

Shout out to Tim (above pic, on the right),  another one of those talented dudes!

Ikea babywatch. Not the best picture. But I love the design!

*breathes*

To be continued.

But before I go :

MyVu Crystal shades & your iPhone.

(pic ft Stijn (google him, baby) & the cutesy side-braided KNOTORYUS intern)

I’m in awe.

This is the most talented dude.

He’s a great great friend.

He’s one of the most stylish men I’ve ever met.

He loves  KNOTORYUS.

And Marc Jacobs and the LVMH people love him.

All pics after the jump

If you can, pick up a copy of Le Vif/L’Express tomorrow.

Or got to Weekend.be

Go to www.baloji.com

Or go see :

27/09: KVS (Brussels, Belgium) – more info
10/10: Salle Daniel Ferry (Nanterre)
11/10: Nancy Jazz Pulsations (Nancy) – more info
12/10: Maroquinerie (Paris) – more info
15/10: L’Usine (Genève, Switzerland) – more info
23/10: Trioletto (Montpellier)

After spending an entire weekend getting plastered at fondue-parties and rooftop-barbeques…

… it’s nice to remind ourselves of the fact that during the week we actually do stuff.

The new Randstad Magazine is now online.

Content (styling, directing) & copy by KNOTORYUS

Concept & Design by Mo Ka

A big thank you to the wonderful Baloji, Lil Miss Julie, the people at Avenue (what a great store!), Miss Carolien (ListenUp & PIAS)

You put your left foot back in and you shake it all about.

See, that’s kinda our motto.

And we’re pretty sure it’s Baloji‘s motto as well.

He’s touring the next couple of months and he requested two KNOTORYUS shirts.

Before you start shouting Diva!. Remember. We like clean guys. Especially if they’re also known for making fab records.

Hell, we would’ve sent him 10 shirts if he asked us to.

He looks pretty good in his custom-made Café Costume suit as well.

Watch all his clips on the NME website.

Baloji on tour:

09/05: Festival Paroles et Musiques (Saint-Etienne)
11/05: Mano Mundo Festival (Boom, Belgique)
25/05: Grosso Modo Festival (Kapelen, Belgique)
30/05: Festival Europavox (Vichy)
31/05: Tribu Festival (Dijon)
07/06: Festival des Arts et Solidarité de l’Afrique (Saint-Brieuc)
23/06: Festival Diversidad (Vienne, Autriche)
29/06: Festival Couleur Café (Bruxelles, Belgique)
04/07: Festival Hip-Hop (Clermont-Ferrand)
14/07: Les Francofolies de la Rochelle (la Rochelle)
18/07: Les Francofolies de Spa (Spa, Belgique)
26/07: Festival Brukselive (Bruxelles, Belgique

All pics by miss Cindy Frey  

We’ve made it no secret that we’re fans of Baloji’s solo debut “Hotel Impala”.

Baloji on the other hand, being a man of taste, has made it no secret he’s a fan of KNOTORYUS, too.

And so he has bestowed upon us the great honour of premiering the director’s cut of his new video for ‘Coup de Gaz’, recorded in Mexico by Everardo Ordaz, whose previous work included videos for Mos Def and The Killers.

The short version you can find anywhere (U2B, etc.) The Director’s Cut is a KNOTORYUS EXCLUSIVE. Watch it now, ’cause in two days (March 20th), we’re taking it down.
More on Baloji on his site, by befriending his MySpace or by throwing a sheep at the man on FaceBook.

I always thought John Legend missed a nice set of balls. But dude solved that by signing Estelle to his label.

I met this girl at a Jamie Foxx showcase in the UK. She’s as cute as a button and she looks great in this video!

I’m crowning this my Spring song, until Balo drops his new single. (when??) Watch the video after the jump.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]