Nosedef: A sweet hangover mixtape

Usually all I need (and I do need it) to endure a head splitting sunday hangover is Frank Sinatra or Morrissey. But here's an alternative mix that does the trick. A couple of ingredients are indispensable though: sweet vocals, a touch of melancholy, and jazz.

1. Jon Brion - Monday
Opening instrumental from the movie I Heart Huckabees. Wonderful Krystof Komeda/italian 60's spy movie-vibes. I'm really close to popping in the DVD everytime I hear this mysterious little feelgood track.

2. Andrew Bird - A Nervous Tick Motion of the Head to the Left
Epic whistling and doomsday lyrics in a perfect laid back blend of Pavement and Belle & Sebastian (the voice, the smartass lyrics, the orchestration). The spaghetti western whistling almost does the trick by itself though. In Berlin om may 9!

3. Madvillain - Great Day
Looks like it's gonna be a great day today! MF Doom saves the day with more smartass lyrics over Madlib's warm cosy-addictive jazz fumbling. Got a light? Nah, Bud Light.

4. Sondre Lerche - Stupid memories
Oh, that guitar/piano-tinkling-intro... Soothing laid back retro sentimental jazz-country stuff, with some sweet ass steel guitar. Stupid memory, must you bring up these things?

5. El Ten Eleven - My only swerving
Hey! Hangover post-rock! A tighter beat to give you enough energy to put on a cup of coffe. That short ever repeating slide loop and the hand-clap break more than makes up for the lack of vibrating vocal chords. Put on repeat.

6. Broadcast - Corporeal
After all the sweetness, let's tickle and tease the ears with the little scraping electro noises that only Broadcast can make so beautiful, together with the low reverberating guitar pluck and Trish Keenan's soothing voice on top. Makes you go Aaaaaa-aaaa-aaahhh...

7. Dionne Warwick - Anyone Who Had a Heart
Hangover geniuses Burt Bacharach and Hal David in a threesome with Warwick! Melancholic desperate retro love soul.

8. Chet Baker - Let's Get Lost
Snap your chubby jazz fingers and pour Chet's voice into your coffee.

9. Hanne Hukkelberg - Ease
Groovy, fluffy, and a little flipped out, the norweigians don't come better than this, and noone else either. I hate all other jazz than this, actually. This is fun and imaginative. Skill and imagination, when did you come across that in jazz last time?

10. RJD2 - Ghostwriter
Ok, bringing the beat back. Instrumental hip-hop for the pop peeps. Man, is that Elliot Smith-sample sweet! Made him sound like an Aphex Twin 70's soul choir.

Mix the above with some random Stereolab and The Sea & Cake, they've always got something to suit every mood.