Bazart is the most successful Belgian band of 2016. They kept on filling always bigger venues at a record speed. In August they played in a packed Marquee, which is the second biggest stage at Pukkelpop.
The album maybe came a bit too soon, containing all the brilliant singles, but also too many filler songs.
♪♫ Listen: “Chaos” + album stream
Bazart on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter + beehype.
De Portables formed in Ghent in 1996, making them one of the oldest Belgian bands that keep on releasing records on a regular basis.
Their music has always been trying to offer something extra, using lots of humor too. Or what do you think about an album title like “Topless is more” (2007)?
♪♫ Listen: “The Undercurrent” + album stream
These two young brothers are doing nice things with electronics. Sometimes the result is punky, sometimes it is smooth, and it is always danceable.
The duo won Humo’s Rock Rally in 2012, but they took their time to gain live experience and record this debut album. After all they are only 21 and 23 years old.
♪♫ Listen: “Girls Keep Drinking” + album stream
This dino from the Belgian music scenetoldhis musicians they would be recording some demo’s, because he wanted them to be as relaxed as possible.
This resulted in a number one album full of typical Admiral Freebee songs.
♪♫ Listen: “Let It Shine” + album stream
Admiral Freebee on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, www.
Bent Van Looy became popular as the lead singer of Das Pop.
Lately this Belgian indie rock icon has been investing lots of time in a solo career, also targeting mainstream audiences and being part of the jury in the Flemish version of Pop Idols.
♪♫ Listen: “My Escape” + album stream
Mauro Pawlowski, a son of a Polish father and an Italian mother, is a man of 1001 projects and has almost tried everyimaginablekind of music.
He is a member of dEUS and he is leading own bands like Gruppo Di Pawlowski and Evil Superstars. He wasn’t known for singing in Dutch yet. Now he is. What’s next?
♪♫ Listen: “Wild Meisje” + album stream
Extremely exciting noise rock coming from Liege, a city that also saw the rise of Cocaine Piss in 2016.
It It Anita released their album on Luik Records, a new label from Liege that is set up by people from the regional music scene and is run in a very creative way.
♪♫ Listen: “25 (From Floor To Ceiling)” + album stream
This psychedelic garage rock act consists of members from The Crackups and one guy who is also in Tubelight.
In 2014 Double Veterans caught the attention of many music lovers with an EP called “The Brotherhood of Scary Hair and Homemade Religion”.
In 2016 they pleased the world with a full album, “Space Age Voyeurism”.
♪♫ Listen: “I Was Gone” + album stream
Double Veterans on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook.
Magnificent according to some, copycats according to others. Both are right, but the music’s very good. In 2013 SX were called Beach House copycats, in 2016 people described them as FKA Twigs clones.
It’s a fact that the band does not really have an own face. Whatever people say, they do have excellent songs.
♪♫ Listen: “Hurts” + album stream
SX on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, www.
Goose used to make electro sound like rock, now they slowed down the pace a little bit.
Even though the band was founded back in 2000, and has been massively popular ever since their victory in Humo’s Rock Rally in 2002, “What You Need” is only their fourth full album.
♪♫ Listen: “Call Me” + album stream
Goose on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, www.
Americana is not the most popular music in Belgium, but Bjorn Eriksson gained massive popularity as a member of The Broken Circle Bluegrass Band, that figured in the Oscar nominated movie “The Broken Circle Breakdown”. Nathalie Delcroix used to be a member of the popular folk outfit Laïs.
Together, they recorded a beautiful album “Heart Out Of Its Mind”.
♪♫ Listen: “Baby Blue” + album stream
Eriksson Delcroixon on Soundcloud, Facebook, www.
Poppy, funny, experimental, happy, colourful, 80s, 10s.
Robbing Millions is one of the bands that prove that the music scene from the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles keeps on getting better and continues to decrease the quality gap with the much more subsidised rock scene from Flanders.
♪♫ Listen: “In The No Air” + album stream
Robbing Millions on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook.
One of the bands that keep on proving rock’n’roll is not dead. In 2010 The Sore Losers ended thrid in Humo’s Rock Rally, just a few months after being founded.
The band released its debut album just a few months later. “Skydogs” is their third full album.
♪♫ Listen: “Emily” + album stream
This band from Mons calls their music “kraut noise techno”. Give it a try, and like it as much as we do. Get your earplugs ready.
The band got selected to play at Eurosonic Noorderslag 2017. Will they play all over Europe after their show at this leading showcase festival?
♪♫ Listen: “Technically You Are Dead” + album stream
Sung in a regional dialect, this record proves that the language of music is universal.
The two previous releases of Het Zesde Metaal charted very well and resulted in a gold album. No doubt “Calais” is going to end up that way too. 2017 will see the band playing all over Flanders.
♪♫ Listen: “Naar De Wuppe” + album stream
Het Zesde Metaal on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, www + beehype.
Marble Sounds’ most recent album “Tautou” did not include a hit single, but was a worthy successor for “Dear Me, Look Up” (2013). It yielded the band a headlining spot on the Wablief stage at Pukkelpop, which focusses on Belgian bands.
Marble Sounds does not release albums at a high pace, but the ones they make are always very good.
♪♫ Listen: “The Ins And Outs” + album stream
Marble Sounds on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube + beehype.
1/3 Balthazar, 1/3 Faces On TV and 1/3 Soldier’s Heart. Quite some names, and quite some impressive songs.
Faces On TV and Soldier’s Heart also released albums in 2016. Both got close to this top 20. Late in 2016 Soldier’s Heart announced that the band would stop to exist.
♪♫ Listen: “The Good Lie” + album stream
Warhaus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, www + beehype.
Tom Barman has delivered many a great song with dEUS and Magnus. In 2016 he pleased the world by joining Robin Verheyen, turning their love for jazz into a collection of jazzy yet very catchy songs.
Barman is one of the busiest guys in the Belgian music scene. Will he release something new with TaxiWars, Magnus or dEUS in 2017 too? We wouldn’t complain!
♪♫ Listen: “Bridges” + album stream
TaxiWars on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, www.
You may know Jan Swerts from his own music, you may know him from the great song called “Melancholie” that he recorded with Illuminine, or you may not know him at all.
Fact is that his music has always been dark. Family matters haven’t been kind to him, recently, which causes his music to become maybe even more melancholic. It also remains exceptionally beautiful.
♪♫ Listen: “Ik had je nooit…” + album stream
Jan Swerts on Soundcloud, Facebook, www.
Dans Dans is one of those bands whose music you can describe in several ways, but that cannot be covered by one specific flag. It’s instrumental, it’s jazzy, and it’s full of changes and moodswings.
I do like it a lot, and so do many other people. This is definitely no mainstream music. And still… “Sand” is their biggest commercial success so far, charting at number 23, which is extremely unusual for such an experimental album.
♪♫ Listen: “Chi Mai” + album stream