Each spring, Brussels’ cultural institution Le Botanique opens the festival season with their inescapable Les Nuits Bota. This year again and before everyone, they bring exciting, emerging and established artists to Belgium, in human-sized venues. Even if some shows are already sold-out, there is still a lot of jewels to discover and we made a small selection to help you make your program.

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First of all, let’s focus on the boiling Belgian line-up and if you’re familiar with HighClouds, all these names should sound familiar. The amazing Blackwave. and YellowStraps will make you move with their chill and groovy vibes. If you prefer cinematic and emotional electronic music, then Haring and Rari are here for you. We take the bet that the two girls of Juicy will energise the crowd with their retro-futuristic R&B and hip-hop music. Ulysse, Pale Grey and Tessa Dixson are certainly the most exciting acts on the Belgian indie pop scene at the moment.

Amongst the international acts that we don’t need to introduce, we’d like to mention the -already sold-out- concert of Charlotte Gainsbourg whose last album “Rest” was particularly good. Impossible to miss the noise-pop os U.S. Girls, the synth-pop odyssey of Porches, the style of Eddy de Pretto and the groove of Jungle.

French acts Malik Djoudi, Royaume, Polo & Pan, Bagarre and L’Impératrice should undoubtedly make memorable sparks. Amen Dunes just released one of the best albums of 2018 so far and he’ll be playing it in Brussels. South African queer artist Nakhane will bewitch you with the songs of his new album “You Will Not Die”. Be ready to dance with pop princess Mabel and to swag with Little Simz. Finally, new alternative sensation Yellow Days will also join the party.

Check the 2018’s full line-up of Les Nuits on their website and via their Spotify playlist below.

Blackwave., simply put, are on fire. Strengthening their brand with every track out, Jay Walker en Willem Ardui have had an ability to crank out energetic old-school or smoother tunes time and again, but their latest single takes their versatility a step further. “SWANGIN'” sees the pair’s playful and fast paced flow cascading overtop entertaining ad libs, trumpet-tinged and bass-fueled production thumping up and down.

Living the life, swerving from lane to lane, the duo’s road trip starts in Brussels (Atomium, Docks) stopping by an Asian takeaway before taking off to Mars “swangin’ in space”. After all, there’s no need for blackwave. to escape to another dimension anytime soon as their global success is just around the corner…”Who? Yeah, you!”

Check out the sci-fi and Elon Musk inspired video directed by fellow Belgians Eloi Cyuzuzo Nsanzabandi and Aäron Beyers here:

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Catch the space wave on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

While it seems like producers are trying to find the hardest-hitting drums in order to get their point across nowadays, Blackwave opted for a live band of jazz musicians from the Conservatory of Antwerp and fellow Belgian David Ngyah who blesses us with a soulful chorus.

Unlike its title suggests, the track is smooth and suave blending jazz, soul, R&B, and hip-hop into a sound that’s distinctly what Blackwave is about. In short, if you haven’t caught the wave yet, it’s about time to do so because the duo comprised of producer Willem Ardui and rapper Jay Walker, announced Blackwave’s first album for this year in a Q&A with The Independent.

Catch the wave on their Facebook, Twitter and check out the video directed by Ramy Moharam Fouad.

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Every week, Free scours through hundreds of SoundCloud tracks to find the best new gems by artists that are flying under the radar.

Each week our Brussels-based fellow overwhelms you with a variety of songs that make your head go nuts. This week, he offers us a 100% Belgian playlist! Here are a few of his favorites:

Tundra – My Love:

Driving through vibrant cities or beautiful landscapes is one of my favourite things in the world to do, especially when the accompanied soundtrack is kind of hypnotical. Try playing M83’s music while driving through a tunnel for example. Wouldn’t it be the best if a band/artist’s pseudonym was just “Tunnel” or “Savanna” or … Ok, no it’d be boring but with Tundra’s music I can see myself driving through a tundra landscape endlessly.

NKISI – Welcome To The Jungle:

Nkisi is one of the best kept secrets of Belgian’s music scene. Though she’s renowned worldwide in the experimental electronic scene as one of the co-founders of NON WORLDWIDE, together with Chino Amobi and Angel-Ho, in Belgium itself she’s practically unknown. Let’s change that Belgium! As she’s one of the few people who can really change and reinvent the Belgian music scene.

doro – Evasion:

Music wise – and non music wise, watching you ex-mayor Yvan Mayeur – there’s so much going on in Brussels. The hiphop scene on the one hand is better and bigger than ever with artists like Zwangere Guy and Stikstof. Acts like Kassett, Samuelspaniel and doro on the other hand are the new revelations in Brussels’ progressive electronic scene, internationally guided by Mechatok, Dinamarca, Y1640 and so many other interesting new artists.

Another week of fresh tracks by breaking artists around the world — brought to you by FREE. Check the full playlist below!

Check on Free‘s playlist every Thursday on HighClouds and follow our curator on Soundcloud.