[su_dropcap style=”simple”]N[/su_dropcap]o, in Belgium, we don’t only have the cold, the rain and the snow. We also have good artists and that is why we present you one of them, every Wednesday, in the Belgitunes section. This week, let’s talk about DJ and producer Mugwump, an artist of the Belgian electronic music scene who cannot be ignored. This artist, who was described as the « Belgium’s underground answer to Daft Punk » by the German magazine Groove, is going to release a digital deluxe version of his debut album “Unspell” on January 29. Perfect time for immersing ourselves in the two-decade career of the artist.

At the beginning, Brussel’s Mugwump is DJ Geoffroy, resident at the infamous Food Club (and djing all over Belgium) in the Nineties, who then started producing club music in the Noughties on prestigious labels such as Kompakt, Gigolo or R&S, to name but a few! But as the artist says it himself, the highlight of his career is not in the past. Little by little, he adds some strings to his bow: at first he was a DJ, then he became producer before starting to organize the famous parties Leftorium. Now, he has set up a full band with 3 other musicians (DC Salas, Raphael Absolonne, Stephane Fedele) and together they’ve been rearranging the music he’s produced for the aforementioned album and the band’s now playing live at major festivals, also writing new material together.

The music is as varied as his ambitions. On stage, it could remind a rougher version of LCD Soundsystem as it mixes indie and electro, techno and disco, with a touch of post-punk. His album “Unspell” reflects, of course, this eclecticism and you can see it with the different artist that have participated to the album: Circlesquare, Luke Jenner of The Rapture, Sami «DJ Morpheus» Birnbach and so on.

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Friday 29 January, the artist will release the digital deluxe edition of “Unspell” via !K7 which will feature the live versions of “After They Fall” (the track with Circlesquare) and “School’s Out » with German band Von Spar. There will also be two previously unreleased studio tracks, “HeadMaster” and “Voetbalkniien”, which is a cover from cult Dutch post-punk hero Ton Lebbink. You can, by the way, see the live version of this last track at Dour Festival just below. You will understand why they are a “rougher version” of LCD Soundsystem. Ok, I admit it, in Belgium we have the rain. But Mugwump is the kind of project that gives you the envy to jump inside the mud during a festival!

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Finally, a remix project should be released in February and of course, two upcoming concerts that you should not miss if you live nearby:

– Festival “Les Transardentes” in Liège (January 23)
– Festival “AB Bota” in Brussels (February 27)

UPDATE: Mugwump just released a live session video of “Voetbalkniëen” that was shot at Reflektor in Liège.
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You can already stream “Unspell” and pre-order the deluxe re-release here.