As a blog based in Brussels, we pay special attention to the acts coming from our country, as you can see it in our column “Belgitunes“. In our last playlist, “20 songs from artists based in Belgium, you can already find songs from Warhaus that will be playing at Cirque Royal on the 20th, Wuman that will be opening for Fishbach on the 14th and Robbing Millions that will be playing with BRNS at Cirque Royal on the 17th.

Brussels-based trio Pale Grey will be celebrating the release of their EP on the 15th and our favorite duo Rive will play their debut EP “Vermillon” on the 18th. Electronic acts Monolithe Noir and Le Motel will be playing on the 13th and the 15th, and Lubiana and Hydrogen Sea on the 19th at the Grand Salon De Concert. And to end our Belgian selection, the hip hop collaborators Caballero and JeanJass will be playing on the 19th at the Orangerie.

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Our French neighbors are also very represented on this edition with the concert of the French Björk called Camille that will be presentating, on the 12th, her new album “Ouï” set to be released in June. One of our favorite newcomers and selected in our promising list for this year, Agar Agar, will be opening for Magnus, on the 15th and Jacques, one of our favorite gigs of 2016, will be back on the 17th at the Cirque Royal.

French songstress Juliette Armanet will be presenting her perfect combination of piano and beautiful texts on the 18th and Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains their combination of indie with catchy pop on the 20th. One explosive night is preparing itself on the 20th with three of the most exciting pop acts that France has to offer: Bagarre, L’Impératrice and Her.

This year, the Nuits Bota 2017 will definitely not disappoint you with their innovative selection of the best artists.

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As party goers and people who like to dance, we couldn’t let the electronic genre on the side. With acts as Romare (13th), FKJ (13th), Hercules & Love Affair (14th) and Youngr (14th), we are ready to party! It’s not a big surprise that we are huge fans of Kelly Lee Owens, specially after the release of her debut self-titled album. With her pure techno release, she will for sure make travel into the unknown. The Nuits Bota are also preparing for you an afterparty on the 22th where artists such as Babyfather and Zebra Katz will be ready to burn down the house.

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As is it important for us to promote female acts, as you can see in our Homocore section, we also are going to pay a lot of attention to all of the rock and folk singers represented during the Nuits Bota. Artists such as Chantal Acda and Angel Olsen have been liked by many of our writers as they know how to show emotions thoughout their music.

Quartet The Big Moon will be opening for the incredible Jesca Hoop, on the 12th, being one of most expected nights of the entire festival. And last but not least, we couldn’t miss to mention the trio, that is comprised of two women, Cherry Glazerr that will be playing on the 17th.

As boys are not forgotten, we made a little selection of a few of them. Thomas Azier will be playing on the 18th with our friends of Rive, Ulrika Spacek will be playing on the 16th as an opening act for Communions and Asgeir on the same day at the Cirque Royal. And we finish our (very extensive) selection with Alex Cameron that will be playing on the 19th and Kele Okereke that will be playing on the last days of the Nuits on the 21th.

You can go check the entire program for the Nuits Bota by clicking here, check the playlist of our selection and the official trailer below.

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We start our playlist with one classic: Lio delivers the sweet and powerful “Amoureux Solitaires” out in the 80s. The travel continues in Wallonia with Liège-based trio La Plage with their track “Rendez Vous” followed by one of our favorite bands from Tournai Wuman with “Julia” taken from their debut EP “Portraits”. Get to know band based in Brussels Chackie Jam who just release their debut track “Hachi” combining strong pop with indie vibes.

Talking about pop, let’s dance with Faon Faon and their track “Eskimo”! With their infectious chorus, how could anyone stand still? To calm things down, let’s listen to Antwerp-based artist Wardrobe who recently released his track “Nowhere Now” taken from his album “Crawling”. But, the calm won’t stay long thanks to Soldout with their track “Forever” and Robbing Millions with their track “In The No Air”.

We were betting last year on Insecte in our list of artists under our radar for 2017 and you can listen to their track “Holy Crack!” followed by The Double Veterans and their track “Cocktail”. Taking a step on the electro pop genre with Brussels-based band WOOLY MAMMOTHS and their brand new track “Water Slide”. Our beloved French Brussels-based duo Rive released their debut EP a few weeks ago and you can listen to “Nuit” in the playlist.

Warhaus will then enchant you with their dark take on pop in their track “The Good Lie” followed by one of our last Thunderclaps called SHE Major with her track “Please Don’t“. Then let’s take a jump into the R&B/hip hop genres with Antwerp-based artist Tsar B with her track “Escalate” and Brussels-based rapper Roméo Elvis with his track “Drôle De Décision”.

J. Bernardt is the nom de plume of Jinte Diprez of Belgian band Balthazar and is ready to release his debut album. You can listen to his new song “Wicked Streets” followed by the instrumental electronic project Glass Museum and their track “Kill The Sequence”. It introduces next, the electronic experimentations by Monolithe Noir in “Profondeville”, followed, to end our Belgian journey, by the calm “Nightowl Magee” by Samuelspaniel.

You can listen to the entire playlist below, and follow us, as it is updated with new themes every week!

There is obviously more songs to put on this playlist as we don’t know all of the Belgian artists that exist. Send us your favorite ones!

After winning Court Circuit, a contest where a panel of judges, formed by music professionals and representatives of music students, got to chose the most promising Brussels-based acts, Wuman are expected to shine in 2017. They humbly admit that “[they are] really happy, and it’s fun to get all of the attention of the press.”

They met in the Belgian city of Tournai and they started doing music through jamming where no real structure was previously discussed, as improvisation takes a big part in their creative process. “Before deciding ourselves to put a real pattern to our songs, we wanted to put our imagination first and find the missing pieces of a puzzle,” they explained. The band like to compare their itinerary, from hours of recordings to their debut EP “Portraits,” as a playful and exploratory experience; like a child discovering a new game. Most of their time and efforts have been expanded in their basement, finding their own chemistry. The storyline eventually appeared: exploring the case of the ex. “We wanted to create an immutable portrait of a woman of our past, to explore our song-writing skills over a love story.”

“We wanted to create something very intimate, that has flesh and bones” – Wuman

After playing at famous Belgian festival Dour, Wuman got back into their basement to ad lib and sharpen their concept. Songs like the indie-tropical “Sara” and the intense “Alice” are there to set their capacity to create effective pop songs reminding the work of bands such as Vampire Weekend and Animal Collective. The 6-track EP is the result of wild improvisation and constructed landscapes where many instruments play each their own part in a big symphony. “We wanted to create something very intimate, that has flesh and bones for people to relate to it,” they explained. “We work better in an emergency state, that push us to give the best of ourselves, to really innovate and take some risks.”

When speaking about their live performances, the band admit they prepare everything in a hurry. As their music has a playful construction, they don’t hesitate to experiment with their voices or to use children instruments as a way to get out of their comfort zone. “We take risks by playing with toys, we like taking challenges, because with some songs that simply makes sense for us.” The band give the impression of taking things lightly as it is part of their unique energy, but when onstage, everything is very calculated.

2017 will be the year where they get to prove their talent and it looks like they are already giving a lot of thoughts into what’s coming next. Being an independent band has definitely been a struggle for them, but the support of their fans thrives their passion. “We are not going to lie, we’ll like to be sign somewhere to work more peacefully,” they admit. “But we have a lot of ambition and we have a lot of ideas coming through our minds. We also want to tour, to get our vision out of the basement,” they laugh. With their capacity on how to create playful pop songs, Wuman start the phase of becoming a prominent force in the Belgian musical landscape, splashing their colorful fun into our grey weather.

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You can listen to their EP “Portraits” on their Bandcamp page and follow them over Facebook. Wuman are also in our radar of the artists to watch on 2017.